David Blatt Showing Adjustments Quickly to NBA
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ new head coach David Blatt is coaching for the first time in the NBA. While LeBron James, Kevin Love, Shawn Marion, Mike Miller and James Jones are all important additions, it may be Blatt that has the biggest impact. If he doesn’t he won’t be long for the job.
In Europe Blatt was known for his creative, ball and player movement offenses as well as solid defensive schemes. Those should play well in the NBA and will be attempted by other teams following the championship won by the San Antonio Spurs. Blatt’s ability to succeed in the NBA will not be related to either of these but to something else he is known for in Europe.
Blatt is known as a hard nosed, disciplinarian coach. When the Cavs hired him that was seen as a big positive given the youth that the Cavs seemed like they would roll out on the court this year. He is known for his boot camp style practices, even in season, that would condition his players to the highest level. With the NBA schedule it would also likely wear them out. Blatt’s style is very confrontational, as shown by kicking players off his team in the middle of a game. He expects a lot from his players.
When the Cavs summer took a dramatic swing, starting with James signing, concerns about how Blatt would do as a coach of a veteran team also started. Would boot camp still be in session? How would James, Marion, Miller and Jones, all of whom have won championships, react to Blatt’s in your face demeanor? Would he adjust his style as not to wear down his veterans for the longer, more rigorous season that is the NBA?
It looks like David Blatt can add flexible to the list of qualities he has shown because on the first day of practice yesterday he showed he was willing to change:
#Cavs went hard on first day, but Blatt won't run a boot camp. They're permitted 6 two a days, but Blatt said they won't use them all
— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) September 27, 2014
Blatt said he prefers quality practice over quantity. Plus this is now a veteran team and they're 4 bodies short of typical training camps
— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) September 27, 2014
So while Blatt will still work hard to get his players in shape and have them ready for the season, he won’t run them down.
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There is some concern that not taking advantage of every practice possible could delay the team’s ability to gel together quickly. That is a real concern even if the Cavs used all of their allotted practice time.
The bigger win is the long term win of Blatt winning over James and the rest of the players. With such a talented team, Blatt’s main goal is to get everyone to buy in to his system and work within the system. Like all relationships that is a give and take proposition and it looks like Blatt has given in a very strategic area that will be best for this team both in the short and long term.
It may seem small but this is a huge sign of Blatt’s leadership for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
What do you think of this decision?