Despite being fired earlier this season with the East's best record and coming off a Finals appearance, former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt has no ill will toward his old team, and told ESPN.com on Saturday prior to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals that he thinks the Cavs are "the team to beat."
"I think they're playing great," Blatt told ESPN.com on Saturday, shortly before the Toronto Raptors beat the Cavs 99-84 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. "I think that the players and the coaching staff are doing a terrific job, I really do. And I think the fact that they are healthy and have actually even added a piece or two makes them the team to beat right now, in my opinion. That's really all I want to say."
Source: David Blatt: Cavaliers are the favorites to win NBA.
Blatt's former assistant Tyronn Lue has been equally complimentary of the job Blatt did and said recently he thought Blatt would be back in the NBA soon. For his part, Blatt has interviewed with several teams, and said at the same event Saturday (which coincidentally was in Toronto) that he expect to be a head coach next season, not an assistant. That may mean going back overseas, however.
It's nice to see that Blatt's not resentful or bitter about what happened. He was hired to coach a very different team than the one he inherited, and while the Cavs made the Finals and were within two wins of an NBA title, there was just a disconnect the team couldn't get past. We'll see where Blatt winds up and if he has more luck getting his players to buy in somewhere else.
