Speaking with reporters this morning, Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin refuted earlier reports that new coach David Blatt’s job was already in jeopardy after the Cavs’ struggles early this season.
“This narrative of our coaching situation is truly ridiculous,” Griffin said earlier today. “It's a non-story, it's a non-narrative. Coach Blatt is our coach, he's going to remain our coach. Do not write that as a vote of confidence. He never needed one. It was never a question. So don't write it that way.”
(Credit Griffin for avoiding the dreaded “vote of confidence,” since that basically means a coach is getting fired within two weeks.)
It seems perfectly reasonable of the Cavaliers to have some patience with Blatt, who is in his first season as an NBA coach and is guiding a team that is still in a huge transition period. Adding two stars like LeBron James and Kevin Love is great on paper, but it takes time to get everything to click on the floor. Mix in the fact that James, Kyrie Irving, Shawn Marion, and Anderson Varejao all have dealt/are dealing with injuries, and there simply hasn’t been nearly enough time to judge Blatt’s performance.
After falling to 19-15 on the season today following a loss to Dallas, the Cavs are clearly in need of some roster improvements if they want to make a deep playoff run. While Griffin acknowledges they need some help on the court, “no change is being made, period” when it comes to the coaching staff.
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com
[via ESPN]
