The Cavs in a mess, just like Steve Nash's face

With apologies to Gomer:

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Mike Brown’s out as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers (here’s Brian’s story with all the gory details) and not things are going to get really interesting down there.

And, of course, it all has to do with LeBron James.

That Brown’s gone is not a shock at all, I don’t think he did a particularly good job with in-game decisions, he seemed to be coaching scared in the final stages of the cave-in to Boston and maybe it’s just time his run was over. Five years is a long shelf life for just about any coach, it seems.

But what’s it mean for LeBron?

Do you think the Cavs owner (and make no mistake about it, Dan Gilbert’s going to make this decision) is going to check with James to see who he’d like as the guy in charge next year?

And how fraught with peril is that?

Now, it seems everything the Cavs have done for seven years has been to cowtow kowtow to what LeBron wanted, from teammates to style of play to, yes, even coaching decisions.

But what if you give him carte blanche now and he still starts feeling restless and explores all the myriad opportunities that are out there for him this summer?

Does it mean the team has to wait until after July 1 to hire a new coach, leaving any moves between now and the hands of GM Danny Ferry (whose own contract doesn’t extend beyond then and whose job cannot be seen as guaranteed by any stretch)?

These are not good times for the Cavs at all.

Here’s one for you: If you’re an unemployed coach, and there’s even a remote possibility James won’t be with the Cavs next season, do you even want the job?

You’ve got no James and you know that’s probably going to mean playing before a half-empty arena.

You won’t have Ilgauskas or Shaq, leaving a front court of Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson.

You don’t have an athletic wing who can create his own shot and everyone else only thrived because of the presence of James.

Do you really want the job? I would imagine that there won’t be a whole lot of interest from too many accomplished coaches in that vacancy. In fact, I think it goes to the bottom of the list, even below the Clippers, of desirable employmen possibilities.

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Now that I understand it’s over, I can say with a measure of pride that not once in its entire run did I see as much as a single episode of Lost.

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How many among you think the Orlando Magic have any chance at all tonight in the close-out game in Boston?

I don’t, which means they’ll probably win by 20 but that’s just my Midas touch.

Anyway, no matter if the series gets extended for a couple of nights or not, I don’t believe there’s a rational-thinking person among us who believes the Magic can come all the way back and what we’ve witnessed is a flameout of epic proportions.

I’m not just talking about missed shots, that’s going to happen, and I thought the Magic had enough firepower to overcome Rashard Lewis doing a Channing Frye imitation.

No, I’m talking about the mental flameout where they simply didn’t compete and cowered in the face of the Celtics. That’s the most troubling aspect of the first three games (Game 3 was an embarrassment) and the one thing that they have to fix.

Major change? I don’t know, there are lots of big contracts that might be hard to move but they need some toughness and grit.

The Magic remind me a bit of the Raptors in two regards: They seem to get their defensive intensity off their offence, which is the wrong way to go about things; and they are front-runners of the first order.

They, like so many other teams, seem to lack that one take-charge guy who can get in the face of teammates and demand more accountability and better performance.

It’s certainly not a situation unique to Orlando – I can probably rattle off a dozen and a half teams that need improvement in that area – but because so much had been expected of the Magic, its absence is glaring.

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Let’s see:

Steve Nash gets that ugly gash over his eye in the Spurs series (still looks a bit discoloured even now) and then it sounds like he might have broken his nose in a head bonk with Derek Fisher last night.

Guess modeling might be not be the next career of choice.

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In light of the Mike Brown development, here’s a question left over from the mail last week. And because we’re hard-pressed to come up with nuggets every day at this time of year, remember to click here to send a question and we’ll parcel them out during the week when need be.

Q: Hi Doug. In your Friday morning blog you referred to LeBron choosing his coach as being allowed to say who his boss is. Do players, coaches, and whomever else think of coaches as players' bosses? Or is it more of an equal-but-different relationship? Any chance you have a Raps anecdotes to give some insight here?

Dave H, Kenora

A: They do, actually, in a lot of regards because coaches have the ultimate authority over one significant thing: Playing time.

Now, like most good work places, there’s a level of mutual respect between worker and boss and in the very best organizations, the relationship allows both to thrive.

Of course, it’s a bit clouded by the fact the boss (coach) doesn’t determine the salary, that’s the GMs job, but there are recommendations forwarded upstairs from coaches that have an impact on pay.

There aren’t a lot of specific boss-worker anecdotes around the Raptors, although when you ask a player who isn’t playing a lot whether he feels he should be playing more, you’ll get a facetious “ask him, he’s the boss” comment every now and then.

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Oh, don’t forget to get back here tonight just before 8:30 for our in-game blog thing, it’s a really cool place to be. Honest.

And if you’re driving around between 5-7 tonight, like coming back from a holiday weekend or something, you’ll be able to hears some major league bluffing about the pucks if you turn on The FAN590 in Toronto. Yes, a special guest appearance for a couple of hours to tax my knowledge of sports I know little about.

Lucky, lucky listeners.

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Comments

[AT]

Hats off to the Celtics.

Even if Orlando was playing there best, it probably would not be enough against the Celtics.

It has been said here time and time again that a team needs a guy that will get in the face of his team when it is necessary,. Seems the Celtics has more than one of those guys (and a coach).

Doug, did you see this coming from the Celtics?

Blogger's note: I did not see it this one-sided and I doubt many did

[Free Throw]

Kowtow. A cowtow involves a pickup truck, flashing lights & a farm animal.

Blogger's note: You learn something new every day

[Tiger]

Seeing Nash get his schnozz bonked was bad.
Watching him try to rearrange his own face for the rest of the game, I think Grant Hill's grimace said it all... yeesh!
Hockey Night in Canada could only wish for such visuals.
Gotta be a place for him in Coaches Corner.

[Joe]

Doug,

Do you foresee any changes coming in Orlando when the inevitable happens and the Celtics eliminate them? They were completely lost on Saturday and the Celtics seem to have taken the life right out of them. Is that on Van Gundy or the players? Orlando is a lot like the Raps. One big man inside dictates the offence. He's surrounded by perimeter players who shoot threes and occasionally go to the net. Works well in the regular season but when you go up against a tough defensive team like the Celtics in the playoffs, it doesn't work. Only difference between Orlando and the Raps is that Orlando has stronger players and Van Gundy gets more out of them than Triano.

As for the Cleveland job, should James leave, I hope Sam Mitchell gets a shot. When he started in Toronto, he was in a similar situation so he has the experience.

[Wayne]

Why not keep Brown, let him rack up the losses next year if LeBron does not come back and then fire him at the end of next season with a lottery pick and the job looking a little better.

[Simon S-G]

Hey Doug, impress them with your knowledge of pucks: The Blackhawks won.
Do you think Sam will be in the running for Cleveland?

[doug]

you know to me the situation in Cleveland is interesting....if i was Gilbert I wouldn't have fired Brown just for some of the reasons you mentioned....yes he was ineffective as a coach at the end and in over his head....but if LeBron leaves then you might as well have him coach as in that scenario whats it mattter, and if LeBron stays you then fire Brown and hire a replacement...but as off now it was just a reflex action to cater to LeBron, unless they know something about Lebron and his situation no one else does as there the only team able to talk to him at this point in time....

this is what I am going to do with Lost, I am like you never watched a show, had people tell me to watch, get involved etc. but to grasp the storyline at this stage was to time consuming....so what I did with Prison Break and True Blood was wait until a wintry/blizzardry day went and rented season 1 watched it all, etc...so with Lost the same thing will happen, as it seems like a compelling show...

[T I]

why is anyone surprised about the Magic? After all, this is a team that is asking Vince Carter to be a leader?! PPPPPPLEASE! I've said it before and I'll say it until he retires, Vince Carter will NNNNNEVER win a championship PERIOD!

[Richard]

Kow Tow from the Chinese for touching the head to the ground to show deep reverence for emperors, elders, martial arts masters and franchise basketball players.

[greg]

Lebron should focus on what he does on the court and what his teammates do and leave the GM work to the GM. I don't think it makes sense for him to get involved in that aspect of his team. He shouldn't pick his coach or his managers. He is talented and potential to be the greatest of all time on the court, but he is no expert on personnel issues. Michael Jordan as good as he is has also acknowledged that managing a team and playing on one is night and day hence why he have not had much success to show for his front office work as yet. We can find dozens of other great players who have not had similar success in management, like you know that Piston that created a mess with the Knicks.

As a player you can show frustration at what you have to work with but you have to trust your front office. If Lebron was a Laker or Celtic , you know.. franchise that actually wins titles, nobody would even be talking about this.

[doug]

delusional thought of the day from a smart, respected man...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/nba/05/23/lenny.wilkens/index.html

time to hit the links on a heat alert day...gotta love it..

[Lake]

As far as HWSNBN be eliminated, we Raps fans will be happy, even though this team also eliminated Raptors from playoff (by Integrity-less play).
Rap fans may got double happiness next season, as HWSNBN-2 is in the making (unless he joined Lakers).

[J]

Lake|Simcoe:

Wow, if every star Raptor becomes HWSNBN just for not staying in Toronto forever (despite plenty of fans wanting him to leave anyway), you're going to be one unhappy person.

[Juan]

Doug
Jeff Blair over at the Globe takes curmudgeonliness (is that even a word?) to such extreme levels that it makes your occasional snark seem happy as a showtune by comparison.
He makes an interesting point today though about the conversations that are about to happen between certain free agents this year and how, if it were the owners in a similar situation, people would be screaming about "collusion".

At the end of the column here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/argos-factor-in-ticats-stadium-talks/article1579073/

[Luigi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM2QrgEepuo

I have never been a Vince Carter fan or basher, I have always been indifferent on the man. But after watching this video, I can honestly say that he has a gigantic heart.

[Jacques]

Doug,

Do we see Stan get the boot if they lose tonight?

Blogger's note: Doubt it.

[mando]

Thanks for posting that, Luigi. I hope the Vince bashers will zip it now.

[Aditya]

you know whats funny, channing frye told the media he's opting out of his contract (at the end of the regular season) to get himself a new deal.....if i was a phoenix suns fan, i would have been pissed off because that's disrespectful to everyone involved as the playoffs were approaching....... its not surprising he's missing shots and probably thinking he won't be able to opt out of his contract not, believe it pays around $3.1 million off the top of my head....(but i could be wrong) ....stoudemire made similar comments throughout the regular season when he should have just shut up and played and not answered any questions about his impeding free agency