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The Cleveland Cavaliers GM David Griffin held a press conference at Cleveland Clinic Courts explaining his reasons for the firing of Cavs head coach David Blatt. John Kuntz, cleveland.com
John Kuntz, cleveland.com
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on January 22, 2016 at 9:25 PM, updated January 22, 2016 at 9:37 PM
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – Player accountability, mismanaging, a building frustration and the absence of hope led to David Blatt's ouster as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite a 30-11 record, the defending Eastern Conference champs lost belief.
A team that loses faith in the leader on the sidelines is destined to eventually fail. But management recognized it and was forced to make the jaw-dropping decision that ended Blatt's tenure with the organization after an 83-40 record in one and a half seasons.
The record doesn't illustrate the turmoil and animosity that went on behind the scenes and how it ultimately led to Tyronn Lue becoming head coach. It all stemmed from issues from last year which were never quite resolved.
During the first portion of the 2014-15 season, film sessions were a topic of discussion among the players. Blatt was reluctant to criticize star players even when they clearly messed up a play. This became routine. It got so bad that I'm told that Lue finally intervened, stood up and demanded that somebody rewind the footage so that he could get on members of The Big 3.
During team scrimmages, players competed aggressively but bit their tongues as Blatt frequently blew his whistle to call ticky-tack or phantom fouls for his go-to players. One player said sometimes Blatt didn't even have a whistle and would yell at the top of his lungs to stop play and call a foul if one of his stars acted as if he was hit.
It was viewed as a blatant attempt to get in the good graces of his top talent. Blatt's leadership was in question. Players grew tired of this treatment. The locker room started resenting Blatt's handling, or lack thereof, when it came to dealing with his stars.
Word circulated to cleveland.com that Blatt had trouble drawing up plays out of timeouts. He would freeze up and waste precious seconds, one player said. He would even draw up plays for players who weren't in the game, another player said.
In the closeout game of the Eastern Conference Finals, a game the Cavaliers trounced the Atlanta Hawks by 30 to sweep the series; Blatt had signaled for Tristan Thompson to reenter in the closing minutes with the game already wrapped up. This was when Thompson was the team's most valuable big man with Kevin Love out of commission with a dislocated shoulder.
The bench couldn't believe it. They were shocked, as was Thompson, who never questions authority. LeBron James told Blatt to put somebody else in the game, out of concern a key cog might get hurt before The Finals, a league source said. Kendrick Perkins got the nod, and a few minutes later, Brendan Haywood's number was called to finish it out.
This season, Blatt almost didn't make it past 2015. The 29-point road trouncing at the hands of the Damian Lillard-less Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 26 was close to being his next-to-last game. If it wasn't for a unimpressive win over Phoenix two days later, Blatt would have been shown the door the following morning, cleveland.com has learned.
Lue's connection with the players is rock solid, with a reputation for understanding how to manage personalities. He has played with two of the league's biggest personalities -- Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant -- and he's been coached by some of the greats.
Blatt didn't have the necessary relationship with his guys to get players to buy in. Lue is expected to hold players accountable. He's not afraid to give James a piece of his mind. Players from 1 down to 15 will be held responsible.
But this predicament wasn't Blatt's fault. He didn't sign up for this roster. He was brought in to be a teacher and help mold a young Kyrie Irving, a younger Andrew Wiggins and a young, fiery Dion Waiters. He had to adjust on the fly while coaching one of the most talented rosters in the league.
His accomplishments while at the helm shouldn't go unappreciated. He allowed his coaching staff to have bigger roles than what most head coaches would permit. He understood the learning curve he faced and trusted his staff to help him through it.
In the end, his inexperience at the top level of the game was too much to overcome on a team in championship or bust mode. The notion developed that he was holding the team back. Wednesday night in Brooklyn, the Cavaliers didn't act like a team that had just snatched up a nice road win. I'm told the team had a defeated disposition immediately after.
The organization -- especially David Griffin -- knew it was time.
Lue will have only have led the team for 11 games, but will likely coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars in Toronto next month. Timing is everything.
Unfortunately for Blatt, he ran out of time when the team ran out of hope.
1/22/2016 10:07 PM
