The Cleveland Cavaliers opted to recycle former coach Mike Brown. (Flickr.com photo by Keith Allison)
The Cleveland Cavaliers hired Mike Brown to be their new head coach on May 1.
And there was much rejoicing … or maybe not.
Brown’s credibility as a respected head coach went from intact to in question within a matter of 71 games with the Los Angeles Lakers, who signed him as their head coach in March 2011. Actually, let’s narrow that gap to five games, because he did find success in his first year with the Lakers, guiding them to a 41-25 record in the shortened season. But that successful year was seemingly forgotten after the Lakers fired him on Nov. 10 largely due to a 1-4 start.
Brown is back in the coaching game, though. Perhaps the friendly confines of the Cavaliers organization will suit him well. After all, we are talking about a coach that had four 50-plus win seasons in Cleveland. One of those seasons–2006-07–saw Brown take the Cavs to the NBA Finals. The San Antonio Spurs dismantled them in a four-game sweep, but give Brown credit.
So, Brown isn’t a coach without a somewhat successful portfolio. He doesn’t have the gaudy championship rings to put the cherry on top of a winning resume and it can’t relate to that of Phil Jackson’s, for instance. He certainly knows the ins and outs, though.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/13/2013.
However, Brown’s return to Cleveland might not yield the same results that his last tenure delivered.
For one, he will be without LeBron James. Did LeBron “make” Mike Brown? That’s a debate for another day. Secondly, he has a much younger team, which will only get younger in June when management forays into a draft short on talent.
Age is only part of the problem, though. It’s the combination of inexperience (age) and Brown, a weaker offensive coach. We can confirm that Kyrie Irving will thrive under anyone and any time. He’s kind of like Brown’s new LeBron in a sense that he’s a star. He’s not LeBron James’ star, though.
But it’s the likes of Tyler Zeller, Jon Leuer, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson that need the proper coaching to improve, especially on the offensive end. But since Brown’s expertise lies on the defensive side of the ball, the Cavs might be the hardly intimidating offensive team they resembled in 2012-13.
Below is a table outlining Cleveland’s offensive and defensive ratings in the Mike Brown era. For reference, both offensive and defensive rating are described as how many points a team scored or surrendered per 100 possessions.
The gist: the Cavaliers were a mediocre offensive team with Brown at the helm. In his final two years, they were actually fairly decent, as was their defense. But Brown never led them to the Eastern Conference Finals after getting there in 2006-07, so really, nothing dramatically changed.
Brown will enter a situation, though, where defense is also a huge part of Cleveland’s struggle to reach even sniff the playoffs. As a team, they had the fourth-worst defensive rating in this year. The addition of Brown could be a boon on that front, especially if Cleveland’s young big men become more disciplined.
Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers shown in an undated photo. (Photo by slimm978/Flickr.com)
The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, were one of the NBA’s worst defensive teams this year, finishing with the 11th-worst defensive rating. Over a longer sample size, Brown probably could’ve made the Lakers a better defensive team. And also consider Dwight Howard became more mobile as the season progressed. Brown never had a healthy Dwight. On offense, well, there weren’t any guarantees.
But the offensive woes will continue to be the underlying theme of Cleveland’s struggles if Brown follows his own personal scouting report. Or in other words, we will see a good dosage of the “Kyrie Irving Show,” which isn’t such a bad thing, but it’s not a strategy for long-term success, as Irving isn’t nearly the physical presence that is LeBron James.
The addition of Brown does make sense on some levels, one of which includes management’s desire to make defense take precedent. Still, with such a talented cornerstone piece to build around in Irving, you’d think that they would aim for a coach known more for developing an offense.