If not for the AFC and NFC Finals yesterday, the Cleveland Cavaliers abrupt firing of head coach David Blatt would have been this weekend’s biggest sports story.
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Steve Kerr’s mid-season return to coaching the Golden State Warriors and David Blatt’s abrupt dismissal as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers has confused the NBA All-Star Game coaching question. I think we got exhausted.
“It’s unfortunate what happened … and the team, we just have to focus on what’s now in front of us … we’ve got to continue to get better”. But if the league won’t allow it, Lue will do it. “The rest of our staff deserves it”, Lue said…. “It’s how we prepare ourselves every day”, James said. Charlotte shot 34% from the field, but made 32 of 37 free throws as a team.
I was under the misguided impression that LeBron James wanted to be coached and that, at some point, this deep-seated need would lead him to Tom Thibodeau. I think the reward for coaching LeBron is you get scrutinized. I am not saying that Blatt and Fisher are bad coaches I am just saying that they weren’t ment to be a head coach on the teams they are on for a long time. “But what you guys don’t understand from what you see is that when the players are coming and talking to me as an assistant coach, like, I’m the defensive coordinator”.
Tyronn Lue didn’t make much of a difference in his coaching debut for Cleveland as Pau Gasol scored 25 points, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 96-83 victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Cleveland have lost to both San Antonio and defending champions Golden State this month, with the Warriors handing them a crushing 132-98 defeat. He appeared in 22 games (21 starts) for the DE 87ers of the NBA Development League this season, averaging 27.1 points and 4.1 rebounds.
The Cavs clearly wanted a change by boldly firing Blatt last week, and with their new man, Lue, making immediate alterations, perhaps Cleveland can find an identity to contend against the Western Conference giants come playoff time. As head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel’s dominant professional basketball team, Blatt became a local celebrity and won respect around the world.
A coaching change often produces quick results, despite Griffin’s warning things could get worse before they improve. He just wants good to become better.
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“All we know for sure is that it had absolutely nothing to do with team performance”, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said following Saturday morning’s shootaround at the Pepsi Center.
