CLEVELAND (AP) -- 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.
Damn, I liked Silas too. Especially after the press were egging him on about his little spat with Eric Snow and he responded "I'm not gonna talk about! Jesus! Am I speaking Chinese?!"
Gold.
Related Story: LeBron "Danny Almonte" James dropping 56 points on the Raps, even though the Cavs lost anyway. 18-36 FG, 6-12 3FG, he had 29 in the first half.
And LeBron was just complaining about why wasn't McInnis playing last night so they had a chance to win? Since the two of them are tight, I wonder if LeBron had something to do with this?
(edit - Press conference announced for noon today)
(edited by whatever on 21.3.05 1129) "Lita holds a Stone Cold Steve Austin home pregnancy test. What will the Bottom Line say? Hell Yeah or Eh-EH?" - Raw Satire, 6/15/04 (Apparantly ours said "Hell Yeah", 03/08/05)
Originally posted by JayJayDeanHoly crap! I didn't see that coming, though nine straight road losses didn't bode well. Maybe Phil Jax will end up coaching LeBron?
You don't think there is ANY chance Phil would come back to coach the best player in the league? I think it's maybe the only non-glamour job (read: NY and LA) he might take.
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Well, look at the three glaring factors why I think he's going back to LA: 1) the current (INTERIM) Laker head coach was a Phil assistant; 2) Said coach has been running those triangle offense plays since he took the helm - classic Phil; 3) Phil is nailing the Lakers' owner's daughter.
Anyway, back to topic:
The Cavs are in a small market and aren't really close to contending and that doesn't seem to fit Phil's MO, anyway. The Knicks are a flat-out mess right now. Like I said, it's either the Lakers or nothing.
As for the Cavs, I'm thinking either Mo Cheeks or Flip Saunders.
Ironically, he didn't quite make it to next Tuesday.
(For those who don't know, Silas was fined 10K by the league not that long ago for referring to Carlos Boozer by a certain 7th-grade code phrase to a reporter)
(edited by Blanket Jackson on 21.3.05 1251) "It's floating wicker propelled by fire!"
Originally posted by KawshenWell, look at the three glaring factors why I think he's going back to LA: 1) the current (INTERIM) Laker head coach was a Phil assistant; 2) Said coach has been running those triangle offense plays since he took the helm - classic Phil; 3) Phil is nailing the Lakers' owner's daughter.
You're crazy. PHIL AINT COMING.
1: Phil has had lots of assistants during his coaching career, many of which are now working for plenty of other teams besides the Lakers.
2: This is your weakest reason. The Lakers occasionally run the same offense that Phil is famous for (although he didnt invent it), so this somehow means he's coming back? There is no connection.
3: I take that back, THIS is your weakest reason.
Look, too many bridges have been burned since last season. The team publically picked Kobe over Phil, then Phil writes a tell-all book about how uncoachable & selfish Kobe is & how everything wrong with the Lakers is his fault. I'm not saying the Lakers wouldnt want him back (although he is NOT a miracle worker, lets not get carried away), but I cant imagine why Phil would WANT to come back after all that!
-The worst part of any wrestling show will be the part other people see you watching.
What took you so long, Frosty? (we've been debating this for weeks, BTW)
I cant imagine why Phil would WANT to come back after all that!
Power (getting his role of "Shadow GM" back), money ($50M over 5 years is the rumor), that 10th ring (breaking the record).
Sorry, but the Lakers have a lot more to offer Phil than anyone else does. Weirder things have happened, they got Karl Malone to play virtually for free.
The Cavs fined head coach Paul Silas $10,000 today for making a derogatory comment towards Boozer in a post-practice interview that aired Wednesday on The Jim Rome Show. In the interview, Silas answers a question regarding Boozer by simply stating four words, See you next Tuesday, supposedly teasing Boozer for not showing his face in Cleveland this past Tuesday. But Silas further suggests to Spell it out. Thats what he is.
As in spell out the word using the first letter of each word in his sentence ("C U Next Tuesday"). By calling Boozer what he implied, Silas, as comedic as most Cavs fans may find the situation, embarrassed the Cavaliers organization and, according to sources around the league, failed to display the class and proper behavior expected of all coaches at the professional level. And billionaire Dan Gilbert, who just recently purchased the Cavs for $375 million, definitely wasnt happy with the negative attention brought on to his organization.
The problem was that Silas was obviously speakin' Chinese.
As for the Cavaliers coaching situation, I could see Jackson taking over the Cavs if they make a couple moves this offseason _ say, figuring out a way to get Michael Redd (Please come home Michael! Or, at least closer to home) _ and keeping Z. The chance to coach LeBron is obviously a big carrot, so I think the Cavs will get somebody pretty impressive.
On a somewhat related note, this kid (LeBron) is a FREAK. Every game he does something that makes me go "Wow!" I can't believe the NBA isn't pimping him even harder than they are now. He is, as the kids say, The Truth.
I was about to say the same thing, if Phil wants a 10th championship, he's better off with Lebron and the Cavs than Kobe and the Lakers. Wherever Phil goes he'll be able to get some big free agent to add to Lebron to be his new duo. And coaching Lebron and some other big free agent will cause a lot less headaches than trying to get Kobe to play with someone else.
I could see it if they were bringing in a big time coach, but Brendan Malone?
Jim Paxson should have been the one to get the axe for assembling this roster of of losers, castoffs and stiffs.
They overacheived with this line up. They are four games over .500 with only two legit players, Z and LeBron (though it's a given that James is top 5 in the league).
Paxson got duped by Carlos Boozer and has nobody that compliments these two or that can shoot a jump shot, especialy with Lusciuos Harris injured.
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