For those of you who listened to the press conference after Silas was canned on Monday, Dennis Gilbert’s refusal to give G.M. John Paxson the “dreaded vote of confidence” was deafening. I keep going back and forth with him…it’s like the guy has two distinct sides…the dumb Pax (Diop, Wagner, letting Boozer go) and the smart Pax (dumping Kemp, trading for Varejao and Gooden)…Pax can only hope that Gilbert only sees the smart side. His last move, getting Welsch at the deadline rather than a shooter, could be the beginning of the end.

According to reports out of Baltimore, the Ravens decided to match the Browns’ offer to backup RB Chester Taylor. This isn’t bad news, Browns fans.

This is the second time this offseason that Phil Savage has made it clear he was the brains behind Ozzie Newsome. First, he takes their starting CB, Gary Baxter, after Ozzie and Co. thought they had him. Now they forced the Ravens, who could have tendered Taylor a $1.4 million dollar deal before the Browns signed him to an offer sheet, to pay their backup running back $3 million smackers this season.

Score thus far? Savage-2, Ozzie-0.

Look, I like Paul Silas. I think what he said about Boozer wasn’t a big deal, especially if you look at the context in which he said it. That being said, it was time for him to go. Eric Snow played 40 minutes against the Raptors in a starting role and didn’t score a point. Every loose ball went to the Raptors. As Pax said in the press conference this afternoon, the Cavs’ opponent on Friday night, the Sixers, played as though they were fighting for their playoff lives, as did the Raptors yesterday. The Cavs, with the exception of LeBron, were playing as though it was still November.

Some will say Silas couldn’t find the right rotation. I believe he didn’t have the patience to find it.

There is no good reason why Silas never stuck with Pavlovic for more than 5-10 minutes a game. He is the only player on this team (minus LBJ) who, with the right coach giving him the minutes and allowing him to build confidence, can hit an outside shot with some consistency. I just hope that he’s a major player down the stretch, as this team has enough talent to make some noise in the playoffs, let alone make the playoffs.

Silas is the perfect assistant coach – but when it comes down to X’s and O’s, he’s second rate. New owner Dan Gilbert obviously won’t stand for that, and I am glad this team has an owner willing to make this choice at this time, knowing he’ll get criticized.

Some interesting topics in an ESPN poll on the Paul Silas firing, including the effectiveness of the Cavs’ young core of LeBron, Z and Drew Gooden, and the number of coaches LeBron will have before winning his first title.

For the record, I said two: Silas and Phil Jackson.

I just listened to GM Jim Paxson and team owner Dan Gilbert outline their reasons for firing Silas at the team’s press conference, and it seems the main point here was they didn’t agree with Silas’ rotation and general player management.

According to Paxson and Gilbert, the team relied too heavily on LeBron at times, with several players on the floor often standing around watching LeBron in action. Coming off last night’s game, which saw the Cavaliers lose despite 56 points from James, this is certainly a valid point. They also suggested that Silas didn’t think as highly about his bench players as management did, and his handling of Jeff McInnis was discussed as well. Still, I don’t agree with the timing of the decision. With 18 games left in the season and the Cavs only three games from falling out of the playoffs, I just don’t see how switching from Silas to Brendan Malone makes this team any better and any more likely to qualify for the postseason.

Finally, Pax and Gilbert both denied that LeBron had any sort of role in the decision, but I’m not buying that. I mean, LeBron IS the franchise, pure and simple, and if you want to keep the franchise, you’ve got to keep the franchise happy. Maybe Paxson didn’t call LeBron Sunday night to ask him how he’d feel if they canned Silas, but I’m sure they wouldn’t have made the move if they thought it would jeopardize their chances of keeping LeBron in Cleveland.

Of course, the Phil Jackson rumors can now officially start. His name was mentioned during the press conference and, predictably, Gilbert denied any interest, but come on…. You know his was the first name mentioned when they started talking about long-term replacements — how could it not have been? Jackson took Jordan, Shaq and Kobe to the next level, so there’s no reason to doubt that he could do it with LBJ.

Not really sure what’s going on just yet, but Cleveland.com is reporting that the Cavaliers have fired head coach Paul Silas. “They released me,” Silas said. “They didn’t think the team was performing as well as it should be and they wanted to make a change.”

Maybe it’s because the Cavs have lost three straight and nine of their last 12, or maybe it has something to do with the comments he made about Carlos Boozer, but whatever the reason I think this is a terrible move. You’ve got a young team fighting for its playoff life and in the middle of it all, you’re going to can the team’s head coach? It seemed that Silas had a good relationship with most of the players on the team, including LeBron James, and he’s been able to get solid production from career underachievers Drew Gooden and Tractor Traylor, so I’m not sure what a move like this is supposed to accomplish. If the goal was to motivate the team, I would think there’s a better chance of exactly the opposite happening.

Silas’ son, assistant Stephen Silas, was also fired, and assistant coach Brendan Malone will be the interim head coach. The team has called a noon press conference.

This team can be so friggin’ frustrating. LeBron James became the youngest player in league history to eclipse the 50-point mark Sunday, scoring 56 against the Raptors on 18-36 shooting, including 6-12 from downtown. Despite his historical outing, though, the Cavaliers still fell to the lowly Raptors, 98-105, thanks to a quiet afternoon from Zydrunas Ilgauskas (10 points, 8 boards) and a pitiful performance from the bench, which scored one lousy point.

You’d like to think that this team has the potential to do some damage in the playoffs, but nights like this leave you hoping that they can just qualify. The Cavaliers are currently slotted fifth in the East, two games behind the fourth-seeded Wizards but only three ahead of #9 Orlando. With 18 games left on the schedule, including dates with the Pistons, Rockets, Mavericks, Kings and Wizards, there’s still time for them to pull it all together. Then again, there’s still time for them to fall completely apart too.

Terry Pluto gives an excellent analysis of the Browns’ free agent moves so far. They may have overpaid a little for two average guards, but both are quality starters and help to fix the weakest part of the team. Andruzzi also adds some much-needed character. You need guys like that along with the superstars, so they seem to be on the right track. Pluto also reports that the Browns do not expect to pick a quarterback with the third pick in the draft.

Jeff McInnis was a huge part of the Cavs’ success last year and early this season, but Terry Pluto is speculating that McInnis will be gone next year. He’s just not consistent on defense, and he sometimes has trouble getting LeBron involved in the fast break.

Eric Snow, on the other hand, plays excellent defense and does a great job of dishing to LeBron. His shooting sucks, but according to Pluto, the Cavs think he can thrive if they add a quality shooting guard. Makes sense to me.

The Indians extended manager Eric Wedge’s contract through the 2007 season, with club options for 2008 and 2009. It really looks like Mark Shapiro is building something special with a young roster that’s potentially set up to compete for the next several years, and locking Wedge up now (along with many of his coaches, including Eddie Murray, Buddy Bell and Joel Skinner) gives the franchise a sense of stability as it transitions from a promising team to a contending one.

Of course, Wedge earned this extension because of the work he did during a two-year rebuilding phase. Now we’ll see how he handles the pressure of expectation. From the looks of it, this team plays hard for Wedge and responds well to his managerial style, and I would expect more of the same as the Indians continue to improve.