Cleveland Cavalier fans will be satisfied with the recent hiring of former Nets and Hornets Byron Scott. The move came just after the Cav's were reportedly close to signing Lakers assistant Brian Shaw to the same position. For the Cav's, the pendulum swung the right way at the right time to try to get LeBron James to remain with the wine and gold.
After loosing General Manager Danny Ferry and head coach Mike Brown in the same week, the Cavaliers desperately needed to make a forward stride instead of a backwards one. It is deemed to be starting from square one any time that a team loses the guys at the helm of the franchise, but the hiring of Byron Scott was a couple of steps back up the ladder.
Having what would have been a rookie head coach in Brian Shaw certainly would not have enticed free agents such as LeBron James or others to come to Cleveland. Then again, perhaps Shaw deserves more credit then he gets seeing he has been at the right hand of legendary Lakers coach Phil Jackson for the past five years. But an assistant is what it is; just an assistant, and Brian Shaw can not deliver to the Cav's what Byron Scott potentially could.
With Byron Scott manning the ship, the Cavaliers can get back to their ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship immediately; once again, assuming LeBron returns. Even with a career record of under five hundred at 352-355 (.498) Scott still outweighs Brian Shaw's potential. Scott has coached two different teams that have lost 50 or more games, the Nets in 2000-01, and the Hornets in 2004-05. These records posted by Scott can be deceiving because he did not have a variety many colors to paint with, whereas with the Cavaliers, his hunger for a picture he can paint will be more then satisfied.
The Cavaliers found Byron Scott and Byron Scott found the Cavaliers. All together, the two will work together to make each other improve. Scott's most recent winning season came in 2007-08 with the Hornets when they went 56-26. He has proved he still has something left in the coaching tank even after being fired during a season twice before. The fact that he only coached nine games last year, and was let go early in the season, is of no concern.
What also ended up being a deciding factor in the hiring of Scott over Shaw was Scott's playing career. Coaches who played well as a player usually tend to be more of a player's coach. A loose and energetic kind of attitude could be just what the Cavaliers need, because self inflicted pressure to win can be a team's worst nightmare. As a player, Scott shot a career field goal percentage of 48% as a guard, and was 83% in his career from the free throw line. He was fundamentally sound in his mechanics, and was relatively injury free most of his career, having played less then 60 games only once and starting most of them in his prime.
Let's face it; the Cavaliers stood no chance at recruiting Phil Jackson or Doc Rivers to be their coach. They both committed to their current teams before Cav's could even send them a facebook message. Seeing what else was available, Chris Grant seized the opportunity by getting the right guy. Byron Scott was probably the best candidate out there to help the Cav's do what Mike Brown could not; win a ring with Cleveland.
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