Cleveland Cavaliers: Get To Know David Blatt

In a summer full of wild signings, big trades and furious flurries of duct taping burnt jerseys back together, those in Cleveland are left smiling ear-to-ear with less than two months to go before the 2014-15 NBA season tips off.

But one of the more underrated stories of this Cleveland Cavaliers offseason has been the hiring of new head coach David Blatt. It’s easy to get distracted by the rest of what’s happening with the team (“MOM, WHERE’S THE DUCT TAPE?!”), but the fact remains that this is the guy who is going to be leading the Cavs along with golden boy LeBron James.

So for those who don’t know much about Blatt, or what he’s all about, get ready to buckle up.

Blatt is 55 years old and has coached for 21 of those years. He’s from Framingham, Massachusetts and went to school at Princeton, where he played point guard for Pete Carril, the creator of the so-called “Princeton Offense.” Thus, Blatt’s coaching style revolves around the Princeton Offense with slight tweaks here and there that he’s made over the years.

He’s managed to adapt his system to different players many times during his coaching career, which is probably how he was able to win 17 championships in different leagues and tournaments. According to Danny Chau of Grantland, he’s also one of five coaches ever that has won a EuroBasket title (2007), a Euroleague title (2014) and a medal at the Olympics (2012; he coached Russia). Most recently, Blatt coached the Euroleague team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, to a 54-18 record this past season and eventually ended up winning the Euroleague Championship.

Whew, not a bad resumé, huh?

And not only that, but the players he’s coached in the past have said that they really enjoyed having him as their leader. In fact, back in the 2012 Olympics, Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger newspaper wrote that Andrei Kirilenko said he believed Blatt to be a better coach than legendary former Lakers head honcho Phil Jackson. In that same article, Steve Mills (former Madison Square Garden president) was quoted as saying, “The record he’s had in Europe, where he’s dealing with NBA-caliber players all the time, shows that he’s as good as anyone”.

So people believe in him. He’s got the coaching records. He’s got a great pedigree coming from Princeton. How about making that work with these new Cleveland Cavaliers?

Well, Blatt’s system is something similar to what the San Antonio Spurs like to do, which isn’t surprising since the Spurs have been said to look like a European-esque team in their offensive attack. There is lots of movement in Blatt’s system, with backdoor cuts and swinging passes that open up various options to inflict damage on the opposing defense.

If played to perfection, some players might see a bit of a drop in their personal stats, since the system is more team-oriented. But then the question comes up: what’s more important, stats or wins? Obviously, most would take the latter and that includes the likes of LeBron, who knows he needs a good team around him to make such a thing happen and so that he doesn’t have to carry the offensive load anymore.

One of the key elements to the way Blatt’s system already is will be the opening of lanes to the basket. With such proposed ball movement, players like LeBron and Kyrie Irving should have less of a problem driving to the rim as the area won’t be clogged with defenders. Isolation ball should almost never be seen unless there’s a final shot that needs to be taken or something.

This will be pleasantly different for James, who dealt with a lot of standing around during his tenure with the Miami Heat:

Another key cog in Blatt’s system is the stretch-four, which (oh my goodness!) the Cavs just happen to have the NBA’s best in Kevin Love. Having a big who can shoot consistently from beyond the arc will be a huge benefit to the club, as he can pull opposing big men out of the paint and give even more space to slashers. The fact that Love can also dominate on the boards like he can is almost an extremely good bonus. Like going to the movies and discovering that if you buy a ticket, you also get free popcorn.

Boris Diaw (who plays power forward) was able to do this sort of thing for the Spurs to a lesser extent. During San Antonio’s playoff run last season, he shot 40 percent from deep on two three-point field goal attempts per game.

As it is, there is every reason to be excited about David Blatt if you’re a Cavs fan. Sure this is his first year in the NBA, but if history has anything to say about it, it’ll be a good one.