David Blatt's firing?

[calitennis127]

What does everyone think of this? At first, I was as bothered by it as everyone else, given Blatt's record, but given some of the comments I heard Lue make in his press conferences yesterday, I think this may have been for the better. Cleveland right now is in a championship-or-bust mode.

(I am sure that Moxie and Federberg have strong opinions on this, given how in tune with African-American culture they are. Ahem.)

 

 

[DarthFed]

Late to the party on this one. I was surprised by it but I don't think it matters in the end. They are in championship or bust mode as you said and it will be bust because they have no prayer vs. Golden State or San Antonio in a 7 game series. Zero, zilch, nada.

Lebron is still a beast but with all the mileage he is not as explosive as before. He is going to have to figure out his jump shot if he wants to win another ring or two. His jumper was never great but it improved a lot in Miami and he even shot 40% from 3's one of those seasons. It has regressed the past couple years maybe due to the drop in athleticism. No doubt that can affect his shot especially as people can play up on him more at the perimeter.

 

[Federberg]

I don't know much about the Cavs. Are you suggesting that his firing is a race issue? I hope you have some justification for that mate. Otherwise it just sounds yet again that you have an issue with African Americans. Yes yes we all know that some of your best friends are black. But if this is something to do with the fact that Lebron is an influential member of the team, then unless you are making the case that he has done something along racial lines, it's you conflating any action involving an African American with the entire culture that's the issue

 

[calitennis127]

I don't know much about the Cavs. Are you suggesting that his firing is a race issue? Yes yes we all know that some of your best friends are black. But if this is something to do with the fact that Lebron is an influential member of the team, then unless you are making the case that he has done something along racial lines, it's you conflating any action involving an African American with the entire culture that's the issue

Federberg, my barb toward you and Moxie had nothing to do with any of the reasons why Blatt may have been fired. It had to do with you and Moxie not knowing much about the NBA or following it, which President Obama himself has referred to as "integral to African-American culture". I am frankly surprised that you even know who David Blatt is or that you commented on this NBA-related thread. Kudos to you for doing so. It is apparent to me that you and Moxie have had very little interactions with American blacks, particularly black males, and it would help you to watch the NBA a bit more.

And no, I do not think that Blatt was fired for racial reasons. He did not connect well with his players for a variety of reasons and they did not respect him.

 

[calitennis127]

Late to the party on this one. I was surprised by it but I don't think it matters in the end. They are in championship or bust mode as you said and it will be bust because they have no prayer vs. Golden State or San Antonio in a 7 game series. Zero, zilch, nada.

Lebron is still a beast but with all the mileage he is not as explosive as before. He is going to have to figure out his jump shot if he wants to win another ring or two. His jumper was never great but it improved a lot in Miami and he even shot 40% from 3's one of those seasons. It has regressed the past couple years maybe due to the drop in athleticism. No doubt that can affect his shot especially as people can play up on him more at the perimeter.

I actually think the Cavs have a very good chance of beating both Golden State and San Antonio, but more so Golden State. Irving always has good games against the Spurs and his presence would make a difference against Golden State in a Finals rematch. I also would hope that LeBron would be more willing to share the ball in the Finals this time around and, especially, to get JR going. JR is very capable of making a serious difference and hopefully LeBron would allow him to shine this time around in the Finals. He refused to pass to him last year and it cost the team. I also think that JR would be more mentally prepared for the Finals in a second go-round.

As for LeBron's shooting, you are correct, unfortunately. His outside shooting in the Chicago series last year was especially dismal.

 

[Federberg]

Federberg, my barb toward you and Moxie had nothing to do with any of the reasons why Blatt may have been fired. It had to do with you and Moxie not knowing much about the NBA or following it, which President Obama himself has referred to as "integral to African-American culture". I am frankly surprised that you even know who David Blatt is or that you commented on this NBA-related thread. Kudos to you for doing so. It is apparent to me that you and Moxie have had very little interactions with American blacks, particularly black males, and it would help you to watch the NBA a bit more.

And no, I do not think that Blatt was fired for racial reasons. He did not connect well with his players for a variety of reasons and they did not respect him.

That's a big relief.

 

[DarthFed]

I actually think the Cavs have a very good chance of beating both Golden State and San Antonio, but more so Golden State. Irving always has good games against the Spurs and his presence would make a difference against Golden State in a Finals rematch. I also would hope that LeBron would be more willing to share the ball in the Finals this time around and, especially, to get JR going. JR is very capable of making a serious difference and hopefully LeBron would allow him to shine this time around in the Finals. He refused to pass to him last year and it cost the team. I also think that JR would be more mentally prepared for the Finals in a second go-round.

As for LeBron's shooting, you are correct, unfortunately. His outside shooting in the Chicago series last year was especially dismal.

The Cavs' chances are a few percent better than mine. They would need Lebron to go nuts and that won't happen against San Antonio with his loss of athleticism going up against Leonard. Against Golden State he'd need to go off a lot more efficiently than he did last year and even that likely wouldn't be enough.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Honestly can't see the Cavs beating GSW or the Spurs. As far as Blatt's firing, I wasn't that outraged. Something clearly wasn't clicking since day 1, and Lebron clearly runs that team (although not very well, based on current evidence).

 

[calitennis127]

The Cavs' chances are a few percent better than mine. They would need Lebron to go nuts and that won't happen against San Antonio with his loss of athleticism going up against Leonard. Against Golden State he'd need to go off a lot more efficiently than he did last year and even that likely wouldn't be enough.

The Cavs' chances against San Antonio are lessened by Popovich's shrewd gameplanning against LeBron. That said, Cleveland does have some offensive firepower and Irving in particular can do whatever he wants against them, as he showed last year when he dropped 59 on them.

I think Golden State's run is actually a joke and a reflection of how poor the quality of play in the NBA has become. I agreed with Oscar Robertson that these teams nowadays do not know how to play defense. Curry is not even a great athlete and he is still able to get his shot off at will. It was nice to see that at least Popovich knows how to defend him. Last Saturday he had his guys running out at him and forcing him to be a driver. Guarding Curry really isn't as difficult as these teams are making it seem. Hell, even Dellavodova owned him for the first three games of the Finals last year.