LeBron James supposedly unfollowed the Cavs on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. And this is major news. You know, in this business all journalists are supposed to be neutral. Sportswriters go to practices, attend games, speak to the players in locker rooms and tell stories based upon that special access. Once everyone has fulfilled their obligations, the players and the media get to go about their normal lives until reconvening again the next day … then the next … and the
For those gentlemen – and who knows, maybe ladies, too – who aspire to one day reach the pinnacle of the basketball coaching profession, be advised that institutions you hope to work for may not be run in the most rational manner. And I’m reasonably certain that Jeff Hornacek, Lionel Hollins, David Blatt and Kevin McHale would agree with me. Hornacek just became the latest NBA head coach to lose his job, although compared to others, the Phoenix Suns looked positively patient.
What is the takeaway from David Blatt’s shocking dismissal as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers? A few things, all of them related to the Cavs being weak-minded. (Hey, you make a move like that, and you open a window into dysfunction junction.) 1. The East is now a lot more wide open than people might have realized. Exhibit A was the Cavs’ mail-it-in effort in Saturday night’s home loss to the Chicago Bulls, with new coach Tyronn Lue explaining afterward that his
One of the main reasons so many fans were shocked by Cleveland’s decision to fire head coach David Blatt was that he and his players were guarded in their media commentary. [Read more…]
Where has Timofey Mozgov’s playing time gone? Just over a year after being traded from Denver to Cleveland for two first-round picks, the 7-1 Russian has played at least 20 minutes in just 14 of his 37 games this season. Averaging just 17.8 minutes, Mozgov has reached double figures in points just seven times and has yet to record a double-double. He is playing strong defense when given the opportunity, but it just doesn’t seem like there’s enough court time for him. It’s all the more
In the classic war movie Apocalypse Now, Marlon Brando plays a decorated American colonel who has abandoned the war in Vietnam to set up his own dystopian military conclave in Cambodia that features random missions, animal sacrifices and human beheadings. Martin Sheen plays an American captain sent on a classified mission to assassinate the colonel. When Sheen arrives at the camp, he is asked if he believes the colonel’s methods are unsound. And Sheen replies, “I don’t see any method at all,
In his essay in Sports Illustrated last summer, LeBron James famously wrote, “I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way.” His prediction turned out to be correct – the Cleveland Cavaliers did not win the championship. Objectively, 2014-15 was still the best season in the history of the franchise. They made it to the NBA Finals for just the second time, won a Finals game for the first time,
The Cavaliers’ postseason press conference was a good one last week. GM David Griffin spent time explaining why David Blatt is a good coach. And Blatt spent time explaining that he and LeBron James have a good relationship. It would seem that if someone is a good coach and two people have a good relationship, explanations are not needed. But such is the dynamic in Cleveland. There seems to be little doubt that the leading characters in Cleveland are misplaced. Blatt, as