Many questioning eyebrows were raised when the Cleveland Cavaliers fired head coach David Blatt in January, when the team held a 30-11 record. After firing Blatt, the team played worse, going 27-14 the rest of the year. One of the biggest advocates for Blatt was Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy has spoken on the topic again, reports David Mayo of Mlive:
Stan Van Gundy was among the most outspoken critics of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ midseason firing of coach David Blatt and said Saturday that Blatt deserves another chance to coach in the NBA.
The Detroit Pistons’ president-coach, whose team opens the playoffs Sunday against the Cavs in Game 1 of a first-round series, said he doesn’t think it will be long before Blatt gets another shot, but that competition — including from his brother, ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy — will be stiff.
Van Gundy went on list out several other coaching candidates:
Van Gundy said that he has been surprised for some time that Nate McMillan remains without a head-coaching job, then reeled off a short list of available former coaches — Mike D’Antoni, George Karl, Randy Wittman, Sam Mitchell, Tom Thibodeau, Scott Brooks — who could force Blatt to wait in line.
“There’s never a shortage of really good candidates,” Van Gundy said. “It’s also why it’s hard for a lot of these assistants to get their chance. (Detroit assistant) Bob Beyer’s more than ready, (Charlotte assistant) Patrick Ewing’s more than ready. That’s just the guys I know. But it’s hard for those guys to get an opportunity because there aren’t enough jobs for guys who have a proven head-coaching record.”
There’s certainly a lot of coaching talent out there. It’ll be interesting to see where the big names like Blatt, Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy and Brooks end up.
