<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Cavaliers were a dysfunctional organization before Dan Gilbert bought them, but that doesn't matter. As the chief recruiter in need of a head coach and (soon) a GM, he had better come up with a pitch that sounds a lot better than his two months on the job make him look. He can say that while what's happened makes him appear to be a compulsive fantasy leaguer, Jim Paxson and Paul Silas fit together like Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken. He can make the case that Paxson made some awful draft picks. He could point out the acquisitions of Jiri Welsch and Lucious Harris as the equivalent of going to war armed with peashooters. No argument. He could say without any great fear of contradiction that being so awful that you win the lottery is a poor recommendation for a GM. He could calm the nerves of his next head coach by saying that Silas all but asked to be fired. But any candidate might wonder what it was that turned Silas off so much that he no longer wanted to coach LeBron James. The problem for Gilbert is that he dispatched a guy who is popular with his peers. If you're a coach considering Cleveland, the canning of a Silas is a warning signal. The problem for Gilbert is that the playoffs only gave the appearance of slipping away under Silas. With Silas gone and Gilbert as the decision maker who kicked him out, the Cavaliers have gone into complete free fall. </div> Source
Sounds kind of like Warriors owner Chris Cohan mixed with Mark Cuban's volatility. Cohan bought the Warriors during a winning playoff season and from them on it went totally south for over a decade. Every direct basketball decision he's made toward the team has backfired and got the fans on his ass in a frenzy. Okay so maybe it's not that severe yet, but he did buy the Cavs when they looked like they were heading to the playoffs and then pulled the trigger on Paul Silas' firing. It totally sounded like this whole drama was over whether Jeff McInnis started or not and you could understand why the coach doesn't like him on the floor. He's just not a good defender. I can't help but think the Cavs would have found a way out of the losing streak had they kept Paul Silas in at least until the end of the season. Part of the image problem is Gilbert seems like this aggressive, outspoken Mavs owner, Mark Cuban type personality but even Cuban knows better not to do what Gilbert did and Cuban is a pure basketball fan. I dunno if Gilbert should get into anything directly related to team management from now on other than finding the GM that will best find ways to make Lebron and the Cavs better and in playoff form. Bottom line, I don't think the losing streak should have been blamed on Paul Silas in the first place. He doesn't really have much talent surrounding Lebron other than oft injured Zydrunas Ilgauskas and maybe Drew Gooden when he shows flashes. If they can get a good 3 point shooter and some more defenders, they should be in business. Oh and a better inside defender than Z. Lebron looks like the type to run, so maybe try to trade up for a draft pick and chance to land Raymond Felton or Chris Paul or Deron Williams or shooting guard Gerald Green?
