David Blatt, whose photo is presented in the material, is a former American basketball player. The once successful player is of Israeli origin. Therefore, at the end of his professional career, he repeatedly coached basketball clubs in his historical homeland. Currently, David Blatt is the mentor of the Turkish team “Darushshafaka”.
early years
David Blatt began his professional career in 1976. For 5 seasons, the young player defended the colors of the student team at Princeton University. In 1981, a talented basketball player received an offer from the Israeli club Maccabi (Haifa). Blatt later played for Hapoel (Nahari) and Elitzur (Galil-Elion).
Coaching career
David made the decision to end his career as a player in 1992. The basketball player was forced to take such a step by constant injuries. At the same time, Blatt remained at home, taking a place in the coaching staff of Hapoel from Galil-Elion. Already in the 1993/1994 season, the former basketball player became a full-time mentor of the team. In 1999, David Blatt received the position of head coach of the best at that time Israeli club Maccabi (Tel Aviv).
At the beginning of 2004, the specialist was entrusted with the post of chief mentor of Dynamo St. Petersburg. Already in the first year of work in the new team, David managed to lead the wards to the FIBA Euroleague Cup.
In the 2005/2006 season, the coach led the Benetton club from Treviso. According to the results of the annual performances, the team was in first place in the highest Italian league.
Work in the national team of Russia
At the end of 2006, the profession of David Blatt allowed him to take the position of coach of the Russian basketball team. Already in 2007, his new wards were in the final of the European Championship, where they defeated the Spanish team, winning gold championships. As a result, David Blatt became the first foreign specialist to receive the “Honored Coach of Russia” award. Mentor resigned as national team coach in 2012, refusing to renew the contract with the country's basketball federation.
In the 2014/2015 season, David Blatt, after a short break in his coaching career, signed an agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers National Basketball Association club. Already in the debut season, the mentor brought the new wards into the final series of games of the American championship. Despite the positive results of work in the team, Blatt received an unexpected dismissal in early 2016. Presumably, the reason for the contract termination was the dissatisfaction of one of the leaders of the LeBron James team over the restructuring of game accents in the team, in particular, the change in tactics on the site, according to which the “stars” were forced to work for partners and do a whole lot of rough work.
Finally
David Blatt is known as a specialist who knows how to combine actions characteristic of European and American basketball in a game of his own team. The trainer's system involves constant pressure of the opponent, rapid breakthroughs of fast forwards along the front line. The key point in building the game, Blatt believes the use of a heavy striker on the court, which is effective in throws from the three-point zone and knows how to act away from the opponent’s ring.