David Blatt Progressing In Second Year

In his second season as the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, David Blatt has made huge strides in his progression, maturation and relationship with his players.

LeBron James has always had shaky relationships with his head coaches.

From Keith Smart to Paul Silas to Brendan Malone to Mike Brown and to Erik Spoelstra in Miami, James has always been known as a tough player to coach. It makes sense why he wouldn’t be easy, as LeBron is a man who expects and strives for excellence in everything he does and he expects that from his colleagues also. Although, in doing so, James has put his coaches in extremely tough circumstances, walking the thin line between respecting the coaches’ decision and speaking up when he disagrees.

This was the case for Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt last season.

The relationship between James and Blatt last season was shaky at best; at least that’s how it was perceived. James changing Blatt’s play call in the closing moments of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Chicago Bulls was blown out of proportion, as star players change plays called from the coach in all sports.

Although, there was a reason why it was blown out of proportion. It wasn’t the first time James and Blatt clashed during his first season at the helm in Cleveland. There was the report from Marc Stein of ESPN of how James treated Blatt like a child during the NBA Finals. Or reports that James preferred taking instructions from assistant Tyrone Lue over Blatt. How about James’ glowing endorsement of Blatt last season, per Joe Vardon of cleveland.com:

Spoelstra and James had relationship troubles during their first couple of seasons together. Although, Spoelstra would eventually grow and adjust to the pressure and attention that coaching the leagues most polarizing figure brings and is still one of the NBA’s best coaches today.

Blatt is going through the same phase this season and is passing with flying colors.

All of the rumors and hoopla surrounding Blatt and his job security is non-existent this season, as he has taken more control of the team and has seemingly gained the respect of LeBron, something that could have been questioned last season.

“He does his job as great as any coach can do in this league,” James said of Blatt, per Vardon. This type of endorsement from LeBron is something he does very rarely, as he only speaks highly of very certain coaches, such as Gregg Popovich and Doc Rivers. For James to make those comments in the media points to an improved sense of communication and respect between the two and it is also something that Cavs teammates have taken note of.

“I think whenever you work with someone over a year, over time, you understand them,” said Tristan Thompson, comparing the relationship between James and Blatt from last season to now (per Vardon). “You know, the first year you might have times where one might not say something to the other, just because it’s new. You might hesitate sometimes, but as you get older, you build a relationship, build chemistry. The understanding is there.”

Kevin Love has also spoken of the progression of the Blatt/James relationship, per Vardon. “Definitely, from a communication standpoint, yeah there’s a difference,” Love added. “It’s just something that comes with time.”

James’ improved relationship with Blatt comes as a result of the progression and maturation Blatt has made in his second season in the NBA. Despite being a coaching legend in Europe for decades, many labeled Blatt as a ‘rookie’ head coach last season, a mantle that frustrated and annoyed Blatt. It makes sense, as Blatt has been doing this job his whole life but it points to the completely different world the NBA revolves in compared to other professional basketball leagues around the world.

The media attention and criticism facing NBA coaches isn’t as tense as it was at Maccabi Tel Aviv, according to Blatt, where the entire city reacted to whether Tel Aviv won or lost a game. Although, when you’re coaching someone with the statue and name as LeBron, you’re going to face unfair criticism and you will be placed with unfair amounts of blame when things are going downwards.

When the Cavs were stumbling to a 19-20 start last season, many were calling for Blatt to be fired. Many said he didn’t possess the correct leadership qualities or didn’t have enough of an edge to be a NBA coach. He was too much of a nice guy and couldn’t handle the pressure of coaching LeBron, despite many forgetting he was actually hired before LeBron returned home to Cleveland. Blatt was hired to develop and mentor young players such as Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Thompson into the future and build the Cavaliers back into the playoffs.

When James returned home and the Cavs traded for Love, the expectations on Blatt’s shoulders changed tremendously and even though the bad start was due to the team still building chemistry and injury troubles, Blatt was still able to help turn the team around and articulate a defensive mindset into the players. After that aforementioned 19-20 start, Cleveland would progress into the finals where they would fall two games short of winning the championship. Pretty impressive for a first-year coach.

In his second season, there has been no adjustment period or curve for Blatt like there was last season. His taken control of the team and there is no questions surrounding the relationship between Blatt, James and the rest of the roster. Blatt has progressed into a more confident coach and has the Cavaliers playing better then last season. The defense has continued to improve, as Blatt’s scheme allows Cleveland to defend in a variety of different ways- big, small, switching, hedging, ICE on the pick and roll- Blatt has coached the Cavs into defending multiple offensive attacks, which has led to Cleveland being ranked 5^th in defensive efficiency.

On offense, Blatt’s hyped-up Princeton style offense, full of unique ball and player movements never quite took off like many expected last season. On a team loaded with talent, the Cavs slowly fell into the trap of playing isolation heavy basketball. This season though, the Cavaliers have been playing less isolation ball and Blatt has them playing an offense full of pick and rolls and ball and player movement, which has yielded better results, as Cleveland is ranked 4^th in offensive rating and 9^th in assist ratio.

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After getting belted by the Portland Trail Blazers by 29 points on December 26^th, Blatt cancelled the team’s morning shootaround for the next game against the Phoenix Suns, instead calling a team meeting. Reports indicate that Blatt was concerned about the spirit, psyche and general feeling around the playing group, a sign of the maturation and progression Blatt has undertaken in his second season as head coach.

“In tough times you’ve got to show a little bit of leadership and lift your troops,” Blatt told Chris Haynes of cleveland.com. “That was the whole purpose of it, to fire them up a little bit and lift them a little bit. They certainly this year have been doing their part, and I had to step in an do something myself.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers have not lost a game since Blatt called the meeting, winning by an average margin of 14.1 points per game.

The team meeting is just one of many examples that shows Blatt’s progression and maturation as a head coach in the NBA. No longer are the questions of whether Blatt belongs or whether he has a good relationship with James being asked. Now people are simply letting Blatt do what he does best and that’s coach winning basketball teams and the results so far have been excellent.