Moohead sources reveal Cavs problem

[moohead]

According to someone who is close to the organization, the players are not on the Mike Brown train. There is a feeling that he is not respected by LeBron, and the other players have followed suit.

It is interesting to see Brown absolutely clueless, throwing in Zendon and Luke for 2 minutes, then throwing others in. Most telling is his "Silas-esque" dependence on 40+ minutes from LeBron.

The defensive scheme either doesn't work, or is being rejected by the players.
The morale has plunged almost in an eye blink.

Mr Moohead's guess is that there is serious disenchantment in the player ranks. I think the players are thinking negatively, and the coach can't sell his system, nor fire up the team.

Secondly...this would appear to be the second time we've seen this very happening in the Dan Gilbert era.

Moo

 

[KI4MVP]

They better buy into the defense. That's why they are losing - they aren't giving the defensive effort.

 

[CleveRocks]

Would like to hear Max comment on this. Too bad if the team has given up on Brown. Defense is the Way to rings. Mike Brown knows that.

 

[KI4MVP]

if what moohead says is true, we have a more serious problem than we thought. How can the team, especially LeBron, not buy into the system that has worked so well in San Antonio and Indy? Mike Brown is not going to work on offense until they get the defense down, and rightfully so, because strong offense will only mask the problems poor defense causes. We're much better off to have it hurt us early and get it corrected than to have it hurt us later. But if the team doesn't buy into correcting the problem, especially our leader LeBron, we're not going to get where we want to go.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Doubt that Moo - sure, there may be some internal discontent because of the losses, and someone may be reading a bit inbetween the lines to come up with this.

Anyways, was listening to Sirius NBA radio driving back from Cleveland yesterday (back a day early, so I'll get the preview up), and they were talking about Artest to Cleveland. Not that I am in favor of it, but they were talking about the makeup of the Cavs right now....all offensive players only. From James to Gooden to Z to Marshall to Jones - each player is only solid on one end of the court, and way below par on the other. We were called the Mavericks of the East. :chuckles: Ferry brought in players that are flashy, but noone that can work the defensive end. They were talking about the TJ Ford lay-ups late in the game over the weekend - he should've been hammered to the floor, ala the players of the 70s and 80s.

Newble better bring it hard on that end. He will be a site for sore eyes. AV should know his role too.

 

[NarlCavs]

20 games is too soon to completely judge a coach but I have not yet been impressed at all by Mike Brown. It seems that he's in over his head as a rookie inexperienced head coach.
The Cavs have supposedly been concentrating on defense since training camp yet the D is as bad has it's been the past few years. Are the players lazy and clueless? Are Brown's schemes not a good match with the players on the roster. Sometimes you have to fit the scheme and strategy to the talent you have and not force something that isn't the right fit. Maybe it will just take time although there have been no signs of any improvement.

I still don't see much of a competent offensive system in place. It's basically LeBron and Larry going one on one (more and more of Lebron lately) or drive and kick out for 3's. There's an occasional throw into the post at times. There's been very little movement in the offense and little ball movement.

It's troubling that teams have obviously adjusted to the Cavs and taken away what they like to do while the Cavs have yet to make any adjustments of their own.

I was never a huge fan of the Mike Brown hiring but was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. So far I've seen nothing to make me not want to doubt him. Hopefully his hiring won't continue the line of Wittman, Lucas and Silas.

 

[LyXo]

Are Brown's schemes not a good match with the players on the roster. Sometimes you have to fit the scheme and strategy to the talent you have and not force something that isn't the right fit. Maybe it will just take time although there have been no signs of any improvement.

Great point indeed. It seems this to be the case...

 

[Karma]

Do we need to see a change in our rotations. LeBron and Larry are struggling together. Do we need to see Larry and LeBron spending more time on court alone. Larry seems to go into his shell when James dominates the ball and visa versa. Something has to change there.

 

[Style]

Are the players lazy and clueless? Are Brown's schemes not a good match with the players on the roster?

The problem is lack of effort. Until the players give an effort on defense we can't even begin to evaluate if it is the right scheme.

 

[PIP]

Snow-LeBron-Z-Drew

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There is something wrong with those 4 together...

Soft defense + Poor PG play

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

if the morale has crashed, then there is not much hope for the future with this group. think about it. we have one of the greatest players in the world. he has been unstoppable of late. if these guys have morale problems here playing with the talent we see on the court, what would their frame of mind be if they were in toronto, portland, utah, boston, orlando, sacramento, charlotte, philadelphia, or (dare I say) atlanta?

let's make sure i have this right. we have a morale problem on our team because the players are winning 55% of their basketball games and are being paid an average of about $3½ million dollars a year to do so? i know that my company would be devasted if they had to endure such a tragedy.

 

[LyXo]

That's the problem. LeBron thinks he's the best player in the world, and his arrogance will be his demise because he is the all-powerful, all-knowing, man child that listens to nobody.

 

[CleveRocks]

Sorry Oot, often your logic leaves me baffled.

Teams with stars often have morale probelms (for example LA). The key difference between teams that win and teams that don't is that the winning stars are able to involve the rest of the team (Tim Duncan, Micheal Jordan, Steve Nash, any Piston) while the perennial losing stars are not (T-Mac, VC, Paul Pierce,Dirkster, and the Kobe)

Again, I'ld like ot hear from Max on this one, as he has been dead on with the inside stuff so far. Anybody got Brian Windhorst's e-mail?

If there is a problem with Brown he is not long for this world. We can begin composing a list of possible coaches (Van Gundy is recently unemployed).

 

[TyGuy]

I do know this and people have to agree with me here. Silias had better results with this team with less talent... I have not been impressed with mike brown at all and the results are speaking for themselves.

 

[bob2the2nd]

I do know this and people have to agree with me here. Silias had better results with this team with less talent... I have not been impressed with mike brown at all and the results are speaking for themselves.

no he wasnt, he wasnt even close. silas after his first 20 games with the cavs was 5-15, brown after his first 20 is 11-9. Mike brown has had 20 games to teach his team, thats not nearly enough time, if the cavs are still at .500 at the end of the season then there is definatly a reason to worry, however right now we are only a quarter of the way into the season.