<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There is no great sobbing here for Silas' firing, which was deserved. Beginning last July, we noted Silas had major, internal problems brewing with his team - and paid the price for doing so: Silas retaliated by refusing to acknowledge or answer our questions. In truth, Silas merely represented the last scapegoat Cavs General Manager Jim Paxson desperately could toss off the leaky SS Cavaliers - before it's his turn to be thrown overboard. Here are just a handful of questions the GM still hasn't sufficiently answered: Why has Paxson now devoted three No. 1 picks to acquiring players (Luke Jackson, Sasha Pavlovic and Jiri Welsch) who are basically mirror images of the player he was as a pro: 6-6-ish shooters who rely more on guile than athleticism? This despite the fact that in today's NBA, it's athleticism that really rules the day? Why didn't Paxson make a greater effort to acquire an unselfish, hard-nosed, playoff-seasoned player like Walter McCarty or Dale Davis before the February trading deadline as other contenders did? Wouldn't either be just the sort of player the Cavs could sorely use now? How can a GM who dumps and hires five head coaches in less than six full seasons possibly criticize anyone - even Silas - for a lack of continuity? Or do so with a straight face, anyway? We've asked Cavs management whether Silas: a) has already paid the $10,000 fine levied by the team for making an obscene remark about former Cavs forward Carlos Boozer, and still will be required to pay, if he hasn't already, now that he's been fired. So far, there have been no answers to either question. There are growing whispers around the NBA that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert and his partners are seeking feedback about the team from too many basketball people outside the organization - and are too naive to realize many of the outsiders are pushing their own agendas when providing such advice. </div> Source
