Thank goodness Flip Murray hit that three pointer with less than four seconds remaining in the Cavaliers victory over the Bulls last night. Otherwise, many fans of the wine and gold would have been jumping off bridges this morning. The losing streak is history, and with a favorable schedule (losing teams and more days off) coming up, a extended winning period should be forthcoming.
One of the problems the team has is the inexperience of its head coach, Mike Brown. I like Brown, and I believe he will be a good NBA coach. But, when a team goes into a prolonged losing spell, a coach needs to draw on the past to get his squad out of the doldrums. Brown can’t delve into a bag of tricks than doesn’t exist. He may think about what Gregg Popovich did with the Spurs, or what Rick Carlyle did with the Pacers, but those are different teams.
Brown seems to be panicking, which is normal for a young coach. For example, the Cavaliers get Murray in a trade a week ago, and he is already playing 40 minutes per game. The team was winning with Sasha Pavlovic in the starting line up, had a couple of bad games, and now can’t get off the bench. Usually, a player’s minutes increase over a period of time, it doesn’t go from 10 minutes to 40 minutes or vice versa in a matter of a week.
The first year coach’s reputation is that of a defensive coach, and his lack of offensive background also hurts the Cavs. Cleveland’s fourth quarter struggles are due in part to the team settling for jump shots, and Brown’s lack of strategy outside of running pick and rolls. Running that type of attack leads to two guys playing and three guys standing around doing nothing.
The head man is trying to make a very good impression in his first year. That’s why he can’t bring himself to rest LeBron James more often. Brown is often critical of himself for not getting James more rest, but he still doesn’t do it. The only game since the All Star break that LBJ didn’t play 40 minutes was the blowout loss to the Pistons last Sunday. He must make sure LeBron gets more rest down the stretch.
This is not to say Brown isn’t the right man for the job. However, he is learning on the job. He has experienced assistants, and he needs to start listening to them, assuming they are giving him the correct advise. This team is showing signs of panic, the coach has to be the calming influence both in his comments and his actions.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 