With a 17-10 record as of this writing, skeptics are starting to assess how first-year NBA coach is handling the Cleveland Cavaliers. And apparently many are digging deep into the Cavalier history books, particularly the level of patience that team owner Dan Gilbert has with past head coaches.
After suffering a humiliating loss to the Detroit Pistons Sunday, 103-80, a serious concern on how Blatt is able to get through his players has been brought up. But with just 30 games into the regular season, judging Blatt this early could be a bit too early.
For a team which drew back one of the game's best players to date in Lebron James, critics and fans are of course expecting a whole lot more from the Cavs. Adding more pressure to Blatt is the fact that aside from James, there is resident superstar Kyrie Irving and another big name recruit Kevin Love around at his disposal.
But chemistry seems to be one of the main issues Blatt has had to deal with, not to mention losing his big man in the middle, Anderson Varejao, for the season. So is Blatt affected by all this talk?
"We have not played perfectly this year, I don't claim that. On the other hand, we're doing pretty good. We lost a couple games, we're down a few of our main players and last night did not look good and we did not respond well to it during the game. I recognize that. And certainly when that happens I'm every bit as much a part of that as everybody else, but it has nothing to do with questions along the lines of what I've heard. I just don't think that's right or fair. I really don't."
For their part, James and Irving know that success in the first year of being together is as hard as any. But they did make it clear that they are content with Blatt and that the first year coach is not entirely to blame for their current state.
But as far as Dan Gilbert goes, a ghostly past of firing head coaches even if they are in the midst of their coaching contract looms. But Blatt seems unperturbed about it all, preferring to get the job done than trouble himself with nasty hearsays.
"I don't listen to things, and I'm very confident in what I do and what we're doing," Blatt said Monday. "I just know we got to do better right now. That's the important thing."
