Mike Brown: NBA Champion, Or Just LeBron's Doug Collins?

Today's entry on Cavalier Attitude is courtesy of guest columnist RP. Is Mike Brown the coach to take LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA championship? Or is he just like what Doug Collins (above) was to Michael Jordan before Phil Jackson came along?His specs may be stylish and his relationship with LeBron may be fantastic, but is Mike Brown capable of leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 'Chip? Recently it was brought to my attention that many observers believe Coach Brown has similarities to Doug Collins. Obviously, the parallels being drawn were a young head coach in Collins, as Brown, leading a young superstar in Michael Jordan, as LeBron James. In theory it sounded great, since Collins, like Brown, enjoyed great success, as well as a nice relationship with his young stud. However, as much respect as Collins deserves as a great basketball mind, it was no coincidence that Jordan hand-picked him to coach the Washington Wizards for his second comeback. An aging lion at the time, Jordan needed a coach that would submit to his desires, as documented in the Michael Leahy book, When Nothing Else Matters. Sadly, Collins is and was light years ahead of Brown when it comes to X's and O's, but that is besides the point for now. More importantly, as we all know, Doug Collins was never able to lead Jordan's Bulls to the promise land, who only two years later captured their first NBA Championship. As for Mike Brown, nobody can argue the success he has had with a team that many would consider flawed. Reaching the 2007 NBA Finals was nothing short of a miracle for a team featuring decayed versions of Donyell Marshall and Eric Snow as rotation players. Just as impressive was his motivating the team to a 66-win season, where they seldom fell to a lesser foe. Unfortunately, there are two glaring flaws that just might be too much for Brown and the Cavaliers to overcome. First off, through four seasons and four playoffs as a head coach, Brown has been unable to prove that he can match wits with the premier coaches in this league. Granted the Spurs were a far superior team, but did he really need two whole games to realize Tony Parker (who at the time was not a great shooter and should have been forced to do so) was too quick for E-Slow? Ben Wallace may have won four Defensive Player of the Year awards in his prime, but did he really need to be defending Rashard Lewis when the chips were down in Game 4? The excuse that the Cavs weren't as good as the Magic is not valid, due to the fact that only 12 teams in the history of the NBA have won 66 games or more. Only three of those teams did not win the championship. These are only a couple examples, but there are several other examples where the decision making was suspect at best. The second cause for concern is more philosophical than the first, but possibly more important. Of the past twenty NBA Champions, there is a general trend when it comes to the coaches involved. Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich, Rudy Tomjanovich, Pat Riley, Chuck Daly, Larry Brown and Doc Rivers account for those past 20 'chips. Of those seven, only Rudy T. and Rivers had reputations as a "player's coach." Rivers had the luxury of three hungry Hall of Famers, led by the ultra-intense Kevin Garnett, who already knew what it takes. Rudy, well, he had the luxury of the best center of all-time (in my opinion), to go along with his tremendous coaching ability and exhaustive preparation. Brown has the luxury of coaching one of the greatest talents ever, but will he ever get LeBron to buy into certain things he hasn't quite yet? We know LeBron is phenomenal, but we also know that if he ever spent more of his time on the block instead of going 1-4, life would be much easier. He is clearly capable and, when interested, he scores at will from that position. It is tough to argue with a guy who averages 28-7-7, but you have to figure if he is human (is he?), the toll taken on his body would be far less if he was on the block against a small forward half his size. The fundamental idea here is that for a team to win an NBA Championship, the superstar must ultimately respect the coach. LeBron likes Brown, the way Jordan did Collins, but I'm not certain that he respects him the way Mike did Phil.-RP