http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/59738/20090611/brown_could_be_out_in_cleveland/ So the owner is looking for an upgrade to the coach of the year? The reason I said sorta OT is because I view Mike Brown and Nate in the same light. Both decent coaches, but overrated because of their talent.
But ---- but ---- I thought he was the Coach of the Year????? Nothing like the playoffs to expose just how good a coach is .... or isnt. And I dont even think he is a "bad" coach but just goes to show how far a superstar (LBJ) can get you in the playoffs and then just what can happen to that superstar and coach when they run into a "good" coach and a well balanced team.
Talk about a huge over-reaction by the Cavs owner. Their talent just wasn't as good as Orlando's. Coaching doesn't solve Mo bricking shots or Dwight Howard dominating Z/Varejao/Big Ben. Tough for Mike Brown.
One has made the playoffs with multiple teams, one has not. One is part of the olympic coaching staff, one is not. One has the best player in the league, one does not. One has received praise from many of the top NBA players, one has not.
I'd take Phil, Rick, Pop, or Sloan (if he'd coach for at least 5 years), however none of these guys are available. No way I'd take either Van Gundy, Karl, or KP. Either way, if we're saying Nate is a top 10 coach in the world (that would be the case if you can't think of ten better replacements), I don't think we should be too upset. I think I'd personally put him 5th or 6th.
There is talent and there is "developed talent". Brown had developed talent. Nate had un-developed talent. If there is something we already know about Nate is that he is a fantastic coach to develop talent ahead of schedule (see BEdge age statistical analysis showing the Blazers being a very unique group when it comes to achievement based on age) - and he did a fantastic job maximizing the returns of a depleted developed talent in Seattle. What we do not know for sure is if he can maximize good developed talent - so any comparison between Nate and Brown at this point is pre-mature at best... I think that Nate is at least 1 more year before the talent he has on the roster is developed to the point where we can start to question his ability to win big with good developed talent.
There is only so far that a coach who just get's out of the way and let's the best player run the show can take you. That is what Brown is. Even when they interviewed him earlier in the year and asked about that, he said that the first conversation he had with Lebron, he talked about how he basically just didn't want to get in Lebrons way, and told Lebron that he had to find a way to work with him if they were going to succeed. Now that being said, as per normal the GM deserves part of the blame as well. The team was vastly undersized, especially at the guard positions, and besides Lebron, has no post game. Go look across the conference to LA and look at how many talented bigs they have on their team. There was no way Cleveland was ever going to beat that. Talented size rules. All of the teams in the finals have multiple talented big men, and perimeter players who go 6'8" plus. And Danny Ferry expects Brown to be able to get away with guarding Turkoglu with a 6'3" combo guard? Or Mo Williams? Or Daniel Gibson? Even Sasha Pavlovich is almost too small. If you set your team up for failure, what do you expect out of them but that?
This guy is a joke. He should be fired, not because of losing to ORL but because he just sucks as a coach. I have no idea why he has lasted so long in CLE.
You're kidding, right? Awhile back, you spent all that time/energy effectively blasting KP for not making a veteran upgrade at the td, and you now take a swipe at Nate...............after he guided the team-as-it-was to a co-NW Division title and 54 wins?
I think what it really comes down to is if you determine that the team underachieved what was expected. Nate easily surpassed all expectations. Where Mike Brown was expected to bring home a title. I think it was unrealistic, but that was what the expectation was.
