Well Love being traded has to be expected. If the team is expecting it then it likely means Lebron has spoken on the issue.
David Griffin: We have a lack of fit with our personnel. I'm measuring more than W/L I'm focusing on a bigger picture Are we working towards a championship? Are our hearts/minds/souls in what we're doing? Are we all in on this? We need to build a collective spirit & collective will. Elite teams have that. To be truly elite, we have to buy into values we believe in. That becomes our identity. Halfway through, we have not yet developed this identity. Each step forward, we've taken two steps back. We know the clear identity we strive for won't happen overnight and we're not here for pretty good. We're pretty good and we're not in the business to be in that. I know and you've seen we have a locker room that overcomes adversity well. We are a team that struggles more than any other good team I've been with. I've never seen a locker room not be as connected after wins as they need to be. We've been tremendous individual talent with individual hopes and dreams. That's not winning formula. I'm not leaving an unprecedented payroll to chance. We're elevating Ty Lue to head coach. Not an interim role. More than confident he has the pulse of our team. He's been our DC the past season and a half. He was an overachiever as a player. Gritty. Took pride in his D. He was all about winning. On great teams. Played for some incredible coaches. He was humble enough to learn from those coaches. Our most glaring need is to understand role delineation & team sacrifice. We need team buy in and team first habits. We don't have to concern ourselves with expectations of a destination. Final straw moment & did GS loss accelerate it? GS game alone didn't do much. It's over time. You see the type of things you want to do habitually erode. You can win games in the regular season and get worse. We were regressing over time. There was no final straw. I'm in our locker room. There's disconnect and lack of spirit I couldn't accept. We have time to right the ship. We were 30-11 with an easy schedule. I'm judging a lot more than W/L. Procedural part of this? Ty Lue, I spoke to him this afternoon after speaking to Coach Blatt. When I spoke to Ty, I don't want him to be interim coach. I believe in him to lead this franchise. Ty Lue believes in the staff here. He's excited. I had our players brought in and told them of the decision and have gone from there to this. Talk to LeBron? I didn't before any of this decision. This is my decision. I had a conversation with ownership with approval to make this move. I'm not taking a poll. My job is to lead a franchise. I didn't ask anyone's opinion. I'm in the locker room. I've done this a long time. I know what it's supposed to feel like. I didn't need to ask questions. We've always risen against adversity and odds. That gives me belief this is adversity we'll overcome as well. In fairness to Coach Blatt, I did it when I felt it was right. I didn't delay for any particular reason. Reaction from players? We have a group that understands what's at stake. There was a group that liked Coach Blatt. I didn't take a poll but it was a mood you'd expect of a group that was 30-11, surprised. We got a bunch of guys that know their job. We have a business-like group. Why another season instead of in the offseason? It wasn't tension at that point. It was a function of lack of familiarity. Guys were upset we didn't have enough talent in the end and that's on me. We needed to improve our roster. We did that. Ownership spent unprecedented money on this team. My thought was with continuity, ...what would it look like if it came together? I thought in the Finals we were the best version of ourselves we ever were. Conversation with Dan? He was surprised the very first time it came up & something hard to fathom with our record & positions but knows we're making it for the right reasons. If the Finals run did anything for us at all, it bought trust for what we're doing. I appreciate the trust ownership has shown in letting me do this today. LeBron a "coach killer"? I've got a problem with this narrative. LeBron plays for this team and is the leader and wants to bring a championship to this team. He doesn't run this organization. He's about this and of this organization. This narrative that we're taking direction from him, it's just not fair to him or me and our group anymore. This was one, I didn't need to ask the locker room. I've watched them interact. I know what something is not right looks like. They don't have to like it, they have to respect it. What about Ty makes him a better fit now? The background he has, the opportunity he's been given to grow here, the voice & attitude he brings is different. Results speak for themselves but every situation calls for something unique. This is not an indictment of David Blatt. Lue is a better fit for this team today. Contracts last couple years and not reaching their potential - did Ty figure out how to get more out of them? I know there is a plan in place that will take perhaps advantage of things we don't do but what we do will continue to be done, with different urgency & connectives. ... I believe in this team more than maybe they believe in themselves sometimes. This team is not galvanized after wins. They're supposed to win a lot of games and haven't dealt with that pressure well. You know we respond to a measure of chaos. This team has not handled expectations well. I'd like to see them forget all of that. David Griffin says 50 teams since '00-01 have been .700 or better on Jan. 22 & only 8 won championships. Saying CLE 30-11 record no guarantee.
Well, of course it's no guarantee. But those 50 teams couldn't all win a championship anyway. There were 15 championships to go around, not quite enough for 50 teams.
[Windhorst] To spite Blatt, Cavs “boycotted” game in Portland after losing to Warriors (bayareasportsguy.com)
LOL. First of all Blatt needs to get another shot at an NBA head coach job. Maybe with the Rockets? :grin: Second, if your goal is to win an NBA championship, your best bet is a 38 year old coach with no head coach experience on any level?
LOL you clown. I wasn't defending Blatt, but questioning your 'survived Spo' comment. He's the one coach that LeBron couldn't have fired bc Riley wasn't going to bend over for him and his goons.
He won BIG in Europe on all levels. Sadly NBA has too many whiny and entitled superstars who think team system should revolve around them. And team owners support them because they bring money and money is more important than championship. /end rant
geezus, how can you as a reporter actually tweet out garbage like LeBron wasn't involved? who honestly believes that?
would be more awkward if they fired Blatt after being named Coach of the Eastern All Stars...who coaches the East? Lue?
Exactly. 8 out of 15. More than half of a chance to win the championship. I like those odds. Cavs just dropped out of that race. I expect turmoil.
