For some reference on Blatt and his actual coaching ability this article does a nice job of summarizing his work.
In March of 2006, the Russian federation was not looking for documents, but rather a good coach for its national team. And it chose David Blatt. In some way, the Israeli bureaucracy paved the way to glory for Blatt. Who knows what would have happened if Blatt had coached Israel instead of Russia? The Russians noticed Blatt when he managed to take the modest Dynamo to victory in the FIBA Eurochallenge with a 20-0 record. In the final, played on April 28 in Istanbul in front of 7,500 fans, Dynamo defeated BC Kyiv by 85-74. Kelly McCarty scored 24 points, Ognjen Askrabic 14, Ed Cota had 15 plus 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Granted, it was not a huge accomplishment, but a 20-0 record is something to take notice of!Holden's golden shot
Blatt's first goal with Russia was putting the team in the 2007 EuroBasket, to be played in Spain. In the qualification group with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Belgium, Russia advanced without big difficulties thanks to a 5-1 record. The only loss came in Hungary, 76-70. After that, the way to glory started in Granada with group wins against Serbia, Israel and Greece. In the second phase, already in Madrid, Russia defeated Portugal and Croatia and then lost to Spain (69-81). In quarterfinals, the victim was France (75-71) and then in semis it was the turn of Lithuania (86-74). An overconfident Spain was waiting again in the title game.
During the halftime break of the final, with Spain leading 34-31, volunteers started handing invitations to the press for the title celebration... but Blatt and his boys were not having any of that. With a three-pointer by J.R. Holden at the start of the last quarter, the Russian team was back in the game, 51-49. With 27 seconds to go, and with Spain leading 59-58, Holden made a steal. Blatt didn't have any timeouts left, but could talk to Holden. With 2.7 seconds left, Holden scored a basket that gave Russia the win and the gold medal. Once after that, Blatt told me some details about one of the most famous baskets ever in EuroBasket.
"When Spain missed its play I didn't have another timeout, so I just shouted to J.R. to wait a little and finish off the play by himself. What he did reminded me a little about that famous play by Michael Jordan in the sixth game of the NBA Finals in 1998. Holden almost did the same," Blatt said.
That win in Madrid finally opened all doors for David Blatt. He became a valued coach and he was at the top of the wish list of many big clubs. He coached Efes Pilsen, Dynamo Moscow and Aris Thessaloniki, but his dream was to go back to Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he had been Pini Gershon's assistant for some years and even head coach for a couple seasons, reaching the Euroleague Final Four in 2002. Finally, in 2010, the call came from Tel Aviv. Blatt was back to Maccabi and stayed in that bench for four years, sharing the job with that of the Russian national team until 2012. With Russia, Blatt won more medals: a bronze in the 2011 EuroBasket in Lithuania and another bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Miracle in Milan
In the 2010-11 season, Blatt managed to take Maccabi to the Euroleague title game at the Final Four in Barcelona, but Panathinaikos Athens was the better team that evening. The next two seasons Maccabi fell in the playoffs, missing the final event of the season, but Blatt felt he was on the right path. During those four years, he built a solid team that reached the Final Four again in 2014 in Milan and did what nobody expected: became European champion.
Maccabi did the tough part in the semifinals. CSKA Moscow was leading by 55-40 in the second half and everything looked done, but Maccabi started to come back, little by little. With 20 seconds to go, CSKA was still leading by 4 points, 67-63. During the timeout, Blatt called for a hopeful play that put the ball in David Blu's hands for a three-pointer. It worked, and Maccabi was within 1 point now, 67-66. CSKA had the possession to win, but CSKA mishandled the ball, Blu came out of nowhere to pick it up and pass ahead to Tyrese Rice, who with 5.5 seconds to go scored a bucket that was worth a place in the championship game. In that final, Maccabi played a great game to defeat Real Madrid 98-86, but to do so needed a great overtime (25-13), the first one in a final since 1969, to win the title. Blatt confirmed, once more, that he was a master of dramatic situations. That same season, Blatt won the Aleksandar Gomelskiy Award for the best coach of the year in the Euroleague. During that four-year stint with Maccabi, Blatt won 255 games and lost 55. He was Coach of the Year in Israel four times (1996, 2002, 2011 and 2014) and once in Russia (2005).
