OKC “Model” Won’t Work in Cleveland

Much of the news out of the Cavaliers camp lately has centered on the relationship between coach Byron Scott and his team, and whether or not he will remain the coach next season.

However, once the season ends, the focus will shift to GM Chris Grant, who will be involved in the deciding if the Cavs need a new coach and also be in charge of reconstructing the roster.

It has been three years since LeBron James left and the wine and gold aren’t close to becoming a competitive basketball team. And while many around town talk about the Oklahoma City “model”, the truth is right now Cleveland only has one all-star player out of the last three drafts, the oft-injured Kyrie Irving.

For that model to work, they need to add a lot of talent, and with patience starting to wane, they have to do it quickly. And quite frankly, it looking at the upcoming draft, they aren’t going to find another star piece using that process.

Dion Waiters’ knee injury was a tough blow for Grant and Scott because it ended the evaluation process, perhaps for the rest of the season.

The rookie from Syracuse was averaging 14.7 points a night and was showing better shot selection as he gained experience as a pro. However, it is still up in the air as to whether Waiters can be a starting #2 guard in the NBA or will be better suited in a sixth man role, being able to play both the point and off guard spots.

Tristan Thompson has shown he’s a legitimate starter in the Association, averaging 11.5 points and 9.3 rebounds a game. However, it is clear that he’s not as good of a player when on the court with Anderson Varejao, and he still needs to improve his offensive game. He needs to develop a reliable jump shot to go with the push shot he’s used inside.

The more you see Alonzo Gee, you realize that he’s a bench player. He’s a solid defender, but takes too many poor shots offensively, accounting for his 40.5% shooting percentage.

That means that Grant needs at least two starters, maybe three if Waiters is judged to be the sixth man. If Tyler Zeller can pound weights in the off-season and still retain the basketball skills he has, he could claim one spot. He’s getting 8.1 points and almost six boards a game, but is over matched in the strength department regularly.

We’ve talked about the draft a little in recent weeks, and will repeat once again that there doesn’t appear to be anyone there, even at the top of the draft, who will be able to step in right away and make an impact.

So, how does Grant put the Cavaliers in a position to make a big leap forward in 2013-14?

He has a boatload of draft picks that he may have to dip into to acquire a player who can help immediately. He also has Varejao, who if he can demonstrate he is healthy, should be able to be dealt for more young players.

Utah may be looking to move either Al Jefferson or Enes Kanter this summer, either would be a help in a Cleveland jersey.

Or could Grant take a shot at Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, a player of great ability but one with maturity issues?

Regardless of who it is, the Cavs’ fans and probably their owner will not be patient enough for another season where the win total doesn’t approach 30, let alone 40.

The Oklahoma City plan isn’t going to work here. The draft simply isn’t strong enough.

Cavs Finding Out Vets Help

We’ve all seen it. You go to an outdoor basketball court or the Y, and some young hot shots are dominating the action. They win game after game, having fun and belittling their opponents.

Then some old guys show up, move the ball around on offense, keep people in front of them on defense, play a little more physical, and they knock the young turks off their pedestal.

Why? Because they know how to play the game. They’ve been around, and know how to take advantage of players who are cocky and overly aggressive.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have two of those guys on their roster and they are contributing on a night in and night out basis. They are Shaun Livingston and Luke Walton.

Livingston was a Christmas present from GM Chris Grant to coach Byron Scott, being claimed on waivers that very day. For whatever reason, the Washington Wizards, who were struggling as badly as the Cavs at that time, couldn’t use the veteran who was once the 4th overall pick in the draft in 2004.

Their loss is Cleveland’s gain.

Livingston’s value isn’t found in the stat sheet. He’s averaging just 5. 3 points and 3.4 assists a game in the 25 contests he’s played in the wine and gold. But he is a steady hand and a catalyst for a bench bunch that is one of the most potent in the league after the acquisition of Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington from Memphis a few weeks later.

The Cavs have gone 13-13 since Livingston started playing. They were 7-25 prior to that point.

Livingston overcame a horrible knee injury in 2007 and really didn’t play a full season for three years. He was a heralded high school player, but as Scott said when he arrived, he is an old soul when it comes to hoops, playing the game they way it is meant to be played. He makes the right pass and for the most part keeps himself between his man and the basket on defense.

Walton came to the Cavs as someone who could balance the salary cap in the trade that sent Ramon Sessions to the Lakers at the trade deadline last season. He was a starter for LA in 2006-07 and started half the time the following two campaigns.

However, when Grant obtained him, he had played just nine games for the season due to back woes.

He’s another player that stats don’t tell the real story, averaging just 3.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 16 minutes per game. Early in the year, many fans (including us) were wondering why he was getting time, probably because he struggled playing with young guys who don’t share his IQ for the game.

Since the addition of Speights, Ellington, and Livingston, Walton has made a difference coming off the bench for the young Cavaliers. In that time, he’s averaged just 2.8 points, but has had five games (out of 11) where he has had five or more assists.

And he made a key defensive play late in Tuesday’s win over Chicago, knocking a pass away, and then firing it off a Bulls’ player in the final minute to preserve the lead.

Lost in most fans’ wishes for high draft choices is the fact that young teams need veterans to learn from. With the players acquired from Memphis, plus heady players like Livingston and Walton, Chris Grant has given his young guys some worthy teachers.

Scott’s Record Shows He Knows Defense.

As the Cleveland Cavaliers lose more games to inferior foes like they did a week ago against Minnesota, hoop fans start to talk about the future of coach Byron Scott.

Most of the problem when the Cavs lose these games in their quality of defense. Owner Dan Gilbert even commented last week that when the wine and gold return to prominence, it will be because of their work when their opponents have the ball.

But is Scott the guy to teach defense?

His past coaching record says he is.

In his first year as a head coach, the 2000-01 season with the Nets, his squad finished 22nd in points allowed and 24th in field goal percentage against.

However, the following season (2001-02), in which the Nets made the NBA Finals, those marks improved to 5th in points allowed and 6th in defensive field goal percentage.

The next season (2002-03), another Finals appearance, had New Jersey 2nd in the NBA in points allowed and tied for 2nd in field goal percentage against.

Scott didn’t make it through the following season, but resurfaced as coach of the New Orleans Hornets in 2004-05, and his team finished 10th in the NBA in points allowed and 17th in defensive field goal percentage.

The other four years in New Orleans had Scott’s crew improving from 11th in points given up in 2005-06 to 10th, 5th, and 5th in subsequent seasons. The field goal percentage allowed went from 21st in ’05-’06 to tied for 12th, 16th, and 7th.

The point is if you want to point the finger at Scott for the Cavs’ horrible defensive rating, look somewhere else. He has demonstrated that he can put together a good defensive scheme, ranking in the top half of the league every year but his first as a head coach in points allowed, and his teams have been better than average in shooting percentage by opponents five times.

That is until he became the head coach in Cleveland.

Granted the franchise and the roster were a mess his first year at the helm, so we will excuse both the players and the coaching staff. However, we don’t think Scott has forgotten all he learned on the defensive end since he took over in Cleveland, so something is wrong.

It’s time for the head coach to take the gloves off and start demanding better defense by his troops, even if that guy in all-star Kyrie Irving. Irving is too talented a player not to be a good defender, and as the leader and best player, he would set the tone for the rest of the guys in wine and gold by playing better when the other team has the ball.

Too often, the Cavs are lackadaisical against lesser teams because they don’t put forth a good effort on “D”, and usually it starts with Irving.

He’s not the only one, though. A lack of effort on defense should start earning players a seat on the bench, and that goes for everyone.

The Cavs need to start winning now. The rest of this season should be about setting a tone for the 2013-14 season, when the wine and gold must start contending for a playoff spot.

Byron Scott is not the reason the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t a good defensive team. His track record proves otherwise. It’s time for the players to start buying in to stopping the opponent, and to stop trying to outscore everyone.

When that happens, we will see if this team is putting together enough talent to become a playoff squad.

A Little Experience Goes a Long Way for Cavs

There is no question that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a very young basketball team. The third youngest in the NBA according to age.

Pretty much on a nightly basis, the wine and gold start two rookies (Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller), two second year players (Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson) and a free agent who they found in the D-League in Alonzo Gee.

That’s not a recipe for success.

After the injury to Anderson Varejao, there was little help off the bench. C.J. Miles has been inconsistent, although better lately, and Luke Walton had moments where his veteran leadership made a difference.

However, as the Indians have found out in recent years, in order to provide leadership and a steady hand, the older players have to play on a night in night out basis so the younger guys like learn.

Since Christmas Day, GM Chris Grant has brought in some productive, experienced players to help coach Byron Scott, and the difference has been noticeable.

Shaun Livingston was claimed on waivers that day, and since his first appearance on the floor for the Cavs, the team has gone 8-10, a much better record than the 7-24 mark prior to his arrival. He’s averaged just 4.8 points and 3.2 assists since joining the team.

However, it’s not just the numbers. His experience and feel for the game has made a great deal of difference because Livingston knows how to play. Scott uses him frequently in crunch time.

He’s not the player he was before a devastating knee injury, but he understands how to play, something the young Cavaliers need to understand.

Then, Grant picked up two more veterans in Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington from Memphis.

Speights gave Scott another quality big man to use behind Thompson and Zeller, a good shooter from outside and a solid rebounder. Most nights, the big man is on the floor during the fourth quarter of close games.

Ellington is a bigger version of Boobie Gibson, who can match up size wise defensively with other #2 guards. Being just a shade over 6’ (and that might be generous), Gibson has become a good defensive player, but just doesn’t have the height to match up with bigger guards.

The other thing that the former Grizzlies bring is winning experience. Memphis won a playoff series a year ago, and both Speights and Ellington are used to winning. There is no question is our mind that for most players, winning is learned.

Young guys, even a player as good as Irving, usually don’t know how to play winning basketball in the NBA. Irving has shown the ability to be tremendous at the end of games in terms of making shots, but he has to understand what needs to be done defensively and when to take chances with the basketball.

Now Scott has someone to turn to in tight games, guys that have played in playoff games and know what to do when games are on the line.

The young players have veterans to look up to and to learn from. And they are out there on the floor doing it, not just sitting around talking about it.

Fans all look at the incredible talent the players like Irving, Thompson, Waiters, and Zeller have, but every team needs players like Livingston, Speights, and Ellington too.

Now that the Cavaliers have them, the proof is showing up in the win column.

Young Cavs Today Remind of Late 80’s Group.

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their best stretch of the season last week, winning three straight led by Kyrie Irving, who scored at least 30 points in the wins.

Unfortunately, Irving had only 14 points at home against Golden State on Tuesday and the wine and gold’s winning ways ended.

That’s the way it is for a team dominated by first and second year players. Consistency is definitely going to be an issue.

Many supporters of the Cavs were bragging about the team’s representation in the Rising Stars game at All Star weekend next month, as all four of Chris Grant’s first round picks in the last two years (Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller) are participating in the contest.

It’s no guarantee of future success, but it does speak to the amount of playing time coach Byron Scott is giving to players with little experience. Alonzo Gee leads the Cavaliers in minutes played, but the next four who have spent the next most time on the floor are the four participants in the exhibition game.

It would be much better if Cleveland was competing for the playoffs, but the last time this many young players saw this amount of time for the Cavs was the 1986-87 season when Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper, Mark Price, and Hot Rod Williams were rookies.

Price wound up seventh on that squad in time played, but the top three were the other rookies, with Harper garnering the most.

We all know that three of those players made up the nucleus of some very successful squads in the late 80’s and early 90’s. If it weren’t for the worst trade in NBA history (Harper AND two first round picks for the rights to Danny Ferry), and a guy named Michael Jordan, to borrow an Indians’ slogan, what if???

Still, when they were rookie, that team finished 31-51 for the season, before improving the 42-40 the following season, and then to 57-25 in their third season together, when Magic Johnson called them “the team of the 90’s”.

While no one is predicting that type of rapid success for this young group of Cavaliers, it would be nice if they could come close to duplicating the progress of those young Cavs.

After that first season, Cleveland’s first round pick in the draft was Kevin Johnson, who went on to a great career with Phoenix, but is more important to Cavs’ followers as the trade chip which brought the team Larry Nance.

Here’s hoping this group of young players resembles that group more than another group of young Cavs in 1997-98, when four rookies (Cedric Henderson, Brevin Knight, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Derek Anderson) ranked in the top six for minutes played that season.

That group buoyed by veterans Wesley Person and Shawn Kemp finished the season 47-35 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Indiana. A back up guard on that team was Scott Brooks, now the coach for Oklahoma City.

They followed up by going 22-28 in a shortened season with Ilgauskas, who turned out to the best player out of the group, missing most of the season with a broken foot.

By the third year they were supposed to be together, Anderson was dealt to the Clippers for Lamond Murray, Big Z was still out for the season, and Knight’s time was cut considerably by rookie Andre Miller.

The Cavs finished 32-50 and were stuck in mediocrity until the drafting of LeBron James.

The current young guys wearing wine and gold look more like the first group because of the presence of Irving, who appears to be heading toward elite status.

Let’s hope that is the case so the future is bright, not bleak.

TIme for Cavs and Irving to Show Progress

It most certainly has been a disappointing year in sports in Cleveland. All three of our professional sports teams have pretty much stunk in 2012.

One bright spot fans on the north coast thought they had been watching the progress of the Cleveland Cavaliers. They had the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in Kyrie Irving and two other top four picks in second year forward Tristan Thompson and rookie Dion Waiters.

So far, the wine and gold have been a huge disappointment, starting the season at 5-22 and on pace for another season of less than 20 victories.

The biggest problem is not the physical ability to play the game, the Cavs have some talent. Look at the teams they have defeated this year.

The Lakers are struggling, but they have talent. The Clippers have one of the NBA’s best records at 19-6. Philadelphia made the playoffs last season. Atlanta currently has the third best record in the Eastern Conference.

All have lost to the Cavaliers, whose lone win over a bad team was an Opening Night win over the Wizards.

They also have close losses to Miami (16 -6), New York (18-6), and Memphis (16-6).

On the other hand, they’ve lost at home to teams like Toronto (8-19), Detroit (7-21), and Phoenix (10-15).

They seem to play to the level of their competition, which has to frustrate their coach, Byron Scott, to no end.

It is true that the Cavaliers are a young team, but it has to drive Scott crazy to see them play with teams like the Heat and Knicks on the road, and then get whipped at The Q by a team like Toronto.

They need to have that same drive and determination in games they can win, particularly at home, as they do against the big boys in the NBA.

Too often, it looks like they play with the attitude of we’re at home and since he can hang with the Heat, we’ll win tonight. They don’t have a professional attitude on a night-to-night basis.

They’ve lost 16 straight games within the Central Division!

Right now, the Cavaliers don’t have anything they can hang their collective hats on. They should, and it should be on the defensive end.

Cleveland has the worst defensive field goal percentage in the league, allowing opponents to make over 47% of their shots. Much of that problem stems from their best player, Irving, struggling at the defensive end.

There is no question that Irving is the team’s best player, now he needs to become a leader, even if he is just 20 years old. He needs to be the guy who takes Scott’s defensive mantra to the floor and show everyone else on the team that he buys in.

That’s the responsibility of being a great player instead of a very good player.

The young Cavaliers have to learn this is a business rather than a game and they need to win games at home against mediocre teams, which you can read as squads of their ilk.

When we see them beating the likes of the Bobcats, Hornets, Pistons, Bucks, etc. with regularity, then they will be turning the corner toward improvement.

The first step toward respectability and then the playoffs is winning the games you are supposed to win. The Cavs need to do just that and do it soon.

Cavs Defense Improvement Linked to Kyrie

Cavaliers’ coach Byron Scott is perplexed by his team’s defense. He talks about it to the media after every game, and you have to assume he addresses it in practice to his young team.

What has been a constant for the Cavs since Scott took over, is their lack of defending the three-point shot.

As more and more teams make this shot a part of their daily arsenal, the weakness in this area gets more and more glaring.

Last year, the wine and gold ranked 7th from the bottom in the NBA in stopping the long-range shot.

To be fair, a number of playoff teams ranked in the bottom ten, including the champion Heat. However, those teams had great success in defending the two point attempts.

The only teams with worse three-point defense than Cleveland and worse overall field goal percentage against were the Nets and the Bobcats, the league’s worst team.

The year before, Scott’s first year at the helm, his team was the worst in stopping the three pointer, allowing a whopping 41.1% of those shot to go in.

Granted, the Cavs were in transition after LeBron James left for Miami, but clearly the way Cleveland approached the long-range shot defensively wasn’t very effective.

This year, after eight games, the Cavaliers have improved their defense against the three-point shot, but it appears to be at the expense of defending any other field goal attempt.

Opponents are shooting over 50% for the season against the wine and gold, a shocking figure in today’s NBA.

Clearly, something is amiss and it needs to be fixed right away, starting with Saturday night’s game against the Mavericks.

The key to the defense rests with the team’s best player, Kyrie Irving. He simply has to stay in front of opposing point guards.

On the road, Irving played well offensively, but he struggled defending Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams. Allowing penetration breaks down any defensive concept Scott wants to put in place.

The other problem has been the lack of a shot blocker. Tristan Thompson simply has to do better in protecting the rim, that’s his responsibility.

Anderson Varejao is a good defensive player, but he’s not a shot blocker. Perhaps when Tyler Zeller gets back, he can be the big body this team needs to play interior defense.

Without that shot blocker behind you, it is incumbent on the smaller guys to contain their man, making sure they keep a body between the opponent and the basket. And that means everyone!

If one player breaks down and allows his man to get by, it breaks down the entire defensive philosophy.

That’s the problem Scott and his staff have right now.

And until it changes and everyone picks up the gauntlet and plays solid defense, the Cavs are going to have problems winning basketball games.

We understand that this is a young team, and they are still trying to learn to play acceptable defense.

That’s why the team’s best player, Irving, has to set the tone. If he can stop his man, the Cavs’ defense will get better immediately.

Cavs Need to Find Another Scorer

Tomorrow night, the Cleveland Cavaliers start their third season in the post LeBron James era.

That means they are in rebuilding mode, but the good news is, GM Chris Grant is steadily putting the building blocks in place. This is a very young team.

Will they improve enough to make a run at a playoff spot? That probably depends on the health of two of their better players: Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao.

Irving missed much of his only season at Duke with a foot injury and missed 14 games last season as well. He also broke his hand this summer.

He’s only 20 years old, so perhaps the injuries will subside as he gets older and stronger, but coach Byron Scott needs him on the floor for the wine and gold to win.

In his second year, he should be able to increase his scoring average to over 20 points per night, compared to 18.5 in his first season.

Varejao has missed good portions of the last two seasons, first with a foot injury and last season with a broken wrist. He plays solid defense and is a relentless rebounder.

He’s still the Cavs’ best big man, so having him for all 82 contests would be a huge boost for Scott.

The biggest challenge for this young group of basketball players will be scoring points after losing Antawn Jamison’s 17 per game.

Jamison wasn’t exactly judicious in his shot selection, but without a secondary scorer on the roster, Scott needed his points.

But the veteran has joined the all-star team from five years ago that plays in Los Angeles, so someone has to step up and put the ball in the basket.

Who will that guy be?

The logical answer would be rookie Dion Waiters, named as a starter by Scott yesterday. Waiters, the fourth overall pick in last summer’s draft, is a scorer and has been compared to Dwyane Wade in that regard.

Scott and Grant would no doubt be happy if the rookie averaged in double figures for the season.

The other player who can pick up the slack is newcomer C.J. Miles, a free agent who played with the Jazz for seven seasons, but is still just 25 years old.

Miles has averaged 8.4 points per game in his career averaging a little over 19 minutes per night. He did score almost 13 per game two years ago.

He should be able to get into double figures on a nightly basis.

The other points will have to come from the improvement of players like second year man Tristan Thompson, who should get into double figures in points, and Alonzo Gee.

Remember, Jamison took a lot of shots, so those shots will be divided up by other players as well, in fact, he hoisted up almost 20% (19.5%) of the Cavs field goal attempts last year, so his absence will open up shots for the younger players.

And this is not to blast the veteran, who has been a solid NBA player, but he shot 40.3% last year. Do you know what other Cavalier shot the same percentage? Omri Casspi, who was a disappointment by everyone’s standards.

Starting Thompson should make Scott’s team better defensively, at least in the frontcourt, so maybe Cleveland will need fewer points to win.

The coach has said defensive rebounding is his main concern coming into the season, but finding a true secondary scorer has to be next on the list. We may find out as soon as tonight.

A Little Worried About Waiters

The Cleveland Cavaliers will not start the regular season until the end of this month, but it would be nice to see something more out of rookie guard Dion Waiters during the exhibition contests.

Waiters, the 4th overall pick out of Syracuse in June’s draft, was considered a gamble at that choice. Most scouts had him in the top ten choices, but very few had him in going in the first five picks.

The rookie had to be pulled out of one game because coach Byron Scott felt he didn’t have a grasp of the plays, and has largely been inconsistent. He’s shooting just 36% from the floor, and there is a possibility he won’t start opening night.

To be fair, last year’s rookie of the year, Kyrie Irving, is shooting 34.3% in the games that don’t count.

Still, other rookies picked after Waiters are making a bigger impact thus far. The guy many people wanted to take with the fourth pick overall, Golden State F Harrison Barnes, is shooting 50% and scoring 10.4 per contest.

Granted the regular season is still over a week today, and there will be five and a half months to evaluate Waiters, but there certainly can be some concern.

Yes, we know that Scott was also the fourth pick in the draft and said he didn’t start until halfway through his rookie year, but he was drafted by the Lakers, and his teammates included Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and Jamaal Wilkes.

Also, Scott was a solid NBA player, but he was never considered an elite player.

GM Chris Grant and Scott need Waiters to be the second building block (with Irving) in the Cavs’ return to playing in the post-season. They need more than a solid performer.

And don’t forget that the rook was out of shape going into the summer league, another thing that raises eyebrows.

In today’s NBA, title contending teams need three all-star type players if they hope to mount a serious challenge to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The Cavaliers had three picks in the top four of each of the last two drafts and right now can only claim Kyrie Irving as a future star.

This is not to write off either Tristan Thompson or Waiters because the former has played just one season and the latter hasn’t yet played a regular season game.

The greatest improvement many players make is between their first and second year, so we should have a better read on Thompson after this season, and he’s averaging 8 points and 7 rebounds in a little over 20 minutes in the pre-season.

It appears he can be the double-double guy Scott hoped for as early as this year.

Again, this is not to call Waiters a bust. It’s far too early for that. However, he certainly hasn’t had that “wow” moment yet during exhibition play. He had one really good game, which came right after he was yanked out of the game, but hasn’t followed up with another one.

When Waiters was drafted, we said this was a huge gamble by Grant that could either pay off handsomely or cost the GM his job down the line.

Right now, Grant should feel a little uneasy. Waiters needs to show more, both for himself and for the Cavalier franchise.

Needing a Veteran Coach/Manager

There is a scene in the baseball movie “Bull Durham” when the manager is perplexed as to what to do with his struggling team, and asks Crash Davis for his thoughts.

Davis tells him “scare them, they’re kids”.

Granted, the movie was set in the minor leagues, but it doesn’t take much to apply it to the professional sports teams in Cleveland, because the Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers are all very young compared to most of the squads in their respective sports.

The Tribe just let go of Manny Acta, a younger manager who didn’t seem to be an “old school” disciplinarian, and now GM Chris Antonetti is in the market for a new skipper, with Sandy Alomar Jr. and former Red Sox manager Terry Francona regarding as the leading candidates.

Pat Shurmur is a first time head coach, and seems to fit the profile of a players’ coach, not a person who is going to be tough on young players, educating them in the ways of being a professional football player.

Only the Cavaliers seems to have the “my way or the highway” leader in veteran NBA coach Byron Scott. Scott has established early and often that he’s the coach, and things will be done the method he prefers. If you don’t like it, you will play elsewhere. Ask J.J. Hickson.

Those coaches usually don’t have a long shelf life, because players get tired of the constant harping, and start to tune them out. Again, Scott is the prime example as although he had success in both New Jersey and New Orleans, he lasted just four years with the Nets and five with the Hornets.

But they are needed to teach and guide young players in the ways of being a professional.

With the Browns, Shurmur seems like a good man, but do the young players wearing the brown and orange fear him? That’s doubtful. Take the case of Greg Little, yes he is disappointed that he drop passes with the frequency other people blink, but when does the coach sit on him on the bench? Sometimes, a player has to understand that he won’t play unless he produces.

With the Tribe, Francona isn’t a Billy Martin type, but he would command respect based on winning two World Series with the Red Sox. He would be the first Indians manager with a resume of success since who knows when.

In fact, since 1960, the only coach/manager hired with a world championship in his background was Lenny Wilkens, who won a title with the Sonics in 1978-79.

Francona has been regarded as a players’ manager with the Sox, but he didn’t put up with Manny Ramirez’ antics when his contract was coming up, so he will put his foot down when he had to. He also developed several young players such as Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Perhaps a skipper who was tougher on players would insist that Asdrubal Cabrera would pay more attention to his craft and stay in better shape in the off-season, and would have consequences for players who seem to be happy to play, but don’t expect to win.

Joe Torre worked with the Yankees, but that group was mostly made up of veteran players, so an easy-going guy works better with players who have been around. He did break in Derek Jeter, but Jeter was very respectful of his manager and the older players probably guided him as well.

When new coaches are hired in Cleveland, the type of team they will be inheriting should be kept in mind by the front office.

Maybe it’s not scaring players, but it’s difficult for the person being the boss for the first time to be able to guide young players on how to be a pro.