I try not to rant in published form. I actually like the media, believe it or not. I don’t even have any real beef with the dreaded mainstream media.
However, there is an issue I believe that it’s time to speak upon. The “Mike Brown can’t coach an offense” meme has become tiresome. It’s lazy, it’s not based on analysis, and it’s something that people say because everyone else seems to be saying it.
I understand where it comes from, to be certain. Mike Brown is young, and this is his first head coaching job. He started out as a video coordinator. He sounds unassuming in interviews. He will often grimace and spit in a cup during games. Like Stan Van Gundy, Mike Brown takes a lot of undeserved flak because it doesn’t look like he should be a good NBA coach.
There’s also some factual basis behind the criticism of Mike Brown’s offense. The Cavs have always been a defense-first team since Brown took over. They don’t play fast. Their sets are often basic-looking, especially when LeBron starts holding the ball. And during Mike Brown’s first few years on the bench, the Cavs were not a good offensive team despite the fact they had LeBron.
In the last two seasons, things have changed. The Cavs were a top offensive team last season after they revamped their backcourt and gained significantly more offensive firepower. Much of the coaching credit for this improvement was given to Jon Kuester, who Brown named his “offensive coordinator” before the season. In the off-season, Kuester was named the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, and the offense was handed to Mike Malone.
Under Kuester, the Pistons have the 26th best offense in the league. Under Brown, the Cavs have the third best offense in the league. The only two teams with a better offensive efficiency mark than Cleveland are the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets, who make much more of an effort to push the ball than the Cavs and don’t play defense anywhere near as well.
In fact, if you take offensive rebounding out of the equation, the Cavs look even better offensively. The Cavs are only 21st in offensive rebound rate, but second overall in TS%. When you consider that the Cavs are a bottom-three team in free-throw percentage, which isn’t a reflection of how well the offense is designed, that number looks even more impressive.
Meanwhile, offensive guru Flip Saunders’ team is currently 22nd in offensive efficiency. Kuester’s team is 26th. Don Nelson’s team is tied for 17th. Rick Adleman’s team is 16th. Mike D’Antoni’s squad is 15th. Phil Jackson and Tex Winter’s team is 11th.
What I’m saying when I say that Mike Brown is good at coaching offense:
I’m not saying that any of the above coaches are bad offensive coaches. I’m not even saying that they’re not great offensive coaches. It’s the idea that a great offensive coach has the power to single-handedly make a good offensive team that I have an issue with.
I don’t know how well Mike Brown would do if he was given a set of five random players and told to construct the best offensive sets. That’s never been his task. Mike Brown has always had LeBron James on his team. His job is not to impress NBA junkies with the most intricate offensive sets. It’s been to figure out a way to use the players he has to put the ball in the basket. He’s done that very well.
In The Blind Side, (the book-I haven’t seen the movie) Michael Oher’s high school coach had been at a small Christian school for some time. His teams had never had the biggest, fastest, or most skilled players. To compensate, he had one of the most complex and wacky playbooks in his league. He loved trick plays, and would run them regularly.
Then he got Michael Oher, a left tackle so much more athletically gifted than every player in the league it was barely fair. After a few games, the coach cut his playbook down to exactly one play. They would run the ball to the side of the line that Michael Oher played on. Every single play. They ran a running play called “gap” every time, and the team immediately experienced success.
Mike Brown has been in a similar situation as a coach. When LeBron James is on your team, Occam’s Razor is your friend. It’s not just understandable that the Cavaliers don’t run a variety of intricate sets for a number of possible players. Doing that would actively harm the offense. Relying on LeBron James is predictable. It’s predictable because not relying on LeBron James would be stupid.
What should the Cavs be doing more of to “mix up” their offense? More pin-downs for Anthony Parker? Put Anderson Varejao in the high post and try to cut backdoor? The idea is that doing this would free LeBron up for more easy baskets. The issue with that theory is that NBA coaches are smart. They know the ball is going to LeBron at some point. Running intricate stuff to try and get the defense to leave LeBron alone is more often than not going to mean he gets the ball at the top of the key with 9 seconds on the shot clock instead of 18.
Yes, LeBron does hold the ball at times and completely stagnate the offense. This is something that is going to happen with a player of LeBron’s caliber. It even happened during the All-Star Game. Since LeBron is having one of the greatest statistical seasons in history, I’d say the good is outweighing the bad with those type of situations.
Mike Brown has also done a good job of complimenting LeBron’s talents with his sets. Brown loves to use back-screens to catch teams overloading on LeBron and set up shooters. Delonte West, Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, and Daniel Gibson have all had their career-best mark from beyond the three-point line either this season or last season. The Cavs are also very good at cutting to the rim when LeBron has the ball and the weak-side is freed up. LeBron’s assists set up almost four shots at the rim per game, as opposed to just under two assists per game leading to mid-range baskets.
The Cavs have also become adept at getting LeBron James the ball on the move to the rim, where he’s unstoppable. The best example of how the Cavs do this is the play where Mo Williams runs a screen-and-roll, James gets a back-pick, and receives the ball at full speed from Mo, who is drawing the defense by going baseline. (Here are some visuals of the play.)
Because of plays like that, 47.7% of LeBron’s shots at the rim have been assisted. That’s a higher percentage of assisted dunks or layups than Wade, Carmelo, Kobe, or Chris Bosh receive. 48.1% of Kevin Durant’s shots at the rim are assisted, which only beats James by a hair. The Cavs aren’t running complex sets, but they’re doing what they should be doing to take advantage of James’ effect on a defense without taking away from his impact.
All of this means that the Cavs have done a great job getting shots from the most efficient areas on the floor. The two most efficient shots in the NBA are shots at the rim and three-pointers. The Cavs lead the league in FG% at the rim, and trail only the Suns in three-point percentage. Additonally, only two teams have a higher proportion of assisted shots at the rim than the Cavaliers. (The Cavs are dead-last in proportion of assisted threes, which is almost entirely due to how many three-pointers LeBron shoots off the dribble.)
Meanwhile, mid-range shots are the least efficient shots on the floor. The Cavs take very few of those. They’re in the bottom three in attempts from 10-15 feet, and only five teams take fewer shots from 16-23 feet. The Cavs are also in the top-five in free throw rate. The goal of an offense is to get as many shots as possible from the most efficient spots on the floor. That’s what the Cavs have been doing.
It’s true that the Cavs have LeBron and no other team does. That doesn’t mean the coaching staff should get no credit for having this good of an offense. Kevin Durant’s team is currently tied with Wade’s team for 17th in offensive efficiency.
If you think LeBron is that much better than Wade or Durant, please identify yourself now so you can recuse yourself from last year’s contrarian “Wade for MVP” bandwagon or this season’s “Durant for MVP” bandwagon.
LeBron is better than either of those players, and does have a better supporting cast. Still, I haven’t seen one “Scott Brooks can’t coach offense” comment in my time. Maybe I haven’t been looking hard enough, but it seems to me that Mike Brown takes far more heat for how he runs his great offense than Brooks takes for running his below-average one.
How Mike Brown Became a Bad Offensive Coach:
On that note, let’s take a look at some of what Mike Brown had to work with outside of LeBron when he got his reputation as a bad offensive coach. Here are the most-used rotation players outside of LeBron in Mike Brown’s first full season as a head coach, by order of minutes played:
1. Eric Snow
2. Zydrunas Ilgauskas
3. Drew Gooden
4. Damon Jones
5. Larry Hughes
6. Sasha Pavlovic
7. Anderson Varejao
8. Alan Henderson
That was the rest of his rotation. You tell me how to run offensive sets that don’t have the defense loading up on LeBron with that bunch. Give that question to Mike D’Antoni, Tex Winter, and a team of MIT scientists, and what would come back would still likely be a variation of “give LeBron the ball and pray.”
You could go on like that for a few seasons. Instead, I’ll do this. It’s true that some players have played worse after coming over to the Cavaliers. There are several possible explanations for that. However, if Mike Brown’s offense is such a wasteland, shouldn’t there be players who have improved after escaping his offensive purgatory? Let’s see.
Players whose production has radically fallen off, stayed almost exactly the same, or who have flat-out retired after leaving a Mike Brown Cavalier team:
Alan Henderson*
Ira Newble
Flip Murray
Larry Hughes
Drew Gooden
Eric Snow
Sasha Pavlovic
Damon Jones
Luke Jackson
Zendon Hamilton**
Martynas Andriuskevicius
David Wesley
Scott Pollard
Dwayne Jones
Wally Szczerbiak
Kaniel Dickens
Billy Thomas
Cedric Simmons
Devin Brown***
Tarence Kinsey****
Joe Smith
*Just about matched his Cavalier averages with the 76ers.
**Played 46 minutes for the Cavs in 2005-06. Was named Zendon.
***Was matching his Cavalier averages with the Hornets this season before he was traded
**** (tears)
Players who played slightly better after leaving a Mike Brown Team:
Mike Wilks
Stephen Graham
Players who experienced significant improvement after leaving a Mike Brown Team:
Shannon Brown
A lot of those players were veterans or guys getting a cup of coffee with the Cavs. But a lot of those guys were guys who played major roles for the Cavaliers and then failed to catch on with other teams when they got there. If Mike Brown is so bad at using the talent he has available to him, why haven’t other coaches been able to do anything better with the players that weren’t very good for the Cavaliers?
Shannon Brown is a success story, but he was very young when he was on the Cavs, never showed he could do what the Cavs wanted when he did get a chance, and was the young piece that made a hugely beneficial trade work. And don’t forget that the Bobcats had a chance with him before the Lakers did.
To some extent, the old adage is true. At the pro level, players win games and coaches lose them. Up to this point, Mike Brown has lost fewer games than any other NBA coach. Even if he struggles to keep getting it done with Shaq out, it’s time to start giving him some credit for that.
Good post, it’s probably a little too complimentary to Brown but I realize that’s the point. He’s definitely gotten better as a coach. I think the one thing you forgot to point out was that Lebron wasn’t a good shooter his first few years in the league. When he couldn’t get to the rim and settled for jumpers, his FG% tanked and dragged down the whole offense. This year he’s shooting better so even when he’s settling for mostly jumpers, he hasn’t had many nights where the FG% takes a huge hit.
OK a couple things.
1.) I TOTALLY forgot about Zendon Hamilton!
2.) Nice blindside comparison, very good way of illustrating your point. It reminds me of Dwyer’s post recently where he said sometimes you have to win ugly.
3.) Mike Brown definitely gets too much flak – he’s a darn good coach.
4.) Give that question to Mike D’Antoni, Tex Winter, and a team of MIT scientists, and what would come back would still likely be a variation of “give LeBron the ball and pray.” +1
5.) If you think LeBron is that much better than Wade or Durant, please identify yourself now so you can recuse yourself from last year’s contrarian “Wade for MVP” bandwagon or this season’s “Durant for MVP” bandwagon.
Can’t have it both ways. I’m going to just abbreviate this [CHIBW] (“Chib-wah”) because I feel like pointing this out ALL THE TIME when it comes to NBA analysis.
I’ll just start right now. LeBron isn’t as good as Kobe because he doesn’t have rings? So, Robert Horry is better than Kobe then? Oh. CHIBW!!
I, for one, think LeBron is that much better than Wade or Durant. But i think Durant will be legitimately challenging LBJ for #1 in a year or two.
But really, I might be too much of a LBJ-lover, but lebron has a much greater impact on the game than wade, for sure, and not just statistically. I haven’t watched much of Durant this year, but I doubt he’s close to that level yet, where he plays a part in almost every point his team scores.
During his marathon chat on Friday I think it was, Bill Simmons made a crack about the only thing potentially stopping the Cavs from winning the Finals is Mike Brown, which may in fact happen. This type of attitude always confuses me, because it simply means that people aren’t paying attention. Even play by play guys seem surprised when Mike Brown makes a good in-game adjustment , even though it happens often.
The only grip I really have with Mike Brown is that he sometimes relies too much on his minutes card or whatever it is, and because of that sometimes plays too many guys. You don’t need to give minutes to both Jawad and Jamario, coach. Pick one based on matchups or how well they have been playing recently. And please find a way to give Boobie some minutes when the matchups permit
This article is awesome and I love that John digs his feet in and totally hits a home run for Mike Brown. I generally say if you get your team to play defense, you gotta be considered a good coach. The Cavs play defense and have the 3rd best offense, and always gets his team to play hard. The underrated coaching job of Mike Brown/LeBron being LeBron last season was winning 66 games without elite talent. You do that by taking care of business every night and not having off-nights, which is on the coach and the best player.
The thing that gets lost in the Magic series. That was a very competitive series. The Magic basically got red-hot, Delonte West was 6’3″, and Mo couldn’t hit a shot in 5 of the 6 games. Even with nobody to cover Rashard and Hedo or Howard, and nobody playing well except LeBron, that was a series that we could have won in 6 just as easily.
You’re dead on about MB flack on Offense. I agree alot of people blame MB for essentially or troubles Cavaliers. Offense, Rotations and even his time-outs demeanour. The only thing he’s not blamed on is his defense. I actually dont think there’s anything he’s ever credited for directly.I have a problem with his rotations sometimes(i.e Boobie needs some time)But am starting a MB Apologetics today.
Don’t forget that Chicago passed on Shannon Brown, too.
Shannon Brown is a good system player, which is why he succeeds in LA. He is still only an adequate offensive player and a horrible defender, but the system more than makes up for it.
Tom- one of the more infuriating instances of CHIBW was that Atlanta Hawks shot clock kerfuffle. Hawks fans claimed (1) that no one looked at the shot clock to see that they should call timeout and have it fixed while (2) the shot clock that supposedly no one saw caused them to rush a play and force up a bad shot [sic--they never actually put up a shot]. I wanted to smash my head with a brick each time I saw that one come up on an ESPN article.
I always felt that Brown did a great job of making in-game and between-game adjustments, which was the main reason the not-very-good Cavs teams from a few years ago were able to compete with and eventually beat the Pistons in the playoffs. Last year’s Orlando series, at least at the time, seemed like he had lost his touch. I thought that he was slow in rotating different players onto Howard, and that he was giving a hobbling Ben Wallace too much burn. All the effective adjustments he made seemed like panic moves that were soon countered by SVG. However, in hindsight, it was clear that the Cavs just didn’t have enough firepower to win a 7 game series with that Magic team, and probably not the Lakers either. But it seems that Mike Brown can’t catch a break with the media and bloggers, even when those people openly admit LeBron’s teammates were not good enough to win that series. Somehow the stigma that Brown is the reason they lost in the ECF sticks, even though it it accepted that the players were not good enough. It is strange. I guess if the Cavs do win it all this year it will be somehow “in spite of Mike Brown’s coaching skills”.
John,
Great points. I’m one of the folks that have expressed doubt about MB ability to run offense and now I’ll have to double-check my rationale. I think my biggest gripe comes from last years Magic series when they got desperate and all MB did was give the ball to LBJ and let him score. No sets, no plays, no pick and pop or rolls. Just give it to LBJ at the key and watch. I feel as though any other offensive coach would have come up with something different or better. The way the rest of the team was playing, I don’t know what else could have been done (hence I’m not a coach – I don’t play one on t.v. – nor did I stay at holiday inn express last night). However, MB’s offensensive set seemed to be something that you would see in a JR High or High School game, let your best player have the ball and do whatever they want is not a sign of a great coach.
The stats you point out can’t be refuted (at least by me) and they are compelling. So overall I’ll stop MB bashing, but I’m not 100% convinced yet. Great article, way to make me re-think my position. At the end of the day, that’s as much as anyone can ask for from a journalist/reporter etc.
Good work Krolik, good reading. I’ve always been a Brown defender overall, but will throw stuff at my tv when THE Marcus Thornton is lighting it up. And good gracious, the 2007 playoffs nearly killed me.
I’d add a few things:
1) Brown gets better every year. Just having the cojones to name coordinators last year was a huge testament to his leadership ability. How many NBA coaches will publicly acknowledge ANY of their assistants? I never really drew a straight line between the improved offense and better personnel, it may be he’s not improving quite as much as I thought. I’ll give him tentative credit for it, just based on playing to his team’s strengths. And hopefully this year of playing young players heavy minutes is not an aberration. I’d like to think he’s learned about the process of developing young guys as Hickson has learned in the starting lineup.
2) Barkley drives me crazy. Based on personnel, who the heck is going to grab a rebound if the Cavs are running non stop? What’s the point of playing great defense and just giving the ball back to the other team? He’ll never be a coach at any level.
3) Coach takes the blame (eagerly) for any possible mistake of his players. Just another testament to how good he really is at his job. It bothers me when he raves about Lebron in interviews, but it may be that’s how you get the credits you need to criticize Lebron in private.
4) Le-ISO is at least 90% Lebron’s decision. This is what Mike gets criticized for the most and he takes it. Brown keeps his veterans’ trust by allowing them to make their own decisions, even when it appears to be killing him. In the end, this is the only way an NBA coach can operate, you can’t keep your job if you try to discipline your players like you might at a lower level.
Great. Writing. Krolik!
Thank you so much for writing this…I’ve pointed at the Cavs’ pp 100 possessions mark for a while now as proof that the Cavs and Mike Brown are good offensively
The problem with Mike Brown’s offense lies in the playoffs. His lack of offensive creativity from game to game in the playoffs lets the other team and coach off the hook. They also have a day off to practice against what they know is coming. Browns offense is the same every game during the playoffs. A coaches value with offense in the playoffs would be to make a few unexpected changes in the offensive game plan to keep the other team guessing a alittle bit thus allowing a few Cavs easy baskets.
While I agree Mike Brown takes too much flak, and I would take a defensive coach over an offensive coach any day, the stats don’t tell the whole story, they never do. Lets be honest, Lebron can and will inflate your offensive efficiency, and those players whose production dropped in their post cavs careers is a direct correlation to losing Lebron, not Mike Brown.
I point directly to what Charles Barkley says just about everytime the cavs are on TNT…they need to move Lebron off the ball more. Yes, he is an excellent facilitator, and still can be on his dribble penetration, but moving Lebron without the ball takes away the defenses ability to tilt towards him and double him. If they ran him off screens like Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton…wow…he might average 40+ with a higher efficiency than he does now.
Mike Brown has improved significantly with in game adjustments, but he is still not championship caliber (or anywhere near that) as a game day coach.
All that said, Mike Brown does get better every year and I still think he has accomplished the most difficult task a head coach in the league has…getting his team to play inspired and smart D consistently, and I love him for it. It kills me that guys like D’Antoni and Don Nelson get all kinds of credit for their offense, even though they don’t win like Mike Brown.
Great read. Really enjoyed how you pointed out the production of other players once they left Cleveland’s offense. Lebron definitely makes each player on the court better, but coaching talent is a skill in and of itself. Lack of playoff experience all around seemed to be the most demanding problem for the Cavs in the series with the Magic last year. The cast is different now, and as seen in games against the Laker’s, Brown can certainly mix things up a bit.
MB puts in Jawad Williams instead of Jamario Moon. Jawad’s status last game 9 minutes, 0-1 from the field, no other contributions. Moon: 4 minutes, 3 rebounds. A MUCH better production rate, even if he didn’t score.
My problem with this article is that it should be titled, “LeBron is a good offensive player.” I often wonder how much of the Cavs offense is stuff MB has put in, and how much is LeBron. Yes, the back screens are nice, and that double screen play where Mo gets an on ball screen and LeBron gets a back screen is really sweet, but there’s not enough of this kind of play, and there’s not enough variety. The Cavs rarely come up with a new play, and against a good defensive team, they are very predictable, and can be beaten (Charlotte Bobcats).
My biggest problem with MB has always been in game adjustments. Rarely do I see a wrinkle that makes me think, “wow, nice move.” MB’s in game adjustments are always very rudimentary. For instance, even though Mo was killing us on defense against Toronto, and we were in a possession game, MB waited until Toronto’s very last play to switch out Moon for Mo. This should have been done two possessions earlier. Another problem I see is that end of game plays are generally terrible. They all involve LeBron coming off a screen for a 3. In fact that Parker play at the end of regulation against Toronto was one of the only times in MB’s history that I’ve seen an end of game play not go to LeBron. Furthermore, the one argument against the mid range game being the most inefficient is that at the end of games, it’s often one of the few shots available. If you are tied, or down by one or two, a mid range shot is often a good shot.
The Cavs have very few plays designed to get them a quality mid range shot at the end of games. If a defense knows they only have to guard the 3 and the paint, they can over play the 3 and drive everything to shotblockers (one reason I think Orlando is so effective against us). Of course another problem is the Cavs’ lack of a good shooting, athletic wing other than LeBron to take an end of game shot. A team needs a guy who can not only get open or rise up for a shot, but who’s good enough to make the shot coming off a screen. Mo is too short to be a great end of game shot taker. Now that the Cavs have Jamison, he may be an option. What does this mean about MB? Well, it could be personnel or it could be coaching.
Some coaching things I’ve definitely noticed as improvements. Andy’s post game and general offensive polish is a revelation, and the Cav’s coaching staff should be commended. The guys at the end of the bench don’t seem to be just “taking up space.” They seem prepared and come in and run the offense like every other player. The Cavs have established a game plan, and executed it well in most games. They’ve integrated the new pieces well over time, and assuaged all the egos. Boobie seems like a serviceable shoot first point guard now. (He would be absolutely deadly on a team like the Lakers). Their offense tends to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses. The problems come with MB when things aren’t going according to plan, and he has to improvise. He seems to have complete blind spots for some guys like AP, Mo Williams, and Jawad Williams when they play poorly. Now with Mo, I know that he wants him to get into post-injury shape. But there’s a fine line between showing trust in a guy, and being overly-stubborn. When it comes to Mo, including last year’s Orlando series, MB seems oblivious to when he’s playing poorly and should be benched. This speaks to MB’s inability to think outside the box when things are going poorly. He doesn’t throw LBJ at the point guard spot or the Center spot to create matchup problems, he just seems to shuffle chairs on the Titanic.
Also, he needs to tell LeBron not to let people push him off the block. ‘Nuff Said.
HoopsDogg, so what do you think of Mike Brown as a coach?
Good post Hoopsdog. You trash Brown without really trashing him. I like that. I agree by the way with what you say. Most games the Cavs win are in-spite of Brown or he has no effect on the outcome. Brown needs a have a handful of plays that he can pull out of his bag of tricks once in awhile. He does not even have a bag. Even in last years Otlando series. Van Gundy did a couple of minor moves on the offensive end that resulted in baskets. Those moves were not a common place move or play for Van Gundy. I found myself asking, why cant Brown do that?
Nicely done on the MB props, Krolik. He does indeed improve every year, including offensively. I would mention one other thing though, MB’s plays out of timeouts have been markedly better this year. I’m not sure if Malone’s drawing them all up or not, but Wolffman like-y.
The only complaint I have is with his rotations. Does he maximize our roster’s tactical advantage game in and game out for our opponent. I’d argue no, but let’s see how he adjusts as time goes on.
Rest up, Shag Daddy and don’t forget to hit the stairmaster.
Viva la Cavs!
@wolffman
MB is indeed improving every year. Maybe by 2015, he will be great at coaching. Only problem is that LBJ will have been gone 5 years by then. This is not the Indians. The Cavs can longer wait for a coach to learn on the job.
Good article. I generally agree with the sentiments expressed in the comments. MB is clearly not as bad as many in the media claim; and in fact, might actually be an above average offensive coach.
My two criticisms:
While your premise that MB is not a bad offensive coach is true, I think the people who have lamented MB’s lack of IN GAME adjustments have a valid point.
Second, I actually think Lebron is pretty close to that much better. I think Durant will challenge within a few years, but right now, he’s on a whole different stratosphere. Perhaps not so much better as to account for 16 places in offensive efficiency, but good enough to account for a very significant amount of that.
“I try not to rant in published form. I actually like the media, believe it or not. I don’t even have any real beef with the dreaded mainstream media.”
I really hope you’re just referring to the mainstream sports media. Who are relatively unoffensive most of the time. If you’re talking about the mainstream media in general, you damn well should have some serious beef, especially when it comes to the “news.” They (the mainstream news media) do a huge disservice to the public and should never escape the thinking person’s ire.
Another point not discussed about Mike Brown’s apparent lack of ability on the offensive end is how well the Cavs run inbound plays. I’ve seen many beautifully designed and executed plays that have lead to easy baskets. I don’t know who designed the plays, but I think its another demonstration of the abilities of the coaching staff. Really, Mike Brown is in a no-win situation until the Cavs win a championship. Right now, the credit on the offensive end goes to LeBron and his playmaking abilities and any stagnation is Mike Brown’s fault. Because LeBron’s potential is seen as unlimited, anything less than perfect is someone’s fault. I think most people (myself included) get frustrated when LeBron holds the ball for 8 seconds while the other 4 stand on the other side of the court. To me, that set seems more reactive than proactive when that happens and the rest of the team loses some aggressiveness. While there is room for improvement, I think Mike Brown does not receive enough credit for the improvement he has made.
You cannot possibly use the Orlando series as an example of how Brown can’t coach offensively. The cavs scored more points than average against an elite defensive team while their second leading scorer was in a serious funk. The Cavs troubles were almost entirely on the defensive end with an added helping of Orlando shooting well above their averages in every category.
Other than that, I agree with those that say Brown struggles with in-game ROTATION adjustments, it’s the weakest part of his game. He does innovative things when the pieces stay the same (see vs Detroit 2007), but there’s plenty of things to nitpick when it comes to substitutions.
You could have written the last paragraph, and saved yourself a lot of time.
Now, I do think Mike Brown takes a lot of unwarranted criticism for his offensive sets, but I have a feeling that’s more of a false belief that offensive systems need to be complex in order to get the job done. This couldn’t be further from the truth…. and a lot of the blame lies with Phil Jackson.
Everyone knows of “The Triangle Offense.” Everyone also knows its one of the more complex offensive systems. Due to Jackson’s success as a coach, the Triangle is now held as one of the greatest offensive systems in all of basketball. What people seem to ignore is the fact that Jackson has always had one of the two greatest players in the game. In Chicago, he had Jordan and Pippen. In LA, he had Shaq and Kobe, then Kobe and Gasol. However, when given Kobe and limited talent after him in 05-06 and 06-07, Phil has been less than impressive.
The reality of it is, the team with the most talent gets the job done almost every time, and, generally, simpler offensive systems work just as well. Hell, one of the simplest plays in the game, the PnR, is nearly unstoppable when run correctly.
When you get to the NBA, the main job of the coach is to be a delegator of sorts. Its less “coaching” and more people managing (which, to be fair, is what makes Phil Jackson one of the greatest NBA coaches. The guy just knows how to manage people). Obviously, you do need to come up with offensive and defensive strategies, but an NBA coach never calls out plays on every possession. To do so would constrict the players, and, given the 24 second shot clock, would be a terrible strategy.
So, I guess I could have summed up my post by simply saying: Mike Brown is a better coach than people give him credit for, but players win games.
They (the mainstream news media) do a huge disservice to the public and should never escape the thinking person’s ire.
Codysseus, you’ll be much less angry once you realize that the media is a business, not a public service (except for NPR, which is partially publicly funded). This is good news, because if you don’t like a business, just stop buying their product (as opposed to a public service, where if you stop paying for it [taxes] you will be arrested). With the internet, there are much better news products out there.
On the perceived need for “creative playcalling”, there’s an obvious example of how pointless it is. So obvious, in fact, that it’s astounding that so few sportswriters and fans see it.
What’s the most dominant dynasty in the history of team sports? Red Auerbach’s Celtics, hands down. How many set plays did Red have and call for? Seven.
Colin, great points. I’m not sure if you were going to go this way, but I’m going to: Mike Brown is such a good coach because he stays out of the way. He has the best player in the game, and a great on-court leader, and rather than get in a pissing match and try to over-manage the team, he sits back and watches them do what he’s trained them to do. All this “he’s riding Lebron” stuff from the haters is just a negative spin on the fact that he recognizes that the bet way to win is often to just get out of Lebron’s way. In contrast with other coaches, MB seems to have no ego and no need to over coach a team.
HoopsDogg, good criticisms, except for the Mo part. MB is trying to get his confidence up for the playoffs. I really think he doesn’t care if we drop the occassional game to Toronto or whoever if it helps Mo get back to form for the playoffs. And I agree with this strategy. I’ve been clamoring for Boobie to play, too. However, short-term alarmist thinking isn’t going to help us when we get to the playoffs. A couple regular season wins mean nothing if we flame out again in the ECF. Ruining the confidence that Mo is trying to build could very well keep him from getting back into top form, and if that happens we’re screwed.
i think one thing people don’t realize about the lebron-stand-around offense is that it is actually surprisingly effective now that lebron can shoot the ball pretty well. basically either
a. lebron hits someone as they cut to the basket
b. lebron drives and kicks
c. lebron drives
the problem with a, b, and c is that they can often fall-apart and in the case of the 07 spurs championship series, we had no failsafe option. but NOW we have….
d. failsafe option lebron shoots the ball… which… though it makes me cringe, is still a better option than almost anyone else in the league taking a contested shot. his shooting averages are pretty “average” for a jump shooter, but this doesn’t take into account the fact that he has to do the creating for a huge percentage of those shots, so in effect lebron’s iso jumpshot may actually be just as effective as a decent jumpshooter curling off of a pick.
BASICALLY…. lebron is leBEAST.
This was a great article. I will say that my complaints are not that Mike Brown cannot coach offense, but rather that they fall out of their offense in crucial times. To me, this is the Cavs, and MB’s biggest weakness. They have dynamic offense going all game, but with 2 minutes to go, they run the 23 iso until there is 7 secs left on the shot clock.
Mike Brown is not a good offensive coach. I agree that we don’t need Mike to call intricate plays that spread the scoring duties across every player on the floor. I also agree that from the likes of E-Snow to Zendon Hamilton, we’ve had some atrocious roster players over these past years. But you cannot downplay the fact that the offense slows to a grinding halt when LBJ starts pounding the ball for 18 straight seconds, while everyone watches, before he decides to pull up for a long jumper. That’s not play calling, that’s not offense, that’s simply putting the ball in LBJ’s hands and letting things happen. And while there is only 1 or 2 other players, besides our guy, who could even come close to pulling off that kind of ‘offense,’ it will be the ultimate demise of any championship aspirations, come playoff time. Again, I don’t think anyone is looking for anything but LBJ to carry the day, but the offense could be designed in such a way that makes it easier for all involved, including for 23. Move the ball. Move the players. Don’t settle for difficult shots. Not a hugely complex task.
Now, another writer has intimated that Mike B calls plays that LBJ and, to a lesser extent, Mo waive off. If that’s the case, then I really don’t have much of an argument against Mike, other than to say it’s possible that we need a coach with a slightly stronger personality and/or track record (Larry Brown, Riley, etc) . Although I don’t really have any idea how that would play out with the players, so it’s kind of a sticky situation.
Chris, the ball may stick in LeBron’s hands and look ugly, but the bottom line is he’s LeBron and the offensive numbers are there and LeBron is the best player in the world. Effectiveness is all people should care about. LeBron sticking the ball for 18 seconds isn’t ‘fun’ to watch but at the end of the day, they’re the 3rd best offense and LeBron is having one of the best seasons of all time.
Cavs offensive efficiency during crunch-time: 115.4 w/ LeBron on floor, which is 100% of crunch-time minutes. Haven’t looked at every team, but Nuggets, Suns, Lakers, Thunder not better w/ Nash, ‘Melo, Kobe, Durant on floor. Some not close.
http://www.82games.com/0910/09CLE10.HTM#clutch
Bradley, I’m not worried about what the offense looks like (I survived the Mike Fratello era), I just want to win championships. No doubt, LBJ is the best going and he can do things that nobody else can, like carry Amon Ones and E Snow to the Finals, but that doesn’t make Mike Brown a good offensive coach, which is the point I’m making. And forget about the regular season; I’m thinking specifically of the past two ECF’s where we got beat, in part, on offense. Sure, we had a tough time on pick and roll defense, especially vs. ORL, but I’m not worried about our D (thanks in large part to Mike Brown). I remember watching 20+ point leads evaporate in minutes. We had a nice flow on offense going (so it is possible), but then we started settling for long jumpers, there was no movement and our offense completely seized up. Worst part, we did nothing to address that – not during the game nor from game-to-game. Mike Brown doesn’t carry the entire burden, but he didn’t really help matters. Point being, Mike Brown is a fine coach in that the players seem to respond to him and he can coach up a D, but he’s never distinguished himself, in any way, as an offensive coach. ‘Give the ball to LBJ and get out of the way,’ does not qualify as an offensive strategy, although it can often work. When we’re talking playoff pressure, our offensive ‘game plan’ increases the level of difficulty on everyone, including Bron. So, to address the subject of this blog post, my opinion is that Mike Brown is not underrated, or even close, when it comes to coaching an offense.