Former Cavs coach Blatt focused on winning in Istanbul

By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - David Blatt has moved on from being unceremoniously fired as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and, days after his former NBA team won a championship without him, said he is focused on his return to European basketball. Blatt, a well-respected and accomplished international coach who joined Turkish professional team Darussafaka this month, is eager to rekindle the success from when he last coached in Europe in 2014 and led Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Euroleague title. "Well I have in the past so I hope I can succeed again," Blatt said on Thursday when asked if he could bring a Euroleague title to the club. "Give us a little time to build the team and to develop the players and the style of play that we want to have, but we are not shying away from any challenges." Blatt was fired as coach of the Cavaliers in January four days after the LeBron James-led team suffered their worst loss of the 2015-16 NBA season. It was a shocking move given Blatt had guided the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2015 and had them sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings when he was dismissed. His former Cleveland team returned to the championship round where they triumphed on Sunday after an historic Finals comeback that delivered the city their first professional sports title since 1964. "I can tell you that they deserve it. They are a very hard working group of people," said Blatt, who chose not to dwell on the past. "I'm far past disappointment. I've turned the page. "I feel excited that I am here and starting a new and challenging opportunity in a great place with Darussafaka in Turkey and I am thankful for the opportunity." While Blatt said he is not currently focused on returning to the NBA, he did admit that it could be a possibility down the road if the right situation presented itself. Before returning to Europe, he even made a run at several coaching jobs in the world's top basketball league. "I did try. You know I interviewed for several head coaching jobs in the NBA," said Blatt. "I know I was pretty close on two or three of them but there are a lot of great coaches there as well and sometimes timing and circumstance don't always allow you exactly what you want." Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Blatt had no NBA experience. He led the Russian national team to the 2007 Eurobasket championship, 2011 Eurobasket bronze medal and 2012 London Olympics bronze medal, and also led Maccabi Tel-Aviv to six Israeli Cup championships and five league titles. Blatt also coached Istanbul's Efes in the 2007-08 season and said he was drawn back to Europe by an "extremely ambitious and exciting opportunity" with a club which has a great vision. Darussafaka signed a long-term cooperation deal with the Dogus conglomerate in 2013 and substantially won promotion to the top league, where they finished fourth in the 2015-16 domestic season. "I think right now that top to bottom the Turkish league is probably the strongest league in Europe, and there are many great leagues in Europe," he said. (Editing by Frank Pingue)