Is Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt on the way out? Although there is still no official word from the team management or from anybody in Cleveland, Blatt is reportedly being bypassed by Cleveland players not just in a couple of occasions but a number of times already.
With a recent six-game losing streak and a 19-20 win-loss record almost midway to the current NBA season, the Cavaliers, despite having LeBron James again, are playing way below expectations.
It is common notion in basketball that it is the players who win games and coaches lose them. It seems that Cleveland is already aiming to put a pointing finger on Blatt but is not yet ready to pull the trigger and let him go.
Thus, over the last couple of Cavs games, basketball analysts and enthusiasts have been noticing how some of Blatt’s plays and instructions were openly defied by players on court. Or how, in one point, an assistant coach called for a team timeout behind his back. Surely, things are not looking good for Blatt.
Ultimate disrespect
For a head coach, being defied for your designed plays and other crucial instructions by your players or your assistant coaches is a sign of ultimate disrespect.
For a team and a bunch of players however who have been playing mediocre basketball, that’s clearly a statement that they want changes in the coaching staff.
To serve as sort of icing on the cake on Blatt’s likely fate and highlight how Cavs players have been defying or disrespecting him, no less than LeBron James showed it during the team’s game against the Phoenix Suns on January 13, 2015.
Larry Brown Sports showed a video that detailed how James pushed his coach to the sidelines while arguing with a referee as if Blatt was just a push-over person who has no place in the court.
James later defended his action by saying that he just does not want his coach to be slapped with a technical foul by the referee.
More acts of defiance
Because the team is really playing below par, it has also been reported that a number of Cavs players have been openly talking about coaching issues with opposing players and personnel.
And the defiance of Blatt did not just happen during the team’s most recent spate of losses; it began as early as December, barely two months into the current NBA season.
Without telling Blatt, James took over point guard duties for the Cavaliers and to make up for his defiance, he offered the man a half-hearted endorsement by saying that he is doing a good coaching job.
Blatt may also be showing too much respect for the superstar status of LeBron James that is why he has let those acts of defiance, especially by James, slip by. But if he wants things to really get better in Cleveland, he has to get full reign of the horse. Otherwise, the horse will continue galloping and drop him in the middle of the rush.