An argument for why Mike Brown should not be fired. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-205/Don-t-Fire-Mike-Brown.html [rquoter]I know, I know, I know. We all know. Everybody in the NBA knows, and they have known for years. That Cleveland offense is dreadful to watch. It's just painful. It makes you think: I may not be an expert on coaching in the NBA, but I'll bet you a bag of donuts that this is not the most effective way to run an offense. See, Cleveland's offense is like most NBA offenses, only with, to my naked eye, 60% less passing, 70% less movement, 80% less teamwork, and 90% less fun. I get mad at times, watching it. Why haven't the Cavaliers used the months since the trade to establish Joe Smith, Delonte West, or Wally Szczerbiak as players they trust with big shots? (Why did it feel like a bold experiment both times in these playoffs when West took the big shot?) Why does James almost never catch the ball with some room around the hoop? What's it going to take to get a fast break once in a while? Why does the team work and work and work only to give the ball to Ben freaking Wallace? Why doesn't LeBron James have a post game yet? When you see the Cavaliers lose a close one, like Game 7 in Boston yesterday afternoon, there's just no way to get past the idea that some other scheme would work better. If you could wave some magic wand and place any generic NBA coach running any generic NBA offense, instead of that dreck Mike Brown has been peddling for some time now, you'd be sure to see many more easy buckets for the Cavaliers, including perhaps even the occasional layup. A few extra buckets like that, and Cleveland would surely have won this game and countless others. Therefore, the reasoning goes, Mike Brown is the reason the Cavaliers lost, and he must be replaced immediately. As soon as the final buzzer sounded yesterday, I knew somebody would be writing a blog post like this. I think it's kind of a crock. ... [/rquoter]
One thing not brought up is that on a good productive year for Z (their #2 most important guy) and the best player in basketball playing 75 games they only won 45 games in a weak EC (yes I know they had a lot interchange of person and injuries to others, but they are role players anyway). Where was the defense and intensity in the regular year, that alone should get you 50 wins in that conference with your 2 best players generally available? I could go either way with Brown. I think it is certainly fine for Cleveland to keep him if he seems to have a plan for progressing. But if they changed HC I could understand that too, a number of young role players regressed and they were actually worse than the team the year before, in both the reg season and playoffs.
Mike Brown is not that good coaching defensive. Just watch the Deriot and Boston series, I think Detriot will win it easily.
you mean the exact same detroit team that the less talented cavs team of last season beat. man, the guy takes his one trick pony team to the finals last year, loses to the team with the best record this year in seven and some people think he should be fired. don't break this out much but, riDAMNdiculous that team is still offensively challenged.
He didn't take them anywhere. He's not to blame for their problems but he doesn't get credit for their success either. Lebron carried that team last year.
Mike Brown does a very good job as a third year coach. I dont see him fire. Brown is not Pop yet, but Pop has gone a long way to adapt to the rules and trust his players. Brown does need to figure out how to have better offense. But it also goes with the players he gets. The Cavs roster has no speed and inconsistent shootings. Big Z----------no legs after 3 games in a series, no kidding. a plodder. cant post up against stronger defenders. better face up jump shooter. stop putting the ball on the floor. Varejao--------no offense, good hustles. Big Ben--------old and slow. no offense. overpaid. Joe Smith------does a good job for his pay but always overpowers by opponents F/C. King James-----you cant post up James, he got no post up games, no turnaround jumpers. poor midrange game. he's a penetrator and attacker. great passer. but Mike Brown needs to figure out how to have better spacing for James to attack. Wally----------useless when his shots dont fall. slow and average defender. does have some size. stop put the ball on the floor. Brown should run play for Wally to catch and shoot OR curl off screens and shoot. Delonte West---defense is ok, 2:1 AST/TOV ratio, lack of speed and that's why when he penetrates, half time bad things happen. another backup in disguise. Pavlovic--------his offense is gone and his defense never comes. Boobie Gibson---better shoter in the Cavs. lack of ball handling. tends to over dribbles and corner himself. Another typical undersized SG with limited ball handling. Devin Brown----why Mike Brown didnt play him? His defense cant be worser than Pavlovic and he plays with better energy and more hustles. The Cavs need a PG, more consistent shootings, and more athleticism.
Mike Brown is a terrific defensive coach. He makes guys who are not known for their defense like Sczerbiak, Z, Pavlovic, LBJ play hard on that end of the court and those guys have bought into his defensive system. He is young after all and has a long way to go before he can establish himself as an elite coach who can draw up good plays for both ends of the court. I would keep him right now, if I were the Cavs, and hire a couple of assistants who are offensive geniuses to help him out. The guys on the team respect him and listen to him...otherwise they wouldn't go out there playing hard on defense which is all about effort and busting your butt - moving your feet, using your head, helping each other out, rotating, etc etc etc...its all about effort on defense and those guys play good D under Mike Brown. he's a keeper IMO
Based on results, Mike Brown is a rich man's JVG. Brown has acheived more than the JVG in the first 3 years.
i can understand people's fustration, but that's not an easy team to coach imo. You could build your offense more around big z in the high post, but he's unreliable. wally, good/great shooter, unclutch, stiff. and that's not mike's fault, wally is a career 40% three point shooter regular season, 29% playoffs. entire career. Gibson is a nice situational player, i'd love to see him take the leap but he will forever be a tweener, not good enough to run the point, not big enough to be a full time two guard. the only way he could start is if you moved lebron to the backcourt, but why would you sit West. someone on that team has to take the leap offensively next to lebron.
Mike Brown was destined to get fired ever since Jim Boylan got axed: They both started out as video coordinators in 1992. Then, they both got promoted to scout. In 1997, they both changed teams to get another promotion. In 2004, they both became lead assistants. So, in 2008, they both got fired from their head coaching jobs.
What if it's LeBron that calls for all those one on fives? I don't think he knows how to play any other way yet. He needs a coach that will make him break that habit though, if he doesn't get one he'll end up like McGrady, handicapped without the entire offense going through him.
The only reason that team has any chance of being perennial finals team is no. 23. Whenever Lebron is not on the floor that team is terrible. Even when lebron is not good if he is not on the floor the cavs are in trouble. Imagine if they had got gasol instead of lakers.
Mike Brown is not a good defensive coach. He is a GREAT defensive coach. But that doesn't bail him out for being an extremely poor coach on offense. I'm not expecting him to be Phil Jackson, D'Antoni or even Adelman. I just wanted to see some growth during the last 2 seasons. THERE HASN'T BEEN ANY! The Cavs sets on offense are so awful, all the other team has to do is scream "boo" and the Cavs revert to the comfort zone of making LeBron go 1 on 5. The article makes a case for keeping him, but if they do, he should be put on the hot seat and understand his job is on the line. Brown can get the Cavs to a certain level but then they are handicapped by him. They better do something or LeBron is gone is two years.
Umm, the only reason any coach happens to make it to the Finals, or go far in the playoffs, any year is because of good players on their team. Even with Lebron, the Cavs overachieve. Definitely give Lebron more credit than Mike Brown for that, but don't overlook the coach. What's more, before Mike Brown should be fired, shouldn't Danny Ferry be fired? What, exactly, has he surrounded Lebron with?
