David Blatt Deserves More Credit For Cavaliers Success
INDEPENDENCE, OH – JUNE 25: David Blatt addresses the media as he is named Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers at a press conference at The Cleveland Clinic Courts on June 25, 2014 in Independence, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been under scrutiny of the media since LeBron decided to come home. It also has been enlarged because of rookie head coach David Blatt. The media has heavily attacked Blatt at some points because of his coaching decisions and personnel moves he has made. The bulk of this mass opinion has been viewed through the lens of Blatt’s inexperience in the NBA, even though Blatt is basketball mastermind and has plenty of experience.
Blatt has been in the coaching business since 1993, when he became an assistant coach with Hapoel Galil Elyon in Israel. Blatt coached eight different teams before he was hired by the Cavaliers, two of those coaching gigs being national teams for Israel and Russia, respectively.
Blatt has been awarded a coach of the year award six different times in the various leagues he has coached in. He has lead 11 different teams to a championship in various European leagues. 11… let that number sink in… 11.
Blatt knows what it takes to win a championship because he has done it 11 times as a coach in Europe. I don’t understand why people don’t like Blatt’s resumé. He knows how to get it done, and he has done it multiple times with multiple teams.
Many people say that Blatt deserves no credit because he has the best player in the world in LeBron James. Well, lets look at some of “ the best coaches of all time” and see who they had on their rosters.
Pat Riley won five NBA championships, four with the Lakers and one with the Heat. Who did Riley have on the Lakers, you might ask? Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, of course. These three players are three of the best players in NBA history, yet no one questions the legitimacy of coach Riley’s legacy.
Phil Jackson is an 11 time NBA champion with the Bulls and Lakers. Who did Jackson have on his Bulls and Lakers teams? Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal. Jackson coached arguably the greatest player of all time in Chicago, and everyone holds him as the best coach of all time because of how many championships he won. However, no one scrutinizes him for doing nothing because Jordan did everything for the Bulls championship teams.
Is it not the exact same situation in Cleveland with Blatt and James? Then why on earth are people taking anything away from Blatt. Blatt deserves the same amount of praise and blame for what the Cavaliers do as these previous coaches have received. The coaches before Blatt couldn’t have won all of their titles without the hall of fame players that they coached.
I realize that Blatt has zero NBA experience, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he is doing. Blatt is a brilliant basketball mastermind, and he deserves some credit for where this Cavaliers team is and where they are going.
Caleb On Sports 
Reblogged this on The Game Day Report.
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I agree with you in that there is no reason to believe, really, that Blatt doesn’t know what he’s doing. However, I think the media and the fans have a point when they say…”But how much credit can we really give him?” Who’s honestly in charge of the team here? Same deal with Spoelstra in South Beach.
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I do agree that LeBron is at the helm of all of this, but without Blatt there, this team couldn’t do what they do because he takes care of everything else that LeBron doesn’t. It is almost like they are co-coaches, but Blatt still deserves credit for this teams success. It is just how much, and I am not sure how much he deserves. I just know he deserves something.
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if thats the case then no coach deserves credit. not phil jackson who had jordan pippen kobe and shaq and not pat riley who had magic and kareem
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