Stick with what works

[MarkPrice25]

I have been a big supporter of Mike Brown from the start, but we are definitely seeing instances in which he looks like a rookie coach.

I don't know if you guys agree, but it seems like lately, we find something that works offensively, exploit it for a few trips (possibly for a half) and then completely abandon it. Ilgauskas has been absolutely phenomenal for the past two months. Yesterday, in the third quarter, we ran the pick-n-pop with Z and LeBron three or four times in a row and Z canned them all. Then, for some reason, we went away from that......ESPECIALLY DOWN THE STRETCH.

I don't understand why we are not continuing to exploit mismatches until the opposition figures out a way to stop it. We all saw what New Jersey did last week with Kidd in the post backing down Sasha. They went to that play EVERY TIME down the floor until we made the adjustment.

This team has looked absolutely unstoppable at times offensively this season, and it all starts with running the offense through Z. Now, LeBron is the man, but in terms of execution, we get the best looks after Z touches the ball and gets double teamed. The third quarter in the Denver game out West was a thing of beauty. Cutting off the double teams gets us easy baskets. Can you imagine LeBron AND Larry cutting to the hole. Z should have had 40 against Philly and 25 last night.

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I just think that we give our opponents too much credit sometimes. We have the mentality of, "Well, that worked three times in a row. Now they will probably adjust. We'll go with something else." We have to make them PROVE that they can stop us Next to LeBron driving to the bucket (or basically doing anything that doesn't involve a fade-away from the baseline), Z shooting from 17 feet is probably our best option.

 

[Karma]

Ilgauskas is overlooked way to often by this offense. In saying this we really lack off the ball movement when Z is posting up. Brown as this season progresses needs to incorporate a few more plays around Z. He is a good passer, but when crowded and little off ball movement it is a turnover waiting to happen. LeBron can get 30 points without running a play, but the efficiency can be low. Running some post plays will prove more efficient, and in the end helpful for LeBron.

 

[aaronr]

I agree with Karma's assessment that we need to get the ball into Z's hands more. He can score when he touches the ball. And while he's a horrible passer to somebody standing on the perimeter, he's actually quite a good passer when people cut by him to the basket. Lebron is quite good at getting the ball into Z's hands after penetrating. The problem in terms of feeding Z is Snow. Since he can't shoot from the outside or drive to the inside, his man always sags on Z.

 

[Mac]

We all know Z is my fav player on the Cavs and he deserves to have more plays ran through him.

I actually think he should be the main focus of the offense, all offenses should work inside out.

It we get Z off, things for Lebron become so so much easier. The lanes open up and if you get creative and get some nice iso with Lebron and Z, they can do a lot together. ie. that wrap around pass earlier in the year for Lebrons dunk..

 

[Pioneer10]

So far the strenghts of Brown: much more willing then Silas to experiment with lineups. This has resulted in AV and Sasha quickly getting a large role in the system: big plus.

Not sure of his in game adjustments: Showed a very nice touch in the Phoenix game by turning the whole offensive game plan around.

His defensive adjustments seem to be lacking to me though: Keeping Marshall for D against quick, big 3's like Odom and Simmons were terrible decisions. He also tends to stick D. Jones out on a limb guarding quick 3's like Lue when Wilks would do a better job IMO.

On the other hand, he has made Lebron work harder on D and has stuck Lebron against tough opponents which has actually worked well (against S. Jax for example)

With regards to Z, the big problem I see is none of our perimeter guys outside of Lebron is a good post feeder. Plus Z sometimes has a hard time establishin initial post position. This was the one thing McInnis was good at. He'd throw the ball into Z and Z trusted him to throw the ball back. After getting the inital pass Z would get better position so when McInnis woudl throw the ball back Z had a much easier shot and more room to work. I would try to get this repost play back into the offense.