Pistons Patter: Stan Van Gundy rips David Blatt firing by Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue yells to players in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Cleveland.

LeBron James stressed that he did not influence the Cleveland Cavaliers’ coaching change, saying that he was “surprised and caught off-guard” by the decision to fire David Blatt. Many reports in the wake of Blatt’s sudden canning indicated that he had allowed his three big stars – James, Love and Kyrie Irving – to do as they please without strict direction.

James’ near triple-double, featuring 26 points in another dominant-for-naught performance, wasted? “I wanted to come out and be aggressive early tonight”.

Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and the Cavs’ players on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) will be decked out in green and gold, Aussie singer Cody Simpson will belt out Advance Australia Fair pre-game and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will have native Australian animals to show the 20,000 fans in attendance.

Ultimately, we don’t know if his replacement, Tyronn Lue, knows what he’s doing on the sidelines. “We all put in hard work and we’ve all helped coach Blatt in every way we could and he was our leader”.

When a team makes a coaching move midseason, it’s often because things are already really bad and the front office wants to mix things up or start the search for a new head guy.

Cleveland have lost only two of their last 11 games but one was to the San Antonio Spurs and the other was a crushing 132-98 loss at the hands of the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

Click on the video to see more of Van Gundy unplugged on the Blatt firing. Before the team’s light practice, Lue, who worked on Rivers’ staff in Boston and with the Los Angeles Clippers, said he talked to the Cavs about what he wants to accomplish the rest of this season. “When we win games, I don’t think the guys are enjoying it. That’s what I spoke to them about today because I’m really anxious about our spirit”.

But the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player indicated he agreed with general manger David Griffin’s assessment that the Cavaliers lacked the cohesion and spirit needed for a title run.

“I think (Griffin) was right on everything he said…” Indications are Lue has the respect of James, and other volatile personalities in the locker room, which include Love and J.R. Smith.