Cavs Notes: Gilbert, GM Candidates, Coaching

Dan Gilbert’s basketball people have failed him, which left him no choice but to step in, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. The players aren’t responding to coaching, nor giving maximum effort, which is on them. But at some point, something will have to be done to change the culture, and that could result in the firing of coach Mike Brown, writes Amico. The main issue is that Brown hasn’t gotten them to play his style of defense, which was one of the primary reasons for the hire. The team is currently ranked 25th in points allowed. Amico also writes that the Cavs immediately went from going through the motions to going on a 33-game audition after GM Chris Grant was let go. This goes for all the players, as well as interim GM David Griffin.

More on the Cavs:

  • Bob Finnan of The News-Herald & The Morning Journal runs down some possible candidates to fill the Cavs GM spot if Griffin doesn’t keep the job. Finnan also traces much of what has gone wrong in Cleveland to their recent drafts. Out of their most recent players selected, only Kyrie Irving has achieved the production level expected from such a high draft pick. Tristan Thompson (No. 4 overall pick in 2011) and Dion Waiters (No. 4 overall in 2012) have been starters, at least occasionally in the case of Waiters, and Anthony Bennett (No. 1 overall in 2013) has struggled mightily.
  • Also weighing in on some possible GM candidates is Ken Berger of CBS Sports.com.
  • In her weekly Q&A roundup, Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer looks at a number of issues facing the team. She believes that Mike Brown won’t be fired before the end of the season as coach. She also believes that Dan Gilbert’s playoff-or-bust edict placed undue pressure on Brown and the team. Also unlikely, according to Schmitt Boyer, is an acquisition of Greg Monroe, or the hiring of Akron coach Keith Dambrot as a replacement for Brown.
View Comments (0)