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| Outside the box, for sure. |
After Cleveland was up in arms about how long it took the Browns to hire a coach, the Cavs are getting all sorts of good press for their prolonged search. In the best light, Cleveland fans are like parents who understand which child responds to what correction/praise best. In the worst light, we pick narratives and define whatever we see through them. The Browns are weak and shiftless, so their search looked indecisive. The Cavs are run by an impulsive mad-man, so their search looks refreshingly thoughtful.
I believe the Browns were being thoughtful and that this current search is actually either needlessly prolonged or a smoke screen.
The man pictured above, who is giving new meaning to the word "blazer," is David Blatt, the outgoing coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv: essentially the San Antonio Spurs of the Euro-league (in the well-coached, winning when they shouldn't on paper sense). He's a Princeton Alum who never got a shot in the NBA, so he went abroad and became Europe's Phil Jackson.
For years, the NBA has been importing the best Euro players (often to great success, sometimes to Ricky Rubio mediocrity or Christian Eyenga irrelevance). After communism wasted Arvydas Sabonis, there's always been a steady stream. Now, for the first time, the Cavs are thinking about importing the best Euro Coach, even if he is an American.
I'll be honest, like most of Cleveland and the U.S., I had no idea who David Blatt was about a week ago. But he's quickly become my favorite for the job. The other options have coached in the NBA but none of them have championship. 0. Indeed, the amount of coaches who end up winning championship on their 2nd or 3rd NBA job is very low, especially if they were fired from their first. I've always liked George Karl's style, but I don't want to lose in the 2nd round of the playoffs every year. I was impressed when the Grizzlies made their run over the last few seasons, but surprise second place finishes seem to be Lionel Hollins' ceiling. Mark Jackson could be the aberration because he never quite got to finish his run and wasn't fired for anything on the court. As it sits though, I get the sense that all of the guys with coaching experience available don't have what it takes to win a Finals series. Granted, it seems that you either have to have LeBron or a pact with the devil (how else could Popovich keep whatever he's doing up?) to do that these days, but I'd rather give someone a shot to see what they've got, then sign up for likely failure before the season even starts.
David Blatt knows what it takes to win in Europe. That's not the NBA, but if we're so sure Colt McCoy got a raw deal because "he's a winner" we need to give Blatt the same benefit of a doubt. That doesn't fit the aforementioned Cleveland sports narratives we love as a city, but it's the rational step.
As I said, I think this all might have been a smoke screen, all of the interviews with assistants and old coaches. You see, though the Cavs failed to snag Calipari (before they officially fired Mike Brown...), and though it's been about a month, Blatt has only been on the open market for about a week, since his team wrapped up their title early last week. David Griffin seems like the nicest guy in the world, but he also seems like the guy most likely to actually be a vampire. What I mean by that is that you get the sense he's always up to something. It's never something you see coming (Spencer Hawes? It's so unexpected but it was perfect. The Cavs make the playoffs last year if they execute that trade last off-season instead of signing Bynum).
Word on the street is that Griffin has done a lot of Euro scouting so he's been familiar with Blatt for quite some time. Could it be that Blatt was the plan from the start (post-Calipari at least) but the Cavs had to buy time til they could talk to him?
I'm not saying it's a done deal, but I've got my suspicions. If they hire him quickly, it will seem pretty clear that he was the number 1 guy and the interview answered any questions they had. I don't think that's an outlandish thought at all.
So what does it mean then? It means the Cavs will either christen a new era in NBA coaching or close the door for Euro coaches forever. I don't really care about that: I want the Cavs to win a championship. Will the Euro style work here? I honestly don't see why not. I think concentrating on how styles work in a certain league is a bit misguided. It's not so much about if a style works as it is can you run it consistently enough to put up points and keep the other team from putting up more. That's facile, certainly, but if it scores points, it can work with the right personnel.
I'm no Mike D'Antoni fan, but his teams never won a title because he only coached half a game: same with Mike Brown. It's not about style as much as it is wholeness of competence. The 2 Mikes who got fired this year would make 1 great coach. Unfortunately, half a coach won't win a title, even with LeBron or Nash/Amare in their primes. Erik Spoelstra proves everyday that you can win titles with decentish schemes on both ends of the floor, but you can't with elite defense but terrible offense, and the reverse. That's why Popovich would be deified upon retirement, if Adam Silver were Ovid.
In the end, like everyone in Cleveland, I just want a title. I'd prefer a Cavs title first, because I'm a bigger NBA fan than any other sport. But if the Indians pull it together, or the Browns shock the world first, I'd take that too.
As a city, we need to realize that the goal is a championship parade down Euclid, to end the bleeding of our City's collective sports heart. That's more important than how it's done (save for illegally or point-shavingly, of course).
If David Blatt can do it, I'll take it. If a pink pony from Portugal named Petunia was the coach and got the job done, I'd be fine with that too. Deep down, I think we all would.
-Zack
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