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Exactly. We haven't given a crap on defense all year. Now we don't give a crap on offense either.

I think GS just scored another uncontested fastbreak layup while you were commenting.

Maybe. Although I can't blame them, at least initially. Although maybe these guys should heed Lebron's words about nothing being given, everything being earned..

It just feels like they have the right pieces in place, but everything is at a standstill because Lebron is out. Hopefully the rest will do him good. He may play tomorrow.

I don't really care about seeding, as much as I care about them just playing well going into the playoffs, but they really need to get going. All Star break is right around the corner.

I think Blatt can coach. This is just a terrible fit for him.

We are judging man who is learning on his feet, with a host of young ill-taught players.

But he's been so stubborn and predictable.

It's not fair to judge Blatt at this point...but he isn't helping his case.

This team is garbage..we don't have aNY legit talent on the bench, we don't have a real pg and the two firsts for mosgov was dumb..we have no assets left to fix anything. We are in exact position as last time. I wish we could trade for Calderon. Defense is just a joke. ..Blatt is clueless on how to scheme it. Between miller dellevedova and thompson we can't even get 10 points combined. .that won't cut it

Someone might want to defend Markieff Morris tonight.

Blatt = Pat Shurmur

one of those guys has had success throughout an illustrious career and is brand new to the professional game here. the other was a crony hire whose only real success has been as Chip Kelly's gopher.

I know it stinks right now, but I'm not going to worry too much because we've been incredibly injured and we've just brought in three big pieces.

And maybe this stretch can make this team stronger and better once they figure it out.

I think it's time to start worrying, hard to believe we're halfway through the season already.

In other news, Mo Williams dropped 52 on the Pacers last night.

And Andrew Wiggins scored 20, and we had him here.

For those that think coaching isn't an issue (I think its the main issue). More and more proof coming out that this staff just don't get it

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bask...vid-blatts-back

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 19-20, and getting LeBron James back on Tuesday didn't solve all their problems. They lost 107-100 to the Phoenix Suns, and afterward another report surfaced about a disconnect between the players and the coaching staff. From ESPN's Brian Windhorst:

[League scouts, executives and rival players] see players appearing to run different plays than the bench calls, see assistant coach Tyronn Lue calling timeouts literally behind Blatt's back during games, and hear Cavs players openly talking about coaching issues with opposing players and personnel. Not once, not twice, but frequently over the past several months.

For weeks now, the small talk when league personnel run into each other at college games, airports or pregame meals has frequently started with: "What the hell is going on in Cleveland?"

Windhorst notes that every team deals with issues between players and coaches, and that the Cavs have time to turn this around. Still, this is worrying. If Tyronn Lue really is calling timeouts without head coach David Blatt's approval, that is a concern. If Cleveland's players aren't even hiding that they're frustrated with the coaching, of course that is a concern.

The Cavs are already battling high expectations and it's not always easy for stars to figure out how to play with each other. The numerous in-season personnel changes complicate that. Everyone doesn't have to get along perfectly, and there's bound to be some dissatisfaction whenever a team underperforms, but the only way this thing is getting fixed is if everyone tries to get on the same page. Even the smallest things are going to become big stories with this particular Cleveland team.

As for the coaching, well, Blatt does deserve to take some heat for how this season has gone. At the same time, the context is critical. He's a first-year head coach given a super-talented, but defensively limited roster. The front office hired an "associate head coach" in Lue who was competing with Blatt for the job and who is paid more highly than any assistant in NBA history. Perhaps that part wasn't the best move. Blatt talked about having a great practice on Monday, but on the outside it's looking like the staff has a ton of work to do.


Then the big to do being made about Lebron shoving Blatt..I think thats a nonstory, thats lebron keeping Blatt from getting thrown out. I have no problem with him...though to watch it, looked like lebron was sending his kid to his room..lol. I don't think we can win with this staff and the more time that goes by the more attention and stories will come out. Winning cures all, but sometimes you got to make a change just to keep it from spiraling out of control..I think we are just about there

Blatt is going to get fired at some point. I don't know when, but he is toast.

Yeah, he's probably a dead man walking...

Back to my "not worried" comment. This team was clicking just before everyone on the roster got hurt. I don't think they were the best team in the conference, but they we're playing "well". We'll get that back once we get everyone in the lineup and start over.

The players have quit on the coach and that's when you need to change direction ... but like Vers said, I'm not sure how a new coach is going to suddenly get these guys to play coherent defense.

I hope Blatt can catch on with another young team looking to build. I think he would do well in that environment. The Cavs need an ego manager at this point, not a coach.

Blatt would do well to take a few years as an assistant in the NBA, especially because the Cavs will be paying him for awhile.

This season is pretty much a throwaway. Lue will be named the interim coach and he will most likely be in over his head as well.

The problem with the defense is that two of the five players suck at it (Love and Kyrie) and another isn't trying (LeBron). That is not a recipe for success, obviously.

Thats what I've said all along...Blatt wouldn't have been the choice to coach if we had this team back when we hired him.. As a young team with no expectations it was a perfect situation for him.. I want no part of Lue as it appears he is part of the problem, and I guess he's actually in charge of the defense..I rather have Boylan or Drew take over

TT just turned down 52 million over 4 years.

We're that dysfunctional, he won't see that kind of money anywhere else.

Cavs dodged a bullet, that would have been a massive overpay.

He turned that down in October, based on reports.

Agreed.



Thanks, I was lazy and didn't read the article.

Let me guess.......this isn't more evidence of what I am saying? LOL

of epic proportions..TT isn't worth 2 million a year..he's a dime a dozen player..but he cost himself a ton of money not taking that deal

I don't think anyone fully dismissed what you were saying, I know atleast me my point was there has to be a reason if thats the case... we have alot of vets with rings on this team. So if they aren't buying in, chances are they don't think what they are being told will work based on past experience. Is it right, no, i think you do what you are told until you are in a position otherwise. Being a good player means allowing yourself to be coached regardless of what you feel..if after that it isnt working, atleast you can say you did what was asked of you and it just doesn't work. I've said Blatt won't get a fair shake here just because of the expectation. I think he could be a good coach given the right situation. He's proven he can coach. Its just the NBA is a whole different deal where theres alot of money and egos involved.

The cavs as a team have no marbles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjzVbSE7hfY

lol so true...they play like a bunch of 10 year old girls...they should give all the fans marble sacks during games instead of bobbleheads

j/c

Cavs need LeBron James to show leadership he promised
Adrian Wojnarowski By Adrian Wojnarowski
January 14, 2015 12:37 PM
Yahoo Sports

PHOENIX – Before LeBron James disappeared on his two-week vacation to South Beach and JerryWorld, his message to these Cleveland Cavaliers had been unmistakable: Never mind what you see, just listen to what I tell you.

For all the leveraging of the Ohio homecoming into marketing and commercials, few surrounding these Cavaliers sensed James had intimately invested himself into the process of constructing a championship culture. When the Cavaliers needed his old MVP self – hard-playing, smart and relentless – they found him taking off plays and jogging back on defense and undermining his coach in ways big and small. James hadn't offered the leadership he promised to reconstruct the franchise, only his presence.

For everyone suspicious of James' intentions when he pushed David Blatt out of a confrontation with a game official in Tuesday night's loss to the Phoenix Suns, give James a benefit of the doubt he hasn't earned. He was trying to spare Blatt a technical foul.

In this warped Cavaliers culture, it almost felt like progress in the limited star-coach partnership. At least, James acknowledged that Blatt was there, that he was Cavaliers coach. That's been rare.

Cleveland lost its sixth straight game, dropping under .500. James was refreshed, explosive on the way to 33 points, seven rebounds and five assists – and it needs to be the reset button on his return to Cleveland.

James rejoins a roster with better talent than he left after the Cavs made trades to acquire Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert. It's a roster that'll require James' greatest intangible skill of all: team builder. He should've been with the Cavaliers through his rehabilitation, whatever he says about the healing powers of warm weather. Much more than talk about it, James needs to live the commitment now. He needs to be engaged on the floor and in the huddles. Leading is every day, all day, and he's largely been absent in that way for the Cavaliers.
So far, the Cavaliers have witnessed LeBron James, the businessman. As much as ever, the Cavs discovered that the opening week of the regular season in contract talks on forward Tristan Thompson, with the Oct. 31 deadline approaching for the draft class of 2011 rookie extensions looming. James' agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, represents Thompson.

James is the biggest reason Klutch Sports exists, and he's an active recruiter of high school, college and current NBA players to join the agency. Of course, plenty of players help their agents recruit. So when James committed as a free agent in July, everyone understood there was a tax – spoken or unspoken – that would come with James' return, that would manifest itself in an above-market deal for Thompson.

Thompson's a rebounder, a defender, an energy guy. He isn't a starter on a playoff team, but he has a good attitude, a good motor and could be a role player anywhere in the NBA. Paul isn't the first agent to leverage a more prominent client's extension against another, nor the last.

Even so, at what price? Within the NBA, officials expected maybe $10 million a year, perhaps $12 million if Klutch wanted to push it. Well, they kept pushing it. Thompson turned down a $13 million-a-year extension offer – four-years, $52 million, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

For a player of Thompson's stature, this is an incredible risk. An injury could cost him lifetime security. Nothing close to that money exists on the restricted free-agent market this summer, but with James on a one-year deal, Klutch can try to leverage the Cavaliers all over again to get the deal they want – or simply take the one that was already offered.

Of course, LeBron James isn't leaving Cleveland again, and no leveraging can convince NBA people he will leave. James has what he wants in Cleveland: a captive audience for his business pursuits and the further elevation and reclamation of his marketing image. He has his friends everywhere in the organization – hired into staff jobs, riding on the team charters, meeting with management and ownership at will. Those things didn't happen in Miami with Micky Arison and Pat Riley, but let's be honest: Almost no other franchise wouldn't have promised all that access to sign James.

That was important to James, but so is winning, and his time with the Heat had to teach him the price that goes into winning.

In the end, James will decide Blatt's fate. If he remains obstinate, the Cavaliers will have to make a change. No coach can exist in that climate, least of all a European icon with no NBA playing or bench experience. Blatt has to grow fast on this job, learn the league and its players in a hurry, but James can give him support in the locker room – or keep choosing to treat him like a short-timer.
Whatever James' agenda on the coaching front, there were those who believed they had it pegged back in the summer. It was no accident Mark Jackson left one of the most powerful agents in basketball to become a client of Paul's. Paul had no coaching clients, but immense leverage within the Cavaliers. To hear Jackson overpraising James and the team's talent on television – even defending James on giving Blatt a tepid public endorsement – delivers light in itself to this alliance.

Before James signed as a free agent, the Cavaliers management wanted nothing to do with Jackson as a coach. They did their research and had their answers. Now, they understand the reality: If James won't play for the coach, what choice do they have there? James wouldn't be left to pay the buyout on Blatt's contract, nor the luxury tax on Thompson's extension. It'll simply be Klutch Sports gathering the commissions on Jackson's and Thompson's deals.

There was a different James on the floor on Tuesday night, and these Cavaliers need him to turn them into a contender. For now, LeBron James is back, and his time away seems to have rejuvenated his body and mind. Beyond bringing a championship to his beloved Ohio, everyone understands James had his business reasons for this return to Cleveland. Those are playing out, and they're clear, but the Cavaliers need the total LeBron James now. They need the team builder, the MVP – they need it all. The Cleveland Cavaliers need him now.

Article

I know you all have been ignoring what I have been saying, except for PDR ridiculing me---but do you get it now?

I was wondering why LBJ was laying down and being such a negative influence. I get it now.

It never bothered me that he left because I thought it was his right to leave. He was a free agent.

However, it has been really been bothering me about how he has played this year. You wanna call yourself the leader and say you have to teach guys to win. You make careless turnovers and don't run back on D. Pffftttt. You are a leader, alright..........but you are leading the players down the wrong path.

I was hoping he was just resting and would gear it up to make a playoff run and then really turn it on for the playoffs. Now, I see that is about greed.

He is greedy for both power and money.

Screw you, LeBron.

And poor Blatt is going to take the fall. It freaking sucks because we could have been such a good team. We are going to lose both Blatt and Love. I would take them both over LeBron and his entourage.

Looking at the standings. Maybe getting a 6th seed wouldn't be too bad. We'd get Toronto instead of Chicago. Toronto is more likely to "fold over" under pressure than Chicago.

Still wondering how you guys don't get that unless LBJ changes his game, nothing else matters.

The guy has been a cancer. We need him to buy into Blatt's system and lead his teammates in a positive direction.

I'm serious..............how is that so hard to understand for you guys?

Everything about the team stinks.

Looks like the Thunder are going to get Brook Lopez for Jeremy Lamb.

Well, there is that.

I'm serious though in that if LBJ would just buy in.......we could be very good.

Blatt's offense [if we run it] is excellent. Love could be effective inside and out. LBJ could facilitate as he is a great passer and has the height to see over the defense. He could also take over on the pick and rolls and weave action that is part of Blatt's offense. Kyrie could spot up and slash to the basket. Tristan could be Cedric Maxwell and clean up the garbage. Smith? I don't know.......I would almost rather have Waiters, but maybe we can use him like Vinnie Johnson---The Microwave in Detroit?

We could be good, but it all starts and ends w/LBJ and right now he has been a freaking jerk and I wanna punch him right in the face.

Why would LeBron buy in? He runs the team, other people need to buy into what he wants.

Lebron isn't the damn problem. Is Kyrie turning the ball over and playing no defense Lebrons fault? Is Love being the worst defender in the NBA Lebrons fault?

Kevin Love is so damn infuriating to watch. I'd call up OKC and ask if they're stupid enough to swap Ibaka for him.

The whole sucktitude of the team is not LeBron's fault, but he is not blameless. He hasn't played defense in the regular season for a year and a half now.

Why would he buy in? To win!

I think he escaped Miami because he was not in control. Riley was. Riley knows what it takes to win.

LBJ thought he would come to Cleveland and be the man and control everything. It's not working.

Look at San Antonio. They run an offense that is similar to Blatt's. It's all about spacing and ball movement. Yes, they incorporate the pick and roll, but it is not the primary part of their sets.

They bring in all these foreign players? Why? Because they are more savvy in terms of how to play basketball.

We could have been that team, but LeBron has been a greedy jerk and he is ruining what could have been a GREAT team.

He has perhaps the greatest talent the NBA has ever seen, but he does not have the toughness, smarts, and resolve of greats like Magic, Isaiah, Michael, and Kobe.

He can change it. It's not too late, but I ain't holding my breath.