Posted on 03/21/2005 7:39:35 AM PST by gdani
I'm surprised. Yes, the Cavs have been in a bad slump. But Silas seemed like a solid father-figure type coach who was a very good influence on LeBron. I'd think that LeBron's development should be the #1 priority for the Cavs.
Telephone for Nellie...pick up line three
Note how the Pistons are making another run at an NBA title, notably because Head Coach Larry Brown got the entire team to play like one again now.
Nellie's done with coaching. He's burned out, he just wants to go back to Maui.
Past ownership screwed up when they let Boozer go during the off-season. They further screwed up by not getting a good-shooting off guard to complement LeBron & Z. Or any other players, for that matter.
New ownership has screwed up by treating the locker room like a party room, complete with entourages, video cameras, etc. And calling Silas to tell him who should play, who should sit, etc.
Silas is old-school. Everyone had to know that wouldn't sit right with him. His referring to Boozer as a c**t before the Utah Jazz game was Silas' way of punching his own ticket out of town.
Not disagreeing at all, it's just that Silas seemed like a good guy, and LeBron seemed to have been coming along well, both personally and professionally, under Silas' tutelage.
More like a back-up forward who could rebound a bit and play some pretty decent defense. No one who saw him play would call him a star.
Well, Phil Jackson enjoyed coaching the last Michael Jordan. Maybe he'll want to coach the next one.
If Jackson isn't the next Knicks head coach, I will be shocked. Phil loves those big market teams.
There's nobody there for Phil to coach. In Chicago he had Jordan and Pippen. In LA he had Shaq and Kobe. The Knicks are a complete mess.
True, but the Knicks have the bucks to go out and get whoever Phil needs to have.
How long is LeBron in Cleveland, you think he's going to stay there for his entire career?
He's no Hall-of-Famer but cut the guy a little break:
* Two-time All-Star
* Two-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection
* Selected to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for three consecutive seasons
* Averaged 9.4 ppg and 9.9 rpg in 1,254 career games (almost double-double for 16 years)
* Won 3 NBA Championships
* 16th place all-time - rebounds
Too early to say. Working in the Cavs' advantage is the Larry Bird rule & the fact that not being in LA or NY hasn't hurt LeBron's ability to get zillions of endorsements.
However, if they don't start surrounding him with real talent he'll probably bolt.
Jackson is a master motivator and ego-massager, but he ain't great shakes as an x's and o's game coach. His best ability is to get stars to submimate their game in the team concept. NY doesn't have anyone, with the possible exception of Marbury, who has even an fraction of the talent he's used to leading.
The Knicks are in such a bad way, it will take until the end of the decade for them to dig out, and that's assuming they make good moves which is far from a given.
Like I said; he was not a star player. If he had not played for the Celtics, he would have never made an all-star team. he was a role player and not much more. 10 points and 10 rebouds in the years where practically every team averaged around 110 point per game and the top rebounders averaged around 20 per game is not star material.
Aw, c'mon. During Silas' peak years (early to mid-1970s), not a single player averaged 20 rebounds. And if it weren't for Wilt, I don't think anyone would have been close.
He only played for the Celtics for four seasons - 1/4 of his entire career. He also made the All-Star team with the Sonics.
That said, he was a good player. Not a great player. Not Hall-of Fame material obviously.
In any event, he's getting the blame for management's failures. It's not hard to criticize several of Silas' coaching decisions & methods but firing while in a playoff hunt is too much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.