Cleveland Cavaliers

Does David Blatt deserve more credit for Cavaliers success last season?

Published Sep. 15, 2015 10:03 a.m. ET

foxsports

When David Blatt was hired to become the head coach of the Cavaliers last season, the job he signed up for was very different than the one he eventually got.

Blatt was initially tasked with coaching through a rebuilding season, one which would feature Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters as his primary players, with young pieces like Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins receiving minutes in order to speed their development.

But once LeBron James made his free agent decision to return to Cleveland, everything changed. The Cavaliers were now expected to contend for a title immediately, and trades were made to bring more veteran talent to the roster.

Blatt received plenty of criticism throughout the season, and there were reports that LeBron and he weren't always on the same page. But the way Blatt was able to guide his injury-riddled team to the Finals deserves some praise, and the experience in place on the bench was one reason that no changes were made to the coaching staff this offseason.

Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com:

The Cavs have a very experienced coaching staff behind Blatt. Tyronn Lue is the top assistant. But they also have former head coaches Larry Drew and Jim Boylan on their staff. The Cavs thought Drew or Boylan would receive an offer to be a top assistant elsewhere, but that didn't happen.

The Cavs made no changes on their coaching staff. By the playoffs, Blatt and his assistants were working very well together, assembling game plans. You'd never know that based on some reports in the national media. But the improvement made by the Cavs on defense was directly due to the coaches developing schemes that worked, and then selling the plans to James and other key players.