Respect the Coaches

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Mike Brown and his coaching staffs success continues. I know there was a lot of doubt cast on his abilities to coach again this past season, but I will take post season success over regular season success all the time.

These past two interviews with Wally and West have also just reenforced how well the coaching staff has connected with the players. Wally mentioned that he respects Coach Brown and he also talked about how Lebron connects with Mike Brown and the understanding those two have as far as what needs to be done on the court. West just reiterated that team talk about defense and no excuses.

People call for Mike Browns head, but he wins in the postseason, Lebron has never complained about him and actually seems to respect him a lot, Z has endorsed Mike Brown, Wally now endorses Mike Brown. How great is it that Brown has got our resident superstar preaching defense night in and night out?

He makes some questionable calls during the season, but during the playoffs, the man has gotten done.

 

[Joe Henderson]

Like it's been said many times before, Mike Brown choses to take all the blame for things that go wrong and lets the players take all the credit for things that go right.

This shouldn't be underestimated.

Sure, it makes him look worse in the public eye and reinforces some people's negative opinions about him, but it shows a lot of character and surely, it breeds confidence and loyalty within the team.

Think about it. Most of us have a hard time taking blame for our own mistakes even and certainly don't mind basking in the spotlight if we have a bit of success. And many people go further, preferring to shift blame to others and trying to get recognition they don't always deserve. Mike Brown is just the opposite.

 

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Until I see that he has lost the team and they no longer listen or respect him, I don't think I will ever call for his job. Coach changes are more than just one man getting swapped out, it is a whole change in philosophy and game plan. Mike Brown is doing a good job at the hardest thing, getting your team to be a team.

I think this is the main reason why we haven't heard a lot out of Damon Jones. Everyone is on board the sacrifice-to-win thing, so Damon has to go along with it. No one is going to back Damon's compaints about minutes when there is playoff success.

 

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Postseason Pilot
Playoffs seem to bring out best in Cavaliers coach Mike Brown

By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter



In his three years as coach of the Cavaliers, Mike Brown has shouldered his share of criticism.

But his finest hours always have come in the postseason.

Last year, he became the franchise's winningest postseason coach as he led the Cavs to the NBA Finals for the first time. In January, the organization gave him a contract extension and roughly doubled his salary, even though the Cavs barely stood above .500 at the time. One of the major reasons was his ability to maximize his team in the postseason.

Now, after struggling to find a rhythm with his rotations and offense, along with inconsistency on defense in the weeks leading up to the playoffs, Brown's game plans and in-game decision-making are making a major difference in the Cavs' series against the Washington Wizards.

His matchup decisions have been nearly perfect as the Cavs have jumped out to a 2-0 series lead. Brown put Wally Szczerbiak into the starting lineup, trusting him to deal with Caron Butler in a move that so far has worked. His adjustment of putting LeBron James on Gilbert Arenas neutralized the Wizards' star in Game 2. Add in late-game plays that freed up James for key baskets in Game 1, and Brown's batting average has jumped during money time.

''Coach Brown has put us in a comfortable position with the game plan,'' James said. ''We just went out and executed it.''

Not only that, but Brown has been successful on the political front, too. After hearing Wizards coach Eddie Jordan say to the media he wanted his team to be physical with James, Brown launched an offensive before Game 2 in using Jordan's words against him in an effort to get James more calls and more protection from the officials.

Jordan acknowledged that the 30-point blowout in Monday's Game 2 extended to the sidelines.




''Their coach kept them disciplined,'' Jordan said. ''This coach couldn't keep our guys disciplined enough to stay competitive. They did what they are supposed to do.''

Brown has a 21-14 career playoff record with four series wins, and he's halfway to a fifth, but he's not looking to get noticed.

As is his style, Brown often has deferred to others in this series. He credited Eric Snow with helping to design plays, said a halftime speech by James was crucial in sustaining the Cavs' intensity Monday and credited his assistant coaches with their advance work preparing for the Wizards.

But Brown is drawing praise whether he wants it or not.

''Our coaches are phenomenal. They have a great game plan and won't let us relax,'' Szczerbiak said. ''They have been open-minded in listening to input from players and put us in a position to be successful.''

http://www.ohio.com/sports/cavs/18034344.html

 

[BHew18]

I'm not gonna lie, I have seriously doubted Mike Brown all season long. But after seeing these first two playoff games, I'm starting to think that Mike Brown may have "rope-a-doped" the entire NBA. Sure after the trade we weren't playing so hot, but I think Brown's gameplan was not to give any of our strategies away in the regular season. Meanwhile the team has been practicing together with focus strictly on the post season. It was evident in some of the games where it looked like our players just weren't really giving 100%. Our regular season play had the rest of the country (and even some Clevelanders) doubting us. Now we come out firing on all cylinders and Mike Brown's rotations have been near perfect. If we keep this kind of play up I am definitely ending my criticism of Mike Brown.

 

[Jon]

I don't think he rope-a-doped anyone. I just think the effort and focus we need to maintain in order to play at the highest level is beyond what the players can give night in and night out during the regular season. This team over the years has been terribly inconsistent and very slow to pickup the defensive system, but Brown has been dogmatic about it and when they have their backs to the wall they've rallied and come out and done what's needed to be done.

It's a lot easier to coach an offensive team because everyone likes to score. It's a lot easier to coach a defensive team when you have athletes at every position who can defend 1v1 and someone under the basket who can erase mistakes.

The Cavs are neither, and need everyone working together on the same page, giving full effort to make rotations on D and help their teammates, while still retaining energy to perform on offense.

They unfortunately still have a tendency to up their defensive effort when things are working for them on offense, but that's hardly uncommon.

The ability to game plan and scout an opponent is equally important. When you're playing the same team every night it's a lot easier for everyone to really focus in on what has to be done. Finally, there are no back to backs in the playoffs and that helps the Cavs a ton.