David Blatt should be counting his lucky stars that the refs didn’t see him signaling for a timeout prior to the Cavs’ last possession and LeBron James‘ game-winner. Whoever that assistant coach was who frantically tried to stop him deserves a huge bonus and maybe even a promotion. Had the officials noticed Blatt, Cleveland would have received a technical foul for not having any timeouts remaining and lost possession of the ball, thus drastically increasing their chances of losing the game and going down 3-1 to the Bulls.
It was eerily reminiscent of Chris Webber’s infamous timeout that cost Michigan the NCAA Championship against UNC in 1993, and it’s a moment that poor C-Webb will probably never live down.
As a rookie head coach in the NBA, Blatt has already weathered a tremendous amount of scrutiny and criticism, and a mental lapse like this one would have surely set off a firestorm that would have been nearly impossible to recover from. Had things gone down differently and the Cavs ultimately got knocked out of the playoffs because of this, do you think Blatt is still coaching in the NBA next season or nah?
(Vine via Vinnyviner and JMK473)
