A Tale of Two Coaches: Doc Takes Mike Brown to School
Friday, May 14, 2010
With all of the psychoanalysis of LeBron James in this past series, basketball fans and the media were missing a big point. One of the biggest reasons for the Celtics success and/or the Cavaliers failure in the Eastern Conference Semifinals was coaching. These two teams may have been close on paper but it was a coaching mismatch. To put it another way, Cleveland’s Mike Brown was playing checkers. Boston’s Doc Rivers was playing chess.
How else do you explain some of the things we witnessed in the series? Like in last night’s game 6, Shaquille O’Neal starts the game guarding Kevin Garnett. Needless to say, Garnett’s quickness and mid-range jumper helped Boston race out to an early lead until the light bulb went off over Mike Brown’s head. After watching Garnett score a quick 8 points on 4-4 shooting he decided to bring Anderson Varejao in off the bench. Smooth move Ex-lax!
How about Boston’s dominance in the half court game this series? Did it ever occur to Brown to have his team up the tempo of the game? Yes, Rajon Rondo is young and fast and is dangerous on the break. But the rest of the Celtics? They’re old! Why not try to wear them down and, in the process, help your star player attack the rim for some easy baskets?
Meanwhile, Brown’s counterpart – Doc Rivers – employed an interesting and effective strategy on Cleveland’s top two offensive weapons. His Celtics played good, tough, physical defense against LeBron and Shaq. And, when in doubt, they hacked either player making them earn their points from the line where James was OK and Shaq was, well, Shaq!
Mike Brown was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year last season after his Cavs finished with the best record in the NBA. But, after losing in the eastern Conference Finals to Orlando, there were rumors that some in Cleveland’s front office felt a change was necessary.
This season, Brown’s Cavs finished with the league’s best record again and, once again, they failed to make it to the NBA Finals. Maybe he’s the Marty Schottenheimer of the NBA. He soon may be out of a job.
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