Has David Blatt been completely neutered as a coach this year?

[Donoghus]

Noah definitely fouled Lebron.  You could also make the argument that Lebron was charging to the baseline while throwing out that forearm to initiate contact with whoever. I mean look at his left arm starting around mid-court. He certainly looked like someone driving to the hoop with the intention of drawing a foul.

[zubi.anaba]

Really doesn't matter who the coach is when the messiah can get to the basket with 4 push-offs....And his team can get a free timeout to draw up a play.  Obviously...There had to be immediate payback for that offensive foul called on the messiah.

This free time thing being spouted is hilarious to me. Its been happening for yrs but ppl only get up in arms when it somehow benefits Lebron. Besides correctt me if am worng but didnt Bulls have a free TO as well to draw up a stop??? IN fact Bulls actually used the TO to get Taj Gibson (a defender) into the game to disrupt the passing lanes. But of course Lebron and Cavs were def the only ones that benefitted from the TO

we don't take kindly to lebron fans

 

Is this code for "We dont take kindly to ppl who can think logically and dont have a ridicolous/ irrational hate for Lebron"

[Celtics4ever]

Say what you will about Spo (and go for it, I have no problem with piling onto Miami) but by all accounts he was the guy who devised and got James to buy into the idea of rolling over to the 4 for extended periods of time (having Battier to guard power forwards while playing the 3 on offense definitely helped there). Miami doesn't win their two titles if LeBron sticks to his preferred way of playing: on the wing.

I think Riley has always been the brains of the operation.  I think he does more than mentor him.  Do you think MIA should have won more titles?   I do, with that talent, yet they did not win them all and won two and lost two despite having more talent than their foes.

LeBron on Spoelstra in 2010: “This is who we have.”

LeBron on Blatt in 2014: “What other coach do we have?”

Overtime LeBron got some confidence in him.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/02/report-lebron-james-didnt-buy-into-erik-spoelstra-until-well-into-second-season-with-heat/

This was his worst moment

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6191031

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/06/spoelstra-makes-mistake-in-saying-heat-players-cry-after-loss/

at the end of the days, articles like this were wishful thinking by a noted HEAT fan.

Earlier in these playoffs, James was wired for sound and was caught yelling, “Big-time coaching move!” at Spoelstra. This was for putting in little-used James Jones to space the floor and hit some threes. This required taking out Udonis Haslem, the person everyone on the team fears a little bit, the person on the team Spoelstra admires most. Jones admits that, as he came into the game, he looked down at the floor to avoid eye contact with Haslem, pretending to fiddle with his short’s drawstrings.

“Oh, boy, if you wired [LeBron] for sound other times, you’d hear him say I’m an idiot,” Spoelstra says of James. “I’m dead serious. What kind of move was that? Second guessing and questioning.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/dan-le-batard/article1965009.html#storylink=cpy

[D.o.s.]

Riley's definitely the brains of the operation, but I don't think anyone really credits him with coming up with that lineup shift -- which was, undoubtedly, part of the reason Miami did so well. That and their unsustainably frantic trap-at-all-times defense.


I think that your second article hints at exactly what I'm saying: in 2010 Spo was cowed, and deferred to LeBron, which lead to Wade and James taking turns running iso plays while Bosh added wings to his mansion during timeouts. Once the kinks got ironed out, the Heat were one of the league's best offenses and defenses, which is why they were so successful.

That said, I do think Rick Carlisle outcoached Spolestra in the 2011 Finals. Spo gets the edge over Scott Brooks (but a monkey writing shakespeare could come up with "give ball to durant. let him shoot.") and grades below Pop.

Blatt might be the best coach James has ever had in the NBA, but I don't think Cleveland's front office will ever allow him to act like a coach (which your linked article also references).

[GratefulCs]

Really doesn't matter who the coach is when the messiah can get to the basket with 4 push-offs....And his team can get a free timeout to draw up a play.  Obviously...There had to be immediate payback for that offensive foul called on the messiah.

This free time thing being spouted is hilarious to me. Its been happening for yrs but ppl only get up in arms when it somehow benefits Lebron. Besides correctt me if am worng but didnt Bulls have a free TO as well to draw up a stop??? IN fact Bulls actually used the TO to get Taj Gibson (a defender) into the game to disrupt the passing lanes. But of course Lebron and Cavs were def the only ones that benefitted from the TO

we don't take kindly to lebron fans

 

Is this code for "We dont take kindly to ppl who can think logically and dont have a ridicolous/ irrational hate for Lebron"

i don't really know how to put this...


But...


Hate for lebron is never irrational

[D.o.s.]

i don't really know how to put this...

But...

Hate for lebron is never irrational

To quote a fairly gregarious CBer, you might say that...

Some people can't stand greatness


Dead serious

[GratefulCs]

i don't really know how to put this...

But...

Hate for lebron is never irrational

To quote a fairly gregarious CBer, you might say that...

Some people can't stand greatness


Dead serious

i didn't say i was one of those people who COULD stand greatness

 

[Roy H.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0QTBAWc3tM

Was Norman Dale completely neutered as a first year coach?

I missed the part in that clip where jimmy talked to the media and said coach had some other play drawn up but I squashed it.

That's on the extended cut blu-ray.

But seriously, stuff like this probably happens all the time.  Lebron's mouth continues to get him in trouble, but I don't see it as a big deal.  A big-time player stepped up and wanted the ball in a big moment.  Can't fault him for that.

[D.o.s.]

i don't really know how to put this...

But...

Hate for lebron is never irrational

To quote a fairly gregarious CBer, you might say that...

Some people can't stand greatness


Dead serious

i didn't say i was one of those people who COULD stand greatness

 

TP.

[GratefulCs]

i don't really know how to put this...

But...

Hate for lebron is never irrational

To quote a fairly gregarious CBer, you might say that...

Some people can't stand greatness


Dead serious

i didn't say i was one of those people who COULD stand greatness

 

TP.

TP to you too!

[Finkelskyhook]

Really doesn't matter who the coach is when the messiah can get to the basket with 4 push-offs....And his team can get a free timeout to draw up a play.  Obviously...There had to be immediate payback for that offensive foul called on the messiah.

This free time thing being spouted is hilarious to me. Its been happening for yrs but ppl only get up in arms when it somehow benefits Lebron. Besides correctt me if am worng but didnt Bulls have a free TO as well to draw up a stop??? IN fact Bulls actually used the TO to get Taj Gibson (a defender) into the game to disrupt the passing lanes. But of course Lebron and Cavs were def the only ones that benefitted from the TO

we don't take kindly to lebron fans

 

Is this code for "We dont take kindly to ppl who can think logically and dont have a ridicolous/ irrational hate for Lebron"

i don't really know how to put this...


But...


Hate for lebron is never irrational

I don't hate anybody.  But I do hate that in the messiah's games...The games appear to be officiated by guest referees from the WWE.

As the most gifted athlete in sports' history...The messiah hardly needs the help.

[GratefulCs]

Really doesn't matter who the coach is when the messiah can get to the basket with 4 push-offs....And his team can get a free timeout to draw up a play.  Obviously...There had to be immediate payback for that offensive foul called on the messiah.

This free time thing being spouted is hilarious to me. Its been happening for yrs but ppl only get up in arms when it somehow benefits Lebron. Besides correctt me if am worng but didnt Bulls have a free TO as well to draw up a stop??? IN fact Bulls actually used the TO to get Taj Gibson (a defender) into the game to disrupt the passing lanes. But of course Lebron and Cavs were def the only ones that benefitted from the TO

we don't take kindly to lebron fans

 

Is this code for "We dont take kindly to ppl who can think logically and dont have a ridicolous/ irrational hate for Lebron"

i don't really know how to put this...


But...


Hate for lebron is never irrational

I don't hate anybody.  But I do hate that in the messiah's games...The games appear to be officiated by guest referees from the WWE.

As the most gifted athlete in sports' history...The messiah hardly needs the help.

TP


that's my biggest issue with the superstar calls


The best players get them, and the best players need them the least

[GetLucky]

Yes. I was legitimately looking forward to seeing his vaunted read-and-react offense that led to so many championships at so many levels and his berth as the first non-Russian Russian national team coach. He signed up for a foundation-setting rebuild job, a la Stevens, and he ended up getting the best, and most entitled, player in the NBA instead. Not necessarily something I can feel sorry for, but something that must have been a total catalyst for changes in expectations.