If Cavs don't win this year, does Blatt return?

[CavaliersFTW]

You think Blatt is at 'fault' if the Cavs don't win a title this year?

[edrick]

It's only his first year, but trying to call a timeout when they didn't have any remaining... That was potato-head levels of coaching.

[Doranku]

It's only his first year, but trying to call a timeout when they didn't have any remaining... That was potato-head levels of coaching.

It would be COMPLETELY different if, you know, the officials actually did their job and assessed the Cavaliers the penalty for Blatt embarrassingly calling a timeout that they didn't have.

The Cavs might have lost the series since they probably would have gone down 3-1 and Blatt would be burned at the stake in downtown Cleveland.

Dude is the luckiest guy alive.

[lilteapot]

Who's at fault for the underwhelming regular season? Him or the team?


If he gets replaced, who should the replacement be?

Time is at fault for their "underwhelming" regular season. You people want things to work since day 1 without giving it any time.

There is no reason for him not to come back unless he does some catastrophically stupid shit in the next round that costs them games and the series. He has surpassed my expectations honestly.

[SaltyMeatballs]

In the east.

... Making the conference finals regardless of it being in the East or West is still impressive. I don't like LeBron, but give credit where its due. He's carried the Cavs on his shoulders with an injured Kyrie and no Kevin Love. If you ask me, that's pretty freaking awesome.

[SaltyMeatballs]

No shit Blatt will return. He's done a good job with the Cavs and he could possibly make the NBA Finals as a rookie coach with his 2nd and 3rd best players being injured/out for the playoffs. Why the hell would he not return even if Cavs don't win the title?

[I<3NBA]

Blatt is pretty damn good. You just have to look at Mark Jackson and the warriors to see that a stacked squad is no guarantee of playoff success. A bad coach will underachieve with a good team (Mark Jackson) while a good coach will overachieve with a bad team (see Celtics).
Love and Irving's injuries have just proven how good of a coach Blatt is. They were pretty much on a roll when the season ended. To adjust that quickly on the loss of Love speaks a lot of Blatt's coaching ability.
We'll see how good he really is when he goes against Bud.

[SpanishACB]

I don't get that.

People truly expected all these pieces that didn't quite fit to come together and immediately start winning at a 60-win clip? When LeBron was clearly worn down, out of shape and hurt to start the season? And when they lost their only real center 20 games into the season?

Once LeBron got himself right, they traded for an actual center and once the roster began making more sense, they went on a pretty amazing run.

January 15th was the first time that all of the right pieces and a healthy LeBron took the floor together. From that point to the end of the season, they went 34-9, including 14-1 against the Western Conference. So, if the Mozgov, Shumpert, Smith trade would have happened over the summer instead of halfway through, it's reasonable to assume they would have pushed 60 wins, since that was their pace from the trade onward.

I'm not sure how that can be seen as underperformed, unless your expectations were crazy to begin with.

that pace thing is pretty silly

you can take any team on a good streak, even memphis at the begining of the season, then see who got injured when they stopped winning and claim they were on to a 60 win pace thanks to that player, regardless of who he is

[SpanishACB]

lol that doesn't even make sense, if he's not better than Spo at the highest level which is the NBA, then he's not a better coach in general

the NBA is the best league but it most definitely isn't where you see the best coaching.

Mainly because coaches don't have the liberty they have in other basketball leagues and their decisions are heavily influenced by third party stuff like TV ratings, starters/bench share of minutes set in stone etc...

surely enough Pop would rank top in any coach ranking in any league in the world, but how many coaches actually have Pop's liberty and freedom in decision rating? Guy has been fined for coaching (resting players) for god's sake

there's even cultural things that are indeed pretty silly. Like if you're winning by 3, and there's one possession left, why not intentionally foul?

[sbw19]

[COLOR=Teal]Barring a blatant coaching mistake that costs Cavs the CF and gets LeBron and fans mad, I don't see that happening (firing him.) He deserves another crack at it if they don't win.
[/COLOR]

[warriorfan]

dude looks creepy

[Eric Cartman]

Keep in mind that Lebron has made Mike Brown and that filipino midget look like elite coaches.

[edrick]

Lebron is pretty damn good. You just have to look at Mark Jackson and the warriors to see that a stacked squad is no guarantee of playoff success. A bad coach will underachieve with a good team (Mark Jackson) while a good coach will overachieve with a bad team (see Celtics).
Love and Irving's injuries have just proven how good of a coach Lebron is. They were pretty much on a roll when the season ended. To adjust that quickly on the loss of Love speaks a lot of Lebron's coaching ability.
We'll see how good he really is when he goes against Bud.

Fixed that for you.

[Derka]

Hiring the guy for one year then firing him after getting to the Conference Finals, probably the NBA Finals, with a banged-up lineup strikes me as the height of stupidity.

[Solefade]

You think Blatt is at 'fault' if the Cavs don't win a title this year?

no but similar to the thunder situation, there are better coaching options out there, someone more seasoned and experienced