Mike Brown - Greg Poppy similarities?

[Fabbs]

ThunderDan, other Cavs and Non Pop Sniffing Spurs,

Besides the fact that Brown came from San Antone and wants to emulate the Spurs, do you find he is doing it too much such as last nights blow?

A 15 point haltime lead that his team entirely pisses away just a minute or two into the 4th. Why? Because, like 'Zit, he underemphasises O by having zero team ball, thus no Cleveland lead is safe. Its like durrrerrerrr "Throw it into LeBron (Duncan), and everyone else stand around." Great when its working, deplorable when its not. That 3rd qtr was a joke, as many of Popazits leads become (Including playoff leads).

The thread and question is for the above mentioned, but i have a good supply on crackers on hand for the inevitable Pops Parrots who will troll in.
*prawk prawk He's won 4 les you know.

I know you Cavs would love to win your 1st le, let alone 4, and i hope you do. But the similarities are scary. I hope this year does not become a blown chance like about 3-4 of the Spurs years were. Spurs had the leagues undisputed MVP in Timmy Dunks for 2002-2007. Now you have had the leagues undisputed MVP for two years, 2008 and 2009. I think Dunks had the much better cast what with GNob, Parker, SJax and great rolies in Steve Kerr, Barrdawg, Malik, Finley for one year out of 4, many others.

[JoeTait75]

Assuming we're not going to find a coach who is perfectly balanced on both sides of the ball, I'd rather have a coach who is defense-centric than a coach who is the other way around. And if there is any team I'd like to see the Cavaliers emulate, it's San Antonio. More often that not, that approach to the game delivers results.

The only thing I can blame MB for is using Wally and Dan Gibson. Neither of those guys has a prayer of guarding any of Orlando's wing players. Have to see Sasha Pavlovic get major minutes.

Bottom line, if you score 106 points, you need to win the game.

[Thunder Dan]

It was a combination of them changing their defense at halftime from letting Dwight get the ball in the paint and guarding shooters to doubling him and making the other guys beat you and the Magic just hitting shots. I mean when you have a team that shoots 3s like Orlando, there isn't much you can do when they are hitting. They could beat the 1996 Bulls if they are hitting shots. I don't think you can blame Brown expect for questioning why he changed what was working.

[Fabbs]

Joe,
This is where i have said ad nauseum on the other side of the board, Phil Jackson completely trumps* Poppy in that he realizes he is not that good of an offensive coach and so he defers to Tex Winters. Result is a 4-1 ownership of Popped.

*lets not kid ourselves, the collusion of Gasol is the main reason the Lakers of the last two playoff years are where they are. Still, you wont find a Phil team acting nervous with a large lead, nor "playing not to lose" on O which is exactly what Popazit has done too many times to number and the Cavs certainly did last night.

[Fabbs]

It was a combination of them changing their defense at halftime from letting Dwight get the ball in the paint and guarding shooters to doubling him and making the other guys beat you and the Magic just hitting shots. I mean when you have a team that shoots 3s like Orlando, there isn't much you can do when they are hitting. They could beat the 1996 Bulls if they are hitting shots. I don't think you can blame Brown expect for questioning why he changed what was working.

Offense Dan, I'm talking about the Cavs offense with the 15 point lead.
63 first half points and freakin 19 3rd qtr points and 43 second half points. I didn't see Orlando play any better D, i saw the Cavs in a vegged out mode of offense and "playing not to lose". Try to win soley with D. Vintage loser Popavich strategy.

[Thunder Dan]

Offense Dan, I'm talking about the Cavs offense with the 15 point lead.
63 first half points and freakin 19 3rd qtr points and 43 second half points. I didn't see Orlando play any better D, i saw the Cavs in a vegged out mode of offense and "playing not to lose". Try to win soley with D. Vintage loser Popavich strategy.

I don't think the Cavs were that great in the 1st half last night. Their lead came because they were getting breakaways because of their defense. When they changed their defense they weren't getting the breakaways

[JoeTait75]

Joe,
This is where i have said ad nauseum on the other side of the board, Phil Jackson completely trumps* Poppy in that he realizes he is not that good of an offensive coach and so he defers to Tex Winters. Result is a 4-1 ownership of Popped.

MB has taken some halting steps in that direction. He turned over a lot of the offensive play-calling to John Kuenster this year- obviously not a guy of Tex's caliber and reputation, but at least it's something.

Big problem this team has and has had offensively is that they don't have a player who can consistently get easy looks in the low post. When you're as reliant on the jump shot as the Cavaliers are, you're going to be prone to dry spells offensively.

It's also easy to slip into the "let LeBron do it alone" mindset, especially when he's hitting and other guys aren't.

I still say that when you score 106 points, you should win. That might be the first time all year the Cavaliers have lost when they've scored more than 100.

[Fabbs]

True and on the D front, i gotta tell you guys, it looks like SideShow Bob Valajra (sp) was completely spooked by the previous play whereupon he joined the paratroopers club and got rung up for landing on Turkey, thus on the final play he was too paranoid to jump up and get in Rashard Lewis way.

Instead he played it "safe" and got burned. Granted, incredible shot by Lewis but how the can you give up a trey when a duece leaves at worst overtime.

[Thunder Dan]

True and on the D front, i gotta tell you guys, it looks like SideShow Bob Valajra (sp) was completely spooked by the previous play whereupon he joined the paratroopers club and got rung up for landing on Turkey, thus on the final play he was too paranoid to jump up and get in Rashard Lewis way.

Instead he played it "safe" and got burned. Granted, incredible shot by Lewis but how the can you give up a trey when a duece leaves at worst overtime.

what did that play look like? I was at the game so didn't see any replays but it looked like kind of a weak foul to call that late in the game. I might be being a homer, but it looked like Turk jumped into him and Andy tried to move out of the way. What did the replay show?

[manufan10]

what did that play look like? I was at the game so didn't see any replays but it looked like kind of a weak foul to call that late in the game. I might be being a homer, but it looked like Turk jumped into him and Andy tried to move out of the way. What did the replay show?

Showed exactly that. He did try to move out of the way and Turk leaned into where he was going. IMO it wasn't a good call.

[Fabbs]

^^ actually BSPN or whomever had the telecast did a great slow mo freezeframe overhead shot. Sideshow jumped way too early and he did jump into Hedos path. Granted, Hedo jumped forward a bit to help insure contact to draw the foul but Hedo has a complete right to that space. Its not like Bob jumped straight up and Hedo jumped into him. Bob jumped forward, no doubt about it.

Sorry to say good call and 100% correct imo.

Sideshow got juked.
Thus he underreacted on the Lewis dagger.

[RedsLakers24]

^^ actually BSPN or whomever had the telecast did a great slow mo freezeframe overhead shot. Sideshow jumped way too early and he did jump into Hedos path. Granted, Hedo jumped forward a bit to help insure contact to draw the foul but Hedo has a complete right to that space. Its not like Bob jumped straight up and Hedo jumped into him. Bob jumped forward, no doubt about it.

Sorry to say good call and 100% correct imo.

Sideshow got juked.
Thus he underreacted on the Lewis dagger.

Sideshow to the wrong end of the deal in that play, but it all balances out with his flopping

[manufan10]

It was on TNT. No, Varejao jumped to the side, and Hedo leaned to the side where he jumped. Sure he jumped early, but Hedo leaned so he can get contact. It shouldn't have been a foul.

[JoeTait75]

The call was fine, it was a good call. If it had been LeBron taking that shot instead of Turk, I would have expected a whistle and been pissed if he hadn't gotten it.

[Thunder Dan]

I'm still holding out hope that the refs purposely gave the benefit of the doubt to the Magic last night so they can point to that game when they give all the calls to the Cavs for the rest of the series to ensure Lebron makes it to the Finals. I have no problem with the NBA being fixed as long as it's in favor of the Cavs. Let's be honest, nobody wants to see the Magic play in the Finals except Magic fans in Orlando.

[Fabbs]

Dan, Joe i gotta tell you i see nothing but more of the same. I do not attribute this to increased Orlando D.

Just what does Brownovich say, do, implement at halftime?
Rockin O in the 1st half, vegged out drop off in 3rd qtr.

Starting with gm 1:
1st / 2nd /halftime lead/ 3rd qtr drop

gm1 33 30 (up 15) 3rd 19. Lost
gm2 30 26 (up 23 in the 2nd qtr) 3rd 19. Won 96-95 'Bron buzzer beater.

gm4 25 33 (up 8 at half) 3rd 21. Lead pissed away by start of 4th. Lost.
Gm5 35 21 3rd qtr 22 okay woopie they went up one point. Did win game tho.

Now i read "Cavs Coach Brown Calling On Pop To Work On Game Plans"
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127552

I can only hope the Cav players tune him out.

[Thunder Dan]

I actually like the new offense of Lebron at the 4 sitting at the free throw line. People might mistake it for him dribbling for 20 seconds above the 3 point line, but it is much much different. It's almost impossible to guard him 1 on 1, and if you double him, a shooter will be open and Andy is always moving under the hoop. It's much different than him standing there because Howard can't shade him when he has the ball because Andy will get easy layups. Going small is something the Cavs didn't do in the first 3 games, and now they are and it's working.

[duncan228]

Cavs Coach Brown Calling On Pop To Work On Game Plans

Calling on pop:

Cavs coach Mike Brown said he's been talking to close friend and mentor Gregg Popovich over the past several days in working on game plans. The San Antonio Spurs coach and Brown talk often during the season, but this is the first time the Spurs haven't been alive in the playoffs and the Cavs have, enabling Brown to seek more advice.

"Pop's always been a great sounding board for me," Brown said.

As for people calling Brown, that's quite different. Brown said over the past few days he's had plenty of people come up to him or call him with ideas of how to help with the Cavs' issues with the Magic -- especially on defense and in guarding the 3-point shot.

"I've had a lot of suggestions on how to stop the 3 from my son to my best friend to you name it," Brown said.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127552

[Thunder Dan]

Pop knows what is best for the league.

[LakerHater]

Here he is doin his work!!

[Fabbs]

yeah after all those great Cav 1st halfs, Poop got Brown to down the offense to 25 and 15 1st and 2nd qtrs for 40 points at the half.

90 pts for the game, 2nd worst of the series.

Now Poop will work with Brown on getting and keeping it under 90.

[BUMP]

It was a combination of them changing their defense at halftime from letting Dwight get the ball in the paint and guarding shooters to doubling him and making the other guys beat you and the Magic just hitting shots. I mean when you have a team that shoots 3s like Orlando, there isn't much you can do when they are hitting. They could beat the 1996 Bulls if they are hitting shots. I don't think you can blame Brown expect for questioning why he changed what was working.

at you thinking Jordan and Pippen would let those guys get open looks from 3

[Blake]

greg poppy ?

lame