Fire Mike Brown?

Sam Amico caused a stir recently indicating that Mike Brown's job is in jeopardy. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but let's talk about that for a second.

Here is the only way I would fire Mike Brown: If LeBron James wants him fired. Right or wrong, if LeBron wants him fired, fire him.

But lets assume for a second that LeBron isn't leading this campaign. Can you really fire this guy?

Mike Brown won 66 games during the regular season. He won Coach of the Year, and then went into the playoffs and won 8 out of his first 8. 74-16 going into the Orlando series.

With that being the case, you are saying that he should be fired due to his performance during the Orlando series. Okay, so what went wrong there? Defensive match-ups, and offensive performance.

Match-Ups:

Hedo Turkulu: The Cavaliers best option on Hedo Turkulu was Delonte West. That being said, Mike Brown's best play on the 6'10" Turkulu was a 6'3" combo guard. No matter how gritty West might be, that's not good. And its not Mike Brown's, nor West's fault, that this was his best option here.

Rashard Lewis: What would you have liked Brown to do there. Cover him himself? Wally? Sasha? C'mon. Both guys would have been dominated inside. Or maybe he should have played his other 6'9" athletic big man...well that guys not on the roster. Should Ben Wallace have been covering him on that last second shot? No way, that was a bad move, but Lewis made plenty of other baskets besides that one. And truth be told, Anderson had a chance against Lewis inside, but when Rashard stepped outside it was over.

Rafer Alston: They left him open by design, and he hit shots. Should LeBron have been covering him? In hindsight no, but it was a decent idea. If Alston missed shots, you leave your biggest, best athlete to help all over the court on all the other mismatches, which were at the other four positions - all over the floor.

Courtney Lee / Mikael Petrus: Mo Williams is an average defender at best, and stood no shot against either player. Who should they have played instead? Daniel Gibson?

Dwight Howard: Z? Ummm...

Offensive Strategy:

The famous knock on Brown. During the regular season people said that Brown made dramatic strides on the offensive end of the floor as a Coach. I don't think so. He just had the luxury of having a point guard who could distribute and hit open shots - Mo Williams - and a combo guard that did the same in West. What happened then you ask? Well Mo Williams couldn't kick it into Lake Erie for one, and when your second best option doesn't show up, your kind of in a jam offensively.

The reports that are surfacing indicate that Dan Gilbert wants to see Brown replaced, and Danny Ferry disagrees. While I don't buy that, let's ask why Ferry wouldn't want to see Mike take the fall for this? Well, because the Cavaliers don't have enough talent. And before you say then why did they win 66 games then, I will tell you its because the Cavaliers played hard every night of an NBA regular season where teams take nights off regularly. As a result, they won more games than their talent should have dictated. They got into the playoffs, where every team plays hard, and talent won out.

Did Mike Brown Coach a perfect series? No. In addition to the Ben Wallace on Rashard Lewis basket at the buzzer, I blame Brown for not getting the ball to LeBron James more at the free throw line with a live dribble like they did in Game 5. They didn't do that in Game 6, and it cost the Cavaliers. But if your fire Mike Brown now, your acting irrationally as an organization. Your acting like, well, that team in Berea...and I think the Cavaliers are better than that.