Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 8:00 am  |  74 responses

Mike Brown Stood Up to LeBron James, Motivated Him

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

One of the easiest (most often repeated) jokes to make, is that LeBron is not only the Cavs’ best player, he’s also really their coach. That’s how a lot of people view the pecking order in Cleveland — all you have to do is ask those with really good seats near the Cavs’ bench — with Mike Brown being something of a placeholder.

Last night in Detroit, things took a dramatic turn in the relationship, as Brown got up in ‘Bron’s grill, and challenged his superstar to player harder and better.

To the surprise of some (hint: yours truly), Mike was not immediately fired.

The Plain Dealer reports:

With the Cavaliers in trouble down four points to the lowly Detroit Pistons late in the third quarter, Brown stepped into a timeout huddle and verbally, mentally and without holding back challenged his Most Valuable Player.

The results were a James explosion and yet another victory, this one by a 113-101 score. It was the 10th win in 11 games by the Cavs (53-15) and it got them another banner for the rafters. The Cavs clinched at least a tie for the Central Division title, their second in a row and third in the 40-year history of the franchise.

“We responded [to Brown],” James said. “Having a lot of history with this team and knowing those coaches it becomes a personal but friendly rivalry. You’ve got to understand this is [former Cavs assistant coach and current Pistons head coach] John Kuester we were going against and Mike didn’t want to lose.”

All kidding aside, as Brian Windhorst points out, this was a rather crucial stepping stone in the James-Brown relationship. It’s important for the coach to establish control, even when dealing with one of the biggest stars in the universe.

It may still be the illusion of power and control for Mike Brown, mind you, but even that counts for something.

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  • neaorin

    CB34: let it go, man. It isn’t even near unforgivable unless it was intentional, which it wasn’t. He went with a smaller lineup that proved effective and likely lost sight of the fact that Z was going to break the record. Call it a mistake and move on. Z got his record and standing O a few nights later at the Q. There was someone else here a couple of weeks ago who desperately wanted Z to sign with his team, so he was clinging to this record stuff like it was some kind of international incident.

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  • http://www.hoopsvibe.com/features/overdribbling chiqo

    i won’t go so far to call brown a bad coach, but running a 1-4 set with lebron at the top of the key every time down the floor when it’s not working consistently is a bad move. get him the ball in some different places, keep the defense off balance, make it easier for him. now if it’s true that brown doesn’t coach offense like an earlier post mentioned, then i guess it’s not on him. but the head coach should have some say in such matters.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    LeBron James got yelled at by Mike Brown. That dude in Coach Carter got Yelled at by Samuel L Jackson. Samuel L was in a Long Kiss Goodnight. If LeBron leaves and Cleveland doesn’t win the title, thats what this will seem like for Mike Browns career.

  • http://jdfkslld.com Jukai

    Actual conversation:
    Mike Brown: Lebron, how about you score a little?
    Lebron: Uh, okay.
    Mike Brown: Great. Championship, 1, 2, 3, in the middle guys!

  • T-Money

    Some misconceptions about the Cavs offense. 1- It’s very good. Actually one of the best in the NBA. 2- The 1-4 set is their most efficient set statiscally and that’s why it’s their money play in crunch. Especially with a high screen n roll (Andy) or pop (Twan). It’s not creative but it doesn’t need to be. Like how Denver just give the ball to Melo at the free throw line extended in crunch time and get out of the way. 3- The Cavs DO run plays. They’ve been doing scissor cuts with Mo and Bron around Andy on the block this year and it’s been very succesful. They call plays for Delonte on the block every game. They have backdoor action for Andy. They have curls for AP. Do you guys watch the games? 4- The offense maximizes the attributes of its best player: the Cavs CONSISTENTLY get open looks from deep and that’s why they are the best or second best 3-point shooting team in the league. 5- They’re 8th in points (102), 3rd in FG, 2nd in 3FG and have the best differial in the league. More more do you guys want?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    We want championships. ANd just because the 1-4 set is their most efficient offense in the regular season does not mean jack sh*t in the playoffs. get real – we saw what the 1-4 set does in crunch during the playoffs for the last 4 years. Yes Brown relinquished control of the offensive playbook last season subsequently the cavs have become on of the most efficient teams in the league. but the goal is to improve your offense to maximize performance in the playoffs. W/ LeBron on any team they should be near the top in every % category, strictly because of how much attention from help defenders he demands

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/category/blogs/farmer-jones/ Ryan Jones

    Enough with the logical analysis, T-Money. If you’re not running the triangle, you don’t have an offense. Everybody knows that.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/category/blogs/farmer-jones/ Ryan Jones

    You know who else ran the same damn set all the time in the playoffs last year, nbk? The Magic — especially in the conference finals. I’m guessing you remember how that ended.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    You know who has/had a completely different team the cleveland Ryan? Orlando. I didn’t say the 1-4 set doesn’t work. It just doesn’t work for Cleveland. Offensive sets are supposed to take advantage of your strengths and the opponents weaknesses. Against a team like Orlando who is long and has a rebound dominant big, you have to run an ACTIVE offense. Its common sense, Mike Brown is not wrong for implementing the 1-4 set. He is wrong for using it in situations that are not advantageous. (namely the playoffs against defensive minded, long, fundamental teams). – Which should be obvious if you take into account who they have lost to over the last 3 years. Orlando, Boston, San Antonio.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/category/blogs/farmer-jones/ Ryan Jones

    I did not know that. I don’t actually watch much basketball. I’m just going on what I read here.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    What’s worse than Ryan Jones’ sarcasm? You guessed it: Ryan Jones’ sarcasm.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    i believed him, what other explanation can their be for not understanding that the same offense can have a varying degree of success for two different teams. thats like the Lakers moving away from the Triangle completely because the Timberwolves suck at it

  • http://joeloholic.wordpress.com Joel O’s

    Don’t feed the troll, guys.

  • http://joeloholic.wordpress.com Joel O’s

    Here’s my take on Cleveland. They’re not the most efficient offensive team, sure. But they’re out-hearting everyone every night, especially Varejao and West and yes, Bron. And truthfully, I feel their offense has gotten better and diversified as the season went on. Nonetheless, as long as they are out hustling teams and defending hard, they will win, or at least keep games real close. Boston won their title 2 years ago playing exactly like this. Offense – fickle as it is even on the best squads – doesn’t always have to be ticking when you’re defending like, well, lions.

  • T-Money

    Cleveland lost because their shooters got cold and they had no answer for Dwight inside, everybody knows that right? The offense was producing the same drives for Bron and the same open looks for Mo, Wally Z, Sasha, West, etc. Problem is: they didn’t any. / Saying that they’ve been losing 4 years straight because of the offense is dishonest. The Cavs got bounced by flat out better teams every year except maybe last year where the Z-Andy combo couldn’t match up at all with Dwight-Shard. Get real.

  • str8 from samoa

    off the topic but damn that corey brewer on robin lopez was gangsta hahaha

  • Sporting-Lisbon-Blazers

    all i have to say is: lost all the respect i had for mutoni…i check the links and WTF?! WHO THE FU(K IS STEFANIEK?! and why should we care what shes sayin?! fu(kin joke

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    Mike Brown is Al Roaker.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Yeah those Twitter links were horrible.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Co-sign T-Money 8:26.
    You know who had a GREAT offense? The Phoenix Suns. How many Finals appearances did they make?

  • Dillan

    Good Coaches with Good Players make for winning teams. Phil Jackson often sits down and lets Kobe manage the game. Mike Brown can’t be all bad.

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  • jay

    Mike Brown Stood Up to Lebron James, Motivated him & Then They Kissed. End of Story.

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