David Blatt FIRED

[sed522002]

LeBron James was not consulted before the Cavaliers made the move to dismiss Blatt and was informed of the decision Friday, sources told Windhorst.

Right-!

Of course he wasn't consulted before they made the move, because they clearly knew his requests anyways. No one is buying that angle.

[walker834]

Lue is the new head coach.  Lebron has wanted him to be coach for a while.  Kind of interesting since Lue is a Doc Rivers guy.

[Moranis]

The Cavs knew James was much closer to Lue than Blatt, so it is quite possible that James wasn't actually consulted before Blatt was let go.  It doesn't mean they didn't know James would be ok with that or maybe even wanted that to happen, but again it doesn't mean they told James it would happen or asked his opinion (because you know they already knew what James' opinion was).

[LarBrd33]

What does this mean for Kevin Love?

It means as soon as they lose to the Warriors or Spurs in the finals you will see a bunch of articles about how he was a bad fit, then he will be dealt.

isnt it more likely that blatt is being fired partially because of his inability to make the most of his three stars ?  Kevin love has been grossly misused since joining that team.  That falls on the coach.  If anything, this makes me think it's far less likely Love will be traded.

I agree that Blatt was fired partially because of his inability to make the most of Love. My opinion is that no coach is going to get the most out of Love, that his failure is a function of personnel not coaching.

LeBron and Kyrie both are isolation scorers that simply doesn't jibe with getting Love the quality looks he deserves. Since LeBron prefers to have the ball in isolation and Lue got the job because he's close with LeBron, I really doubt that the coaching change makes a difference.

Here is an old Grantland article from before Love and LeBron joined forces. The writer indicates that both Love and LeBron prefer shooting from pretty much the same spots. I just don't think it's a good personnel fit.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/lebron-james-kevin-love-kyrie-irving-cavs-offense/

There was a post on Reddit the other day that talked about why Kevin Love struggles.   The premise was that Love needs to operate in the middle 1/3rd of the basketball court to be successful.  But that's also where LeBron and Kyrie operate.  So Love just ends up standing around on the wings. 

You might be right... maybe they can't get all three to work together... but I still think that this delays a potential Love trade.  Blatt's the scapegoat.  They will try to make this work first.

[guava_wrench]

What does this mean for Kevin Love?

Probably good news for Love because Blatt wasn't doing a particularly good job with Love.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Lue is the new head coach.  Lebron has wanted him to be coach for a while.  Kind of interesting since Lue is a Doc Rivers guy.

Is it weird to say that I won't be surprised if he turned out to be good? He has played for good coaches in his career, Phil Jackson, the Van Gundy's...

[Moranis]

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2016/01/lebron_james_was_not_consulted.html#incart_big-photo

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- LeBron James was not consulted on the Cavaliers' decision to fire coach David Blatt, a league source told Cleveland.com.

"He found out with the rest of the team," said the source. "He had no idea." A source said Cavs general manager David Griffin informed James of the move.

The Cavs fired Blatt Friday despite reaching the Finals in his first season and piloting the team to a 30-11 record this season.

James' uneasiness with Blatt as coach last season was well documented, but James never asked the Cavs to make a change at coach, multiple sources said. But James and his camp were also upset in the summer of 2014 that the Cavs hired Blatt, who had no prior NBA experience, before James signed to return to Cleveland.

Also, the team has promoted Blatt's assistant Tyronn Lue, whom James trusts and supports.

After the Cavs were crushed by Golden State Monday, James chose not to criticize Blatt, as he had in the past, and instead pointed to the inexperience in big games of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. And following a win over the Clippers on Thursday, James credited Blatt with demanding the Cavs play at a quicker pace.

None of this is to say James wanted Blatt to continue as coach. He was just never going to demand a move be made. He also wanted to avoid news reports of a disconnect with Blatt, which were common last season, and took great strides in recent days to ensure he didn't contradict Blatt's statements to the media.

In the locker room Thursday, Blatt stopped by James' locker to say good bye. The exchange seemed casual, not final, as the two bid good evening after a convincing win. Who knew if either man was aware this was the last night they'd work together as player and coach.

James was most at odds with Blatt in the first two months of last season, struggling to communicate with him or hide his disdain on the court. Following a blowout loss to Detroit, as James was asked repeatedly to endorse Blatt, he said "He's our coach, who else do we have?" and "I don't pay" the Cavs' bills.

[kevbo]

It's interesting lining up what Windhorst writes versus what Woj tweets here, https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/690644821460045825

Maybe the Cavs didn't consult with LeBron this morning, but his fingerprints are all over it.

[guava_wrench]

Maybe Blatt is not good at coaching.

Honestly, it was a curious choice to begin with...but now,Ty Lue---?
Seems like the players and the lunatics are running things in Clev...
Why wouldn't the owner hire a coach with actual Head Coaching experience in the NBA--?

From day one of retirement, Lue has been on the fast track to a head coaching spot. I'm not surprised to see him land a spot, though I am surprised it is on a "must win now" team.

[Evantime34]

What does this mean for Kevin Love?

It means as soon as they lose to the Warriors or Spurs in the finals you will see a bunch of articles about how he was a bad fit, then he will be dealt.

isnt it more likely that blatt is being fired partially because of his inability to make the most of his three stars ?  Kevin love has been grossly misused since joining that team.  That falls on the coach.  If anything, this makes me think it's far less likely Love will be traded.

I agree that Blatt was fired partially because of his inability to make the most of Love. My opinion is that no coach is going to get the most out of Love, that his failure is a function of personnel not coaching.

LeBron and Kyrie both are isolation scorers that simply doesn't jibe with getting Love the quality looks he deserves. Since LeBron prefers to have the ball in isolation and Lue got the job because he's close with LeBron, I really doubt that the coaching change makes a difference.

Here is an old Grantland article from before Love and LeBron joined forces. The writer indicates that both Love and LeBron prefer shooting from pretty much the same spots. I just don't think it's a good personnel fit.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/lebron-james-kevin-love-kyrie-irving-cavs-offense/

There was a post on Reddit the other day that talked about why Kevin Love struggles.   The premise was that Love needs to operate in the middle 1/3rd of the basketball court to be successful.  But that's also where LeBron and Kyrie operate.  So Love just ends up standing around on the wings. 

You might be right... maybe they can't get all three to work together... but I still think that this delays a potential Love trade.  Blatt's the scapegoat.  They will try to make this work first.

Absolutely. I'd be surprised if they deal Love until the offseason. IF they don't win, he's going to be the scapegoat now that Blatt is gone.

[Donoghus]

This can't possibly be real, right?

Stu Jackson ‏@StuJackson32  11m11 minutes ago
Sources say reasons Blatt  fired-@cavs didn't want to pay his ticket to coach East @NBAAllStar and wanted him to return Coach of Month award

[footey]

I thought they would fire him to grab Thibodeau before he signed with the Nets.

Steven A. Smith says that he expects more moves, include possibly moving Love. I personally feel there is no warmth between Lebron and Love.  The Cavs are very poor running their offense.  They would thrive with a coach like Brad Stevens at the helm. Wonder what kind of coach Lue will be. Seems to lack any experience, but time will tell.

[GreenWarrior]

LeBron James was not consulted before the Cavaliers made the move to dismiss Blatt and was informed of the decision Friday, sources told Windhorst.

Right-!

dead on! it says "the veterans questioned weather blatt could coach at this level". are we really supposed to believe LeBron was not included as part of that "veteran" group? what a joke, but regardless of what's true and what isn't this just furthers my opinion that Lebron is the biggest Fraud of a superstar the NBA has ever seen...and the worst NBA superstar the league has ever had.

[GreenWarrior]

cue the Durant to Cleveland rumors.

[guava_wrench]

Miami was lucky they had a strong personality like Riley as GM. Riley could do the moves he wanted to do. Cleveland has had GMs that seem to panic about surrounding Lebron with talent.