There's more to coaching than what goes on on the floor. It's been clear for two seasons that Blatt doesn't have the locker room, and there have been rumblings (that Griffin addressed and confirmed today) that the team has no cohesion off the floor and just generally seems miserable, even at 30-11.
Brendan Haywood basically said the opposite. That from day one Blatt was afraid to counter LeBron and lost the team's respect as a result.
Which doesn't affect the cap or tax at all and has no bearing on player acquisition. You don't replace a Head Coach will a lame duck guy because you don't want to give the teams coach job security. It sends the wrong message and contradicts the purpose of firing Blatt. When you make a management decision you must do so with a commitment even if it really is only the facade of one. The players aren't going to buy what Lue is selling if the owner/GM doesn't show he's committed to him. This is Leadership 101 stuff.
That may well be true.
Love how they included Blatt not being able to draw up plays during timeouts which is of course his biggest strength and what he's renown for on the coaching circuit. #anonymoussources
More at the link
To be fair, Blatt was the guy who drew up a play that had LeBron inbounding the ball at the end of the biggest game of their season last year (down 2-1 to the Bulls and needing a 3 to tie). LBJ wisely ignored him, took the inbounds himself and hit a ridiculous 3, and the Cavs won the series instead of very likely losing it.
Blatt has been questioned for his play calling since he's been in Cleveland including the infamous playoff game when LeBron stopped him mid-sentence and called his own number like Bird used to do to KC Jones. This may have been a strength overseas but he's been in over his head in the NBA from Day One.
I don't know if you read all ready but the Woj story is pretty interesting considering this topic.
This sounds like a really suspicious story, but if any NBA writer can put his name on the byline and command reliability, it's Woj.
Or Woj just can't let go after being burned by that awful ESPN special that James staged. The problem with Woj's hatchet job is that we have actual video footage of Blatt's inability to handle a veteran NBA team. So it's not like the stories he's trying to contradict are coming out of left field, we've watched this play out on TV and seen it in YouTube clips.
If the defense for firing Blatt earlier in the thread is that DB should have known what he was getting in to with Lebron possibly returning to Cleveland, then Lebron should have made it clear to Cleveland from the get go that along with trading Wiggins for Love, he was also going to need full say with regards to who the next coach for the team was going to be. Cleveland hiring Blatt was a bit of shocker to the NBA world when it was announced. Do you not think that Cleveland could have waited a couple more weeks to find out what Lebron was going to do before pulling the trigger on hiring Blatt, if they had known in advance that Lebron was leaning towards returning? This is a testament to the dysfunction that seeps through the Cavaliers organization and the warped way Lebron and his cronies go about their business.
Honestly.. I don't hate Lebron. He's more fascinating than anything else.
Granted, I don't follow the NBA very closely, but would the Lakers be another possible spot for a Love trade?
Woj is as well known for ridiculous hatchet jobs as he is for breaking stories. Go back and read his weird, jealous take down of Hollinger for trading Rudy Gay from Memphis. He's got an agenda like everybody else. And a new website to make a name for.
The return on Love would need to be a better fit for the Cavs to win now. There isn't anyone on the Lakers who could help them that would make sense for Love.
Yeah the Cavs kinda hamstrung themselves into building a team two summers ago to beat the Spurs, Clippers and Bulls while Golden State turned into the monsters that they have become. In fairness to them this was at a time when Curry wasn't Curry yet and coming off a season with multiple ankle injuries before Draymond became Draymond too.
This is what I'd put my money on. Spoelstra (with Riley's backing) ran the Heat when James was there. He consulted his guys, but he did not solicit direction from them.
Three of those four guys are tradable on those contracts (though Thompson won't go anywhere). I'd be surprised if Kevin Love stuck around past the next offseason, maybe not the end of this season, and only a little surprised if Mozgov gets moved this season.
Agreed. Two years ago I was watching the Warriors and hopping on the bandwagon because they were fun. I thought they could be better (maybe a lot better) under a Not Mark Jackson coach. I don't think anybody anywhere thought they'd turn into the fucking nuclear death machines of the NBA. I literally can't think of a situation that parallels this in major American sports, where a team has gone from "yeah, pretty good" to "in the conversation for the best ever" in an eyeblink. And through player development, rather than a big free-agent splash; that's insane.
Nitpick, but it was a tie game and LeBron hit a 20 footer. Agree with your point, though.
This series of events has made me even more appreciative of how Durant and Westbrook have handled the Billy Donavan hire. They really liked Scotty Brooks, but they've been willing to make a go of it with Donavan. Donavan hasn't been a miracle worker, but the team is working on a more fluid offense and fewer isos. Now, if only the team's defense were more consistent......
So he lied about everything? This mirrors pretty much what Brenda Haywood said except with some specific details. If LeBron wanted Blatt gone he wouldn't have been there in training camp, period. This is coming from multiple places now and when the story is the same I'd tend to believe the specifics when they fit the storyline and aren't refuted by anyone.
WTF are you talking about? Since when do players become training camp holdouts until their coaches are fired?
Also, this is unacceptable:
This whole notion that superstars want their choice of coaches to play may be true with some teams, but in all of the organizations I can think of in which the sum is greater than the parts the inmates aren't running the asylum. Instead there is a clear hierarchy, a coach who is in charge and an organizational philosophy which is respected.
When your coach is running onto the floor at the end of a playoff game screaming for a Timeout that they didn't have forcing you and your Asst Coach to virtually tackle him so he doesn't cost them the game maybe that player would feel the need to play coach. When the coach freezes you out of a last second shot to win a playoff game maybe the player who steps up and says "No, we're running this for ME!" is a leader who now loses respect for his coach.
I am sorry, that doesn't fly. It's one thing to change a play in the heat of a crucial playoff game and ENTIRELY ANOTHER to decide on your own to scrap your coach's offensive scheme in the beginning of the (coach's debut) season without consulting him. If you want to argue that this is hanky dory, you can argue till you re blue in the face, but it doesn't make it right.
You are probably correct that not a lot - if any - coaches could make it work. Certainly Blatt wasn't up to the task for whatever reason and it's not really a surprise.
It's NBA Head Coaching.......there are only so many things he can control. There was uproar when Thibs was (correctly) let go because his presence was causing an uncomfortable environment. He was replaced and not much changed.....the Bulls are still an excellent defensive team winning at a similar rate factoring in the improved East with additions of Bosh, Melo, George, Reggie Jax, etc. The difference is that there is less drama. I don't expect much different to occur in Cleveland with the current roster. You are going to have issues with Love and Kyrie playing together and JR playing at all regardless of the coach.......at least with Tyronn there is less drama and he can handle the players in a way that Blatt could not so Griffin won't have to babysit in meetings to do his job for him.
You don't think an NBA team has the right personnel to improve their conditioning? There are ways for players to get into better shape without running them into the ground. A simple commitment and change in dietary habits assist in this.
Ok. I don't necessarily disagree with your last paragraph on Love. As far as the conditioning goes I interpreted that differently and feel it was more directed to how certain individual players are preparing and/or taking care of themselves off the court. From this time of the year to the end of the season there are very few practices that don't consist of shootarounds and half speed walkthroughs. The conditioning a player does from here on out is going to be on their own in the training room and how they plan their nutrition.
Come on, you're literally just making things up now. None of what you say has any basis in reality, it's just invented nothingness. He's not going to run Lebron into the ground. He's trying to improve the team.
