Monday, May 3, 2010

Partnership of Brown, James turns Cavs into true contenders

60th Anniversary Edition: Greatest Moments in NBA History
NBA.com: Partnership of Brown, James turns Cavs into true contenders

 AKRON, Ohio -- He was "humbled," LeBron James said a half-dozen times or so on Sunday, in the city he called "his life," to have a second Kia Most Valuable Player award bestowed upon him. You could be cynical, sure, but he didn't have to share this moment with his hometown; he could have had it in a hotel ballroom, like most MVP winners before him did, with only team employees around to cheer.

 
LeBron's Dream Team: How Five Friends Made HistoryBut he brought the party, such as it was, to the gym on the University of Akron campus where he played a few games as a sophomore, and more as a junior, and almost all as a senior, when the secret was out to the world, and more than 3,000 Akronites showed up, which is a lot more than show up for the Zips' games these days.

There were genuine moments at Rhodes Arena, where James spoke from a podium, pointing out his old friends from high school, and the "two uncles" that helped raise him in a home without a father. He expressed wonderment at how his mother, Gloria, 16 years old when he was born, raised him with only her mother's help, without all the trappings of wealth that his two boys now enjoy. And watching him work his way through the crowds afterward, with the kids wearing the James t-shirts and the adults wearing the "Hope" t-shirts -- local variations on the famous Shepard Fairey portrait of then-candidate Obama, with James' face replacing the President's -- there was genuine joy on James' face, and pride among the locals at what James has become.

He is a self-made man, LeBron James, an American original.

Mike Brown is not an American original, and that is not meant in any way to insult the man.

He is a grinder, a worker bee, a guy who put in thousands of hours to make himself an expert in his field -- just like Malcolm Gladwell says you have to -- and to be where he is, coaching the best player in the world, in the same way that talent and circumstance and good fortune put Red Auerbach in front of Bill Russell, and Phil Jackson in front of Michael Jordan, and Gregg Popovich in front of Tim Duncan. The greatest players have to be coached -- have to allow you to coach them, as Chuck Daly always used to say -- and it is not easy, but it has to be done, because even the greatest players have to be part of a team in basketball.

LeBron James - MVP 2009 Poster Print, 22x34Lebron James: The Making of an MVPLebron James 24X30 Poster NEW!!!!!!! #16And so, for five years, James has allowed Brown, who just turned 40, to coach him, because at any time, James could have gone to general manager Danny Ferry or owner Dan Gilbert and said he didn't want to be coached any more by Brown. He could have said he'd like one of the NBA's coaching closers, please, a Riley or a Jackson, and that would have been that. But the two have persevered, through a couple dozen players, and a half-dozen assistant coaches, and built the Cavaliers into a powerhouse.

Respect where respect is due

"My biggest thing is, I try to show him respect, and let him know that I don't have all the answers, and I'm not his boss, but we're working together for one common goal," Brown said a few days ago. "It's that one goal at the end of the day that matters most. If he feels that, if your quote-unquote superstar feels that, then they're human, too. They're in it 'cause they want to win. So they're going to try to be on the same page with you and allow you to do some things that you may feel may get them over the hump to get that one goal. So it's just about the respect that I try to show him in terms of us working together."

"I've always wanted to learn," James said during the Bulls series. "'Cause I think, ever since I was a kid, I always was looking at it like I don't know everything. This coach is the reason why I'm here. He understands. He knows the game more than me. And I always understood the team concept of the game. It's not just five guys that's on the court; it's also the guys that's on the bench, and the rest of the guys that is going to help this whole ship move. That's how I've been.

"I've always been coachable and I've always wanted to learn, and then try to (transfer) everything I get from the coaching staff to the players, and try to put it right on the court, and use it to my best knowledge."

This season has been Brown's most challenging. The Cavs brought in Shaquille O'Neal in a desperate bid to close the gap between their inside game and Orlando's Dwight Howard-based attack, which killed Cleveland in last year's East finals. That meant Brown had to figure out a way to utilize O'Neal's low-post skills while leaving James enough room to drive to the basket the way he had for six seasons. And he had to make sure O'Neal wasn't exposed defensively, and incorporate the egos of two proud, successful men. All in a year where anything less than a championship would be calamitous, with James' impending free agency.

Brown has pulled off most of it without a public hitch, with the Cavaliers finishing with the league's best record, and with James giving his blessing to Brown's lineup experiments throughout the first two months of the season.

"You've got to have the head coach and the superstar, to a certain degree, on the same page," Brown said. "Not all of the time. Because you can continue to learn from each other in tough situations ... I learned a lot from Pop (for whom Brown was an assistant coach from 2000-03). That's one of the things I was able to watch, the dynamics between those two guys. It was no different. He used to say it all the time, about Tim: Tim allows him to coach."

Brown, Cavs evolve together

When Brown was hired off of Indiana's bench in th summer of 2005 after serving as Rick Carlisle's associate head coach, the Cavaliers were a mess. They had James, and were just about to commit $60 million of Gilbert's money to free agent Larry Hughes. There was rank confusion about whether they should be a fast-breaking team like the Suns, whether James should be a point forward or small forward (and whether he could play defense) ... and just what in the heck happened with that whole Carlos Boozer thing the year before?

But as Ferry has built the roster, Brown has built the philosophy, bringing the tenets of the Spurs' system to Cleveland. The tape of Brown in guard Mo Williams' head sounds like this: "No middle. Late contest. Extra effort. Nothing but defense."

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Your Electronic Warehouse - Boston Acoustics Outdoor Speaker Sale

TAG

University Local Class After Students Schools Support Universities Those Been Year It’s They Died Project Student History Developed Show Tech More Dr People Prints Number Breaking April Silence Classes Art Making Through Across Into High Future One National Massacre My He Organized Fun French Over Do Tattoo His Pearl Virginia Harassment Like Read Japanese Part Safer Colleges First Every Volunteers End Efforts Tattoos News Day Not Shooting Just Bodies Said Country Skin ments Other Lakra Actionabs news anjali rao arabic backorder domain name best urdu poetry boom oil spill casey anthony citizen judge system clean oil spill clean up oil clean up oil spills cleaning oil spill cleaning oil spills cleaning up oil spill asia talk back story black america breaking news carol costello clark howard crime election en espanol espanol gps hln home page larryking nacygrace nancy grace newsroom prime news robin robin meade showbiz themoment daily news desktop news en espan en espanol en vivo espanol europe headline news headline news live headlines heroes inside africa international news jeanne moos larry king last news latest news live live broadcast live feed live news live stream live tv live tv news live video money news mortgage news new news news africa news asia news break news channel news headlines news news news now news online news ticker news today news update news video newscaster newscasters news room on line online prime news radio richard quest robin and pany saturday morning situation room studio tour talkasia team television news tv news video videos weather world news crude oil spills david diesel fuel spill exxon oil spill exxon oil spill clean up fuel oil spill fuel oil spills heating oil spill heating oil spills how old is larry king how to clean up an oil spill hurricane effects on environment hurricane katrina impacts of hurricanes larry king age larry king bio larry king biography larry king jewish larry king jr larry king marriages larry king wikipedia mary snow nancy grace nancy grace news nancy grace on new carissa news from oil absorbent oil absorbent pads oil absorbents oil boom oil booms oil cleanup oil disposal oil pollution oil pollution spill oil recycling oil skimmer oil skimmers oil spill oil spill booms oil spill clean up oil spill clean up methods oil spill cleanup oil spill containment oil spill control oil spill detection oil spill dispersants oil spill effects oil spill equipment oil spill kits oil spill management oil spill remediation oil spill response oil spill solutions oil spillage oil spills recent news red hat web server results of hurricanes search news security for linux spill spill absorbent spill berm spill berms spill cleanup spill control spill control products spill kits spill response equipment spills steven pozycki tanker oil spill tanker oil spills tv urdu poetry urdu poetry books watch live watch news live water pollution oil live robinNews Show Square Labels First Celtics Rondo Spills National Tv Second Do University Pierce Basketball Only Part Press Am Head Play Larry Boston Other Cavs Points Team He Up Season Not Guard Ap Researchers Coach Connecticut Grace Work Including Jim Live Times Shahzad Me Pakistan Spill Video King Nancy Game James More History Said Official They We Bomb Breaking Taliban Calhoun Clean Base Been Friday People Lebron Police Years Associated May Oil Car Number Comments New

  © by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP