Month: March 2005 (Page 4 of 7)

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.