Is it just me or is Mike Brown, head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the worst coach in the entire NBA? The Sports Guy likes to complain about Doc Rivers and Mo Cheeks and Sam Mitchell (before his Coach-of-the-Year-thanks-to-Colangelo-being-a-total-pimp award) generally figure in the conversation as well, but believe me, it isn’t even close.
It’s probably not surprising, given Brown never played professional ball and has no qualification other than that he’s worked in the league for over a decade, starting off as a video coordinator and scout. You wonder why Dan Gilbert hired this guy, whose only real function seems to be to put out soundbites like, “LeBron stepped up and put us on his shoulders. He said, ‘Come along for the ride.’ And we all hopped on.” I mean, honestly, what else does this guy provide? He’s got too obvious a mancrush on LBJ to tell him to fix his jumper, his rotation is completely unsettled — vets like Marshall and Jones are rustry from not playing enough and guys like Gibson who’s better than Snow NOW, as a rookie — and he’s forced this team into a defensive style that it clearly isn’t equipped to play. His idea of playing to LBJ’s strengths is to give him the ball every time up and let him decide whether he feels like shooting fadeaway 3’s or passing the ball to teammates who spend most of the shot clock watching LBJ and bracing for the inevitable clanger from 25 feet out. Oh, and he’s let Larry Hughes develop into a volume shooter at 33%. Yech.
Comparing LBJ to Shaq has been a staple for sportswriters since LeBron got to the NBA. The idea normally is to point out how physically superior both players are compared to other players at their positions, but it’s a valid comparison in as far as both players’ tendency to coast unless pressed. There are huge holes in LBJ’s games — his shooting form is horrendous, his midrange game is poor, and his post game is limited to overpowering his defender — but the last couple of years are enough to figure out that those aren’t going to be plugged unless someone with credibility and authority steps in to provide some guidance.
The team’s offense and defense need attention too: the Cavs aren’t quite as bad as people make them out to be, what with Ilgauskas (a former All-Star), Varejao and Gooden anchoring the frontline, and lots of (one-dimensional) role players in the backcourt to provide specific things like shooting and defense. They still need to make some upgrades, particularly at point guard, but their biggest shortcoming by far is the guy making the calls from the sidelines.
(And it’s a massive shame they didn’t get a chance to talk to Adelman. He would have been perfect for a team fronted by a pouting superstar and lots of role players.)
Not sure what rock you climbed out from under. I never heard of you in my life but my google alert fed me your trashing of the best young coach in the NBA.
You clearly are clueless about anything having to do with the NBA or basketball.
Let’s see, Mike Brown takes over a terrible team that struggles to get to .500 with Paul “try harder” Silas and in his rookie year takes the Cavs to 50-32(3rd best record in the east, 6th in the nba) beats a tough Wizards team in the first round, comes back from a 0-2 deficit and gets the Cavs within an offensive rebound or two from upsetting the mighty Pistons in the second round.
This year,takes the Cavs to the 2nd seed in the east. Sweeps the Wizards in the first round. Handles a tough Nets team in six and in his SECOND YEAR on the job gets the Cavs to the East Finals and nearly beats the Pistons TWICE on their homecourt(the horrendous refs being responsible for at least one of those loses) and then recovers by beating them last night to stay solidly in the series.
Brown installs a vicious team defense that ranked the Cavs near the top of all defensive catagories in the regular season and puts the Cavs at the TOP of almost all defensive catagories in this year’s playoffs.(Evidenced by holding the east’s beast Pistons to 79,79, and 82 points the first 3 games of the ECF.
Not to mention the complete harmony of the Cavs locker room in a very challenging environment with a team centered around a young superstar.
Do you know any other coaches of 37 years of age (or any age) who has transformed a nothing team to the NBA’s elite in less than 2 years? Who? Flip “choke in the playoff Saunders? Rick “what’s defense” Adlemen”?
I see brilliant man
Why don’t you do some real work before you write such ludicrous garbage?
Its clear you have ulterior motives because no rational and knowledgeable basketball person of any substance could come to the baseless conclusions you have unless they had some hidden agenda.
Silly, silly bitter man.
I would’ve thought you were joking, except you went in such excruciating detail in defending Brown…
Just keep in mind that 05-06 wasn’t just the season Brown became head coach, it was also the season when Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Flip Murray and Donyell Marshall joined the Cavs, and the season when Wagner and McInnis got the boot. Oh, and LeBron had a bumper year.
And there’s a good chance the Cavs would be up 3-0 right now if Brown had a better plan than (a) letting his superstar decide the final play and (b) looking for a foul on the final play of a playoff game.
‘Nuff said.
He’s not the worst coach in the league… that would be Doc Rivers.
Brown has done very well, getting a mediocre team to the conference finals by getting them to play tough defense. I would even go so far as to say they have overachieved this year. I mean, Z is old and probably couldn’t jump over a phone book, Gooden is only an average player, and Varajeo is just an undisciplined hustle guy… yet Mike Brown has turned them into one of the best frontcourts in the league. If he had a decent point guard on the roster, who knows how good they could be right now.
You really want Damon Jones playing more? Be careful what you wish for.
Kinda late for the comment, but what the heck. I loved Aldeman’s and Nellies style of BB, unfortunately it doesnt win playoff games.
you have to admit besides James, the team is a bunch of one-trik ponies at best. Brown atleast turned them into decent role players.
as far as the “holes” in LBJs game is concerned, give him a break, hes just a kid. you think mj had the perfect technique? in his early days he didnt have a mid range game, a fadeaway or a turnaround. What they do have in common is a basketball brain, and thats the most important thing!