I have tremendous respect for Byron professionally and a great deal of admiration for him personally. At the same time, it is critical for where we are as a team to ensure that we capitalize on every opportunity for development and success and we have fallen short of that on the court. I believe we needed to make this change in order to get to a better position to achieve our goals...
Cleveland was a dismal 64-166 in three seasons under Scott, marking the lowest winning percentage (.278) in franchise history, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. The Cavs finished the 2012-13 campaign with the third-worst record in the NBA, going just 24-58, despite major strides from sophomore Kyrie Irving and rookie Dion Waiters.
According to Lloyd, team ownership already has a short list of candidates to interview and plans to hire a replacement quickly.
Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Malone, Miami Heat assistant David Fizdale, former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and former coach Mike Brown are all allegedly up for consideration.
Owner Dan Gilbert is committed to putting a winning product back on the court, and any one of those men would be an upgrade over Scott, especially defensively.
Under Scott, Cleveland was consistently among the worst teams in the league in terms of opponents' field-goal percentage. The Cavs allowed 47.6 percent of shots against them to fall in 2012-13, 46.7 last season and 47.5 in 2010-11.
Those are simply unacceptable numbers for a squad that should be right on the cusp of contending for a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference.
The Cavs have the pieces in place—including a lottery pick in the upcoming 2013 draft—to make a postseason run, they just need someone to lead these young stars there.
Brown would be an interesting hire, as the coach spent five seasons with the Cavaliers during the LeBron James era. During that span, he led the club to one NBA Finals appearance, one Eastern Conference Finals loss and three conference semifinal losses before being fired in May 2010.
Van Gundy is another big name, and one that many feel the Orlando Magic brass unjustly fired. Because of Dwight Howard's trade requests and antics during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign, Van Gundy lost his job—despite having never missed the playoffs in his five-year tenure with the organization.
His proven track record and ability to bring teams without a plethora of stars deep into the postseason would perfectly suit the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Regardless of whom the team hires, there will be lofty expectations going into the 2013-14 season. The Cavs are ready to contend and should make the leap forward; it's just going to take the right coach to guide them through the growing pains.
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