By D. Chip James

In the words of the rock group Queen, “And another one bites the dust.”

After losing seven of their last eight games and compiling a league-worst record of 8-34, the Cleveland Cavaliers have fired head coach John Lucas. He becomes the third coach fired by the franchise since 1999.

Lucas, the former number one overall pick in the 1976 NBA Draft, has never lasted longer than two seasons as a team’s head coach.

Lucas was asked to bring an identity to a young team but to this point has failed to do so, and GM Jim Paxson had seen enough.

Lucas is widely known as a nice guy and a basketball junkie but in this case, the Cavs have made the right decision. In an Eastern Conference that was wide open to start the year Cleveland had enough young talent to make a run at one of the final playoff spots, or at least to hint at the possibility once in a while. Lucas just hasn’t gotten the most out of his group.

The Cavs have a legitimate scorer, which every good team must have, in Ricky Davis. As of Monday, Davis was 11th in the league, averaging 22.6 points per game. Lucas has struggled to get along with his star player, punishing him on a couple different occasions for Davis’ on-court behavior. Though, that's more Ricky's fault than John's.

Cleveland also has a guy on their roster capable of playing a few different positions and filling up the box score in multiple categories in Darius Miles.

Miles, just 21 years old, had a friend in Lucas but may need more of a disciplinarian coach to push the player to reach his extreme potential. Miles has been disappointing this year, struggling through injuries and learning new positions. Through Monday he was averaging just 8.2 ppg and 5.6 boards while shooting a dismal 37.6 percent from the floor and 49.2 percent from the free throw line.

In a conference depleted of big men, Cleveland has boasted one of the best so far this season. With five foot surgeries in his past, Zydrunas Ilgauskas has started in 41 of the Cavs 42 games and is having the best season of his career.

Besides his 8 rebounds, nearly 2 blocks and a 76.6 percentage from the foul line, Big Z is averaging a career-best 17.7 ppg. Despite the Cavs organization trying to keep his minutes under 35 a night to prevent another foot injury, Ilgauskas has scored 20 or more points 19 times this season but only four times have those efforts resulted in Cleveland wins.

Cleveland also has a player that is capable of playing either guard spot in their impressive rookie Dajuan Wagner. Wagner didn’t play his first game until Nov. 26 but has established himself as one of the top rookies in the league since coming back from the injured list. He has shown that he can score hitting 25 points or more seven times this season while averaging 14.8 ppg.

Cleveland has two established veterans in Tyrone Hill and Bimbo Coles and two capable subs in Jumaine Jones and Carlos Boozer, rounding out their main roster.

The Cavs obviously aren’t the most talented team in the Eastern Conference, but neither is the team across Lake Erie that is currently in second place in the Central Division. Rick Carlisle is once again getting the most out of the talent that he has with the Detroit Pistons, and it looks like this spring he’ll again be leading them into the playoffs, all with a roster resembling Cleveland’s.

The Cavs have some individual talent, albeit young, now they need a coach to mold them into a team that could soon challenge for a Central Division title. If the organization can get lucky in June’s lottery and land the top pick, a certain Ohio high school star might be the final piece to the puzzle for the Cavs.


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