OT: Cavs fire Blatt

[nomar]

Lue signs 3-year contract before Blatt can pack up this things. I'm sure Lue was shocked--SHOCKED--to hear Blatt had been fired.

The Cavs are trying to convince people that this was Griffin's decision and that James had no idea. Next you're going to tell me Love and James are a good fit together.

 

[intlzncster]

Lue signs 3-year contract before Blatt can pack up this things. I'm sure Lue was shocked--SHOCKED--to hear Blatt had been fired.

The Cavs are trying to convince people that this was Griffin's decision and that James had no idea. Next you're going to tell me Love and James are a good fit together.

Cavs front office has bundled a few things in the past few years. Jettisoning Wiggins for Kevin Love was, in retrospect, a bad move. They were betting on a win now with an aging LeBron, and it's been a tough road. Love never quite struck me as the guy, despite his numbers. Always came back to his D for me. Keeping Wiggins may have allowed them to bridge the Now and the Future. Tough thing to do in the NBA.

RE Blatt: On the one hand, I'm for keeping a coach at least 3 years before you can see what they are made of, on the other, this was an unusual situation. I'm surprised he wasn't pitched when LeBron basically b!tch slapped him around that first season. You almost have to there? Just admit you are letting LeBron run things and go from there.

And throw in a questionable first round pick or two .

All that said, they still could win the whole thing this year, so who knows?

 

[mjmoney23]

Lebron is crying because his hand picked team is underperforming. I have no sympathy for him. Go ahead lebun, blame the coach for what you created.

 

[Stainmaster]

Come on Mickey P, make a good basketball decision for once. GET BLATT TO BROOKLYN.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Lebron is crying because his hand picked team is underperforming. I have no sympathy for him. Go ahead lebun, blame the coach for what you created.

The team with the best record in the east is underperforming? Yeah the Warriors kicked their, but who hasn't the Warriors blown out?(except Denver lol)

 

[intlzncster]

The team with the best record in the east is underperforming?

Apparently not good enough for cavs management. Lol

 

[mauconnfan]

Should have read:

Lebron Fires Blatt

 

[mjmoney23]

The team with the best record in the east is underperforming? Yeah the Warriors kicked their, but who hasn't the Warriors blown out?(except Denver lol)

I would think they should be happy with that record considering last year at this point they were much worse. Lebum is a joke. He might even be a worse GM than MJ!

 

[superjohn]

Stephen A. Smith is saying he doesn't think Lebron was consulted with at all on the decision, what a load of bullcr~p. I get the sense that Tyronn Lue is a bit shady sidling up to the players and positioning himself for this. Blatt never had a chance but I think it's the best thing for his coaching future, the team isn't going to win it this year and he took them to the finals with an injured team in his one season. I don't think Lebron is a bad guy but I really don't like how he handpicks his dream teams and when things aren't going great he gets the coach canned and hand picks his guy.

 

[TasteofUConn]

1. Not sure Blatt is a great coach. Guy hasn't done a thing to suggest that to me.
2. Not sure how much LeBron factored in. Could be a lot, could be not so much. Hard to know from the outside.
3. To the extent that LeBron is playing GM and got him canned, he's going to get what he deserves, probably, which is failing to win a title.
4. It always amazes me how polarizing LBJ is. I didn't like the guy when he was doing the "decision" nonsense in Miami, but after that, he seems like a decent guy, and he's the best BBall player I've ever seen (all around game, not arguing career here). When you think about how famous he's been since he was a young teenager, he has handled the fame fairly decently.
5. The measure of Blatt will be if he makes it with any other team. Got a buck says he boots back to EU.
6. Don't agree that Wiggins would have been good to keep, necessarily. Think we need at least this year to see how the Love thing plays out. People are so impatient.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I would think they should be happy with that record considering last year at this point they were much worse. Lebum is a joke. He might even be a worse GM than MJ!

I'd take the number one seed anywhere. Any conference/playoff; NBA,NFL,college anything, you name it. Lebron hasn't failed at anything, his team is top 3 in the NBA right now, that's success.

 

[traitor71]

The idea that LeBron wasn't consulted is laughable. He went back to Cleveland so he could run things, something that was never going to happen in Miami, so it's a pretty safe bet that he knew about this.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

1. Not sure Blatt is a great coach. Guy hasn't done a thing to suggest that to me.
2. Not sure how much LeBron factored in. Could be a lot, could be not so much. Hard to know from the outside.
3. To the extent that LeBron is playing GM and got him canned, he's going to get what he deserves, probably, which is failing to win a title.
4. It always amazes me how polarizing LBJ is. I didn't like the guy when he was doing the "decision" nonsense in Miami, but after that, he seems like a decent guy, and he's the best BBall player I've ever seen (all around game, not arguing career here). When you think about how famous he's been since he was a young teenager, he has handled the fame fairly decently.
5. The measure of Blatt will be if he makes it with any other team. Got a buck says he boots back to EU.
6. Don't agree that Wiggins would have been good to keep, necessarily. Think we need at least this year to see how the Love thing plays out. People are so impatient.

Yeah I wonder how much Lebron had to do with it. Real hard to say.

First place teams always fire the coach. No way this was lebron a decision....

 

[TasteofUConn]

The notion that "the Cavs were in 1st place" so it's gotta be LeBron who got Blatt fired because 1st place teams don't fire their coaches misses the bigger picture, which is that the Cavs didn't hire Blatt to be in 1st place in the East in January. The hired him to win one or more championships. Given that the GSWs just came into Cleveland and monkey-hammered the Cavs, and also beat them in GS, is it such a stretch to believe that the GM/Owner didn't think Blatt was getting it done?

Further, let's all recall the playoffs last year and how LeBron carried 4 backups into the finals. Does anybody disagree that pretty much any coach in the NBA right now could have coached the Cavs to the 1st place spot with LeBron, Irving, Thompson, and Love on the team?

LeBron hate runs deep.

On the other side of the spectrum, Curry posted a triple double tonight. Dude's ascension has been the most amazing I've ever seen in sports.

 

[progrocks]

The notion that "the Cavs were in 1st place" so it's gotta be LeBron who got Blatt fired because 1st place teams don't fire their coaches misses the bigger picture, which is that the Cavs didn't hire Blatt to be in 1st place in the East in January. The hired him to win one or more championships.

They hired him to develop KI and Wiggins. They didnt hire him to win championships cause they didnt know Lebron was going to be there.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Cavs front office has bundled a few things in the past few years. Jettisoning Wiggins for Kevin Love was, in retrospect, a bad move.

I and maybe a handful of others said its was a bad move at the time and its clearly turned out that way. The sad part about this is Lebron is problably going to be hitting the road again pretty soon especially if things keep going he way they are. I fully expect Love to be moved sooner or later .

 

[champs99and04]

Mike Brown has to be involved in this somehow.

 

[intlzncster]

Mike Brown has to be involved in this somehow.

He is the eternal curse of the franchise. It is known.

/s

 

[TasteofUConn]

They didnt hire him to win championships cause they didnt know Lebron was going to be there.

True, but it doesn't matter. The job description changed - internal restructuring, as it were. He wasn't getting the job done, and he got the axe. Several inside sources saying that Blatt never connected with the players. Hard to see that coming, given that his prior experience was with Israeli and Russian players.

 

[traitor71]

They hired him to develop KI and Wiggins. They didnt hire him to win championships cause they didnt know Lebron was going to be there.

I would argue that they did know. Lebron's wife tweeting about returning home was looked at as her talking about going back during the off season, but it seems clear that Bron had made his decision to go back well in advance of actually doing it. The guy came to Miami to win and get that monkey off his back, but he was never going to be the focal point of this organization and this city, and I think that is important to him.

 

[gtcam]

LeBron and Kobe, Kobe and LeBron
Both guys are talented BUT many before them were also and they didn't try to run the team
I blame the ownership for allowing them to do so
I don't care how great anyone thinks these guys are there is still a hierarchy needed in every business venture
LeBron is a great player but I really have no respect for him - he scowls at his teammates too much and dare he ever commit a foul - just my opinion
I honestly feel that LeBron will own a team in his future and can only wish he gets stuck with someone who mirrors his personality traits

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Lebron James is not the first superstar to exert influence over the organization that employs him. You think Jordan or Magic didn't have a hand in anything the Bulls or Lakers were doing? Kobe and Lebron are no different.

It's actually laugh out loud funny to me that Lebron would have the ba lls to express "surprise" at Blatt's firing, as if they'd do anything without consulting him.

 

[gtcam]

I would argue that they did know. Lebron's wife tweeting about returning home was looked at as her talking about going back during the off season, but it seems clear that Bron had made his decision to go back well in advance of actually doing it. The guy came to Miami to win and get that monkey off his back, but he was never going to be the focal point of this organization and this city, and I think that is important to him.

The situation in Miami was simple - LeBron was not going to be able to screw with Pat R who gave his blessing to his coach
Once LeBron saw that he was not going to run the team he jumped the train
I also think D Wade saw it as his team and was strong enough to stare down LeBron
Kobe tried to get to Pat R but couldn't and obviously LeBron couldn't either

 

[intlzncster]

It's actually laugh out loud funny to me that Lebron would have the ba lls to express "surprise" at Blatt's firing, as if they'd do anything without consulting him.

I don't know man, I didn't bat an eye when said that. Just LeBron doing LeBron things.

 

[tzznandrew]

Magic helped get Paul Westhead fired in 1982, who had actually won a title as a coach.
Jordan--maybe not personally but probably--got Doug Collins fired. He may not have said "Fire Him!" but Jordan's rocky relationship with Collins was the death knell.

Those are just two off the top of my head.

So these sorts of things aren't really new.