Byron Scott wants LeBron James to know the Cavs will run and up-tempo offense.
Cleveland Cavaliers new head coach Byron Scott was officially welcomed at a news conference Friday at the Cleveland Clinics Courts practice facility in Independence. INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Byron Scott has played and coached a lot of places in his NBA career that stretches back 27 years. But there are a few core values from his Los Angeles home that apply directly to his new job in Cleveland as head coach of the Cavaliers.
One is personal and the other is basketball strategy, but they both apply to the Cavs and especially LeBron James.
Scott is a Showtime-era Laker, the 1980s-era up-tempo squads that put up lots of points and owned the NBA. The other is that he's a three-time champion who won his rings in his hometown, literally, as he grew up a short distance from where the Lakers used to play in Inglewood, Calif.
Scott, who signed a four-year contract for about $18 million depending on bonuses with the Cavs on Friday, wants to pass both to James and the Cavs.
"There's nothing like winning at home, I won three titles in my hometown and there's not a better feeling," Scott said after he was introduced as Cavs coach Friday at Cleveland Clinic Courts.
"My last 5-6 years (of coaching), I used a Princeton (offense) style but I can't let go of my roots. We're going to be a running team, I think it is something that we can do."
The Cavs did like Scott's background as being a winner on numerous teams as a player and coach and his ability to communicate with star players and role players alike. Cavs general manager Chris Grant said the team also appreciated his defensive background, which was a result of having been schooled by Pat Riley.
But the message that Scott made clear is that he wants to run. Over the last five years the Cavs have been a defense-first and it has often come at the expense of offensive development. Scott seems to want to change that and incorporate James' talents more.
"We know how great of a basketball player he is and I think he has room to grow," Scott said. "He has a high ceiling and that ceiling has not been tapped."
Scott said the last few weeks have been interesting and that he thought earlier this week that he had lost out to Lakers assistant Brian Shaw for the job. But he said he was excited when the Cavs called back.
"I thought this was a home run for me," Scott said. "To be put in this situation with a team that has a chance to win right away."
Scott has already hired Paul Pressey to be his lead assistant, filling the same role Pressey did for Scott when both were with the New Orleans Hornets. He said he's still working on the rest of the staff.
"I think this team is right there, right now," Scott said. "I think this is the right time and I'm the right coach to get to a championship."