David Blatt had a rough time after being fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
David Blatt, the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014-2015 and for the half of the 2015-2016 season, has finally revealed his feelings about being fired last January.
That sounds, well, sad. Five months of suffering is a very long time for a human being to feel sad, hurt and disappointed.
Blatt, whose team was 30-11 and had the best record in the Eastern Conference, was given the boot by general manager David Griffin because of a myriad of reasons. Kevin Love was particularly uninvolved and so uninvolved he tended to launch shots whenever the ball finally got in his hands.
There were the in-game gaffes like Blatt calling a timeout when the Cavs didn’t have any and almost costing them the game, media gaffes like Blatt saying that Love wasn’t a max player, a sense that LeBron James was controlling the team and reports that Blatt was scared to critique James’ play.
Players would leak damaging information about Blatt. ESPN’s Chris Haynes, who used to be a contributor for cleveland.com, would say as much:
"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."
Despite former Cav Mike Miller saying Blatt’s offense was almost genius and the fact that Cleveland’s defense was sound under his direction, Blatt basically didn’t have what Griffin would call “the pulse” of the locker room.
Tyronn Lue, who was Blatt’s top assistant coach, did. Griffin had this to say about Lue when addressing Blatt’s departure with the media.
"“I am more than confident that he has the pulse of our team and that he can generate the buy-in required to start to refine the habits and culture that we’ve yet to build,” Griffin said."
Nonetheless, it’s unfortunate that Blatt was fired because it was clear that he was a good coach that wasn’t just adjusting to a new team but to a new culture, as Blatt hadn’t been involved American basketball in any capacity since 1981.
He was hired by Griffin for his offensive mind and because, at first, he was expected to grow as a coach as Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Andrew Wiggins and Tristan Thompson grew as a core. It was a pretty good move, as the ball was expected to bounce around with energy when it would otherwise stick to a single player’s hands in the days of Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown leading the Cavs.
Everything changed when James decided to return to Cleveland and decided that Kevin Love was the player he wanted in the Big Three with him and Irving, not Wiggins. Wiggins, he felt, would get to blossom since he would no longer be in James’ shadow. It was also obvious for anyone who watched James’ growth with the Miami Heat, that he was trying to recreate the offensive system he thrived in when he was 1/2 half of the Flying Death Machine.
Irving, like Dwyane Wade, would be a player who could get his own points and penetrate the lane with ease. Love, like Shane Battier or Rashard Lewis, could stretch the floor.
In a way, part of what led to Blatt’s downfall was James’ arrival. James essentially picked the personnel for the Cavs upon his return and the scheme they would be expected to run. While Timofey Mozgov didn’t arrive until later, the way the Cavs played with Anderson Varejao at center was similar. The way the Heat used Chris Bosh at the elbows was the way the Cavs used Mozgov and Varejao.
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The only thing the Cavs were missing was a catch-and-shoot threat at guard, like Mario Chalmers had been. That was supposed to be Dion Waiters’ role but that wasn’t in Waiters’ plans. He would eventually be traded for Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith, one player notorious for his catch-and-shoot ability (Smith) and another that fit the mold of the prototypical three-and-D wing (Shumpert).
The Cavs would make it to the NBA Finals that season, despite Love and Irving going down with injuries. They did that largely due to Blatt’s adjustments and coaching on the defensive end. It’s thanks to Blatt that Cleveland now knows that playing Stephen Curry physically will frustrate him to the point it affects his game, a strategy I have yet to see them go away from in the two seasons since.
Despite the Cavs losing the Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals, it’s not looked at as a failure by James, Blatt or the organization. They were playing without two of their best players on a top-heavy team and still took a fully healthy Warriors squad to six games.
The offseason was important, with Love opting out of his contract and then signing a five-year deal to remain with the Cavs after a one-on-one with James. Then the Cavs got down to business in the second season, with Love still looking a bit odd as a fit and Mozgov looking like anything but himself after clearly returning to the court to early after having offseason knee surgery.
The Cavs rolled right along to a 28-10 record before facing the Golden State Warriors in what would be the second match of the season. Their first was a 83-89 loss at The Oracle on Christmas Day. In this match, the Warriors would beat the Cavs 132-98 at The Q. The Warriors were up 26 at the half.
For a team that was seeking revenge against the Warriors as they looked to avenge a Finals loss from a season ago, they seemed to be losing faith and fast. Perhaps not in the team but definitely in the coach.
Look at these statements by Griffin, transcribed by ESPN.com news services, and that much is clear.
"“What I see is that we need to build a collective spirit, a strength of spirit, a collective will,” Griffin said. “Elite teams always have that, and you see it everywhere. To be truly elite, we have to buy into a set of values and principles that we believe in. That becomes our identity.”"
"“I have never seen a locker room not be as connected after wins as they need to be. We’ve only been galvanized when expectations were not high.”"
"“And it’s not to say that Ty Lue is a better basketball coach. He’s a better basketball coach for this team today.”"
They beat the lowly Brooklyn Nets on the road and then the Los Angeles Clippers at home right after getting beatdown by the Warriors at home but that certainly wasn’t enough. Especially while the media was becoming dismissive of James and starstruck by Curry, and the vibe in the locker wasn’t that of winners.
Still, it’s great to hear that Blatt is finding success again. He joined Darussafaka as the highest-paid coach in the EuroLeague according to Bleacher Report’s Amos Barshard and, like he had done with Maccabi Tel Aviv before being signed by the Cavs, transformed the team into a championship contender.
In Europe, Blatt has control over the personnel and more power than the players. He’s also paid more than the players. Although Blatt would like to return to the NBA, he would only want to do it in a head coaching capacity. I think he’s in a great position to be happy already.
When I see Blatt I think about Stephen Marbury.
It’s not talent that’s the question but timing and fit. The timing was wrong in Blatt’s first foray to the NBA. His fit in the NBA, based on his personality and seeming sensitivity to media criticism, could be wrong to.
There’s nothing wrong with being a superstar overseas.
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Do you think that David Blatt should return to the NBA? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.