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In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the category “NBA coaches”

09 Jun 2010

History is Not on Our Side

Waiting for Next Year is reporting that Tom Izzo plans to take the Cavs coaching job. If this turns out to be true, and those guys deserve credit for being out ahead on this story, then we are all witnessing the death of the Cavs as a viable NBA franchise.

Izzo is a very good college coach – but that’s what he is, a college coach. While the basics of the game are the same on the NBA level, it’s simply just not the same game.

Consider this from Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen, who wrote about Billy Donovan possibly moving to the NBA three years ago:

It takes NBA coaches years to develop the understanding and respect necessary to connect with players and earn their trust toward a common goal. … To become a successful NBA head coach, Donovan would have to take a costly step backward and enter the league as an assistant. He would need many seasons of deprogramming to unlearn much of what made him successful at Florida. Put it this way: The NCAA and NBA both have rule books as thick as bibles, but that’s the only thing they share in common. …How can any college coach who is used to wielding power over his players be expected to succeed overnight in an NBA world where he’ll be granted little or no power over his players? … If Donovan jumped to a veteran team, his players would quickly realize that they knew more about the pro game than their coach. That would not end nicely. … The NBA season is so much longer, and the games are so much more complicated strategically, that any college coach would need at least one season to work his way up.

Does that sound like something we want to go through as Cavs fans? Wait 2 to 3 years for Izzo to figure out the NBA game, assuming he does?

How about this from Steve Aschburner at NBA.com:

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ reported interest in Michigan State coach Tom Izzo as a replacement for Mike Brown, their recently fired head coach, elicited differing views from the two fellows who hold that job with The Finals teams.

A number of successful college coaches haven’t achieved similar results when they’ve moved to the NBA, including Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Mike Montgomery, Tim Floyd and (going back a ways) Jerry Tarkanian. Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked: Why?

“It’s not an easy job,” Jackson said, “and when it’s 200-some days depending on how far you go into the playoffs, it’s a pretty arduous task as far as dealing with the stars of all ranges … It’s a long march and that gets difficult. The game itself – 82 games is a big difference from 30 or whatever you coach in college.”

“If you look at it historically, they’ve all had bad jobs,” Boston Doc Rivers said. “They’ve all had bad talent on their team. I think the first one that gets good players will be a good coach in our league. … There are a lot of college coaches that would be very good NBA coaches.”

Now Rivers makes a valid point. Bad teams hire more coaches than good teams. But maybe good teams are that way because they know not to hire a college coach. But he overlooks the cases where, after firing the college-bred coach, a team improved the following year. Consider:

  • Boston was 12-22 (works out to 28 wins) when they fired Rick Pitino; they went 49-33 the following year.
  • New Jersey was 3-17 (12 projected wins) when they fired John Calipari; they won 31 games the next year.
  • Chicago was 4-21 (13 projected wins) when they fired Tim Floyd; 30 wins the following season.
  • San Antonio was 9-11 (36 projected wins) when Jerry Tarkanian was let go; 55 wins the following year.
  • Washington was 19-63 in Leonard Hamilton’s only season; they won 37 games the next season.
  • Philadelphia was 21-31 (33 projected wins) when they let Randy Ayers go; 43 wins the following year.
  • Oklahoma City was 1-12 (6 projected wins) when they fired PJ Carlesimo; they won 50 games the following year.
  • Golden State was 34-48 under Mike Montgomery; the following year they won 42 games.

Clearly, none of these teams turned into NBA champions after dropping the college coach. But they all did improve, which takes the air out of the argument that the coaches failed simply because they did not have any talent. A lot of the failings fall on the coaches’ shoulders.

Look, we want this to work out if it happens. We all want the Cavs to succeed. The past five years have been a lot of fun, we’re really not keen to return to the days of John Lucas, Randy Wittman and the rest.

But if Dan Gilbert is going to start running this team with his heart, rather than his head, we may all be in trouble.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, despar, doom, man crushes, NBA coaches, Tom Izzo | Leave a comment
05 Jun 2010

No coach, no GM … no Problem?

“Danny Ferry and their ownership have proven they care deeply about winning and about people. That is a winning combination to sell.” – Jeff Van Gundy

Well, not so much anymore. With Danny Ferry’s surprise resignation as GM on Friday, the Cavs’ winning combination has taken a big hit and no one may be buying what they are trying to sell.

It’s obvious that despite the unprecedented success the team has enjoyed the past five years under Ferry and former coach Mike Brown, owner Dan Gilbert has decided he knows best. Ferry wanted to keep Brown, understanding that finding a new coach that would improve the team would be a difficult, possibly impossible task.

Terry Pluto summed it up in today’s PD: “Ferry could have signed an extension to remain with the team. His contract expires June 30. But after five years — the best five years in franchise history — it’s obvious Ferry and team owner Dan Gilbert had a significant disagreement.

“A good guess is the coaching situation.”

Great. Instead of staying out of the way and letting his basketball people do the job they were hired for, Gilbert has decided to insert himself into the process. That always ends well when owners get “hands on.”

Art Garcia, writing on NBA.com, asks a chilling question: Is it possible that the departures of a wildly successful coach and an equally accomplished general manager are good for a franchise?

This is Cleveland, Art. That answer seems pretty obvious.

He continues:

“Last week’s firing of Mike Brown and Friday’s resignation of Danny Ferry would signal chaos, especially considering what’s been achieved in Cleveland the last five years. Sure the Cavaliers didn’t win a title, and despite having the best record in the league didn’t get out of the Eastern Conference playoffs the last two years, but just line up the teams in the league that would gladly trade places with Cleveland.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty darn long line.

“Dan Gilbert also needs to make sure everyone in the organization is 100 percent behind the LeBron Plan, whatever it is.

“Ferry wasn’t anymore. He felt uneasy with dismissing the coach he hired, and has watched Gilbert take on a more active role in day-to-day operations, further comprising his sphere of influence. Ferry stated publicly before firing Brown that his goal was to continue to build a championship organization under Gilbert. Clearly, Ferry’s role in that project had changed.”

Gilbert does deserve credit for having a plan in place with Ferry’s departure, naming Chris Grant as GM. But will Grant have the same power and ability to battle the owner when Gilbert wants to make a move that hinders the progress of the team?

It’s amazing that the situation has gotten this far, this fast. Was it really only a few weeks ago that Cavs fans were dreaming of an NBA title? And now we’re wondering who the next coach will be and looking at a rookie GM running the show in the “Summer of LeBron.”

Just another day in the paradise of Cleveland sports.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland sports, Danny Ferry, NBA coaches, sinking ship, uncertainty | Leave a comment
26 May 2010

Reading is Fundamental – Basketball Edition

With summer just around the corner, we’re all looking for a good book to read, be it on the beach, at the pool or on the back deck.

There are plenty of great (or very good) sports books out there for Cleveland fans, specifically, and sports fans in general. Here are some basketball books worth checking out; most should be familiar to Cleveland fans, some may not be. Some may no longer be in print, but if you can find a copy it will be well worth your time:

  • Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association, by Terry Pluto. Simply one of the best books I’ve ever read. For anyone (like me) not old enough to remember the ABA, the stories from the players and coaches who built the league are unforgettable.
  • Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA, by Terry Pluto. A companion piece to Loose Balls, Tall Tales tells the story of the NBA, from its birth up to the early 1970s. The stories are not quite as entertaining as those in Loose Balls, but they are just as important in learning about the growth of the game.
  • Foul: The Connie Hawkins Story, by David Wolf. I first read this when I was in high school and I had no idea who Hawkins was. His story of rising out of poverty in New York City and the scandal that wrongly led to the NBA blackballing him during his best years is gripping.
  • The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy, by Bill Simmons. While its a bit long at 736 pages and overly biased toward Boston players, go figure, this is an excellent book for fans of the game. And the way the book is organized its easy to pick it up, read a bit, and put it back down for later without losing anything.
  • Operation Yao Ming: The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business and the Makign of an NBA Superstar, by Brook Larmer. The story behind the Chinese government’s plan to create the next NBA superstar.Everything about Ming, from birth to first endorsement deal, was planned by a confluence of government and business interests intent on creating a superstar.
  • The Fab Five: Basketball, Trash Talk and the American Dream, by Mitch Albom. The remarkable story of Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, and their successes and failures in the NCAA tournaments of 1992 and 1993. Has it really been almost 20 years since they came on the scene? Good lord, I feel old.
  • Forty-Eight Minutes: A Night in the Life of the NBA, by Terry Pluto and Bob Ryan. Forty-Eight minutes is the story of the Jan. 16, 1987, game between the Cavs and Celtics, told in minute-by-minute detail with insights from the players and coaches involved in the game.
  • The Jordan Rules: The Inside Story of a Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, by Sam Smith. A behind-the-scenes look at the 1991 Chicago Bulls.
  • Cavs: From Fitch to Fratello, by Joe Menzer and Burt Graeff. Published on the team’s 25th anniversary, this book chronicles the Cavs from their early days at the Cleveland Arena, the glory years of the Coliseum era and the move back downtown.

If you do decide to check one of these out, you won’t be disappointed. And remember to shop at your local bookstore. If you don’t have one in your area and are in the Hudson area, it’s worth a stop at The Learned Owl.

I’ll follow up over the next few days with recommendations on football, baseball, soccer and sports in general.

Enjoy!

Posted in beach, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA coaches, reading, summer | Leave a comment
16 May 2010
6 Comments

Look Before You Leap

Dan Gilbert is a smart man. We know this because he didn’t listen to the hoople heads and fire Mike Brown on Friday in an emotional, reactionary decision. Instead, Gilbert came out and said he will take his time and evaluate everyone before making a decision.

And really, what’s the rush? Do the Cavs have a game this week that we don’t know about? Or course not. Plus, it’s not like the list of available coaches is long or distinguished: does Mike Woodson, Lawrence Frank or Vinny Del Negro get anyone excited? Well, those are at the top of the list of the current coaches who are looking for work.

Thankfully Gilbert is acting like what he is – the responsible adult in the room. What would the Cavs gain by firing Brown now? The only reason would be to find a scapegoat to appease the mob.

Brown deserves his share of the blame for the Cavs loss to Boston – but just his share, no more no less.

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy hit the nail on the head when talking to ESPN:

“Mike Brown’s one of the most successful coaches that there’s been in this league for a long time,” Van Gundy said. “But it becomes scapegoat time and you’re not going to see many people other than coaches stepping up and taking the responsibility. The players are absolved. It’s sad, but it’s the way it goes. None of it is surprising.

“Mike’s been in a very difficult situation, again because the media created the expectations that that was a team that couldn’t lose, and so when they did, he pays the price. Instead of people maybe just saying, ‘The media was wrong.” … the inevitability of it. The ‘Win a ring for the king,’ and everything, it just made it inevitable that if it didn’t go well, Mike would be the one to pay the price. I don’t know if that’s fair, but that’s the way it is, that’s business.”

So we really have to question if the Cavs should fire Brown at all.

Here’s a small sampling of what Mike Brown has done:

  • Won the third-most games in team history with 272 wins;
  • Won the most postseason games in team history with 42 wins;
  • Coached the team to the playoffs five straight years;
  • Coached the team past the first round of the playoffs every year;
  • Posted at least 45 wins five straight years, the first time in team history;
  • Posted back-to-back 60-win seasons;

And here’s an even smaller sample of what Mike Brown hasn’t done:

  • Won an NBA title

If that’s enough to be fired, then just about every coach in the NBA should be canned immediately. Since 1984, only eight coaches have won NBA Championships: Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Chuck Daley, Gregg Popovich, Rudy Tomjonavich, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown and KC Jones. That’s it. Eight guys in almost 30 years.

As we’ve learned all to well in Cleveland, firing a coach is the easy part. Just look at the Browns. And if the Cavs do fire Brown, then what? The national media has read the tea leaves and come up with the ridiculous conclusion that John Calipari should be the Cavs next coach.

Oh really? Pop quiz, hotshot: What do the following have in common?

  • Lon Kruger
  • P.J. Carlesimo
  • Rick Pitino
  • Tim Floyd
  • John Calipari
  • Leonard Hamilton

They are all college coaches who moved to the NBA and failed, miserably. The last college-bred coach to win the NBA championship was Paul Westhead, who as an NBA rookie led the Lakers to their 1979-80 title after taking over the team in midseason.

Do you really believe a team based in Cleveland is going to buck those odds? Are you ready to gamble the next 3-4 years of the franchise on that?

Thankfully, the Cavs are run by a highly successful businessman who doesn’t make decisions based on emotions, or fear or to appease the mob.

As fans we couldn’t ask for, or stand for, anything less.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, hoople heads, Mike Brown, NBA coaches, responsible ownership

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