Silas canned

[picnroll]

Silas canned

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2018311
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Updated: Mar. 21, 2005, 11:15 AM ET
Cavs have dropped 9 of 12 games
ESPN.com news services

CLEVELAND -- Paul Silas was fired as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday with his team fighting for a playoff spot after being in first place earlier in the year.

Silas told The Associated Press he was called in Monday morning for a brief meeting with general manager Jim Paxson and new owner Dan Gilbert.

"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."

Despite having league superstar LeBron James, the Cavaliers have struggled since the All-Star break, losing seven of 10 and nine straight road games, including Sunday's 105-98 loss to Toronto when James scored a franchise-record 56.

The team also fired Silas' son, assistant coach Stephen Silas. Assistant coach Brendan Malone will be the interim head coach.

The Cavaliers, according to league sources, are interested in Cleveland native Flip Saunders as the possible successor to Silas, Marc Stein reports. Since his firing in Minnesota, Saunders has said he plans to sit out the rest of this season, but his ties to the city and his lengthy experience coaching another star player out of high school -- Kevin Garnett -- have Cleveland's attention.

Information from ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein and The Associated Press was used in this report.

[DuncanMVP]

this has waht to do with the Spurs?



Silas shouldnt of been fired, its not his fault he has a one man roster

[ducks]

cavs are sweeting more that james will bolt to the bulls
you do realize that james wears number 23 and he played for the bulls
and he gets more endorsment money if he goes to bulls also

[Solid D]

This announcement comes quite coincidentally after his "See You Next Tuesday" comments.

[Sec24Row7]

What if they get Phil Jackson or Flip Saunders as a coach now?

[Solid D]

Phil Jax huh, hmm? Interesting thought there 24/7.

[Dex]

I thought that the clause in his contract only applied if he played in LA or NY, but Chicago may be included, too.

I wonder what Lebron thinks about all this. Silas has been like a mentor to James, almost a father figure...Something tells me this won't sit well with the King. Maybe Cleveland just doesn't WANT to keep Lebron and win basketball games. :lol

We Spurs fans take our front office for granted.

[ducks]

it is the cavs fault they tanked and got rid of help
it is the gms fault they let boozer get away

[ducks]

yeah phil would have to have a player like james to coach again
but cavs are not title contenders so phil will not go there

[Taco]

this has waht to do with the Spurs?



Silas shouldnt of been fired, its not his fault he has a one man roster


http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12378

[Medvedenko]

This is weird....they are just getting over the hurdle from lottery to playoffs and now they fire the coach....I don't really understand this move. I thought Silas was well respected and liked by his players...interesting indeed.

[gophergeorge]

I'm available.

Regards,

Bob Hill

[ducks]

I heard james got him canned

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

Phil Jackson maybe??

[ALVAREZ6]

Why are so many coaches being dropped?
I don't think it's Silas' fault for the team losing, either way they're the 5th seed for the play-offs as of now.

[ducks]

one word james

[Medvedenko]

James or whatever...I don't see Phil going to Cleveland..however I can see Flip go there.

[ducks]

I heard Lebron and McInnis were very angry at Silas for benching McInnis in the game @ Toronto. Lebron confronted Paul Silas on McInni's behalf and it didn't go so well.

[Kori Ellis]

I think Silas is a good guy (despite the See You Next Tuesday comment). I hope that he gets another job soon.

[MannyIsGod]

I love him as a coach. I love Flip Saunders too, and I think flip would do well there. If Phil Jackson goes there I'm going to be pissed. Phil needs to stop coattailing the games greatest player and see if he can build a team up.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

I think if Phil Jackson took over it would be very similar to him taking over in Chicago after Doug Collins. But i doubt it will happen

[ShoogarBear]

With all the crap Isiah gets, would someone mind telling me what the hell Jim Paxson has ever done other than draft LeBron?

Oh, yeah, he let Boozer out of his contract . . .

[FearDaFro]

Apparently, Silas will be seeing about a new job next tuesday......

[jalbre6]

Looks like ESPN Insider is saying that canning Silas is part of Cleveland's plan to keep Lebron.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=2018425

The public hand-wringing Monday in Cleveland had everything to do with the Cavaliers' making the playoffs this year. The short term. The next 18 games.

The private hand-wringing was of a different nature entirely, encompassing the long-term future of the franchise. More precisely, how does new owner Dan Gilbert keep LeBron James in Cleveland?

Monday, we got our first glimpse into Gilbert's plan of attack on both issues.

The Cavs had lost nine of their last 12 and appeared to be fading fast. Monday, the team fired head coach Paul Silas, citing concerns the team is in danger of slipping out of the playoffs.

"We felt we have a deep roster, and we believe in our players," GM Jim Paxson said at a news conference announcing the firing. "That progress wasn't being made. We felt if we didn't make this decision, we jeopardize our chances of being a playoff team."

Cleveland is the second team in a week to fire its head coach – the Orlando Magic dismissed Johnny Davis on March 17 – despite massive improvements over the course of the season. Two seasons ago, the Cavs were the worst team in the NBA. Last year they won 35 games. This year, they already are at 34 victories, and according to Insider's projections are on course to win 43.

Despite the optimism surrounding LeBron, the team has issues.

[johnny00]

Too bad about Paul S., I always thought of him as one of the better, classier coaches.
Whatever team picks him up will gain a great teacher and tactician.

[johnny00]

Looks like ESPN Insider is saying that canning Silas is part of Cleveland's plan to keep Lebron.

.

The private hand-wringing was of a different nature entirely, encompassing the long-term future of the franchise. More precisely, how does new owner Dan Gilbert keep LeBron James in Cleveland?

What other moves do you make if your Cleveland to keep LeBron?
What teams will be in the running to snatch him away from the Cavaliers?

[ShoogarBear]

Maybe Paxson will let LeBron out of his contract with a handshake agreement to resign?

[ducks]

what if Zydrunas gets a big offr from the hawks or another team with big cap space.
bulls could go after him instead signing curry or chandler
if folye got what he got from gs what is Zydrunas worth :rolleyes

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

Lebron is spoiled, he will never be the winner Jordan was, Jordan worked for everything he had, lebron had everything handed to him on a platter, i hope lebron grows up one day, or never wins anything.

[duncan2k5]

i would love it if we could sign him. but i dont think we would have cap space. imagine him playing alongside manu, duncan, tony, barry, Brown, Beno. that would be sick! and if he could resurrect Z, maybe he can breath life into rasho. i remember in the detroit game rasho was posting up arroyo and took a fadeaway shot. it went in but still...if it was shaq...even Yao nowadays arroyo would have been so flat on his butt u wouldnt have been able to see him on the poster

[duncan2k5]

youre crazy...how did lebron get everything handed to him? do you think he was born with those skills? the only thing he was born with was good genes for height. he worked hard to hone those skills to reach where he is now. look at last year when they said he couldn't shoot. he already has all the money and fame in the world, but he went to work on his shot because he wants to win.

[ShoogarBear]

Agreed. If LeBron just had everything handed to him, he would still be the same player this year he was last year.

Clearly, that's not the case.

[MI21]

Off the top of my head, LeBron is almost a 40% shooter from 3.

I suppose that improvement was just an accident.

[ShoogarBear]

They're handing him those threes on a silver platter, MI21.