Don't you love how media pressured Mike Brown

[blackbird]

I think they should play Ilgauskas more. Perkins is not an offensive threat, and Z will pull him out of the paint on the other end.

I would also bench Jamison and play Hickson and Varajao instead. Jamison is bringing nothing substantial to them as far as I can tell.

I would also get a paper bag for Mo Williams to hyperventilate into because that man looks so shaken as to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Hell, just bench him too and have Delonte run the point with Telfair backing him up. It couldn't possibly be any worse.

[wdleehi]

I find it interesting that he juggled his rotation, but it only effected players that were playing their rolls well.  (West and Hickson)

[jasail]

A couple observations:

1) I think by denying LeBron the ball the C's have been effective in making him work harder than he is used to.

2) LeBron may be the best player in the league at getting to the rim, but his shooting is suspect, he doesn't move well without the ball and he has no post game. 

This seems a product of Cleveland catering to him since he entered the league.  They've never taken the bull by the horns and said, "hey you are a great player and all but you could be better."  Instead they've taken on the get him the ball and get out of his way mentality. 

3) I'd be hard pressed with Cleveland's roster to find a defensive strategy to stop the Celtics.  The C's own them at two of the most important positions, PF and PG.  They have no one to slow down Rondo, that doesn't involve creating a mismatch on the wing and they can't stop KG on the block.  If the C's are aggressive the Cavs do not have the personnel to stop them. 

4)  Credit the C's defense and TT.  They overplay LeBron and draw double teams from different spots, they switch off and force different match ups and they give him bad lanes.  They don't make it comfortable for him and they can do it because their floor spacing and rotations have been spot on (minus 72 minutes give or take). 

This has been very Bellichekian in approach, limit what they do best and make it uncomfortable for them to do it and then have them beat you with secondary players. Conversely, this has been tough for the Cavs to do to the C's and I think the dam is an apt metaphor as to why.   

[fairweatherfan]

Brown is a good coach overall, but is absolutely awful at mid-game adjustments.  Like others have said he didn't seem to change anything up to try and get LeBron going; instead he watched the team founder til they were down 20 or so, then decided it was time to dust off Boobie Gibson.  His second fallback was apparently the Hack-A-Perk.

Mike Brown reminds me of the Simpsons where Flanders' parents take him to the psychologist and say "You gotta help us - we've tried nothin', and we're all out of ideas!"

[Rondo_is_better]

A couple observations:

1) I think by denying LeBron the ball the C's have been effective in making him work harder than he is used to.

2) LeBron may be the best player in the league at getting to the rim, but his shooting is suspect, he doesn't move well without the ball and he has no post game. 

This seems a product of Cleveland catering to him since he entered the league.  They've never taken the bull by the horns and said, "hey you are a great player and all but you could be better."  Instead they've taken on the get him the ball and get out of his way mentality. 

3) I'd be hard pressed with Cleveland's roster to find a defensive strategy to stop the Celtics.  The C's own them at two of the most important positions, PF and PG.  They have no one to slow down Rondo, that doesn't involve creating a mismatch on the wing and they can't stop KG on the block.  If the C's are aggressive the Cavs do not have the personnel to stop them. 

4)  Credit the C's defense and TT.  They overplay LeBron and draw double teams from different spots, they switch off and force different match ups and they give him bad lanes.  They don't make it comfortable for him and they can do it because their floor spacing and rotations have been spot on (minus 72 minutes give or take). 

This has been very Bellichekian in approach, limit what they do best and make it uncomfortable for them to do it and then have them beat you with secondary players. Conversely, this has been tough for the Cavs to do to the C's and I think the dam is an apt metaphor as to why.   

So true! He has never cut through the lane for a layup, ever. Very rarely does he go off screens for an alley oop or a Ray Allen type shot. His game is dribble around at the top of the key, drive super hard, get the foul call, and do a good job finishing at the rim, plus 2-3 fade away jumpers.

[pumpfake]

tp to the op for this topic

Brown totally caved to the whim of the media... having no clue what to do, he tried everything the media suggested over the past couple days.

he must have even found some blog somewhere that suggested he play boobie gibson.

poor guy is going to be lost if/when lbj leaves.
lebron gets credit for every win, and brown gets credit for every loss... especially this year, since he's finally been given "good" (overrated) players to surround the king.

[Greenbean]

I think they should play Ilgauskas more. Perkins is not an offensive threat, and Z will pull him out of the paint on the other end.

I would also bench Jamison and play Hickson and Varajao instead. Jamison is bringing nothing substantial to them as far as I can tell.

I would also get a paper bag for Mo Williams to hyperventilate into because that man looks so shaken as to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Hell, just bench him too and have Delonte run the point with Telfair backing him up. It couldn't possibly be any worse.

I said the same thing about Big Z.

We are suggesting however sitting the two biggest acquisitions this past season that were supposed to put the Cavs over the edge. Im not sure anyone has the guts to do that never mind the gutless Mike Brown.

[Ersatz]

So true! He has never cut through the lane for a layup, ever. Very rarely does he go off screens for an alley oop or a Ray Allen type shot. His game is dribble around at the top of the key, drive super hard, get the foul call, and do a good job finishing at the rim, plus 2-3 fade away jumpers.

I was just thinking this last night. Has anyone ever seen do anything but dribble-drive to the hoop and jack up outside shots? The best player in the game has an extremely limited game. It's kind of ridiculous that he's not developed a post game after being in the league for seven years; a post game with his physical skills and he'd be unstoppable.

[Who]

I think they should play Ilgauskas more. Perkins is not an offensive threat, and Z will pull him out of the paint on the other end.

I think the Cavs should bench Shaq and play Ilgauskas instead. Also, start Varejao and bring Jamison off the bench. To give the Cavs better offense/defense balance. Then bring Jamison in and go with a quicker lineup that causes other questions for the Celtics.

Anyway, sidetracked, I think the Cavs should only give Ilgauskas more minutes if Shaq isn't playing. I think playing the two together around 40-45 minutes a night is a recipe for disaster for the Cavs.

[jr_3421]

Mike Brown's biggest deficiency as a coach is a lack of offense. He has the most physically gifted player in the league and he does not utilize his strength and power at all. Lebron is not a good shooter so I see no reason for virtually all of his possessions to start above the foul line. If I were Mike Brown, I would let the PGs do their job and feed Lebron at the foul line extended and in, and even run some pick and rolls with Mo Williams. This way Lebron could focus all of his energy scoring instead of going for the triple double every night.