...a tradition of hope, passion, and misery
The second verse will not be the same as the first. While it will be easy to cast a wide narrative net of repeat performance or straw-man trope of remarriage and second honeymoons, the Cleveland Cavaliers hiring of Mike Brown to help guide them in their continued quest of rebuilding toward contention is firmly saddled on a horse rooted in continued growth, but also one of change.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have named seven-year NBA veteran head coach and Cavaliers all-time winningest head coach Mike Brown as the team’s new head coach, confirming reports which leaked late Tuesday afternoon.
“I am more than excited about Mike Brown’s return to the Cleveland Cavaliers,” said team majority owner Dan Gilbert. ”Mike has done nothing but win in this league since he was a first-year assistant many years ago. He is going to instill a much-needed defensive-first philosophy in our young and talented team that is going to serve as our foundation and identity as we continue down the path of building the kind of franchise that competes at a championship level for many years to come.”
Brown has won at least one playoff series every full season he has been a head coach in the NBA. Among head coaches who have coached in the NBA 5-years or longer, Brown and Phil Jackson are the only coaches whom have never missed the playoffs in their entire coaching career. He is also the only head coach in NBA history to win the first round of the playoffs every year of his head coaching career (coached five years or longer).
During Mike’s six full years as an NBA coach with the Cavaliers and the Lakers, Brown had the 2nd highest winning percentage (.657%) among all NBA head coaches who were at the helm four years or longer.
In five seasons with the Cavs, he compiled a record of 272-138 (.663). Brown was named the 2009 NBA Coach of the Year by members of the media and compiled a post season record with the Cavs of 42-29 (.592). He led the team to at least the second round of the post season in each of his five seasons, including Cleveland’s first ever trip to the NBA Finals in 2007.
“Mike is an excellent head coach and a proven winner,” said Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant. “He has a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed as a team and that will be integral to helping us reach our full potential, said Grant. “We are fortunate to have Mike back and I look forward to him leading our team to a very successful future.”
Brown led the Cavaliers to NBA-best records in both 2008-09 (66-16) and 2009-10 (61-21). During those two record seasons, the Cavaliers ranked at, or near, the top of the NBA in the majority of all major defensive and offensive statistical categories. Following the firing of former head coach Byron Scott, Grant stated that the team would be looking to hire a coach who would instill defensive focus, as the Cavaliers were dead last in the league in opposing field goal percentage in 2012-13.
“I am thrilled to return to Cleveland to coach the Cavaliers,” said Brown. ”The commitment ownership and management have shown in their efforts to build a successful team and organization is deep and I am excited to lead the team forward. Nothing would mean more to me and my family than to help bring success to this very special community and to all of our committed and loyal fans.”
Brown, 43, most recently coached the Los Angeles Lakers and was the head coach of the Cavaliers from 2005-10. He has a career head coaching record of 314-167 (.652) which is the 6th-highest winning percentage in NBA history among coaches with at least 400 games coached.
[Related: Mike Brown Take Two? In The Right Situation, Yes]
The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly set to announce the hiring of Mike Brown as the team’s head coach. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal reports that the addition of Brown will take place Wednesday, ensuring that the decision to re-hire him encompassed fewer days than the decision to fire him three seasons ago.
Mike Brown has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Byron Scott as #Cavs coach. Deal expected to be announced tomorrow
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) April 23, 2013
#Cavs and Mike Brown have reached handshake agreement on deal, league source tells Akron Beacon Journal. Official announcement expected tmrw
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) April 23, 2013
When addressing what the team’s next coach would bring to Cleveland, Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant cited a defensive focus coupled with the ability to develop young talent. “We’re looking for someone with proven success, looking for someone who has a strong defensive system, someone who is a teacher, grinder and a worker,” he stated.
Brown, who had decided to move back to Cleveland prior to the Cavaliers’ coaching vacancy, recently met with the team’s majority owner Dan Gilbert over dinner—the sit-down reportedly went very well. Though the team had reached out to Phil Jackson, but the long-time Laker coach reportedly did not have interest in the Cavaliers’ situation.
Brown was fired by owner Dan Gilbert after back-to-back 60-win seasons following the 2009-10 season. Despite the ousting, sources recently told ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst that there were no grudges held by either side that would prevent a dialogue about a fresh start. Brown was highly coveted by other teams in the league, forcing the Cavaliers to move quickly in their decision.
The deal is reportedly going to be for five years and $20 million.
[Related: Mike Brown Take Two? In The Right Situation, Yes]
It’s the weekly check-in with Scott Raab with plenty plenty plenty to talk about with the bombings, firings and FBI investigation that all occurred last week.
The Boston Marathon news playing out online
New York Post and their mis-identified suspects
The terror of the citizens of Boston
Milking the emotion of the audience
Cable news vs. Twitter vs. Reddit for news attention
Crowd-sourcing on Reddit
False Flag conspiracy theories
Personal tweets
Jimmy Haslam and his FBI investigation
Will Jimmy Haslam own the Browns this time next year?
John Compton and his outlook on being replaced
In a vacuum, Jimmy Haslam would have been a good owner
Phil Jackson is coming to Cleveland!
Would you run Chris Grant out for Phil Jackson?
Analytics and Mike Brown
Who made the call on Byron Scott’s firing?
Andrew and I talked about Byron Scott before we talked about Pearl Jam. Then I posted the podcasts out of order. Talk about trippy!
Byron Scott and his firing with the Cavs
Losing with a lack of style
Camp Scott and running his players ragged
Jason Lloyd’s article about player complaints
Metrics and Byron Scott
Was Byron willing to listen to the front office?
Mike Brown and the potential for his second stint with the Cavaliers
In one of the more surreal events in Cleveland coaching history the Cavaliers are not only interested in former coach Mike Brown, but may move quickly to obtain his services in order to ensure that another team does not swoop in and take him.
Mary Schmitt-Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer has provided a source report stating that the Cavaliers are intersted in re-hiring the defensive specialist who they fired after the completion of the 2009-10 season, one year after he won the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award. In firing Brown, the Cavaliers hired the offensively focused Byron Scott, but relieved him of his services after a combined record of 64-166 and one of the league’s worst defenses over the three-year span.
In discussing the decision to fire Scott, Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant repeatedly stated that the team would look to hire a coach who will focus on the defensive side of the ball. In 2008-09, Brown’s Cavaliers allowed opponents to shoot a mere 43.1 percent from the floor, a mark that led the entire NBA.
Brown reportedly had not been contacted by the Cavaliers on Thursday night, but would be open to returning to Cleveland if the opportunity presented itself.
“”If anybody calls, you have to listen,” Brown said via telephone. “I’m not rushing to get back to [coaching]. Whether it’s the Cavs situation or anybody else, it has to feel right for both sides.”
[Related: Fair or not, it was time for the Cavaliers to move on]
They walked over one by one. Clad in sweats and somber faces, the men who comprise the current Cleveland Cavaliers roster were one-man processions, walking from the far corner Cleveland Clinic Courts over to the padded wall that is laced with marketing blocks of the namesake. The Courts themselves are pristine, featuring some of the brightest, whitest light this side of Christmas. But on this day, while the fluorescent bulbs buzzed, the mood was very dark. On a day that should have been a collective sigh of relief given the end of a 24-win season, it was an afternoon laced with more uncertainty.
The team deemed it a “release,” but Byron Scott, the team’s head coach since the circus of 2010, was fired. Releasing is what you do to a fish that was just a bit too small. Firing is what happens when you swing a sword of accountability and opt to slice the lowest of the hanging fruit in hopes that the loss of one piece helps the rest of the tree grow taller. The players, one by one, slowly migrated over to the half circle of media members and spoke of a man lost. They spoke softly. They often looked down as they shared their thoughts. At one point, power forward Tristan Thompson got choked up and had to take a deep breath before continuing on with what Scott meant to his progress as a player 1 . They all claimed to be shocked by the team’s decision, many of them claimed they wish they could have done more to prevent it. A eulogy for a man who was still in the building.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have decided to part ways with head coach Byron Scott, per a report from the Akron Beacon-Journal.
“I have tremendous respect for Byron professionally and a great deal of admiration for him personally. At the same time, it is critical for where we are as a team to ensure that we capitalize on every opportunity for development and success and we have fallen short of that on the court,” said Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant on the matter. “I believe we needed to make this change in order to get to a better position to achieve our goals. I know I speak on behalf of the entire Cavs organization and the Cleveland community, in thanking Byron for his three years here and his hard work and many contributions on and off the court. We wish Bryon and his wife, Anita, the best.”
Scott, 52, was named the 18th head coach in Cleveland Cavaliers history on July 1, 2010. The Cavaliers’ record during Scott’s tenure as Head Coach was 64-166.
“I want to thank Chris Grant, Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers organization for the opportunity I had to coach this team the last three seasons,” said Scott. “Anita and I have enjoyed our time here in Cleveland and greatly appreciate the support we received from this special community and the many friendships we developed. I am certainly proud of the progress that many of our players have made and greatly appreciate the dedication of my coaches and our team in our efforts to attain the success we all desired.”
The Cavaliers will immediately commence a search, led by General Manager Chris Grant, for the team’s next head coach. Names that have been speculated about include Miami Heat assistant coach Tim Fizdale and former NBA head coaches Mike Brown and Stan Van Gundy. Brian Shaw, a candidate in 2010 when the team hired Scott, is reportedly also a potential candidate.
“I wish Byron Scott and his entire family the best going forward. Byron is a class guy, both on and off the court, and I thank him for his three years of coaching the Cavaliers,” said Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert.
“I fully support the difficult move that was made today. Although we saw progress with young individual player development, we did not see the kind of progress we expected on the team level this past season. We understand it was challenging with the injuries, but when you are at our stage in the building process, you don’t only measure team progress in wins and losses.
It has been our strong and stated belief that when our team once again returns to competing at the NBA’s highest levels it will be because we have achieved our goals on the defensive side of the court.
Our fans have been incredibly loyal and supportive during these transition years. They deserve better than we have been delivering as of late and it is our full intent to deliver them the kind of competitive team that they expect to see on the court beginning next season,” Gilbert concluded.
Scott, hired in the wake of The Decision in 2010, amassed a .278 winning percentage with the Cavaliers. He was brought on to spearhead a rebuilding process that involved multiple lottery selections, dealing with many injuries along the way. Nevertheless, Scott’s team regressed throughout the 2012-13 season, finishing 29th in field goal percentage (.434) and dead last in field goal percentage allowed (..476)—they allowed a league-worst 1.27 points per shot.
Scott had his option for the 2013-14 season picked up by the Cavaliers this past summer, but the lack of growth and direction—coupled with rumblings of a locker room lost—would eventually prove to force Dan Gilbert and Chris Grant to look in another direction. Gilbert and Grant had been mysteriously quiet for much of the last six weeks of the NBA season.
Speculation surrounding Scott’s dismissal was reported earlier this week.
[Related: A big summer for Kyrie, in more ways than one]
Tom Reed makes his first appearance on the WFNY Podcast to talk to me about his journey to the Plain Dealer.
The Cleveland sports scene has managed to take an otherwise unifying bond and turned it into a polarizing chasm of considerable proportions. As fans of the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers, Clevelanders experience every bump, every The, together—we celebrate the occasional win, and collectively grieve through the latest loss. But as the Browns offseason wraps up and the Indians’ regular season just begins, it is the Cavaliers who have provided the most hand-wringing and polarization.
While it can be reasonably assumed that all Cavalier fans have an identical ultimate goal, the avenue best taken can be debated. As the NBA Draft nears, fans can discuss who would be the best piece for Chris Grant to add to the puzzle. But as the losses pile up—many of which have been after 20-point leads—the Cavaliers are forcing fans to take sides, each one feeling that they are fighting for the greater good.
Big news in the podcast world. Scott Raab has agreed to be a regular weekly guest. So other than a few exceptions, I’m sure, we will have Scott’s perspective on a weekly basis. I can’t tell you just how happy it makes me that he wants to contribute every week. Please consider subscribing on iTunes.
Let me just start off by saying that I have no idea if Byron Scott should be fired or not. I mean that too. I think compelling arguments can be made both ways from people with varying degrees of knowledge of the situation. I think it’s more important to leave that flag waving at the door because even as much as even beat writers are around the team and talking to players, they still don’t have as much perspective as Chris Grant and Dan Gilbert should have on the situation. With all that said, I think it’s important to lay out the whole situation to understand what analysis should take place.
First, let’s start with expectations. Byron Scott was never going to take this group to the playoffs in all likelihood. Sure, it might have been possible if everyone had stayed healthy and everything went just right, but let’s not pretend like that was ever an organizational goal this year. So just looking at the win-loss record isn’t a compelling argument to say Byron Scott needs to be fired or kept.
The NBA has become a league of timing and if you sign your free agents too early before your young core is ready to compete for the playoffs, it becomes a waste of resources and your team will probably peak too early and most likely short of its goals. (Larry Hughes, anyone?) This isn’t even to mention the implications in the draft lottery. I don’t think the Cavs are intentionally “tanking,” but this was always expected to be a development year for the team. Argue all you want that this is bad for the NBA and its fans. I’ll gladly listen to that argument and might even chime in, but let’s not pretend like we don’t get it. [Read more...]
The great heist. You’ve seen the movies. An all-star cast gets together to pull off one big job. Along the way there are hi-jinx and laughs. Plot twists force our gang to change plans or everyone gets caught. It’s a great concept.
So I was thinking what if we made a team with Cleveland athletes?
I proposed the question twitter and took in some responses. [Read more...]
Any time your team is having a 22-47 season, it’s certain to elicit negative reactions from fans about the organization’s head coach. But it’s a very nuanced type of negativity when it deals with Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott.
Multiple times this year — notably, after the team started 5-23 — fans have questioned whether he’s the right coach to lead the Cavs into their hopeful playoff seasons down the road. Many have questioned his rotations. Others have questioned his overall toughness. Some have recalled how previous New Jersey and New Orleans teams started to ignore him by the end of his reign.
Whatever your Byron Scott-related point of view du jour, it’s likely that you displayed it on Twitter as the Cavaliers suffered their worst loss of the season, 118-76, on Friday in Houston. This of course followed Cleveland’s loss despite a 27-point lead against Miami on Wednesday. Placed within the context of Scott’s 186 games with the organization, it’s just been another tough week on the job. [Read more...]
It’s now officially been 39 days since Chris Grant’s latest act of wizardry, rounding out an actually complete bench for the Cleveland Cavaliers thanks to the help of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Over these 39 days, the narrative has changed drastically for the 2012-13 Cavs season: Instead of a distraught and meaningless season ruined by Anderson Varejao’s injury, the youngins are playing their best basketball of the season. Optimism for the future is high and that is because of the significantly improved play of Dion Waiters/Tristan Thompson, the fan-friendly energy and success of the bench guys, and, of course, some occasional heroics from Kyrie Irving.
To gain a better understanding of what exactly the team has looked like during this 9-7 record and 16-game stretch, I present to you a table of statistics for the 13 players to log at least 1 minute in a Cavaliers uniform since Jan. 25:
| Name | GP | MPG | FGA/G | efg% | RPG | APG | PPG | NetRTG |
| Kyrie Irving | 13 | 34.0 | 17.5 | 52.0% | 3.8 | 5.5 | 22.5 | -3.8 |
| Tristan Thompson | 16 | 30.2 | 10.9 | 48.6% | 9.0 | 1.6 | 13.2 | -6.2 |
| Dion Waiters | 16 | 28.1 | 12.0 | 52.3% | 2.3 | 3.4 | 15.4 | -0.7 |
| Alonzo Gee | 16 | 27.7 | 6.7 | 49.5% | 2.9 | 1.3 | 7.9 | -4.5 |
| Tyler Zeller | 16 | 25.9 | 6.4 | 47.6% | 5.6 | 1.8 | 7.8 | 1.7 |
| Shaun Livingston | 16 | 22.0 | 5.1 | 56.1% | 2.2 | 4.1 | 7.2 | 4.6 |
| Wayne Ellington | 16 | 21.8 | 6.9 | 58.2% | 2.4 | 1.3 | 9.6 | 11.9 |
| Marreese Speights | 16 | 21.3 | 10.0 | 44.1% | 6.1 | 0.8 | 12.0 | 1.9 |
| CJ Miles | 14 | 18.5 | 8.4 | 59.3% | 2.7 | 1.2 | 11.2 | 8.4 |
| Luke Walton | 12 | 17.8 | 2.8 | 45.5% | 2.8 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 16.0 |
| Daniel Gibson | 4 | 10.4 | 2.8 | 40.9% | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 19.0 |
| Kevin Jones | 4 | 8.9 | 3.5 | 35.7% | 2.8 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 18.5 |
| Omri Casspi | 3 | 4.4 | 1.3 | 0.0% | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -23.2 |
And here are some quick-hit notes on what I see in that table and elsewhere:
– Dion Waiters‘ efficiency has been the story of the stretch. In the 21-year-old rookie’s first 35 games of the season, he only had a 42.6% efficiency field goal percentage. So yeah, that’s a 10-percent jump. Is that enough proof yet? He could be really good.
– One of the knocks on Tristan Thompson‘s ceiling was that many doubted whether he could consistently average a double-double. Well, he’s at 14.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per 36 minutes overall since Andy has been out. He’s proving it too.
– As I mentioned before, one of the most notable aspects of the Cavs’ improvements when it comes to the noted Four Factors is their significant upgrade in turnover rate. Overall, here’s the A/TO breakdown: 1.33 before the trade (29th in the NBA), 1.85 since the trade (tied for best in the NBA).
– This shouldn’t be too surprising considering my stat about his Paul Millsap-esque splits prior to his arrival, but Marresse Speights has a very high usage rate in Cleveland. He only trails Irving with 16.9 FGA per 36 mins. He’s getting all the chances — and performing quite well.
– Net Rating, the final statistic in the table above, might be the one that’s not clear. It is the estimated +/- per 100 possessions for each player on the team. Obviously, one can quickly tell the large numbers for the bench — notably Ellington, Miles, Walton and Livingston. Again to clarify, +/- is not a perfect tool at all. It’s not that meaningful. But, just for fun, here are some +/- stats I noted after Tuesday’s game at Chicago:
Ellington is a +64 in his last 9 games
Walton is a +50 in his last 11 games
Miles is a +49 in his last 12 games
Livingston is a +43 in his last 14 games
[Related: Cool, calm and collected, Luke Walton leads Cavaliers’ crafty reserves]
“Despite no trade today, Cavs will end season w/better roster and MOAR PICKS than when year started. Not too shabby.” -@WFNYBen
A month ago the Cavaliers traded Jon Leuer to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marreese Speights, guards Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby, and a future first-round draft pick. That was this year’s big move. The Cavs provided Memphis a place to shed a little salary, and in return the Cavs got a couple pieces and a first round draft pick.
Heading into Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, the Cavs were already ahead of the game for the year.
Of course, the trade deadline which passed by could have been much, much more interesting had the Cavaliers not lost Anderson Varejao for the season. Because of that injury the Cavs really didn’t have much to dangle in front of teams aside from salary relief. There weren’t many teams that thought they were a Daniel Gibson or Omri Casspi away from contending. Probably most phone calls that were taken by Grant the past week had to do with Marreese Speights, but the Cavs certainly did not have to move him. [Read more...]
Thanks so much to all of our WFNY readers (even my friend Terry Pluto) for sharing, liking and commenting on last week’s edition of The Diff about Michael Bourn. I’m heading back to basketball this week to share an assortment of thoughts as the team begins the second half tonight.
Tristan Thompson’s progress
One of my favorite new Twitter friends is Ed Manly over at @laughingcavs. I only discovered his account and tremendous website after he responded to me about some Tristan Thompson stats-post Anderson Varejao’s injury. So it’s only fitting that the first time I reference him here at WFNY that it’s again about my favorite-ever Cavalier Canadian 1 . [Read more...]
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While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Kyrie sat down with David Jacoby of Grantland.com to give a little insight into his strategy for tonight’s 3-point shootout and his love for video games.
Kyrie Irving received something on Thursday night that he thought he’d never get in his life.
No, it wasn’t his selection as an All-Star reserve for the Eastern Conference, an inevitable stepping-stone for the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year 1 . Nor was it the designation as Pro Athlete of the Year at the 2012 Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, the first for a Cavalier since LeBron James in January 2010.
In fact, it was simply a text message. From Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“Yeah, the first time ever,” Irving said about the big accomplishment. “I don’t think Coach K has ever sent one of his previous players a text. I think his assistant sent it for him.” [Read more...]
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Plain and simple, it’s been a tough year to be a Cavalier fan. The team has only won 12 games, Varejao is out for the year, and Dion Waiters rookie season has been more up and down than Matthew McConaughey’s weight.
The Cavs have been rough to watch this year, there’s no getting around it. If you’ve found yourself tuning into a Cavs game to see a lineup of Gibson, Livingston, Casspi, Walton, and Zeller, hitting the guide button on the remote, and deciding to flip over to AMC to catch the last thirty minutes of The Shawshank Redemption then you are not alone.
It doesn’t make you less of a Cavs fan, it just makes you a rational person. Why watch Omri Casspi put the ball on the deck, attempt a euro step through the lane, and fumble the ball off his leg when you can watch Tim Robbins break out of prison with the sweet voice of Morgan Freeman narrating all along the way? [Read more...]
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