1 » Saturday. "I wish I could relax,"

CLEVELAND -- Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert felt he made a big mistake when he fired Mike Brown as his coach in 2010. That didnt stop him from doing it again. Browns second shot with the Cavs ended Monday after one just one season as Gilbert dismissed the only Cleveland coach who has ever made it to the NBA finals. Brown had been re-hired last April by Gilbert, who regretted dismissing him four years earlier. While the Cavs record improved and they made strides defensively under Brown this season, the club missed the playoffs again and Gilbert decided it was time to make another change. "This is a very tough business," Gilbert said in a statement. "It pains all of us here that we needed to make the difficult decision of releasing Mike Brown. Mike worked hard over this last season to move our team in the right direction. Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction. We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best." In addition to firing Brown, Gilbert announced hes retaining David Griffin as the clubs full-time general manager. Griffin had been the interim GM since Feb. 6, when Gilbert fired Chris Grant one day after the Cavs lost to a Los Angeles Lakers team which finished the game with just five eligible players. Gilbert said Griffin would lead the search for Browns successor. Its not known what input Griffin had in Browns firing. Griffin has ties to former Phoenix executive Steve Kerr, who is one of New York president Phil Jacksons top choices to take over the Knicks. Griffin also has worked with Mike DAntoni and Alvin Gentry. Other coaches who could get consideration for the Cavs opening include Mark Jackson and George Karl. Brown had four years remaining on his $20 million contract. Brown, who was fired last year by the Lakers five games into his second season, could not be reached for comment. Brown went 272-138 in his first stint with Cleveland. Led by superstar LeBron James, the Cavs made the finals for the first time in 2007 and were title contenders throughout Browns tenure. However, they didnt advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals four years ago and Brown was let go. At the time, it appeared Gilbert was making the move -- and hiring Byron Scott as coach -- to appease James and hopefully keep him in Cleveland. James, though, decided to leave as a free agent for Miami, where he is chasing his straight third NBA title with the Heat. "Its just a tough business. I mean, thats all it is. Its a tough business and, you know, Mike Brown got the short end of a tough business," James said. Gilbert brought back Brown to fix Clevelands defence, and the Cavs improved, moving from last in the league in field-goal percentage to 12th. But the offence never flowed like it should and the Cavs didnt make a late playoff push despite a favourable schedule down the stretch. Clevelands players didnt care for Browns defence-first philosophy and there seemed to be a disconnect between the Cavs and the coaching staff. Brown seemed resigned to his fate following the season finale, when he said he would support whatever decision Gilbert made. "Its his team," Brown said. Cleveland went 17-16 under Griffin, who worked as Grants assistant before being promoted. Gilbert said he interviewed several other candidates before deciding to remove the "interim" from Griffins title. "We chose David as our GM because we believe he is the best person to lead our franchise at this critical time and into the future," Gilbert said. "David brings over two decades of experience. He knows the ins and outs of this league as well as anyone and is also an outstanding talent evaluator." The Cavaliers will hold a news conference on Tuesday at the teams facility in Independence. Gilbert had high praise for Griffin, who previously worked in Phoenixs front office before coming to Cleveland. "He is a general manager who is aligned with our culture and philosophy which is the foundation of how we do business," Gilbert said. "David is not only passionate about his own job but also cares deeply about the success of everyone around him. His presence alone creates an infectious positive environment with players, coaches, front office people and even our fan base. We already saw some progress in the short time David led our basketball side in the latter part of this past season. Clearly, we have substantial work ahead of us and I am confident that Griff will play an essential part of the growth and success of our organization." While the Cavs showed signs of progress with Brown, he was unable to get one of the leagues youngest teams to play consistently. His replacement will have a similar challenge, assuming Griffin doesnt do a complete overhaul to Clevelands roster. The Cavs are entering a critical summer. Theyll once again be in the draft lottery and the club is expected to be active in free agency. The team must also decide whether to offer Irving a maximum contract extension in July. Saucony Shoes Factory Outlet . The light-heavyweight champion and number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world is on an 11-fight UFC winning streak, the longest in the history of the weight class. Saucony Shoes Outlet . -- Tiago Splitter tipped in a rebound with 2. http://www.cheapsauconyaustralia.com/ . Hicham Khalouas late goal improved Almerias chances of avoiding relegation in a match dominated by contentious calls, including three penalties. One day after Barcelonas 4-3 win at Real Madrid featured three penalties, referees again dominated a wide-open game that saw Almeria ultimately move out of the relegation zone and one point ahead of Getafe which took its place. 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The Australian held off Rahal to join Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay as the series drivers with two victories through six races. Power pulled within three points of Hunter-Reay, IndyCars points leader. James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., finished in sixth place. Power, who won IndyCars season-opening race, has 23 career victories to break a tie with Emerson Fittipaldi and Tony Bettenhausen and to match Tommy Milton for 18th on the all-time list. His latest victory was especially sweet for Penske and Chevy. Penske had not won an open-wheel race in the area he calls home since Helio Castroneves finished first in 2001. "Its sure a great piece of satisfaction for me to see this happen," Penske acknowledged. And for Chevy, which sponsors the race, it was a good day after being relegated to watching Honda dominate the previous three races over the last two years in the shadow of its world headquarters. "We swept the podium in 2012," Art St. Cyr, president of Honda Performance Development, said a few hours before Saturdays race. "We won both races last year, swept the podium in one race and had two of the three spots in the other race "There are a lot oof Chevy folks here, so you do walk around with your chest puffed out a little bit more.dddddddddddd" After the 70-lap race, Honda had to settle for Rahals second-place finish as its only driver on the podium. Rahal, whose only career victory was in 2008, had finished no better than 13th this year. "Its a great day for us with the year weve had and the luck weve had," Rahal said. Tony Kanaan was a season-best third followed by Justin Wilson and Castroneves, who was the pole-sitter and led a race-high 30 laps Saturday. "I wish I could relax," Kanaan said "My mind is already going on what I have to do tomorrow." Hunter-Reay, meanwhile, failed to follow up the biggest win of his career with a 16th-place finish. He was on the last lap, but did not make it to the finish line because he spun into a tire wall to end the race. He started 21st in the 22-car field because he brushed a wall on his second lap during Saturday mornings qualifying session. "We had a rough day overall," Hunter-Reay said. Simon Pagenaud and Mike Conway each won last year on Belle Isle and both lost their shot to win early Saturday. Pagenaud damaged his front left suspension when he ran into the back of Power, leading to a yellow. "I didnt even know where Pagenaud was," Power insisted. Conway did not have any one around him when he appeared to understeer into a wall on Lap 15, putting the race under caution. Both will get another shot to repeat at the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday as part of IndyCars first of three doubleheaders this season. While Penske was thrilled with the victory after Castroneves was barely beaten by Hunter-Reays Honda-powered car last Sunday at the Indy 500, he knew there were fewer than 24 hours to celebrate before the next race on Sunday. "We all start from ground zero," he said. ' ' '