Should Tribe Trust These Guys?

Outside of Opening Day, the next best day for starved baseball fans is coming this week when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

By the way, if you happen to be going to Goodyear, Arizona, the forecast for this week is in the 80’s, a drastic departure from what we have experience in Cleveland this week.

The Indians are definitely a contender for a playoff spot in the balance American League, where pretty much everyone, save for perhaps Oakland, could be in the post-season.

It has been well stated that we wish the Tribe front office had done more to improve the ballclub this winter, particularly since they have one of the premier starting rotations in baseball, but even still if the hitting can generate enough runs, Terry Francona’s team should be in the mix heading into September.

However, there are some players we think the Indians may be putting too much faith in heading into spring training. Here they are, and our reasons for saying this.

Rajai Davis. One reason is that Davis is 35 years old and his game is built on speed. But the OF’s OPS languished under 700 from 2010-13 while playing for Oakland and Toronto.

The resurgence in the last two years comes from great numbers in Comerica Park where the speedster had a 785 OPS in 2014, and then shot up to 823 last season.

Can Davis put up respectable numbers without playing half his games in the Motor City? That’s something to keep an eye on in the early part of the season.

Carlos Santana. Fans around town are split on the switch-hitter, but can the Tribe brass count on him for a rebound season that the offense desperately needs?

The former catcher will turn 30 a couple of days after the season opens, and his production has declined each of the last two seasons, dropping 40 points in OPS in both seasons. Most of that drop comes from his slugging percentage, which was that of a middle infielder last season.

He will get a lot of at bats at DH in 2016, and if the power numbers don’t return to 2013 levels, Francona will be searching for a replacement very quickly.

Abraham Almonte. The Indians are putting a lot of faith into their play in August and September a year ago, and the switch-hitting centerfielder was a significant part of that success.

After two dismal seasons in San Diego, Almonte put up a 321/455/776 line in less than 200 at bats with Cleveland. That’s way above any kind of numbers he put up in the major leagues before that.

But he’s the primary guy in center coming into the season. That should make everyone who follows the Indians very nervous.

Jeff Manship. We have seen him mentioned by some as a major piece in the Cleveland bullpen and frankly, we aren’t buying it.

GM Mike Chernoff is still searching for relief help, which is why he signed Tommy Hunter on Friday, and also traded for Dan Otero and inked Craig Stammen to a minor league deal.

In Francona’s world, you can never have enough relief pitchers.

Manship was incredible a year ago, with an 0.92 ERA in 39 innings of work.

But do not forget for a minute, that the right hander never had an ERA under 5.00 in any shot in the bigs before last season.

Perhaps he found something to make him a reliable major league reliever, but more likely, he will regress to the mean, and that means he could be in Columbus to open the season.

There are other question marks, like Lonnie Chisenhall in RF, and is MLB Network’s Mike Lowell correct about Mike Napoli finding his bat speed in Texas last season.

While the AL doesn’t have a lot of mediocre squads, filling some of these maybe with positive would make us feel better about the ’16 Cleveland Indians.

However, if the players we mention come through? It will be a fun summer at Progressive Field.

Cavs Still Need To Be Better

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a position where they aren’t really playing opponents anymore, they are playing themselves.

And that’s why even though the wine and gold enters the All Star break with a 38-14 record and a three game lead in the Eastern Conference, we don’t feel satisfied with what they have accomplished.

When GM David Griffin replaced David Blatt with Tyronn Lue, the new coach said he wanted to play more up tempo. The number of points the Cavs are scoring would indicate they are playing faster, as they have scored more than 110 points in seven of 12 games since Lue took over.

But in reality, the faster pace comes in spurts, and there are many times the dreaded isolation ball rears its ugly head.

Lue also wanted to get Kevin Love more involved by having the offense run through him while playing without LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on the floor.

Love was more of a factor in Lue’s first few games, but has battled a couple of injuries on the current home stand, stalling that plan.

The higher scoring has come with a downside too. The defense has severely declined, with Cleveland allowing more than 100 points in eight of Lue’s dozen games as the head man.

That won’t win in the playoffs.

We aren’t criticizing Lue by any means here. The break will allow him to have some practices to get his message across to his team, and here’s hoping everyone listens.

Particularly Irving.

Sure, fans look at his 32 points and 10 assists on Monday against the Kings, and his 35 tallies last night vs. the Lakers, and will question this criticism, and right now, he’s the primary culprit for the ball sticking.

He seems more comfortable with a slower pace, and don’t confuse his attempts to drive to the basket with faster play please. Many of these drives come as a result of him pounding the ball and waiting for an opening to drive.

It’s not coming off of the ball movement his head coach wants.

That’s why perhaps Irving should be the focal point when James and Love are on the bench, because there is no question the young man from Duke can breakdown defenders with the best of them.

Lue has stressed getting shooters off of the three point line, and the Cavs have been somewhat successful there, but there is still way too much dribble penetration, particularly since Matthew Dellavedova has missed time with a sore hamstring.

You simply must play better defense than this in the playoffs. You cannot expect to outscore opponents in the later rounds of the post-season. The Cavaliers were second in the league in preventing points, and have now dropped to fourth.

The other teams people feel are in contention for a title, the Spurs, Warriors, and Thunder, ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in defensive field goal percentage on two point shots.

We are sure Lue knows this and will get this area fixed, but it may take a trade by Griffin.

They could also use another shooter. Irving is making less than 30% of his shots from beyond the arc, so the only reliable three point shooters are Dellavedova (43%), JR Smith (40%) and to a lesser extent, Love (36.8%).

For a team that shoots a lot of threes, they don’t have many guys who are consistently knocking them down.

That could be another area where Griffin explores someone in a deal.

It’s difficult to be “disappointed” with a team that is 24 games over .500 a little over halfway through the season, but we think Tyronn Lue would be the first to tell you he isn’t satisfied where his team is at.

Perhaps we will see some changes with a couple of practices before the second half of the season (and the trading deadline) picks up next Thursday.

The Cavaliers need to play better, particularly defensively, if they want to bring a title home in 2016.

QB? Or Not QB? The Browns Annual Draft Question

The Cleveland Browns have the second pick in this spring’s NFL draft and they should take the opportunity to draft the franchise quarterback the team has needed since Bernie Kosar was unceremoniously released in 1993.

Or should they?

Look, we are resigned that the new folks, yep, the analytical people, will take either Jered Goff, Carson Wentz, or Paxton Lynch with the second overall choice in April.

And until proven otherwise, we have to trust new coach Hue Jackson, a man with excellent credentials on the offensive side of the ball. If Jackson feels there is a guy there who he can groom and make a top notch NFL passer, we will go along with him.

We have heard many personnel people with NFL experience say that the two most important positions on the field are quarterback, and guys who can pressure the quarterback.

And there just so happens to be a player that everybody has at the top of the draft who showed the ability to create havoc for passers at the college level.

He is familiar to northeastern Ohio fans because he played for Ohio State and his name of course is Joey Bosa.

At the beginning of every draft season, that is to say when the first mock drafts start to hit, passers are always at the top of the list. It’s the sexy thing to do.

Then, as the pro days come and go, and the scouting combine is held, more evaluations are made and the quarterbacks get reposition and reevaluated.

Usually, this means that these QBs are thought to not be good enough to be picked in the first half of the draft.

No one wants a repeat of the 2011 NFL Draft which was focused on during Super Bowl week because Cam Newton and Von Miller were the first two picks.

While Newton took the Panthers to the Super Bowl within five seasons, we should also point out three other quarterbacks were taken in the top twelve selections. They would be Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, and Christian Ponder.

Also consider that just two short years ago at this stage of the off-season, Teddy Bridgewater was considered a lock to be picked in the top five of the draft. He wound up being taken at the end of the first round.

The point is much can change between now and the next two months.

What if the Browns and Jackson evaluate the three college passers and feel there isn’t much difference between the trio, that Jackson will be able to make all three into solid NFL signal callers.

Or he thinks the best of the guys they scout is Cardale Jones or Stanford’s Kevin Hogan?

Then, why not take Bosa if he is available at #2 and wait to take the quarterback with the first pick in the second round.

Another option would be to take the pass rusher at #2 and trade up from #32 to get back in the first round to get the QB.

There is a long way to go before the Browns will be on the clock and they should consider all of their options.

They have a lot of needs besides the quarterback, and the QB isn’t the only difference maker on the field.

Guys who can get to the passer can be just as impactful. Our bet is the new front office and the new coach will research all options before making the second overall selection.

Tribe Wants Good Start? Maybe Get Younger

It would seem appropriate on Super Bowl Sunday to write something about football today, but for fans of the Cleveland Browns, that game is a myth, something along the lines of a unicorn.

So, instead, with spring training starting in less than two weeks (how great is that to say), we will discuss the Cleveland Indians, a time with a chance to make the playoffs in 2016.

Unfortunately, that chance is slimmer than it could have been if the front office would have been more aggressive this off-season, instead of its normal philosophy of “wishin’ and hopin’.

There is no doubt the Indians have a championship pitching staff, their starting rotation is one of the five best in major league baseball, and may very well be #1.

But team president Chris Antonetti and new GM Mike Chernoff didn’t do Terry Francona any favors by signing two players with plenty of age on them, Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis, as the only additions to the lineup.

And of course, rumors have them pursuing another aging veteran hitter in Juan Uribe.

This isn’t to say none of these guys can help the Tribe, in fact, we believe Napoli in particular could be a big help this season, but as a whole, the rampant conservatism that permeates the front office was en vogue again this winter.

In our opinion, one of the reasons the Indians get off to slow starts is they begin the season playing veterans who don’t have much left, and by the middle of May or early June, the management finally realizes that and replaces them with younger, more productive players.

Last year, it was Michael Bourn (Nick Swisher was hurt). Francona wrote Bourn’s name in the lineup 95 times last season, and his 608 OPS dragged down the offense. We would have moved the centerfielder after his ’14 season showed he was declining.

In 2014, Ryan Raburn was struggling after an excellent ’13 campaign, and he and Swisher, who was struggling physically, hampered the offense.

And don’t forget the Indians started playing better when Asdrubal Cabrera was traded and Jose Ramirez was inserted as shortstop.

Also, remember Orlando Cabrera, Jack Hannahan, and Johnny Damon?

That’s why we would pass on Uribe and let Giovanny Urshela and Jose Ramirez platoon at third base. What are the odds that Uribe will be much better than the two youngsters, who will probably improve with regular playing time.

It’s also why if Tyler Naquin hits .420 (or thereabouts) in the Cactus League, we would have him make the Opening Day roster and give him regular playing time.

After all, the Tribe’s current starting outfielder consists of 35-year-old Davis, a journeyman in Abraham Almonte, and Lonnie Chisenhall, who in his brief major league career has demonstrated wild inconsistency.

We would rather see Naquin than Collin Cowgill, Shane Robinson, or Joey Butler, because Naquin will get better. It’s hard to see the other three doing that.

And if one or all of them go to the minor leagues, you have a fallback if the rookie struggles in the bigs.

The fear in Cleveland is that a young player will be ruined by early career struggles. We believe if the rookie is tough mentally, he will overcome that.

Remember, Francisco Lindor was hitting around .210 after his first month in the majors. Was he crushed by it? No!

We understand that Lindor is a special talent, but why not give more young players a chance?

It may just help the Indians get off to better starts to seasons.

Lue Trying To Toughen Up Cavs

LeBron James talked about it in November, and some people thought he should ease up.

It’s when he talked about the lack of a sense of urgency with this year’s edition of the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the defending champion Warriors got off to an unblemished start.

He was right then, and he is right now.

Much has been made about the changes Tyronn Lue has made since taking over for David Blatt almost two weeks ago.

The two things most talked about is increasing the pace for the wine and gold, getting them to play faster, a more up tempo style.

The other is expanding the role of Kevin Love, getting him more involved offensively instead of using him mostly as a “stretch four”. Love has a very good low post game, and is also a good passer from the high post.

But the other problem Lue is trying to attack is making his team more mentally tough.

He talked about it the other night in Indiana when he said he refused to call a timeout because the players got themselves into a mess, and it was their responsibility to get out of it.

What he’s really talking about is accountability for the players.

We have harped on the lack of this aspect with the Cleveland Browns under Mike Pettine, and therefore we are thrilled to see Lue expecting it from his players.

When the Cavs have played up tempo and moved the ball by passing, not dribbling, they have played better, and the offensive is putting up better numbers, scoring over 110 points in five straight games before it ended last night.

Where the lack of mental toughness comes in is when they stop playing this style and revert back to the isolation ball that was en vogue with David Blatt.

That’s what the coach was talking about when he was talking about the players needing to figure it out when they stop pushing and moving the ball, and get back to doing it without Lue reminding them.

What is mind boggling is that the players on the floor keep going back to this style whenever things get a little tough.

Maybe it is still an adjustment period for the players with and to the new coaching staff, and after a month or so, the new style will become the default for the players, and everything will be fine.

Lue has wanted to play more guys, but the last two games has resorted to giving heavy minutes to the starters. We feel it’s because of a lack of trust in the reserves, which is the same issue Blatt had.

And with Matthew Dellavedova out last night with a bad hamstring, Mo Williams was forced into action and his defensive problems were once again apparent.

It’s that problem that made us ambivalent about Williams’ return to Cleveland last summer.

Another problem that has cropped up is a lack of bench scoring. This can be easily remedied by switching Iman Shumpert back in the starting lineup and bringing JR Smith off the bench.

This is no slight to Smith, but with Lue saying he wants to use Kevin Love as a focal point with the second unit, having Smith with him would provide more offense when the starters are resting.

Look, this isn’t panic, but if the Cavaliers are going to get where they want to go, they need to be mentally stronger.

We think that Tyronn Lue thinks the same thing.

When Things In Sports Get Too Easy

There is a cliché in sports that offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships. But is that still true?

Particularly in the sports of football and basketball, nearly every rule change in the past several years has been designed to help scoring. Fans like to see points on the scoreboard.

But when does it become too much?

Have both sports reached the point where things have come too easy.

In football, most of the rule changes have involved the passing game. What has happened, in our opinion, is that it has become ridiculously easy to throw the football.

In the late 70’s and early 80’s, 4000 yards passing was the gold standard.

When Brian Sipe and Dan Fouts threw for over that number in 1980, it was a huge amount of yardage. We remember ABC promoting a Monday Night Football game between the Browns and Chargers as “aerial warfare”.

This past season, 12 quarterbacks had over 4000 passing yards, and three more were right on the doorstep.

And this doesn’t take into account the large number of big gains as a result of defensive pass interference. It seems that most of the time, the receiver and the defensive back are both pushing and shoving, but the defense draws the flag.

In a playoff game this year between the Patriots and Chiefs, New England threw the football on their first 14 plays.

Yes, we realize they may have the greatest QB of all time in Tom Brady, but the reason they threw the ball this much, is that it is easy to move the ball through the air.

Too easy.

It’s time to let the secondaries around the league to play defense a little bit. This is not to say the NFL should go back to the time when players like Mel Blount could club a receiver off the line, and not allow them in the pattern at all, but let’s make professional football a little less like the touch football you played in the street as a kid.

In basketball, after the game was becoming too physical in the 90’s, led by Pat Riley’s overly physical New York Knicks, the NBA felt they needed to do something to get the game back to its free flowing roots.

So, they limited the contact allowed when guarding players on the perimeter.

Now, small quick players are virtually unguardable.

Here are some of the top 15 scorers right now in the NBA: Stephan Curry (1st), James Harden (2nd), Damien Lillard (6th), Russell Westbrook (7th), Isaiah Thomas (12th) and Kyle Lowry (15th).

That would be 40% of the league top scorers are basically small guys who can shoot, penetrate, and have the ball in their hands most of the time.

Basketball is a sport dominated by big men, but they are quickly being made obsolete in today’s game.

Is that good for the game? We would say no because there isn’t a penalty for playing small.

When the Cavs play Golden State, their smaller players are allowed to bang LeBron James when he gets in the paint, because the game is officiated differently for inside players than guys who play outside.

We aren’t advocating slamming smaller players to the floor when they drive to the basket, but allowing perimeter defenders to maintain some contact with these guys without being whistled might be appropriate.

Both leagues will tell you everything is fine based on ratings and attendance, and we get that. However, fans want to see professional athletes having to struggle at times too.

Only the best should make the game look easy.

Now, it seems anyone can.

Cavs Passed Spurs’ Test, More Exams to Follow

Can anyone imagine the panic that may have ensued had the Cleveland Cavaliers lost at home to San Antonio last night?

Thankfully, the Cavs emerged victorious with a 117-103 win at The Q, thus splitting the season series with the team who has the second best record in the Western Conference.

So, the only one of the top teams in the West that the wine and gold have had issues with is Golden State, who beat them twice.

At the very least, Cleveland will split with the other top seeds, having already defeating Oklahoma City and the Clippers at home.

And the loss to the Warriors in Oakland was by a scant six points. So, once again, we will tell you that was a aberration. The Cavs played terribly two weeks ago, while the defending champs played very well.

As for the Eastern Conference competition, the Bulls seem to be Cleveland’s toughest nut to crack.

They lost to the 2nd seeded Raptors by four in Toronto, and hammered the Raptors at home by 22 points.

The Southeast Division leading Hawks lost to the Cavs at The Q by 10 points in November, and the two teams don’t meet again until Game 76, by which time Tyronn Lue’s bunch might be resting players because the #1 seed in the East is settled.

The wine and gold have lost twice to Chicago, although there were extenuating circumstance both times. The first came Opening Night in the Windy City, and the Cavaliers dropped a game at home in Lue’s first game as head coach following the firing of David Blatt.

In fact, the Cavs next big test will be a home game on February 18th against Chicago, the last game of an upcoming five game home stand, and the first game after the All Star break.

That will be followed by a trek to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder.

And then, following two more home games, the Cavs will travel up north to Toronto to play the Raptors.

So, following the All Star Game, three of Cleveland’s first five games will be pretty big tests against some of the NBA’s best teams.

After that stretch, the schedule will lighten up a bit, save for another four game swing out west, where the wine and gold will play the Kings, Lakers, Clippers, and Jazz in a six day span.

However, 12 of the last 20 games will be on the road, again though, if the Cavs can put some distance between themselves and the other top teams in the East, those later contests won’t have much of a meaning.

And Lue’s squad seems to have figured out a winning formula away from home, winning nine of their last 1o away from Quicken Loans Arena.

The offense seems to be humming to, with the Cavs scored more than 110 points in five of the last six games, the only hiccup coming in the loss to Chicago.

The downside is they have allowed more than 100 points in five of their last eight games. Some of that could be because of the faster pace the team is trying to play, but if they can tighten up on that side of the ball, the Cavaliers will be just fine, thank you.

Despite all of the hand wringing after the loss to the Warriors, the fact is, this is one of the elite teams in the NBA, one of only perhaps four or five teams that can hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

They are so good that you can pick out the tests for the team on the schedule. They passed one last night, but the next one won’t really come until after the All Star Game.

Excited About Tribe Winter Moves? Not Us

There are some people in this city who look at the Cleveland Indians through rose colored glasses.

They are baseball’s model organization, the small market team with the smartest front office in the sport.

Some of these people work at the ballclub’s flagship radio station, others are media members who are charmed by the genuine, good people who work in the Tribe’s baseball operations department.

Others are fans, usually of the younger persuasion, who see the organization building a young core of talent and feel optimistic for the future.

Heck, they get excited by the news of Josh Tomlin, a back of the rotation starter at best, signing a club friendly, multi-year contract extension.

When Tomlin inked the deal yesterday, social media was flooded by people telling us what a wonderful deal it was. To us, it was “meh”.

We see their side of the argument. We too are excited by Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, and one of the best starting rotations in all of major league baseball.

That’s the half filled view. Looking on the bright side of things.

We can’t give them that benefit of the doubt simply because of that dominant pitching. Our opinion is if the Indians can get to the post-season, their arms could carry them a long way, but they have to get there, and we don’t think they can score enough runs to accomplish that.

Terry Francona’s squad still have a lot of holes in the everyday lineup. We see big question marks at 3B and the entire outfield, depending on how long Brantley is out of the lineup.

Yes, getting Mike Napoli looks like a solid move. He upgrades the defense at first base, but outside of the second half of last season with Texas, he’s not the player he was with Boston three or four years ago.

He is 34 years old after all.

And Rajai Davis would be a nice pick up as an extra outfielder. Unfortunately, he looks like the starter in LF until Brantley returns.

Also, why do we have the feeling that the Indians will rush Brantley back from his injury, and because of that, he may have an off year? Probably because they did the same thing with Kipnis and Yan Gomes each of the last two years.

Would anyone be truly surprised if both players struggled in 2016? If they do, how does Francona get his club to put more runs on the board.

Our problem is that Tribe management always has the strategy that if everything goes right, we can win the AL Central, but the reality is, it rarely happens that all factors fall in our favor.

That’s why this off-season was the perfect time to make a bold move for a hitter in their prime. Yes, we understand that it is difficult because if you sign a free agent, you likely will have to pay for the player when he is past his prime.

And making a trade carries a risk because the player you move may wind up being better than the guy you get.

That’s one of the reasons we say the Indians operate in fear. They deal in mostly low risk, high reward moves, but many times they get players who don’t have much left.

This would have been a perfect time to strike and put this team in a position to win the division and avoid wild card game.

It may work out, but why not eliminate some of the “hope” factor. It’s okay to put a team out there that doesn’t need a luck factor to win.

Lue Shows Signs of Adaptation

It has now been a few days since the Cavaliers decided to make a change on the sidelines, replacing David Blatt with Tyronn Lue.

Much has been made about Lue wanting the team to play faster, getting up the court before the opposing defenses can get set up, and with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on the roster, that’s a wise move.

The new coach also talked about the team not being “in shape” to play faster, and the media took off with that one. You could tell they want to accuse Blatt of not having his team in shape, being too easy on them.

However, that’s not what Lue said.

Under Blatt, the Cavs started the season playing slower and emphasizing defense, the same style they used in the playoffs last year, a style that was successful in getting them to the sixth game of The NBA Finals.

You can’t fault the former coach with using that system, after all, it worked quite well for the wine and gold in May and June.

If you are used to walking the ball up the floor and controlling the pace, and then are asked to sprint on a regular basis, it’s going to take time to get used to that.

It doesn’t mean David Blatt didn’t get his basketball team in shape to play in the NBA.

And after last night’s win, the first for Lue, over Minnesota, the new coach talked about wanting to play fast with certain players on the floor, but also playing slower when James and Irving are not on the floor.

We were happy to hear that because there are certain times when it doesn’t benefit the Cavaliers to race up and down the court.

One thing that worries us is Cleveland’s obsession with Golden State, the team that beat them in the championship series last summer.

We hope they don’t alter the roster to compete with the Warriors, because doing that could be a problem if let’s say they face San Antonio at the end, which is very much a possibility.

What is strange is the narrative that the Warriors and Spurs play the same style. Yes, they both move the basketball, but the defending champs are more reliant on the three point shot, while the Spurs have a very strong presence in the paint with Tim Duncan, LeMarcus Aldridge, and David West.

So, GM David Griffin and Lue can’t get too Warrior-centric when putting together the roster and style of play for the team, even taking into account Golden State’s 30 point drilling of the Spurs last night.

You run the risk of doing what the Cavaliers did after they lost to Orlando in the conference finals in 2009. They constructed the roster to beat the Magic’s style with Dwight Howard in the middle and a bunch of three point shooters.

The problem was, they couldn’t get past Boston in the second round.

So, you have to stay flexible with the roster in order to beat teams like Chicago, Toronto, and Atlanta in the East. If you can’t beat those teams, you don’t have to worry about Golden State and San Antonio.

In Lue’s comments yesterday, he seems to understand that. Hopefully, Griffin does as well.

Not getting back to The Finals would be more of a failure than anyone can imagine right now.

All The Pressure Is On LeBron and Lue

Shocking.

That’s the way we would have to describe the news that David Blatt was fired as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday afternoon.

After all, the wine and gold had the Eastern Conference’s best record, and was on a pace to win 60 games.

GM David Griffin tried to spin that the team was disconnected and felt that new coach Tyronn Lue was the man to unify the roster.

Fair or not, LeBron James is going to be blamed for Blatt’s dismissal, and we do not believe for a second that his opinion regarding the coach who piloted the team to The Finals a year were not well known throughout the organization.

This put immense pressure on James and Lue to deliver a title to the franchise, because now, nothing short of that will justify Blatt’s firing.

The only reason Magic Johnson doesn’t have a reputation as a coach killer is that when he went to Laker management and demanded Paul Westhead be removed in favor of Pat Riley, he led Los Angeles to a title.

The end justified the means.

If the Cavs don’t hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in late June, James will have blood on his hands.

He and the coach guided a team without two of the three best players on the roster, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, to the brink of a title, stretching the eventual champion Warriors to six games.

Anything less than that will be a failure for James, Griffin, and Dan Gilbert.

Did Blatt have flaws? Yes, he was reactive at times, and could never seem to get a consistent substitution pattern, which had to irritate the players affected by it.

But he knows basketball. Our guess is his knowledge of the sport is much higher than his successor, but that doesn’t matter.

In the NBA, if you don’t get along with the superstars, you don’t last long.

And if you are LeBron James’ coach, don’t count on getting his endorsement ever. He has never developed the relationship with a coach that Michael Jordan had with Phil Jackson, Isiah Thomas had with Chuck Daly, or Tim Duncan has with Gregg Popovich.

That’s on him.

Look, there is no question the franchise is much better off with LeBron, who is still the preeminent player in the sport, but his attitude toward his bosses has to promote a lack of unity with the head coach.

It will be interesting to see what changes Lue will make starting tonight.

Will Mo Williams, Richard Jefferson, and Anderson Varejao get more minutes?

Will Matthew Dellavedova, still the best defender among the point guards, have his time diminished?

Some have speculated that the move could signal a trade is forthcoming for Blatt favorite Timofey Mozgov, but if he is moved, the team still needs a rim protector.

And how will Lue handle Kevin Love? Will Love get more touches inside early in games to establish himself, or will he get the ball only when James and Irving decide that it is prudent?

Will the offense be a ball moving attack or the isolation sets that the Cavs settle into at times for no reason?

And for those saying the Cavs couldn’t win a title with Blatt, the fact is they got closer than ever last year with him at the helm.

Lue? We simply don’t know. He’s never been a head coach in the NBA until today.

There aren’t many coaches with a championship pedigree in the sport right now, besides Popovich.

The only “elite” bench guys are perhaps Rick Carlisle in Dallas, and maybe Doc Rivers with the Clippers. Neither of them are replacing Blatt.

The pressure is squarely on James and Lue to bring a title to Cleveland. Anything less and LeBron will have explaining to do, even if he did have nothing to do with Blatt’s departure.