# Players voice concern over offense



## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

> *CLEVELAND - *Losing can make athletes, even highly paid professionals, start to question things. For the Cavaliers, a spate of eight losses in 12 games at midseason has some questioning their identity.
> Frustrated with repeated offensive letdowns throughout the season, several Cavs are now openly suggesting the team needs a shakeup in philosophy. Team leaders believe that the grind-it-out half-court offense isn't working and measures need to be taken to play a more up-tempo, higher-scoring game.
> Of course, this contradicts the way Cavs coach Mike Brown has constructed his system. He prefers to play slow, thinking defense first and to win games by executing defensively and offensively in the half-court setting. Which is the way games are often won in the playoffs -- including by the Cavs in last year's playoffs.
> ``I feel we've got enough athletes where we can get up and down the court,'' LeBron James said Monday after the Cavs scored just 78 points in a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
> ...


http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basketball/nba/cleveland_cavaliers/16632699.htm


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

This is not good for Mike Browns case.... but I will agree we are not fun to watch, but fun basketball isnt winning basketball... come playoff time I wouldnt mind seeing us slow it down like last year, but for now, let Larry,Dan,Sasha,Brown,Drew,Andy all run the floor


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Mike Brown may be on the way out. Lebron rarely makes public statements like that where he is not politically correct...


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

I have to be honest. As much as I've railed on him, I just don't want to see Mike Brown go. If Lebron and Hughes are no longer listening to him and he's not connecting with the players, then we have no choice. As sad as that is.

I just want more than anything for Mike Brown to be less stubborn. He needs to hire an offensive coordinator that can get this system back on track. He needs to be more flexible with our style of play. He needs to give rookies and younger players a better chance to compete with veterans. He needs to fix a lot of things.

But honestly, he seems to (slowly) be making an effort to make some changes. He's giving the younger players more playing time, and they're being more productive than their veteran counterparts. From the sound of the article coming out today, it seems as if he's going to start making an effort to get our guys out on the break more often. So he is making changes, albeit more slowly than he should be.

In my ideal situation, Lebron's more vocal pressure will pressure Brown to feel uncomfortable being complacent with our play and be more flexible with our game plan. I don't feel like he'll ever hire an offensive coordinator (he's just too stubborn), but I can live with him if he's making changes to try to figure out the problem. 

Now the pressure is on Lebron and the other players to actually go out and play like they give a ****. Because whether he's doing a great job of coaching or not, Mike Brown deserves his players to give a 100% effort every night. And I'm not convinced they're giving him that right now. That's not right, whether or not they have ulterior motives.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

If Lebron and Larry are speaking out like this, you can only imagine what others on the team think.

The Spurs run and still play defense. The Pistons do as well to some degree. The Bulls definitely do.

I don't see why we have to run a slow offense, on top of our defense. we should be running off of every rebound. Lebron should just be ripping it and running it like Steve Nash and Jason Kidd do.


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## TyGuy (Apr 19, 2003)

I am extremely happy Mike Brown is finally taking flak. It was beyond a poor decision to hire him. He has butchered enough winnable games and I am tired of watching him fumble around on the sidelines.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

yahoo.com/sports/rumors is retarded... has anyone checked out that new setup, with the 'rumors' under the Sports section. It says the Cavs needs too make a big move because they are not getting as much out of their players as they should. And Hughes is unhappy and will be traded...

Everyone would love to trade a bad contract that is injury prone and bad, but who will take them... come on Yahoo its not a fantasy league cant just trade players for players....


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

> > LeBron James says the Pis tons are going to rule the roost in the Central Division right now, unless the Cavaliers "find a way to despise that and get on their level."
> > Everybody is too nice these days, James being a prime example. But nobody believes the Cavs are Bad Boys or even naughty ones. Showing abhorrence of and loathing toward the Pistons would be easier if Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones hadn't acted like the Bobbsey Twins Sunday around the Pistons' Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups.
> > San Antonio is the Cavs' franchise model, with coach Mike Brown and General Manager Danny Ferry both having roots there. The Spurs don't physically intimidate. They win because they are mentally tough and because their offense suits their players' talent.
> > <script language="JavaScript1.1" src="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s1/s1liv/@StoryAd"><table width="420" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"> <tbody><tr valign="bottom"> <td width="383"> Advertisement
> ...


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