Mike Brown Has Maxed Out
I know the series isn’t over yet, but I am going to take this opportunity to talk about Mike Brown. Brown has drawn a lot of criticism on these pages for what I perceive to be bad coaching. This series with the Celtics is even more proof that Mike Brown needs to go as he was outcoached by another coach with a horrible reputation, Doc Rivers, in game 5. Mike Brown has done all he can with this Cavaliers team and it is time to find someone else to take them to the next level.
Mike Brown does some things well. He has turned the Cavaliers into one hell of a defensive team. He turned Zydrunas Ilgauskas into a serviceable defensive player, when he has never shined defensively for any other coach. Brown has helped develop LeBron James into a guy who plays solid help defense. His defensive schemes have forced many teams out of their offensive rhythm and forced them to play the Cavs’ tempo on many many occasions.
Unfortunately for Mike Brown, being a one-dimensional coach is not good enough in this day and age in the NBA. Mike D’Antoni could only get Phoenix to play offense and he was fired. Avery Johnson couldn’t seem to get his troops in Dallas to play with consistent effort on the defensive end and he got fired. And these were coaches for decent caliber playoff teams who were relatively successful, and yet their management chose to cut the cord.
I hope that the Cavaliers’ management will do the same with Mike Brown this off-season. I know he has a good record, but it just isn’t good enough. This Cavs team has one of the top two or three players in the league in LeBron James and while some of the rest of the personnel leaves something to be desired, they need a coach who makes them better on both sides of the ball. Mike Brown coaches defense very well, but he can’t scheme offense and his player rotations are mind-boggling.
I won’t run through the laundry list of complaints again, but the highlights include:
- Guys get in bad favor inexplicably and never see the floor again (Devin Brown, Damon Jones)
- End of quarter plays have LeBron dribble 30 feet from the basket with no movement of the other players on the court
- LeBron runs the pick and roll with non-offensive threats like Ben Wallace that guarantee he will be double-teamed (shoutout to Dan Labbe)
These are just a couple of things, but trust me there are more.
So, even if the Cavs miraculously pull off a series victory over Boston by winning tonight in Cleveland and again on Sunday in Boston, I can’t possibly support the continuation of Mike Brown as the Cavs’ head coach. I have been saying it since last season. I have said it since day one this season. I am saying it now. This guy should be done. Cleveland can’t waste any more of LeBron’s guaranteed years here in Cleveland. They have next season and the one after that to win a championship before LeBron becomes a free agent. That is an opportunity of a lifetime and I don’t trust Mike Brown to make it happen.
Why Give Mike Brown An Extension?
Yesterday, when I heard they gave Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown an extension, I had nothing else to say but, “WHY???!?!?!!?” And seriously, don’t assume that I am overstating things with the capital letters and all that additional punctuation. If extending Romeo Crennel’s contract was a bad idea, then extending Mike Brown’s contract was the worst one ever. You see, in football there are at least two coordinators that can help with the game planning. And to Romeo Crennel’s credit he is very good about letting his coordinators coach without too much interference.
Mike Brown, on the other hand, is on record as saying that he wouldn’t hire any offensive coaching help after last season. If anyone needed an offensive coordinator after last season, it was Mike Brown. He didn’t want there to be any confusion on the team with too many voices making noise from the sidelines. Seriously. That’s what he said. I would think that the Cavs would be better off with a little bit of confusion about who is talking rather than the widespread general confusion with which they run their offensive “sets” on a nightly basis. But what do I know?
So, what were Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert thinking? None of this makes any sense to me. The problems with the Cavaliers from a coaching standpoint have been well-known since Mike Brown got here and yet none of them have been addressed.
- Mike Brown’s offense is confusing, inconsistent, repetitive and doesn’t lead to as many high percentage shots as a good offense should.
- At the ends of quarters, halfs, games and on important inbounds plays the plan usually consists of getting LeBron the ball and watching him dribble and probably shoot a fade-away jumper.
- Mike Brown does not develop young talent. Daniel Gibson had to force his way into the lineup. And even still, Gibson has done nothing but perform and Mike Brown continues to start Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic in front of him.
- Mike Brown’s player rotations are continually mind-boggling. He can have guys start who disappear completely before the game is over. Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are usually the most likely candidates for disappearance. But the weird thing is how Ira Newble or Damon Jones can show up and play for two weeks, not play too badly and then disappear completely for two months. This also contributes to number three and specifically Shannon Brown who got some playing time, seemed to be getting comfortable and then had “DNP – Coach’s Decision” next to his name in the box score for two months without warning or explanation.
- The 3rd quarter has been, and continues to be a HUGE problem for the Cavs. They come out flat, they give up leads, the fall further into deficit. Whatever. It has been ongoing for as long as Mike Brown has been in Cleveland.
Now, I can’t take anything away from Mike Brown’s commitment to defense, but these other things are real bona fide problems with Mike Brown as a coach that he hasn’t been able to rectify. Maybe I overstate the negatives, but I can’t help but feel like this team would do better with someone who was a complete master of the game. At this rate and with the numbered problems above, I still view Mike Brown as a defensive specialist who hasn’t figured out his weaknesses and how, as leader of the team in the East with arguably the most talented player in the NBA, to overcome those weaknesses.
Maybe this is a result of my fears that LeBron is going to leave this town and this team at the end of his contract if they don’t win a championship. I feel like that fear is relatively tangible and it feels too real to be fake. With those stakes in mind it confuses me to think that Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert think that Mike Brown gives the Cavaliers their best chance to protect their market value by winning a championship and subsequently keeping LeBron here.
I sure hope they are right.
