Mike Brown and Lebron are Costing the Cavs

First off, I’d just like to thank Charlie for volunteering his time to provide such an insightful and comprehensive analysis of the NBA Finals.

Alright, let’s be honest people, the Finals suck. When a team is up 25 points at halftime of an NBA Finals game, you know something is wrong. That something is the complete and utter ineptitude of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Everyone shares the blame for the Cavs’ performance in the first two games but The Scrapper points his finger at two people: Mike Brown and Lebron James.

Mike Brown

It’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals and your star player picks up his second foul with about 9 minutes left in the first quarter. What do you do?

The knee-jerk response by most coaches in the NBA to this situation is to immediately bench your star for the rest of the quarter. But as Jeff Van Gundy commented during the broadcast, does this really make sense? If I were Mike Brown, having already lost Game 1 and being on the road in a hostile environment against a team like the Spurs, there’s no way I take Lebron out. Although the Cavs didn’t get down by too many points while Lebron was on the bench, the effect on Lebron was enormous. Lebron started the game very aggressive, fighting through multiple defenders to take the ball to the hoop. But after Lebron reentered the game in the second quarter, he came back cold and considerably less aggressive. He started to settle for his jump shot (and let’s just say his jumper wasn’t exactly on, the guy air balled a free throw). He committed turnovers, and became passive. I really wonder how the game would have panned out if Lebron hadn’t had to go to the bench so early since he started out the game playing so well. Bad decision Mike.

A characteristic of a good coach is being able to adapt and change styles when what you’re doing isn’t working. I think we can all agree that Mike Brown needs to make a lot of changes tonight. The first thing I would do is start Daniel Gibson (I refuse to call him ‘Boobie’). It’s obvious Larry Hughes isn’t a hundred percent and he’s been missing open shots along with becoming a defensive liability. Gibson is shooting a ridiculous percentage this post season and he has a .619 mark so far in the Finals. Mike Brown, give him some more minutes. Also, there has to be a reason, besides the Spurs letting up, why Cleveland has been so good in the fourth quarter. This has been the lineup for the majority of those minutes: Gibson, Jones, Lebron, Donyell, and Varejao. If I were Mike Brown, I would start these guys in Game 3. Brown would be able to find out pretty quick if those guys were too much of a liability defensively but maybe they would continue to play really well together. They’re all shooters and quick, so you never know. But the only thing Mike Brown has shown me is that he’s really stubborn and unwilling to mix things up. Let’s see what he does tonight.

Lebron James

Lebron, you fooled me. After your scintillating performance in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, I thought it was the beginning of greatness for you. It might very well be, but the one thing separating you from getting to the next level (the MJ, Kobe, even D-Wade level), is your jumper. When it’s on, as it was in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, you’re elusive, explosive, and utterly unguardable. But when your jumper hasn’t been on, you are very guardable. To see just how off Lebron was in Game 2, check out this YouTube Clip of him air balling a free throw:

Lebron, you have what it takes to be great, but you’re not going to be great consistently until you develop a reliable shot and stop being such a streak shooter. In both of the first two games of the NBA Finals the Spurs were giving you open look after open look. If you could drain those shots you would open up your ability to take the ball to the hole. If you find your jumper, the Cavs have a chance. If not, and at this point probably even if you do, the Cavs are done.

I have a feeling Cleveland is going to be rocking tonight and we’re going to see a really close game. And if not, I’m watching America’s Got Talent, maybe the biggest rip-off show of all time. I can’t wait to see David Hasselhoff’s best Simon Cowell impersonation.