David Blatt’s Camp Thinks Cavs Firing Was ‘1000 Percent LeBron’

Thibodeau, who is primarily known as a defensive-minded coach, would have been a good fit for a Cavaliers squad already known for their offense with the presence of the James, Irving and Love.

It took just one game as the new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for Tyronn Lue to keep to his word of keeping Cavs players accountable for their performance on the court.

The Cleveland Cavaliers fired Israeli-American head coach David Blatt, who led the team to the NBA Finals last season and to the best record in the Eastern Conference midway through this one.

Lue holds close ties with LeBron James, although Griffin made it clear that the Cavs star had nothing to do with Blatt’s firing. The Cavs top the league in points per play in transition but average only 13.1 transitions per game, per ESPN Stats & Info (h/t McMenamin).

“Blatt’s a heck of a coach and is doing a heck of a job”, Rivers said Friday night.

“All of us have to do something different as far as our pace and our conditioning because if he [Lue] wants us to play faster and you want to be out on the floor you can’t get exhausted”.

“We’re not in good enough shape to play the style we want to play”, Lue told reporters after Saturday’s loss to Chicago. “We’ve got to change”.

Lue didn’t make much of a difference in his coaching debut for Cleveland as Pau Gasol scored 25 points, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 96-83 win over the Cavaliers on Saturday night.

“When you leave a game saying defence was a problem, more often than your offence, then you should start worrying”. We might never know the truth, but the widespread belief clearly is that James influenced the organization in some way, shape or form.

Four-time MVP LeBron James also said it concerned him, which shouldn’t be the case for a squad that advanced to the NBA Finals in June.

Before Saturday’s loss to the Bulls (and his first game as head coach), Lue sounded off on the young guys finding a better way of balancing their personal brand and earning potential, and playing team ball to maximize wins.

“I’m not somebody who believes we don’t talk to the family before we make changes”, Griffin said.

Meanwhile, Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg has revealed the Taj Gibson is nursing a left eye injury, but he is available and will play, wearing a protective goggles, against the Cavaliers tonight. “I thought we did that”.

“But if they wouldn’t let him do it, I think it’s deserving that our coaching staff should be able to do it”. I think that’s the disconnect. Lin and Walker were a combined 19 for 19 from the free-throw line.