It's time for Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to either put up or shut up as he looks for a new head basketball coach to replace the ousted Mike Brown
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| Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team owner Dan Gilbert |
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| Cleveland Urban News.Com Sportswriter Karl Kimbrough |
By Karl Kimbrough, Cleveland Urban News.Com Sportswriter (kimbrough@clevelandurbannews.com). Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Leaders In Black Digital News . Tel: 216-659-0473
CLEVELAND, Ohio-Once again the Cleveland Cavaliers are searching for a new head coach after another poor season. Mike Brown was fired last month and for the second time in four years by owner Dan Gilbert.
Cleveland, as a major American city, is a pro sports teams kind of town, and winning, whether it is basketball, football or baseball, is part of the ambiance of it all, at least from the standpoint of Cavaliers fans.
Gilbert has now changed head basketball coaches four times and general managers three times over the nine years he has been the owner of the Cavaliers, which makes some wonder if he has a clue as to what he is doing with this franchise. Gilbert has been one of Cleveland fans' favorite team owners because of what he's done for the city outside of his basketball team. He continues to tell Cleveland fans that he is going to bring a winner to Cleveland and wears his passion for his team on his shirt sleeve. At some point, and in the near future, Gilbert will need to put up or shut up.
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| Former Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown |
In the last year Gilbert has put himself on the hot seat with Cleveland fans and in a clown's suit with the the national media. Rehiring Brown last year after firing him in 2010, then firing him again after one season, is disturbing. Not only that, but when he announced that Brown was being rehired last year, he said that he should have never fired him the first time. So to fire Brown again one season later is almost fictional.
As a reason for Browns firing Gilbert said that “ we need to go in a different direction.” Can Cavaliers fans trust in whatever direction that may be? Probably not.
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| Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin |
Brown can sit back, relax and ponder over what he did wrong as he collects the $16 million remaining on his five year contract. But
there will be no relaxing for new General Manager David Griffin. He appears to be the new voice and leader of this Cavaliers franchise.
Gilbert has been know where to be seen since the end of the Cavaliers season, or at least not in the places that some what like to see him be. Griffin, on the other hand, has been the Cavaliers spokesman at his introductory news conference, announcing Brown's firing, and taking the lead at the NBA draft lottery in late May. Griffin, along with other Cavaliers management affiliates, has the task of finding the right coach to replace Brown.
In recent interviews Griffin used the word 'fit' (being able and welling to work well together) to describe how he plans to find a head coach to replace Brown, and pertaining to the players he needs to win. The Cavaliers should look at why Brown was not the right 'fit' as they search for a new coach because they cannot afford to bring in a new coach year after year. Otherwise, they stand to lose the solid fan base that has supported them for many years.
Looking back on Brown's last season with the Cavs, it was obvious that his players, who were offensive minded during their young careers, needed to adjust their focus more to defense. Brown though, focused almost totally on defense. As a result, the offense suffered greatly. You cannot give attention almost exclusively to one side of the floor, be it offensive or defensive, especially with a young team. This is what happened early last season, and many, if not all of the players, tuned Brown out. As a result, the Cavaliers loss 22 out of their first 32 games and could not recover even though they played close to .500 basketball after Chris Grant was fired. The Cavaliers scored over 100 points only 11 times in their first 32 games. Although they finished the season 16th in points allowed, the Cavs were 22nd in points scored.
The 2013-14 season saw 17 teams in the NBA score over 100 points per game. Griffin admits that he is rooted in offense and not defense. Does this mean that the Cavaliers are looking for an offensive minded head coach who likes to push the ball up the floor and score often? Probably. But teams that win consistently score well and defend well. Out of the four teams competing in this season's final four, three of the four were in the top 11 in the NBA in scoring and allowed points.
As Cleveland fans await another head coach for the Cavaliers franchise, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert should either put up or shut up. (www.clevelandurbannews.com)/ (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
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