The Cleveland Cavaliers lost on Saturday night, running head coach Tyronn Lue’s all-time postseason coaching record to an unacceptable 10-1. The Cavs are in no danger of being unseated by the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals, a score of injuries couldn’t even deny them a trip to Finals last season, and Cleveland is playing its best ball since LeBron James returned to the team in 2014.

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The team wasn’t playing all that bad a brand of ball when former head coach David Blatt was fired last winter. Blatt had the team at 30-11 when he was let go, but the gaudy win totals almost felt like fool’s gold. He never seemed to be on the same page as LeBron, his back and forth with his players felt a little forced, and the team showed little of the on-court chemistry that marked the team’s undefeated first month of the 2016 postseason.

In a rare on-record talk with USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt, the former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach dug in and gave us a “no duh” purview on what it’s like to coach an NBA all-timer, while working with championship expectations:

He also talked about the difference between coaching in Europe and coaching in the NBA.

“The role of the coach is much larger as far as impact and persona,” Blatt said. “It’s much more of a coaches’ show. In the NBA, it’s a players’ show.”

He also said: “You better be on the same page as your best player. If not, you’re going to be in trouble.”

That’s not a shot at LeBron James, and none of this should be a condemnation of James nor Blatt.

Both could have done more to make the relationship work – Blatt’s insecurities got the best of him at times, James’ passive/aggressive streak probably doomed the Cavs from the start – but neither should be that ashamed for the 141 contests (including playoffs) that the two took part in during a season and a half with the Cavaliers.

Some people just don’t warm to others, for absolutely no legitimate reason. With the possible exception of letting Kevin Love have more of a mark of the team’s offense, pushing Kyrie Irving to play a more free-wheeling style offensively, identifying Channing Frye (a player Blatt never got to coach) as an asset, or telling LeBron to cram it during team huddles, Tyronn Lue isn’t really doing anything all that different than David Blatt when it comes to Xs and Os.

OK, those are quite a few exceptions. This thing was probably never going to work.

Which is fine for Blatt, who will be paid by the Cavaliers next season, and doesn’t want to deign to take an assistant’s job in 2016-17 just for the sake of staying in the NBA:

In a brief conversation, Blatt said he will not take next season off and suggested that if he doesn’t have a head coaching job, he will take one overseas as opposed to working as an assistant or associate head coach in the NBA.

“I don’t see myself not being a head coach somewhere but you never know,” he said.

In 23 years as a coach, Blatt has never taken a full season off.

“I’m going to coach next year. I’m not going to sit out. It’s not in my nature. I want to work,” he said. “I’ll be back somewhere. Could be anywhere.”

Anywhere in the world? “It’s the story of my life,” said the coaching nomad who has had jobs in Russia, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy and the United States.

Blatt reportedly interviewed with the New York Knicks in a bid to work under former teammate and current Knick general manager Steve Mills. New York went on to reportedly make a commitment to Jeff Hornacek, and the Houston Rockets also reportedly passed on hiring the former Cavalier coach.

For years most associated with the NBA wondered why David Blatt could never score a head coaching gig, especially in light of his formidable record as a professional coach and his work in international amateur competition. The guy clearly knew and currently does know his stuff, he was born in Boston and played NCAA ball at Princeton, and despite his neophyte status heading into 2014-15 he appeared to be a perfect pairing with LeBron James – an iconoclast that served as the LeBron James of the international coaching stage for over two decades.

Instead, things failed to work out. Instead, Tyronn Lue (despite a 27-14 record in comparison to Blatt’s 30-11 turn this year; although James missed five of Lue’s contests, games that Cleveland went 1-4 in) somehow got across to his players in ways that Blatt could not. Instead, Blatt looks the part of a dismissed Doug Collins – even if it took Phil Jackson a full two seasons to lead the Chicago Bulls to that franchise’s first title. Even if the Cavaliers’ placement in this year’s NBA Finals isn’t assured.

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