There is a growing concern amongst Warriors fans that Mike Brown could become the next Golden State Warriors head coach. The fear is that Brown will be able to bring in some sound defensive principles to the team at the expense of an unimaginative offense that will prove to be extremely easy to defend.
As a result, one can easily understand the reluctance that the Warriors faithful might have towards the candidacy of the former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach. Nonetheless, before rushing to judge, perhaps we should take a close look at his track record.
Look at the record of the Cavaliers in his five seasons as the team’s head coach:
| Season | Team Record |
| 2005-06 | 50-32 |
| 2006-07 | 50-32 |
| 2007-08 | 45-37 |
| 2008-09 | 66-16 |
| 2009-10 | 61-21 |
Mike Brown had his warts as a head coach (inability to adjust substitution patterns and failure to get the ball out of LeBron’s hands and to simply run the offense late in games to name a few)but he was still able to bring a winning culture to the Cavaliers franchise.
Some might say that Brown essentially road James’ coattails, but then again prior to his arrival in Cleveland, the Cavs had won a mere 77 games versus 87 losses in the King James era. Indeed, prior to Mike Brown joining the team, the last time the Cavaliers had won 50 or more games in a season was all the way back in the 1992-93 season.
Brown got the team to the playoffs because he believed in defense, accountability, ball security and more defense. Have a look at the Cavs defensive rating (estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions) during Brown’s tenure:
| Season | Defensive Rating | NBA Rank |
| 2005-06 | 105.4 | 14 |
| 2006-07 | 101.3 | 4 |
| 2007-08 | 106.4 | 11 |
| 2008-09 | 102.4 | 3 |
| 2009-10 | 104.1 | 7 |
The emphasis Brown placed on defense made the Cavs one of the best defenses in the league during his tenure.
For the sake of comparisons, let’s have a look at how Golden State’s defensive rating stacked up against Cleveland’s during the timeframe Brown was their head coach:
| Season | Cleveland | Golden State |
| 2005-06 | 105.4 | 106.2 |
| 2006-07 | 101.3 | 107.4 |
| 2007-08 | 106.4 | 109.5 |
| 2008-09 | 102.4 | 109.5 |
| 2009-10 | 104.1 | 111.7 |
Not much of a shocker there. The Dubs defense has not exactly been known to stop opponents, hence any improvement on that front would be more than welcomed in the Bay Area so long as it translates into more wins.
Mind you, the fans at Oracle Arena are afraid of having a team that could potentially get a lot of stops but then go back on the other end and struggle to get quality shots given the stigma associated with a Mike Brown coached offense. But fans will be surprised to find out that such reasoning is actually flawed. True story.
Allow me to be the one to challenge the myth: Brown allowed LeBron James to monopolize the ball at times late in ball games which made basketball fans feel as though the Cavs had no semblance of offense. But the truth is that the Cavs offense was one of the most efficient in the league because it was predicated on ball security and getting quality shots (also known as playing the right way if you ask the likes of Larry Brown and Doc Rivers). Have a look at how the Cavaliers’ offensive rating (estimate of points scored per 100 possessions) compared favorably to the Warriors’:
| Season | Cleveland | Golden State |
| 2005-06 | 107.8 | 104.8 |
| 2006-07 | 105.5 | 107.0 |
| 2007-08 | 106.0 | 111.8 |
| 2008-09 | 112.4 | 109.5 |
| 2009-10 | 111.2 | 108.1 |
As we can see, Mike Brown’s teams have in fact been good offensive squads under his coaching. One can only begin to wonder what he could accomplish both offensively and defensively with players such as Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis and David Lee on his team. Just when we thought that only the defense would be getting better under his wing, turns out there is actually a possibility that the offense might be better than what it was when Don Nelson and Keith Smart coached the team.
Bet you weren’t expecting such a development.
Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter with the handle name @ShyneIV.
Yall all are jus dumb…. I hope we get Mike Brown we need to trade Bidriens, Udoh and a future 1st round pick to the lakers for Andrew Bynum
Until Mike Brown has a track record established w/o LBJ, one really can’t say what he can do for the Warriors. Great players can make a lot of mediocre coaches look good. You have to give a coach who takes average players and makes them better, a higher grade.
Offer Sloan highest pay in the league and be done with it…
Mike Brown will lead us to the promised land! He is better than Phil Jackson and we will be in the NBA finals in 2 years! You heard it hear! I know all!
Great minds think a like. Brown is the one! He will take us to the promised land and Monta Ellis will be the leagues MVP next year. Monta Ellis is by far the best player in the league. Trade Curry and get a big and we will win 60 games!
Are you serious let’s take a closer look at what Brown did as coach? Can you say Lebron James. The offense was horrendous and the only way the ball moved was because of James.
Take James away and you saw just how pathetic a team that Cavaliers were. Brown should only be looked at to interviewed, but hiring him would be another mistake by the Warriors organization and would further prove Lacob and Guber have no clue what they are doing.
Steven, if anything, having ONLY Lebron James gives more credibility to his resume.. Look at his roster from those days, he had Lebron and NOBODY. And he somehow took those teams deep into the playoffs and went to the FInals once. Obviously you take away a top 3 player in the NBA and team is going to get worse, and the talent level around Lebron in Cleveland was minimal to begin with. I want to see Brown with a balances roster and decent defensive assets, not just Lebron James and 11 nobodies.