What coach would you like for next season?

[Marc]

Mike Brown - http://www.basketball-reference.com/coa ... mi99c.html
Jeff Van Gundy - http://www.basketball-reference.com/coa ... je99c.html
Avery Johnson - http://www.basketball-reference.com/coa ... av01c.html
Mike Fratello - http://www.basketball-reference.com/coa ... mi99c.html
Pat Riley - http://www.basketball-reference.com/coa ... pa01c.html
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Not sure if there is a chance of Riley coming back to coaching but i added him because he was mentioned in a rumor some weeks ago. I selected the other candidates based on what members around the forum believe that would be interesting options.
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Personally, i think Mike Brown has to be fired. I could care less about last season record and i will explain why.
As how i see it, Brown can be 2 things: a good coach for a team looking to just make the playoffs or a great assistant that adds a much needed defensive orientation to a possible contender.

The fact is that Brown perfectly knows defensive fundaments and that is the main key to have a good regular season. It is a lot easier to win against most non-playoff teams with defensive fundaments. And when i talk about defensive fundaments i am not talking about every type of defense but 'Fundaments'. It is obvious, that the Cavs had to think outside the box defensively to stop Magic and they failed.

I will establish my point by comparison and i will do it with no other than the San Antonio Spurs because Brown spent 3 years with them and he obviously learned about defense there:
Season W L % (all with Duncan): 2008-09 54 28 .659 - 2007-08 56 26 .683 - 2006-07 58 24 .707 - 2005-06 63 19 .768 - 2004-05 59 23 .720 - 2003-04 57 25 .695 - 2002-03 60 22 .732 - 2001-02 58 24 .707 - 2000-01 58 24 .707 - 1999-00 53 29 .646 - 1998-99 37 13 .740 - 1997-98 56 26 .683

You can talk about Duncan and some other players but the fact is that the Spurs have been the most consistent nba team of the last decade (season terms) and thats because they know defensive fundaments.

Back to Mike Brown, there are 2 reasons why i think he should be fired:
1) I am not sure if he is capable of running a decent offense that doesn't involve Lebron (Main reason why i think he is a great assistant coach in a coaching position). Obviously, you want your main player to be involved on offense but you need other options too.
2 and most important) He is incapable of thinking outside the box. To win the playoffs you need to defeat 4 different teams that usually have different styles. There are champions with more luck than others but you must be capable to adjust your game for every challenge if you want to be.

It is possible that Lebron is good enough to win a title in the near future with Brown but i like to believe that the Cavs would already have their title by now if their coach was a Gregg Popovich or a Phil Jackson or a Pat Riley.
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My candidate is Avery Johnson. He has been offered the coaching position of different teams during the past year but he is waiting for the right team to call and Cleveland could be that team for obvious reasons.
What i love most about him is the main reason why he was fired by Dallas. Johnson likes to alway be in control of what happens on the court and while some Mavs fans saw him as a mad man, i think it helps the team to make up for the lack of leadership of their pg. Kidd-Johnson relationship was destinied to fail. Mo Williams is not a pure pg so it works perfectly, lol.
Avery would also bring some much needed mental toughness to the team.

[NashtyNas]

If Riley is coming back, there's no doubt we take him. If not, it's a coin flip between A.Johnson + J.V.G.

[L&H_05]

Pat Riley is easily the best coach there... However, he's getting up there in age...

I would take coach Brown (for our team) over anyone else there simply due to him being a players coach, and have a good relationship with most of the guys....

[bcortell]

Pat Riley is easily the best coach there... However, he's getting up there in age...

I would take coach Brown (for our team) over anyone else there simply due to him being a players coach, and have a good relationship with most of the guys....

[InBoobieWeTrust]

LeBron James is behind MB 100%

So am I.

[Rise Against]

Tom Thibodeau might be up there for me... However, I agree with the others on Mike Brown.

[landphil]

I agree about Mike Brown, I think it was Chris Broussard who came out when there was reports about the cavs going after Pat Riley and said something that implied that Lebron James would be very upset if Mike Brown was to leave. Also, this is the first year the Cavs have not advanced as far or further than they should in the playoffs so I think the argument that MB cant coach in the playoffs is a little overblown. He coached a bunch of scrubs to the NBA finals a few years ago, and yes I know Lebron was the main guy but still some credit is due to MB.

And I doubt Avery Johnson would bring some toughness to the team. I mean he did that in Dallas, oh wait no he didnt...toughness is not what we were lacking against the Magic. The ability to guard Howard and Delonte West growing about 4-6 inches was what we were lacking, among a few other things. Besides I dont think we want to scrap everything Mike Brown has put in place with one year remaining on Lebron's contract.

Also stats say it all,

Avery Johnson .735 regular season win pct., .489 playoff win pct.
Mike Brown .643 regular season win pct., .600 playoff win pct.

So since we are looking to win in the playoffs and not have another 66 win season without a title, Mike Brown is able to do more with less and now he has his best team ever to coach.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Stick with Brown for now.

[Marc]

Avery Johnson .735 regular season win pct., .489 playoff win pct.
Mike Brown .643 regular season win pct., .600 playoff win pct.

Mavs almost won the title with Johnson.

And i think that there are not many talented players other than Lebron in the roster because Brown poorly develops young players.

Sasha went from starter to 12th man. Boobie went from 2nd scorer in a great playoff run to just another bench player.

[landphil]

Avery Johnson .735 regular season win pct., .489 playoff win pct.
Mike Brown .643 regular season win pct., .600 playoff win pct.

Mavs almost won the title with Johnson.

And i think that there are not many talented players other than Lebron in the roster because Brown poorly develops young players.

Sasha went from starter to 12th man. Boobie went from 2nd scorer in a great playoff run to just another bench player.

The cavs went to a title game with way less talent than those mavs did. I agree Brown has a problem developing young players at times but is that necessarily a concern for this year? We just signed Shaq, looking for some other guys who are a little more proven and we are trying to "win a title" so to speak for lebron to stay. Anything less than a title this year is a disappointment not just within the organization but also with the fans and if that means young talents like JJ and Darnell dont play as much, I think most people are ok with that

And boobie is just another bench player because he is very streaky and doesnt play his position very well because he cant distribute the ball and he is undersized as a 2. And Sasha is bad. Bad

[Marc]

http://www.hoopsdaily.com/content/and-winner
The Mike Brown Award (worst coach) LOL