Is David Blatt stupid?

braves said:
Get a coach that can get these players in line, you have one of the most unselfish superstars on the court ever, this isn't rocket science , blatt sucks
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James acknowledged recently that he did not formally request permission to assume the bulk of the Cavs’ playmaking duties, which triggered Cleveland’s eight-game winning streak earlier this month.

“No, I can do it on my own,” James said of his role change. “I’m passed those days where I have to ask.”

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/12/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-david-blatt-rift
 
Thing I don't understand: what Lebron wants, Lebron gets, so why is Blatt still there? Something going on behind the scenes between him and Gilbert?
 
dudleysdad said:
Not much
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disagree

they had LeBron and Kyrie

they didnt need scoring, didnt need another guy who needed to get his shots

the defense is a fucking joke, he got injured but

Andy/TT/Wiggins/LeBron/Kyrie is an infinitely better than any squads with Love in it, and the offense isn't taking a hit

Wiggins also allows LeBron to rest on defense against wing guys

plus the cap space to add players they actually need
 
hugh613 said:
Thing I don't understand: what Lebron wants, Lebron gets, so why is Blatt still there? Something going on behind the scenes between him and Gilbert?
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Lebron knows people see him as that, prolly wants to wait for public opinion to completely swing and for it to look like a move they had to make
 
guaranteeed said:
disagree

they had LeBron and Kyrie

they didnt need scoring, didnt need another guy who needed to get his shots

the defense is a fucking joke, he got injured but

Andy/TT/Wiggins/LeBron/Kyrie is an infinitely better than any squads with Love in it, and the offense isn't taking a hit

Wiggins also allows LeBron to rest on defense against wing guys

plus the cap space to add players they actually need
Click to expand...


:idea:
 
Cavs have B2B @ Staples with Lakers on Thursday, Clippers on Friday, then fly home to face the Bulls on Monday night, so if Blatt's going to get axed, I'm guessing it's going to be over the weekend.
 
Cavs on the verge of going 3-0 since Blatt took them bowling the other day...

lebron-bowling-o.gif
 
hugh613 said:
Cavs on the verge of going 3-0 since Blatt took them bowling the other day...

lebron-bowling-o.gif
Click to expand...


amazing when the best player on the team is healthy and plays,, and you add a 7 footer, you remove a disgruntle player.... then do a little bowling....
 
My opinions. The Cavs are rudderless. Bron's a penis. They ebb and flow upon the whims of no one in particular, but most particularly the whore of Akron. Kevin Love's one of the more gifted offensive players in the league, Bron has him standing around like a third option zombie. At least post this guy up!?? Love should trip into 20 rebounds the way this team approaches offense.
 
This turnaround since Bron got back and the trades has been kind of remarkable. Love the new center. I was wondering if Blatt would get canned had that back-to-backer in LA not gone well. Amazing how good they look when Lebron comes to play.
 
And I thought JR Smith is supposed to be a cancerous malcontent ... guy's been great. (Give him time?)
 
Perhaps the best coach in the league. Can't believe rabble rousing braves wanted him run out of town.
 
I do credit him for doing the bowling thing AFTER Lebron got back. Smart.
 
I still believe Love can fit in on this team. Rebounds are there at both ends, but he looks a little stiff. (Not "a stiff", actually stiff.) Wonder if he's hurt. I seem to remember highlights with him moving pretty fluidly all over the place. He can't shoot right now, if he could, Cavs would be a beast. They got time.
 
I don't think anything that has happened this year had anything to do with Blatt, I just suggest keeping the player/coach/GM Lebron happy. Team's fully invested in Lebron. If someone needs to make Kevin Love disappear, Lebron just needs to nod his head.
 
I don't look too bad in this thread a year later. Only dead wrong once or twice. One of my better outputs, I think.
 
By Chris Haynes, Cleveland.com
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on January 22, 2016 at 9:25 PM, updated January 22, 2016 at 10:26 PM
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INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – Player accountability, mismanaging, a building frustration and the absence of hope led to David Blatt's ouster as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite a 30-11 record, the defending Eastern Conference champs lost belief.
A team that loses faith in the leader on the sidelines is destined to eventually fail. But management recognized it and was forced to make the jaw-dropping decision that ended Blatt's tenure with the organization after an 83-40 record in one and a half seasons.
The record doesn't illustrate the turmoil and animosity that went on behind the scenes and how it ultimately led to Tyronn Lue becoming head coach. It all stemmed from issues from last year which were never quite resolved.
During the first portion of the 2014-15 season, film sessions were a topic of discussion among the players. Blatt was reluctant to criticize star players even when they clearly messed up a play. This became routine. It got so bad that I'm told that Lue finally intervened, stood up and demanded that somebody rewind the footage so that he could get on members of The Big 3.
During team scrimmages, players competed aggressively but bit their tongues as Blatt frequently blew his whistle to call ticky-tack or phantom fouls for his go-to players. One player said sometimes Blatt didn't even have a whistle and would yell at the top of his lungs to stop play and call a foul if one of his stars acted as if he was hit.
It was viewed as a blatant attempt to get in the good graces of his top talent. Blatt's leadership was in question. Players grew tired of this treatment. The locker room started resenting Blatt's handling, or lack thereof, when it came to dealing with his stars.
Word circulated to cleveland.com that Blatt had trouble drawing up plays out of timeouts. He would freeze up and waste precious seconds, one player said. He would even draw up plays for players who weren't in the game, another player said.
In the closeout game of the Eastern Conference Finals, a game the Cavaliers trounced the Atlanta Hawks by 30 to sweep the series; Blatt had signaled for Tristan Thompson to reenter in the closing minutes with the game already wrapped up. This was when Thompson was the team's most valuable big man with Kevin Love out of commission with a dislocated shoulder.
The bench couldn't believe it. They were shocked, as was Thompson, who never questions authority. LeBron James told Blatt to put somebody else in the game, out of concern a key cog might get hurt before The Finals, a league source said. Kendrick Perkins got the nod, and a few minutes later, Brendan Haywood's number was called to finish it out.
This season, Blatt almost didn't make it past 2015. The 29-point road trouncing at the hands of the Damian Lillard-less Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 26 was close to being his next-to-last game. If it wasn't for a unimpressive win over Phoenix two days later, Blatt would have been shown the door the following morning, cleveland.com has learned.
Lue's connection with the players is rock solid, with a reputation for understanding how to manage personalities. He has played with two of the league's biggest personalities -- Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant -- and he's been coached by some of the greats.
Blatt didn't have the necessary relationship with his guys to get players to buy in. Lue is expected to hold players accountable. He's not afraid to give James a piece of his mind. Players from 1 down to 15 will be held responsible.
But this predicament wasn't Blatt's fault. He didn't sign up for this roster. He was brought in to be a teacher and help mold a young Kyrie Irving, a younger Andrew Wiggins and a young, fiery Dion Waiters. He had to adjust on the fly while coaching one of the most talented rosters in the league.
His accomplishments while at the helm shouldn't go unappreciated. He allowed his coaching staff to have bigger roles than what most head coaches would permit. He understood the learning curve he faced and trusted his staff to help him through it.
In the end, his inexperience at the top level of the game was too much to overcome on a team in championship or bust mode. The notion developed that he was holding the team back. Monday's Golden State Warriors' beat down at The Q on national television set the stage. Wednesday night in Brooklyn, the Cavaliers didn't act like a team that had just snatched up a nice bounce-back road win. I'm told the team had a defeated disposition immediately after.
The organization -- especially David Griffin -- knew it was time.
Lue will have only have led the team for 11 games, but will likely coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars in Toronto next month. Timing is everything.
Unfortunately for Blatt, he ran out of time when the team ran out of hope.
 
I can't navigate after emkee's video in the other Blatt thread

anyways reading the article I think everyone can now answer is David Blatt stupid? with a resounding YES
 
Damn, wojo blasted James and his reps over this. I'll post it when off my phone

Hard to feel bad for a millionaire losing a job, but blatt never had a chance and it may have cost him an opp to ever coach in this league again
 
I don't believe in this article for one second... bunch of lies I believe. First of all, Blatt in general, never criticized players in the media. Any player. Delli, Smith, TT, Mozgov - he always took everything on his shoulders when things were bad and had no problem giving credit, when things were good. It was his way since I can remember in Europe as well. He also followed the steps of his mentor, Pini Gershon and always gave his assistants huge responsibilities. Gudes, Maccabi TA former coach (was fired this season as well), was his assistant and Blatt allowed him to draw plays in time outs and to run practices and so on.
How he treated his stars behind the scenes? I have no idea. But, I can easily imagine him not blasting Love, because the dude had zero confidence in Cleveland from day 1 and I don't see how blasting him, would help. As for LeBron, maybe Blatt did afraid to confront him - he never had a player that was bigger than him in an organization and I believe that no player should be above coach. Blatt realized that if Bron wants him out, he will be fired on the spot (as eventually happened).

What I don't buy in for a second, is that he froze and so on... Blatt coached in Olympics, Euro Championship, Final Fours, Finals series in 3 different leagues for at least 10 times. Blatt had Russia winning the European Championship, against the might Spain, in Spain, when Spanish team was two levels above them, on a last second shot, that he drew for JR Holden. What freezing?! People have agendas and people lie. Coaches make mistakes. Pop cost Spurs the title in 2014, when he took out Duncan not once, but twice out of the game, causing his team to fail in securing defensive rebound and losing the game. Blatt also made his share of mistakes I'm sure... but I don't believe the things said there.

That being said... if coach losses his locker room... there is no other way to go, than to replace him... But... he really never stood a chance... how can you, if your biggest star is undercutting you... They say he wouldn't criticize his stars... When Blatt called a play that had Bron take out the ball on the last possession, instead of taking the shot, Bron refused and they had to change the play... I mean... seriously, how can Blatt criticize him after that?
 
Before David Blatt ever conducted his first training camp practice in September 2014, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James and his agent, Rich Paul, had the coach's succession plan in place:Mark Jackson.
To become the preferred candidate of the most powerful player in the NBA – and de facto Cavaliers general manager – Jackson understood what he needed to do: Bring on James' and Paul's Klutch Sports agency as his representation, and prepare to deliver those commission fees into the King's coffers. Blatt never had a chance. He never knew what hit him.
From the beginning, the Klutch Sports campaign to puncture Blatt's standing as head coach had been as relentless as it was ruthless. James is one of the great leaders in pro sports, and he directed the Cavaliers how he wanted them: in complete defiance of Blatt.
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</figure>David Blatt was fired with the Cavs sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference. (AP)

Finally, James' camp had its way on Friday, the Cavaliers firing the coach of the defending Eastern Conference champions and runaway No. 1 seed. Over a season and a half on the job, associate head coach Tyronn Lue fought hard to stay loyal to Blatt, balancing that line of hearing out James' and Paul's barrages on Blatt and yet still urging them to give the coach a chance.In the end, here was the problem for Klutch Sports' original plan: Cleveland refused to hire Jackson. General manager David Griffin is too well-connected in the NBA, too knowledgeable of the truths inside Jackson's Warriors regime to let that happen. So much of Griffin's job has been to manage the constant demands of James' camp and the volatility of owner Dan Gilbert. As much as anything, his job has been to bridge the chaos above and below him.
Once James' camp realized that Jackson would never be considered as coach – nor would Lue leave his representation to join Klutch Sports agency, despite overtures – Lue became a compromise choice for James' group, sources said. They started pushing for Lue to replace Blatt last season, and grew louder in those calls in recent days and weeks.
Gilbert made Lue the league's highest-paid assistant coach at $2 million-plus a year, forever considering him the head-coach-in-waiting should Blatt need to go. Ultimately, Blatt had little staying power with the Cavaliers, because James had turned Blatt's removal into an inevitability. As the games wore on, opposing players on the floor weren't only watching James constantly wave off plays from the coach – but role players feeling emboldened to disregard the head coach's instructions, too.
James had the Cavaliers existing in open rebellion for more than a season now, with no Pat Riley in the organizational shadows to scare everyone into compliance.
Despite winning 11 of 13 games – losing only to the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs – James had become increasingly vocal in his opposition of Blatt in recent practice sessions and game environments. Within the franchise, it was hard to hear anything else. LeBron James and Rich Paul never had to walk into the GM's office and demand the firing of the coach. All together, they had the capability of making everyone's life hell until the deed was done.
Blatt made mistakes in his transition to the NBA, struggled sometimes to gather the nuances of a complex game of matchups and situations. He had coached in the Euroleague for two decades, and had to sell himself on a new coaching staff, a new roster and the generation's best player.
<figure class="cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox" data-orig-index="1" id="yui_3_18_1_1_1453562982511_1810" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; cursor: pointer;">
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</figure>LeBron James returned to the Cavs two weeks after David Blatt was hired was as coach. (AP)

For all the agent competitors complaining over Klutch Sports' control in Cleveland, it is the kind of leverage no agent would ever reject over an NBA franchise. Outside of his own maximum contract, James and Klutch Sports could turn the Cavaliers into one of the loose slot machines across the street in Gilbert's casinos. It worked with client Tristan Thompson, whom they leveraged into a five-year, $82 million contract. Rival agents find themselves spending more time with clients who end up with the Cavaliers, if only because Rich Paul and his associates work to pilfer players for Klutch Sports, promising the power of James' influence in contract talks with the team.So here's what's coming now: the trickle of stories on Blatt's incompetence, the fact that no one respected him, and maybe most of all, that James had nothing to do with his firing. For all the fairytales sold on James' return to Cleveland, this was forever about business – the kind of business they couldn't do within Riley's organization, nor Erik Spoelstra's locker room.
LeBron James runs the Cleveland organization, a choice Dan Gilbert made upon the superstar's return to Northeast Ohio. There's no shame there. Nothing that needs an apology out of him. He's constructed a way to maximize his basketball and business interests on Gilbert's dime, and it is possible that James will get all that and win a championship, too.
Once the Cavaliers decided to fire Blatt on Friday, they offered Lue a three-year deal. He considered taking the job on an interim basis for the rest of the season, betting on himself, but ultimately decided on a three-year, $9.5 million contract, sources told Yahoo Sports. This is still the opportunity of a lifetime, a fabulous array of talent that gives a young coach the chance to chase championships.
Only now, Ty Lue gets to try and do something that LeBron James hadn't wanted in his final season in Miami, nor his first year and a half back in Cleveland: to be coached. They pushed David Blatt out, and found a compromise candidate. No commission fees for Klutch Sports on Ty Lue, leaving him with no choice but to win big and win now.
 
i expected Divol to be in here real quick defending Blatt and also quoting Carlisle.
 
Wojo is my favorite writer in all of sports, and he just blast Lebron in that article above.

Essentially states LEbron came back to Cleveland so him and his team could "run" a franchise, not all this other bullshit the media fed us
 
gsro said:
i expected Divol to be in here real quick defending Blatt and also quoting Carlisle.
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I wrote my thoughts already and it's not only Carlisle. It's Kerr, Skiles, Barkley and so many others... Basically, the timing was terrible... They felt like they couldn't have fired him in the summer, after he brought Cavs two wins from the title, playing without Kyrie and Love, so they decided to wait... The problems stayed the same problems, but this time, they were more under the surface, than above it... That's all.
When players see that Bron doesn't give Blatt respect, they start losing that respect as well. Once that happens... You're in trouble... You need to ask the management choose between you and team's star and Blatt knew very well what will be the decision in that case.
I'm sure that Kyrie, Deli, Cunnigham, TT, Mozgov, Shumpert and probably JR - all sad to see him leave. JJ, Bron, Mo Will and Love - I'm sure are happy about it...

There are claims that Blatt didn't do enough to prove, that he is vital to Cleveland's success. I don't know if it's true. I honestly believe he made remarkable job in last year's playoffs, with Cleveland changing their game to fit the injuries on the fly... Not an easy thing to do.
But bottom line, he never was given a chance to prove his worth in Cleveland.
 
The bottom line is he didn't connect with the players on the team. Doesn't seem like Lebron respected him from the get go. Nothing else matters.
 
divol said:
Btw, looking at the page - is this right? Did they fire the coach that had best winning percentage in the history of the franchise both in regular season and playoffs?!
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He got a raw deal, but his winning % is pretty meaningless. Is Luke Walton one of the best coaches ever?
 
Town's going a bit apeshit about this, kind of split. Cavs better play with hair on fire tonight.
 
tipyerbartender said:
He got a raw deal, but his winning % is pretty meaningless. Is Luke Walton one of the best coaches ever?
Click to expand...

Never said he was one of the best coaches ever, but to fire a coach with great winning percentage... I doubt GSW would have fired Walton, had he been the head coach...
 
divol said:
Never said he was one of the best coaches ever, but to fire a coach with great winning percentage... I doubt GSW would have fired Walton, had he been the head coach...
Click to expand...

It's pretty unprecedented, or completely unprecedented, I doubt anyone with that winning percentage at midway, off a finals appearance, ever got the axe before in a major US sport (even hockey).

But his relationship with Lebron has been pretty clumsy. I'm not saying this whole thing reflects well on Lebron, but let's be honest that Blatt's winning percentage has 99% to do with having Lebron on the team.
 
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