National Basketball Association roundup: Lue loses in coaching debut for Cavs

Lue addressed the media on Saturday, saying that despite a 30-11 record, the defending Eastern Conference champs lost belief in themselves after this week’s blowout loss to the Warriors.

General manager David Griffin cited “a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision”, regarding the firing.

“We’re just a team that we’re a bit fragile at times”, James said following Saturday’s shootaround, “and we’re still learning each other”. “I think early, we wanted to push it, we wanted to open the floor and I think we came out and did that and then I think we just dropped off the map”, Lue said. Try to get up and down the court before the defense is set on us.

James was told of Blatt’s firing during a meeting Friday with Griffin and his teammates.

It isn’t often that the coach of a first-placed team is fired mid-season, but that’s what happened to David Blatt after the Cleveland Cavaliers sent the second year coach packing on Friday.

“For me, I can’t get caught up and anxious about what other people are thinking”, James said.

“The only thing I can worry about is how I can continue to get these guys prepared and get them playing better basketball because we know we can much be better”. Cleveland fans actually booed the team during its 96-83 loss to the Chicago Bulls in Lue’s debut yesterday. “But if they wouldn’t let him do it, I think it’s deserving our coaching staff should be able to do it”. “He’s still the coach and I’m underneath him”. I guess I consider this a big game and in a big game, we haven’t been able to make shots. I think it’s a lot of coaches and players that’s close in this league.

James and his camp had reportedly been gunning for Blatt to be fired since last season and “compromised” with Tyronn Lue’s hiring as they wanted former Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson.

“I talked to Bron”.

James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, is the face of the franchise and widely viewed as a key factor in any coaching decisions made by the team. He argued that his team deserved more credit than it was getting and said he was doing so because “it’s about my guys”. He appeared in 22 games (21 starts) for the DE 87ers of the NBA Development League this season, averaging 27.1 points and 4.1 rebounds.

Rivers said he had mixed emotions about the Cavs’ moves.

Blatt was hired as the Cavaliers coach in 2014 just weeks before James said he was leaving the Miami Heat to return to his home-region club with the goal of winning an National Basketball Association title.