Blatt on the hot-seat? Sources hint divide between coach and team

[yeaaaman]

Interesting. How long do you guys see him lasting or is this going to be blown over and smoothed out with some wins? It wouldn't look good to get rid of a first year coach on what was said to be "not an easy process" or something like that by Lebron.

There is a growing level of worry within the Cleveland Cavaliers' organization about first-year coach David Blatt and his ability to reach this team, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that there is rising concern in team circles about the level of response Blatt is getting on the floor, with Blatt himself acknowledging that the Cavaliers "lost our energy and we lost our competitiveness" in Sunday night's embarrassing home loss to Detroit.

The Cavs would naturally prefer not to be forced into making an evaluation of their new coach just 30 games into Blatt's NBA career, cognizant of the fact that the job has quickly evolved into a much different job -- after LeBron James stunningly decided in July to return to his home-state team in free agency -- than it was when Blatt was hired away from Israeli power Maccabi Tel-Aviv in June with no NBA experience.

But the Cavs' effort level, especially defensively, is eroding noticeably, raising the volume on questions about just how much the locker room is listening to the 55-year-old Boston native, who has enjoyed tremendous success internationally but still began this season as a relative unknown to NBA players...

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12...-blatt-sources

[Haymaker]

Cavs should stay put. They have a winning record. It's not gonna be easy in the first season. They need to gel and create an identity and it takes time.

[PJR]

Bran bout to fire Blatt

[plowking]

Bron is a c*nt who wants things his own way, and for the people around him to be the ones he chooses. There is a damn good reason he left Miami and went back to Cleveland, and it is because they let him do whatever the hell he wants. This dude won a few championships and figures he can go back to doing what he was doing in Cleveland prior, running the show, calling all the shots and win. Hope the Cavs stay put and don't give in, they'll be better off for it. Maybe Bron will finally realize his way isn't the way and you need great management and a great team off the court to put it together too. Or better yet, he complains and comes back to Miami, because he figures he was winning there, so why not. :)

[L.Kizzle]

If they're hovering around .500 by the middle of next month, he goes.

[STATUTORY]

we all know that Bran wanted out of Heat cause Pat didn't allow him and his cronies to run the organization the way they did at cleveland. Looks like he's back to his old act

already sabotaged the orgs future by trading wiggins for Love.

[BigTicket]

If they're hovering around .500 by the middle of next month, he goes.

Obviously I hope not, but it could happen since the Cavs have a tough stretch coming up, with 8 of the next 12 games against playoff teams, including a 5 game western conference road trip.

[L.Kizzle]

Obviously I hope not, but it could happen since the Cavs have a tough stretch coming up, with 8 of the next 12 games against playoff teams, including a 5 game western conference road trip.

Especially if they stay at the 5th spot, or the Heat make a move once Bosh gets back.

It's 25 games until the All-Star break. If they go 15-10, they'd still be 33-22 right at the All-Star break.

Is that good enough?

[DMAVS41]

Lebron...just hilarious...Love and Kyrie in their primes...and the coach is on the hot seat less than half a season in...in year 1

Playing in a joke conference. Lebron leadership?

[HOoopCityJones]

Feel sorry for Blatt.

He could've been coaching budding stars in Bennett and Wiggins.

[Milbuck]

https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/sta...15890250346497

Zach Lowe
‏@ZachLowe_NBA

Just be warned: Kevin Love is almost surely next on the Cavs scapegoat flow chart. The rumblings are coming.

[HOoopCityJones]

Next? They started on Love the moment the Cavs started to struggle.

[chocolatethunder]

Lebron...just hilarious...Love and Kyrie in their primes...and the coach is on the hot seat less than half a season in...in year 1

Playing in a joke conference. Lebron leadership?

I'm no Lebron fan but if you think that Kyrie Irving plays winning basketball then you must be blind.

[D-Wait]

Feel sorry for Blatt.

He could've been coaching budding stars in Bennett and Wiggins.

[Heavincent]

Their defensive isn't garbage because a lack of effort, it's garbage because most of the players are inherently bad defenders. You want Kevin Love and Tristian Thompson to be rim protectors all of the sudden? Or Kyrie Irvng to channel his inner Gary Payton?

But yeah, lets just blame the coach even though they have clear holes in the roster that many people (including myself) pointed out before the season started.