The Browns and the First Round: Geno Smith
April 19, 2013NBA Rookie Rankings: Final Season Rankings
April 19, 2013In one of the more surreal events in Cleveland coaching history the Cavaliers are not only interested in former coach Mike Brown, but may move quickly to obtain his services in order to ensure that another team does not swoop in and take him.
Mary Schmitt-Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer has provided a source report stating that the Cavaliers are intersted in re-hiring the defensive specialist who they fired after the completion of the 2009-10 season, one year after he won the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award. In firing Brown, the Cavaliers hired the offensively focused Byron Scott, but relieved him of his services after a combined record of 64-166 and one of the league’s worst defenses over the three-year span.
In discussing the decision to fire Scott, Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant repeatedly stated that the team would look to hire a coach who will focus on the defensive side of the ball. In 2008-09, Brown’s Cavaliers allowed opponents to shoot a mere 43.1 percent from the floor, a mark that led the entire NBA.
Brown reportedly had not been contacted by the Cavaliers on Thursday night, but would be open to returning to Cleveland if the opportunity presented itself.
“”If anybody calls, you have to listen,” Brown said via telephone. “I’m not rushing to get back to [coaching]. Whether it’s the Cavs situation or anybody else, it has to feel right for both sides.”
[Related: Fair or not, it was time for the Cavaliers to move on]
49 Comments
I’m all for it, if only because it should kill the “LeBron is coming back to Cleveland” nonsense. Plus it would be nice to see some actual defense played in the Q again.
Is this like when Anderson was definitely coming back to Cleveland?
I’d rather have James then Brown! You might have defense but you sure won’t have offense. Hey maybe Brown can bring in Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone!
And people wonder why Cleveland sports are the butt of so many jokes and why players don’t want to come here unless they are paid handsomely!
Or win a title like the owner promised!
If one of our teams doesn’t hire Saban soon, I’m going to lose it.
NO. NO. NO NO NO
i would rather have one of his former assistants.
Where you at John Kuester?
People can show me all of the pace-adjusted offensive statistics they want from the Mike Brown era and talk about how the Cavs offense was actually pretty good… well duh, they won 60+ games just about every year, but shouldn’t we attribute the offense to LeBron and not Mike Brown? What was the offensive identity in that era? There was none. And again, there would be none… it’d be “hey Kyrie, go make something happen.” The offense can be good if that’s the case, but it can’t be consistent and it won’t be good enough. Please say no to Brown.
LoL
No it’s like when Izzo was being hired! Btw how come his name hasn’t been mentioned?
totally. can’t believe they would hire this chump again.
He was abysmal in Detroit.
They shouldn’t have been planning that to begin with.
The offense this year was basically “hey Kyrie (or Dion) go make something happen”. When lamenting the offense under Brown, we have to look at the context of other teams with such a dominant offensive player. They all turn into star-iso’s for long stretches of the game.
“I’d like to thank Kyrie for letting me coach him.”
That’s a dead end place I’d rather not visit again.
Lebron isnt coming back.
I’m beginning to think this was the Cavs leaking out a name to see how the public reacts.
There’s no way in hell this is going to happen.
…right?
I would tend to agree and honestly if I was him I wouldn’t either.
yep on #1. But don’t think Mike’s soul-sucking offense is worth the defensive intensity. Unless Grant insists on an experienced, accomplished offensive assistant.
WHY DON”T WE HIRE MIKE BROWN AND MAKE BYRON SCOTT OFFENSIVE ASSISTANT AND BRING BACK LEBRON AND WIN ALL THE CHAMPIONSHIPS THEN WE CAN BRING IN PHIL JACKSON AS PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND BE THE NEW LAKERS
Why not? The only reason Brown was fired was in a Hail Mary attempt to get Lebron to re-sign. It wasn’t because he was a poor coach.
I would say that is not at all true. Kirk could explain it better than me as he’s been doing with the pictures in his articles, but the Cavs really do have a set offense they use. It typically starts with Tristan or Andy coming up high at the three point line to set a screen for the PG. The PG can then drive to the hoop, or hit TT and Andy with a pass (often backward). TT/Andy then looks for a dribble handoff to either Gee or Waiters. From there they will usually run another pick-n-roll. It’s definitely a Princeton style offense, but that does usually get scrapped in the fourth quarter for a Kyrie iso, which isn’t actually a bad offensive plan at that point. Irving’s percentages are really good in iso situations because of his strong dribbling and finishing skills.
What? NO.
Don’t forget, Jake Locker and Ryan Mallet at quarterback
Brown’s offenses were initiated very similarly. Varejao or Ilgauskas screen for Lebron. A big difference is that Lebron was so efficient once you got him on the move towards the basket, even compared to Irving, that him finishing on his own was frequently the best play. But the offense still looked for the same passes.
We complained about Lebron not being utilized off the ball, but 31% of Irving’s baskets came off an assist, a number lower than any of Lebron’s as a Cavalier.
too late, we just hired Chip Kelly. I heard it on twitter, so it must be true!
well, I offered 2 asst. that actually have had success elsewhere too 🙂
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I would say it’s the difference between an offensive system, like a Princeton style offense, and just running plays. Mike Brown’s Cavs had a few offensive plays they would run, but it wasn’t a complete offense.
Also, you would expect Irving to have lower numbers there as LeBron’s a forward and is typically going to convert easier baskets at the hoop (but also because he’s LeBron and he’s really freaking good).
Kyrie’s not really supposed to be getting shots from an assist, hes supposed to be the one assisting right?
The complaint was that Lebron was given the ball and told to go score, but the numbers show that, at least as frequently, Irving was doing the exact same thing.
This is really reaching for something, and still doesn’t account for how much was Lebron stopping Brown’s offense on his own. Scott may or may not have had a “system”, but it frequently looked “just running plays” mixed with Irving and Waiters taking turns iso-ing.
It’s funny, passionate fans maybe overanalyze front office decisions. If they do what is unthinkable to us, going back to a coach deficient offensively and incapable of making in-game adjustments (single-team Dwight Howard, anyone?), maybe it’s as simple as this:
– We’re Type A guys.
– Mike Brown worked 20 hours a day. Byron never let film study get in the way of a tee time. Mike Brown scripts his post-game comments and thanks everyone, including us. Byron says he doesn’t know why. Mike handled everything without complaint, including in-season Delonte breakdowns, LeBron’s posse and Gloria James. Mike even thanked us sincerely when we canned him. Byron kinda blames others.
– Mike’s a Type A guy. We like Mike.
Honestly, that’s all I got. Mike is organized and competent but not much more. This would be a let down. Like the Tribe hiring The Grinder again.
Is it reaching, Steve… is it? 🙂 (it really isn’t)
Isn’t there some coach out there who can coach both offense and defense?
Um no
Good question
The only thing you have explained is something very similar to what was run when Brown and Lebron were here. When pointed out that was the case, you babbled on nonsensically about a “system” and “just running plays” and haven’t actually explained how the two are different.
It seems like you could just have made everything easier by going “the offense under Brown wasn’t as pretty as I wish things could be, but don’t bother me with actual efficiency numbers, I don’t like numbers”
Steve, you are the one who is arguing my original assertion… shouldn’t you be pointing that finger at yourself about not coming with any numbers? Show me Brown’s offensive system and how it’s not just a guy holding up a number for a play. You want Byron Scott’s sytem? Go dig up Kirk’s article, I’m not in the mood to do it. Frankly, I’m tired of these “discussions” with you… you are completely inflexible and never allow your opinion to be swayed, numbers or no numbers, so it’s pointless to give them to you. Frankly, the back and forths with you are always infuriating.
So we will get him back, then get Lebron and we will have a team run by a player again. He couldn’t survive in a Laker town.
If I’m Kobe, and I want to show up the Lakers, LeBron and Shaq in one swoop, then I talk myself into a trade for Waiters to CLE. The Brown hiring works great because Kyrie and I will run the offense while the new/old coach teaches the young dudes how to defend. Oh, and one more show up… what does Jordan have on me once I win multiple championships with multiple teams?
And you are allowing your opinion to be swayed? If you have actual facts to back up your point, I’ll listen to them. But so far, all you have is conjecture. That isn’t useful, and I’m sorry that you don’t like that I point out that baseless accusations don’t do anything for us. You made the accusation that Brown just ran plays, and Scott has a system, and have no interest in trying to defend that point.
You don’t like that your points are going to be held to a standard with at least some rigor, and challenged if they don’t meet it? Then don’t put them out to be discussed, or find a place where everyone just gets a nice pat on the back for having a fun opinion.
The accusation that Brown didn’t make in-game adjustments in the Orlando series is beyond ridiculous. They threw everything but the kitchen sink at that series, and nothing worked. They tried to make Howard beat them early in the series. He went 14/20 in game 1. They tried to make Howard beat them at the line, he proceeded to shoot 14/19 in game 3. They got sick of that and doubled him, just to watch Alston and Pietrus combine for 11/23 on 3s in game 4.
They made plenty of adjustments, but there is nothing you can do when Howard is making his FTs and Alston and Pietrus are making almost half their 3s on top of Turkoglu and Lewis playing near the top of their game.
Haha… thanks for being the one to keep the rest of us in line Steve. Every site needs a moderator!
I’m not moderating. But if you pull something out of you-know-where, then expect that to get pointed out.
I’ll give you credit for doing an excellent job steering the conversation away from you actually backing up your statement.
That’s not it Steve… I’m just done with having these “conversations” with you (can you have a conversation with a brick wall?). It wouldn’t matter how many stats or videos or articles I linked to you, you would still find a way to refute it as you never give up on your original point. Good luck to you, Nick Burns… I’m out.
disagree. We had old, cement-legged Z,always a lousy defender against athletic centers, against their dominant player, a sitch that screamed for a double team. Mike gave them the first game and home court advantage and wouldn’t adjust. Hedo no doubt played out of his mind, but Brown gave Orlando all the confidence they needed by not stepping on their neck with an effective strategy and then adjusting way too late.