I was not surprised at all when I read today that the Cavs fired Mike Brown. Just a bit shocked that it took so long for them to do so. For back to back years the Cavaliers had championship aspirations, but failed to deliver on the promise. As much as the media tries to lay the blame of LeBron James shoulders, I think Mike Brown is much more deserving of criticism.

James might be the league’s best player, and led the Cavs to the best record in the regular season these past two years but failed to execute in the playoffs. While some of that can be laid at James feet since he is the floor general, most of the blame needs to be on Mike Brown (you can make a case that the team wasn’t built properly either). Yes great players always seem to be winning championships, but they also need top coaches to harness that talent. Phil Jackson was instrumental to both the Bulls success with Jordan and the Lakers success with Kobe and Shaq. It is quite possible that these players wouldn’t have half the rings they have without a great coach like Jackson. Now don’t get me wrong it is a two way street, obviously he wouldn’t have those rings without great players, but Jackson played a significant role to their success. I don’t think Brown is that same way (not saying he needed 10 rings), and capable of out thinking an opponent. Even the game’s best players need to be put in the best possible position to succeed. The Cavs were a good team, and James is a great player, but they were overmatched (aka out coached) these last two years.

Brown didn’t make the adjustments in the playoffs to match up with better defensive teams these past two years. The Magic and Celtics showed that James could be stopped, and the Cavs (Mike Brown) weren’t prepared to go to Plan B. The reason they couldn’t go to Plan B, is simply because they didn’t have one. For a talented team with a number of 2nd tier players and the biggest superstar in the game, you should be able to win the big games. Yes these teams found ways to slow down James, but that isn’t reason enough for the Cavs to not only lose these two series, but also to lose them so badly.

For a team with such talent and depth, there is no reason they should have lost to the Celtics like they did. Sure Boston has talent, but they are old, and not supposed to challenge a team like Cleveland. This Boston series showed exactly the fatal flaw with Mike Brown. Brown isn’t a strategist and relied far to heavily on James to win the games for him. I’m sure Brown will find another coaching gig, but he will have to learn how to make adjustments, if he will be a successful NBA coach.