The Cleveland Cavaliers have some issues. No one expected them to be undefeated at this point in the NBA season, but no one expected them to get blown out by the Detroit Pistons either. The Cavaliers have major flaws in their plan at the moment, ones that continue to get exposed with injuries. Now reports are surfacing regarding issues with the head coach, forcing players to go on the defense about the chemistry within the team.
According to ESPN.com, there is a divide between the players and head coach David Blatt. Sources are saying he is failing to reach the team and players are not buying into his system. Blatt is a first-year head coach in the NBA after several years of success in overseas, but so far he has not continued that with the Cavaliers despite their All-Star roster. Blatt denies that he does not have command over the Cavaliers at this point in the season.
"Absolutely I do," Blatt said, via ESPN.com. "We just didn't play well (Sunday). I don't think it was an issue outside of that. A couple games ago we were (17-10). I know some other pretty good teams in the NBA that didn't have that record. 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."
LeBron James is now going on the defense of Blatt as well. The star acknowledges that the Cavaliers are struggling at the moment, something highlighted by the loss on Christmas Day and the one against the Pistons. However, he does not believe the blame can fall completely on Blatt.
"I think my relationship with the coach continues to get better and better every day," James said. "This is two months of us being together. I don't know him fully. He doesn't know me fully. He doesn't know any of the guys fully and that's to be expected. It's our first year together. But he has our attention."
The Cavaliers have a lot of issues that need to be worked through. The team is dealing with the season-ending injury to Anderson Varejao. That could force either a trade of the center or a trade of someone like Dion Waiters or Tristan Thompson to replace the center. The Cavaliers have draft picks stocked away to work with as well since a move will need to be made quickly.