Former celtic in charge of cavs

[Scott Manley <manley@brandeis.edu>]

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers fired head coach Mike Fratello on
                  Tuesday, and Wayne Embry announced he is handing off his
general-manager
                  duties to Jim Paxson, the team's vice president of
basketball operations. 

                  Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund said he
                  told Fratello of his decision earlier
                  Tuesday, nearly a month after the team
                  ended an injury-plagued 22-28 season. 

                  "Sometimes from a coaching standpoint,
                  teams need to go in a new direction, to
                  be re-energized by new leadership on
                  the floor," Gund said. "We believe that is
                  true with respect to the Cavs." 

                  During Fratello's tenure the Cavs
                  compiled a 248-212 record, although the
                  team disappointed fans with a defensive
                  style some considered boring. 

                  Fratello, who had one year left on his
                  contract, was "very surprised" by the
                  decision, Gund said. Fratello did not
                  attend the news conference but issued a
                  statement in which he said he regretted
                  not being able to reach the goals he had
                  set for the team when he took over six
                  years ago. 

                  "With injuries, we were in a constant
                  state of change," he said. 

                  When contacted by ESPN's David
                  Aldridge, Fratello confirmed that he was
                  surprised by the decision. 

                  "I thought I was going into a couple of
                  days of staff meetings," Fratello told
                  Aldridge. "It came out of the clear blue
                  sky. I respect his decision as an owner.
                  You try to ask for the meaning if you
                  don't know why." 

                  Under Fratello, the Cavs made the
                  playoffs four of his six years but failed
                  to advance past the first round.
                  Attendance at Gund Arena declined in
                  this past strike-shortened season as the
                  Cavs were wracked with injuries to
                  starters Zydrunas Ilgauskas (broken left
                  foot), forward Shawn Kemp (sprained
                  left foot), and Brevin Knight (broken left
                  hand). 

                  Paxson said the Cavs would try to
                  replace Fratello before the NBA draft
                  June 30. 

                  Fratello coached for seven years in
                  Atlanta then worked as a commentator
                  for NBC for three seasons, earning the nickname "Czar of
the Telestrator" from
                  partner Marv Albert. 

                  In the other move, Embry will continue as president and
chief operating officer
                  for the next year but will give up handling day-to-day
basketball operations,
                  effective July 1. 

                  Embry has been grooming Paxson for the past year to take
his place as general
                  manager. 

                  "He's ready," Embry said. 

                  Embry played in the NBA for 11 years and was the first
black general manager
                  in the league's history when he was named to the post in
1972 by the
                  Milwaukee Bucks. He held the position for six years. 

                  Prior to joining the Cavs as general manager in 1986,
Embry also served in the
                  front office of the Indiana Pacers for one year. 

                  Paxson, who joined the Portland front office after
playing with the Trail Blazers
                  for nine seasons, had joined the Cavs to coordinate
scouting and player
                  acquisition and development. 

                  Paxson played at the University of Dayton and was a
first-round selection by
                  Portland in the 1979 draft. He was a two-time NBA
All-Star with Portland and
                  played his final NBA season in 1989-90 with Boston.

                  He served as Portland's offensive skills coach in 1993-94
and later became
                  assistant to the president and most recently served as
assistant general
                  manager.

                  His father, Jim, was an NBA player from 1956-58 with
Minneapolis and
                  Cincinnati and his brother, John, played for San Antonio
from 1983-85 and for
                  Chicago from 1985-94.