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Cavaliers New Bench Boss Talks About LeBron James,
the Upcoming Free Agency Period and his Coaching Philosophy
One-on-One with Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown
On June 2, Mike Brown was named the 17th head coach in Cleveland Cavaliers history, but perhaps none of the 16 men before him have had the pressure that will greet Brown when he coaches his first game for the Wine and Gold in early November.
The second-youngest coach in the NBA, Brown, 35, has served in various roles in the NBA for the past 13 seasons. Most recently, he was the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers for the past two seasons. Brown began his career in 1992 with the Nuggets and as an assistant coach in the NBA, Brown’s teams have compiled an overall record of 341-201 (.629).
The rookie coach and defensive specialist took time from his busy schedule preparing for the upcoming season to talk with Clevelandcavaliers.com about a myriad of topics including LeBron James role, the pending free agency season and the interview process that landed him the job with the Cavaliers.
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clevelandcavaliers.com: So what have you done so far to get yourself assimilated to the area and the team?
MB: A lot of it is just getting used to this building! (laughs) This is by far the trickiest building to get into and out of. I’ve almost gotten locked in a few times. I’ve definitely taken some walks around the perimeter around the inside.
Besides that, I'm just getting acclimated to the area and organized around the office. And with the uncertainty of the general manager spot and the president’s spot I’ve gotten myself as educated with the draft and free agent market as I can.
CC.com: You mentioned at your introductory press conference that you'd already spoken with LeBron James. Have you had a chance to speak with any of the other players?
MB: I’ve had a chance to speak with all of them. I spoke to most of them over the phone and there’s about four or five that I’ve seen face to face on a couple of occasions.
Eric Snow and I have a long relationship and Ira Newble and I have a relationship from when I coached him in San Antonio, so there are a few guys that I’ve had a history with, but for the most part I’ve talked to all of them over the phone instead of face-to-face just because I need to be here and they’re kind of scattered about to all points. That’s the life of a player. (laughs)
CC.com: As a former coach of a Central Division club, what were your impressions of the Cavaliers from afar?
MB: We’ve always respected this team and the job that was done here by Paul Silas and his staff. We just felt that they were a talented and dangerous team. They had weapons inside, they had weapons outside. Of course, they had the superstar in LeBron James.
So this is a team that we respected and we were happy to get any win, however it turned out – one point, ten points, half-a-point. Whenever you played the Cavaliers, that’s what you hoped to get.
CC.com: LeBron James is one of, if not the most well-rounded players in the game. Is there any part of his game that you'd like him to work on for next year?
MB: Well I’m excited because I think there’s a lot of thing I’m going to learn from him, not just this year but in many years to come, hopefully.
I think one of the areas I’d like to see him play in is the post-up area. With his size, speed, strength, athleticism, dexterity … I mean I could go on and on with positives that describe his physical talents, but with all those things, I think he’d be an excellent post-up player. So I’d like to pull him in closer and see what he can do.
CC.com: At the end of last season and at various points in his rookie year, LeBron was handling the ball in the offense. What are your thoughts on that?
MB: I’m not going to speculate on whether he’s going to be a ‘point forward’ just yet, but this is a guy who can play multiple positions and depending on the size or what the other team has on the floor, I think he can play positions one through four.
I know what we’d like to do in our early offense is we don’t necessarily always want it to be in our point guard’s hands. Maybe our two will bring the ball up. Maybe the three will bring it up. And, you know, the guys who don’t have the ball – for instance the other perimeter players – they’ll know their spacing and where they should be on the floor.
But I have no problem with LeBron or anyone else initiating our offense from time-to-time.
CC.com: What's your take on the point guard situation as it stands now?
MB: There were two pretty good point guards here last year in Jeff McInnis and Eric Snow and they’re in the process of getting evaluated now and we’ll figure out what’s going to happen after the draft and after the free agency period. CC.com: The Cavaliers are obviously a team "under construction." But is there a facet of the squad, besides James, that you feel is solid?
MB: Well you certainly can’t discount that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a very talented player and he is a difference-maker in ballgames.
The last two teams that I was involved with, we had a big guy in the middle and that made a tremendous difference with us, with Tim Duncan and David Robinson and Jermaine O’Neal, Antonio Davis and Jeff Foster in Indiana, any time you have a guy of Z’s size and ability, you have to try to build around that. And, hopefully, if things work out this summer, we’d like to have him back in a Cavaliers uniform. He’ll be part of this thing for a while.
CC.com: It took you 13 years to get your first head coaching opportunity in the NBA. Had you been making a list of things that you'd do when you got that shot?
MB: Not necessarily a list, but what it is, is going through the grind, I guess, or what I went through to get to where I am, you get to experience this business from all different levels and angles. So I’ve been where a lot of people are. And I can feel compassion for somebody that’s not in the same position that I’m in or the assistant coaches are in, I’ve been there and I know what people go through.
And this business is not that lucrative if you’re not a player or a head coach or a general manager. People are in this business because they love being around pro sports. I think that as long as you make everybody comfortable or like they’re needed or welcome, that I think you’ll get a lot of mileage from people.
My biggest thing is, I want make sure that I treat people the right way no matter who they are.
CC.com: What will be the signature of a "Mike Brown team"?
MB: The most important thing is we have to defend. Everybody in this league got to this league because they have talent. Most of these guys have the ability to put the ball in the hole and that’s not going to happen every night. It doesn’t happen on the road a lot and it doesn’t always happen at home. There are times where, defensively, you’re going to have to win some ballgames.
What I’d like to instill is a defensive mindset from these guys and a mindset that we’re going to give it as much effort as we can for as long as we can. And I think the team that does that for closer to 48 minutes wins. No team plays hard for 48 minutes, but that should be everybody’s goal. And it’s going to be our goal. And I think if we do that, we’ll continue to get better and our wins and losses will come out the right way at the end of the day.
CC.com: Last year, the Cavaliers often had a hard time getting their engine started at the beginning of games. What do you plan to do to combat this problem?
MB: It’s not necessarily that you need to come out of the gate like gangbusters, and take a lead. In fact, I’m always uncomfortable when we come out against a team and go up 20-10. NBA games are too long to have a blowout from the beginning of the game. And that goes for the second quarter, third quarter or start of the fourth.
What I’m more inclined to do is say, let’s go out and do what we do best and as the game goes on we’ll make our adjustments as we need to. What we really need to focus on is closing quarters the right way.
The really good teams – you look at teams like San Antonio and Detroit – they close quarters the right way. The game seems like it’s close, close, close and then you look up and they’re up 15 at the end of the third quarter and it’s not necessarily that they blew the team out from the beginning, but at the end of those previous quarters, they close up with a 7-0 run or a 9-4 run and at the end of each quarter those four or five points start to add up. And before you know it, you’re going into the fourth quarter up by 15.
CC.com: Is tough team defense a mindset or is it a gameplan?
MB: It depends. Because I’m a “system” guy. I don’t think you can guard anyone in this league one-on-one. Even your “bad” offensive players can find a way to get fouled or find a way put the ball in the hole on any given night.
So what I like to do is to make sure that as a team – those five guys on the floor – that we defend the basket first and the ball second. And that is done system-wise. If one man moves or reacts to the ball, then the other four are moving. Everybody has to have communication, everybody has to have trust in one another, and everybody has to help one another. And if you can get those three things instilled in your team, then you’ll be a pretty good defensive unit.
Combine that with wanting to give effort – it doesn’t necessarily always have to an intense effort – but it has to be a hard effort every time on the floor. That will translate into a good defensive team.
Read the rest of the interview HERE
the Upcoming Free Agency Period and his Coaching Philosophy
One-on-One with Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown
On June 2, Mike Brown was named the 17th head coach in Cleveland Cavaliers history, but perhaps none of the 16 men before him have had the pressure that will greet Brown when he coaches his first game for the Wine and Gold in early November.
The second-youngest coach in the NBA, Brown, 35, has served in various roles in the NBA for the past 13 seasons. Most recently, he was the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers for the past two seasons. Brown began his career in 1992 with the Nuggets and as an assistant coach in the NBA, Brown’s teams have compiled an overall record of 341-201 (.629).
The rookie coach and defensive specialist took time from his busy schedule preparing for the upcoming season to talk with Clevelandcavaliers.com about a myriad of topics including LeBron James role, the pending free agency season and the interview process that landed him the job with the Cavaliers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
clevelandcavaliers.com: So what have you done so far to get yourself assimilated to the area and the team?
MB: A lot of it is just getting used to this building! (laughs) This is by far the trickiest building to get into and out of. I’ve almost gotten locked in a few times. I’ve definitely taken some walks around the perimeter around the inside.
Besides that, I'm just getting acclimated to the area and organized around the office. And with the uncertainty of the general manager spot and the president’s spot I’ve gotten myself as educated with the draft and free agent market as I can.
CC.com: You mentioned at your introductory press conference that you'd already spoken with LeBron James. Have you had a chance to speak with any of the other players?
MB: I’ve had a chance to speak with all of them. I spoke to most of them over the phone and there’s about four or five that I’ve seen face to face on a couple of occasions.
Eric Snow and I have a long relationship and Ira Newble and I have a relationship from when I coached him in San Antonio, so there are a few guys that I’ve had a history with, but for the most part I’ve talked to all of them over the phone instead of face-to-face just because I need to be here and they’re kind of scattered about to all points. That’s the life of a player. (laughs)
CC.com: As a former coach of a Central Division club, what were your impressions of the Cavaliers from afar?
MB: We’ve always respected this team and the job that was done here by Paul Silas and his staff. We just felt that they were a talented and dangerous team. They had weapons inside, they had weapons outside. Of course, they had the superstar in LeBron James.
So this is a team that we respected and we were happy to get any win, however it turned out – one point, ten points, half-a-point. Whenever you played the Cavaliers, that’s what you hoped to get.
CC.com: LeBron James is one of, if not the most well-rounded players in the game. Is there any part of his game that you'd like him to work on for next year?
MB: Well I’m excited because I think there’s a lot of thing I’m going to learn from him, not just this year but in many years to come, hopefully.
I think one of the areas I’d like to see him play in is the post-up area. With his size, speed, strength, athleticism, dexterity … I mean I could go on and on with positives that describe his physical talents, but with all those things, I think he’d be an excellent post-up player. So I’d like to pull him in closer and see what he can do.
CC.com: At the end of last season and at various points in his rookie year, LeBron was handling the ball in the offense. What are your thoughts on that?
MB: I’m not going to speculate on whether he’s going to be a ‘point forward’ just yet, but this is a guy who can play multiple positions and depending on the size or what the other team has on the floor, I think he can play positions one through four.
I know what we’d like to do in our early offense is we don’t necessarily always want it to be in our point guard’s hands. Maybe our two will bring the ball up. Maybe the three will bring it up. And, you know, the guys who don’t have the ball – for instance the other perimeter players – they’ll know their spacing and where they should be on the floor.
But I have no problem with LeBron or anyone else initiating our offense from time-to-time.
CC.com: What's your take on the point guard situation as it stands now?
MB: There were two pretty good point guards here last year in Jeff McInnis and Eric Snow and they’re in the process of getting evaluated now and we’ll figure out what’s going to happen after the draft and after the free agency period. CC.com: The Cavaliers are obviously a team "under construction." But is there a facet of the squad, besides James, that you feel is solid?
MB: Well you certainly can’t discount that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a very talented player and he is a difference-maker in ballgames.
The last two teams that I was involved with, we had a big guy in the middle and that made a tremendous difference with us, with Tim Duncan and David Robinson and Jermaine O’Neal, Antonio Davis and Jeff Foster in Indiana, any time you have a guy of Z’s size and ability, you have to try to build around that. And, hopefully, if things work out this summer, we’d like to have him back in a Cavaliers uniform. He’ll be part of this thing for a while.
CC.com: It took you 13 years to get your first head coaching opportunity in the NBA. Had you been making a list of things that you'd do when you got that shot?
MB: Not necessarily a list, but what it is, is going through the grind, I guess, or what I went through to get to where I am, you get to experience this business from all different levels and angles. So I’ve been where a lot of people are. And I can feel compassion for somebody that’s not in the same position that I’m in or the assistant coaches are in, I’ve been there and I know what people go through.
And this business is not that lucrative if you’re not a player or a head coach or a general manager. People are in this business because they love being around pro sports. I think that as long as you make everybody comfortable or like they’re needed or welcome, that I think you’ll get a lot of mileage from people.
My biggest thing is, I want make sure that I treat people the right way no matter who they are.
CC.com: What will be the signature of a "Mike Brown team"?
MB: The most important thing is we have to defend. Everybody in this league got to this league because they have talent. Most of these guys have the ability to put the ball in the hole and that’s not going to happen every night. It doesn’t happen on the road a lot and it doesn’t always happen at home. There are times where, defensively, you’re going to have to win some ballgames.
What I’d like to instill is a defensive mindset from these guys and a mindset that we’re going to give it as much effort as we can for as long as we can. And I think the team that does that for closer to 48 minutes wins. No team plays hard for 48 minutes, but that should be everybody’s goal. And it’s going to be our goal. And I think if we do that, we’ll continue to get better and our wins and losses will come out the right way at the end of the day.
CC.com: Last year, the Cavaliers often had a hard time getting their engine started at the beginning of games. What do you plan to do to combat this problem?
MB: It’s not necessarily that you need to come out of the gate like gangbusters, and take a lead. In fact, I’m always uncomfortable when we come out against a team and go up 20-10. NBA games are too long to have a blowout from the beginning of the game. And that goes for the second quarter, third quarter or start of the fourth.
What I’m more inclined to do is say, let’s go out and do what we do best and as the game goes on we’ll make our adjustments as we need to. What we really need to focus on is closing quarters the right way.
The really good teams – you look at teams like San Antonio and Detroit – they close quarters the right way. The game seems like it’s close, close, close and then you look up and they’re up 15 at the end of the third quarter and it’s not necessarily that they blew the team out from the beginning, but at the end of those previous quarters, they close up with a 7-0 run or a 9-4 run and at the end of each quarter those four or five points start to add up. And before you know it, you’re going into the fourth quarter up by 15.
CC.com: Is tough team defense a mindset or is it a gameplan?
MB: It depends. Because I’m a “system” guy. I don’t think you can guard anyone in this league one-on-one. Even your “bad” offensive players can find a way to get fouled or find a way put the ball in the hole on any given night.
So what I like to do is to make sure that as a team – those five guys on the floor – that we defend the basket first and the ball second. And that is done system-wise. If one man moves or reacts to the ball, then the other four are moving. Everybody has to have communication, everybody has to have trust in one another, and everybody has to help one another. And if you can get those three things instilled in your team, then you’ll be a pretty good defensive unit.
Combine that with wanting to give effort – it doesn’t necessarily always have to an intense effort – but it has to be a hard effort every time on the floor. That will translate into a good defensive team.
Read the rest of the interview HERE
