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Owner disappointed by this year's earlier exit from playoffs, but says additions made team stronger; praises Brown, Ferry
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Dan Gilbert concedes that after three years of being the majority owner of the Cavaliers, he still feels like a rookie at times.
From his standpoint, he believes his team is closer now to winning the desired championship than it was a year ago when it missed out in the NBA Finals. Like all members of the organization, he's still reeling a bit from the Game 7 loss Sunday to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but he still feels like strides were made this season even though it ended earlier.
''I believe that it was another year of experience for Mike Brown and LeBron and everybody else on the team,'' Gilbert said in a season-ending teleconference with reporters Tuesday. ''I think we had better team chemistry than (last season). What you had was a different set of circumstances in the Eastern Conference. All things being equal, I think we are closer.''
Gilbert agrees with James, who said Sunday that some personnel moves might be in order, that some changes have to be made before next season. He said he thought giving the team a better chance to win a Game 7
was important, and it started with ''having a focus to have a better regular season'' so they could get homecourt advantage. The Cavs won five fewer games this season and slipped from the No. 2 seed in the East to the No. 4 seed.
But that will likely not include any changes at the very top. Gilbert said he has a ''great respect'' for Brown and General Manager Danny Ferry. The owner said he would hold meetings with team officials in a couple of weeks to examine what changes could be made.
As for whether he is feeling any stress about getting James a so-called star ''sidekick'' or making some changes to upgrade the Cavs' often stagnant offense, Gilbert avoided being pinned down.
''There always seems to be a lot of focus on the means; I focus on the ends,'' Gilbert said. ''There's a lot of ways to get to a championship, which is LeBron's goal. We're going to find a way.''
As many have pointed out and will focus on in the coming months, James now has just two years left on his contract. The rumors about his future continue to be very prevalent and likely will only intensify no matter what moves the Cavs make or don't make. Gilbert said he thinks that the organization and James remain on the same page.
''We have no reason to doubt LeBron James or any player and their commitment to the Cavs based on the organization we've built and are building,'' Gilbert said. ''I don't worry about it because we do the right things. We're trying to build a long-term, top-notch franchise in everything we do.''
Gilbert did say that this season, with all the injuries, holdouts and massive trade deadline deal, ''had the most fireworks'' during his tenure.
And speaking of fireworks, he said he was not pleased with NBA Commissioner David Stern's remark last week about the pyrotechnics getting out of hand in NBA arenas. Gilbert said his game operations staff has gotten high marks from the league and thinks that mixed signals are being sent.
''I disagree with (Stern),'' Gilbert said. ''I wasn't happy those comments were made in Cleveland during the playoffs.''
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
Dan Gilbert concedes that after three years of being the majority owner of the Cavaliers, he still feels like a rookie at times.
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