David Blatt Finding His Stride as Cleveland Cavaliers' Coach
After winning 19 of their previous 23 games, plenty of praise has been spread around the Cleveland Cavaliers.
A healthy LeBron James. Trades for Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith. A new devotion to the defensive end.
One name continually left out of all this recognition, however, has been Cavs head coach David Blatt.
Many were quick to blame Blatt when Cleveland began the season just 19-20. He wasn't ready for the NBA. His European style would never work here. There was even a report of assistant coaches calling timeouts behind his back (literally), and that guys openly complained to opposing players and personnel about Blatt.
The criticism was there, but was it justified?
After all, no team in the NBA has been hotter over the past seven weeks. The Cavaliers rank among the league's best squads in offense and defense over that time.
While James and the new trio of players have been huge, Blatt deserves a large part of the credit as well.
Big Decisions Paying Off
While it may not be the reason behind Cleveland's strong play, a canceled practice by Blatt in January clearly made an impact on his team.
Following a disappointing 107-100 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 13, the Cavaliers boarded a bus headed toward the campus of UCLA for practice. A normal five-minute ride turned into 20, leaving players a bit confused as to what was going on.
As it turned out, Blatt had decided to skip practice in lieu of a bowling trip, a questionable decision for a team that had lost nine of its last 10 games.
Forgetting the X's and O's, substitution patterns and play calls, taking an afternoon to go bowling may be Blatt's best move to date.
As any good coach would do, he possessed a feel for what the Cavaliers truly needed: a break.
"I think it was a surprise for most guys," Kevin Love told Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "It just helped so much. We all needed a break from it all."
The Cavs went on to win their next 12 games, beating teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers (twice).
Blatt made the bold decision of inserting two of his new players, Mozgov and Smith, into the starting lineup after just one game with the team.
His moves have since paid off.
Mozgov is averaging 10.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and shooting 59.4 percent in 24 games as a starter. Smith has become the off-ball shooting guard the Cavaliers needed, putting up 12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals a night.
Blatt was known for his high-octane offense at Maccabi, with an emphasis on ball movement and finding the open man.
Except for the occasional isolation ball, the offense has been nearly unstoppable as of late.
Since the bowling trip, the Cavaliers own the Association's best offensive rating (111.1) and second-highest scoring output (107.2 points per game, via NBA.com).
Part of this is due to an upgraded roster and time spent together, but Blatt has clearly left his mark as well. His offenses have always relied on an abundance of outside shooting, spacing the floor for ball-handlers to drive the lane.
Over these past seven weeks, Cleveland is third in three-point makes (11.1), second in attempts (30.5) and fifth in success (36.3 percent). In total, 31 percent of the Cavs' offense is coming via the three-ball, the third-highest mark in the league (via NBA.com).
Blatt is finally getting his point across with the offense, with spectacular results to show.
Players Responding
Remember earlier in the season when James was pushed and prodded to give Blatt a glowing endorsement?
He responded with anything but, uttering phrases such as, "Listen man, I don't pay no bills around here. I play," and, "He's our coach, I mean, what other coach do we have?" via Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
Now, James' tone has changed, as he recently told Hillel Kuttler of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
"I respect him as a coach, he respects me as a leader of this team and we have some good chemistry right now. We’re going to continue to grow for the betterment of the team. It’s just like for a rookie NBA player. Guys get better, they know the game, they start to learn it more and more, they know how to approach it every day. This is not an easy situation for him. He wasn’t hired with this roster, but I don’t think he’s shied away from it. He knows the game, and I’m happy to have him at the helm.
"
Sound a bit more encouraging?
James may be the most influential voice in the locker room, but he isn't the only one singing Blatt's praises lately, either.
Smith, whom Blatt has had nothing but glowing things to say about, returned the favor for his coach, via Kuttler:
"He’s a player’s coach. He’s very into the guys, he cares about his team, he cares about the players off the court just as well as on the court. That’s what you need. I noticed that right away. My first conversation, he asked how I was doing – not so much as a basketball player but as a person. That’s a great quality.
"
Smith's endorsement carries significant weight as well, given that he used to intentionally tick off coaches in the past.
Another one of Blatt's supporters is the only Cavalier who's actually played under him before.
Mozgov, he of the 2012 Russian Olympic team coached by Blatt, knows what kind of an adjustment it is coming from Europe to the NBA.
"The NBA is so different than overseas [basketball], and he’s doing a good job," Mozgov told Kuttler. "The coach knows me, he knows how to use players the right way."
A Long Journey Paying Off
Blatt came to Cleveland following three decades of success in six European countries as a player and coach. That included five national titles at his most recent stop, Israeli basketball power Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The Cavaliers weren't his first job offer in the NBA, however.
Before general manager David Griffin contacted him, the Golden State Warriors' new head man, Steve Kerr, wanted Blatt to join his staff.
Kerr met with Blatt last summer in Los Angeles, looking for an offensive-minded assistant. Kerr, a former player and general manager in the NBA, was about to enter his rookie season as a head coach. For Blatt, making the overseas jump as a rookie head coach himself seemed like it may be too much.
While he considered joining Kerr and easing into the league, Blatt feels he made the right decision by joining Cleveland, telling Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
"Once I had the opportunity to come to the Cavaliers I really didn't feel any regret. It's really through the good graces of Steve Kerr and the Golden State staff that I had the opportunity to interview for the job and they were willing to let me follow this path. I still hold a really good feeling of appreciation for the way they handled that situation. It's turned out pretty good for both sides.
"
While no one is going to feel bad for Blatt given the talent he has to work with, wins in the Association don't come easy. Lest we forget, Griffin hired him to coach a team led by Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins. Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett and Tyler Zeller would hopefully be contributing as well.
Now, it's completely different coaching a developing team with young players rather than a championship contender. Expectations are lower, more time is automatically given to succeed and a coach's leash is a little longer.
If given a roster with the NBA's best player and two more All-Stars about to enter their prime, winning is a must. Blatt has accepted that pressure without blinking an eye. He's won everywhere across Europe, albeit with very different rosters.
Following that sub-.500 start to the season, Blatt's Cavaliers have won 82.6 percent of their games, best in the NBA.
"I’ve gone through my own learning curve that I’ve obviously worked through," Blatt told Kuttler of the JTA. "Two-thirds through the regular season I’ve become a lot more comfortable, and a lot more cognizant of the things that are necessary to make a winning situation on an NBA team."
What most don't realize about Blatt is that his situation is unlike any other in the league.
Most coaches can go home at night to their families, have dinner and catch up. At the very least, they can hop on a quick flight on the occasional off day.
For Blatt, it's a little trickier.
When he made the nearly 10,000-mile trip from Israel to Cleveland, he did so alone, choosing not to uproot his wife and four children. Blatt flew home during the All-Star break, but his family has not gotten the chance to visit Ohio yet.
As Blatt told Zach Lowe of Grantland last July, "Most coaches will tell you coaching is a lonely and tough business. … That’s the profession I’ve chosen."
Coaching in the NBA is certainly a tireless, grueling and never-ending job. Given the challenges that Blatt has been presented with both on and off the court, he's certainly not getting the credit he deserves.
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010.
All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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