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His Defense Never Rests
While with Indiana in 2004, Brown was the first Pacers assistant to rush the stands and grab Ron Artest during the infamous brawl against fans of the Detroit Pistons.
(Oakland County Prosecutor Via Associated Press)
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Brown has a 21-14 postseason record, which gives him the most playoff wins of any coach in franchise history. He led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals last year, and they were within one game of upsetting the Pistons in the conference semifinals two years ago. His players say such success is the result of his hard work, discipline and focus. Brown worked previously as an assistant in Indiana and San Antonio, where he won a championship in 2003.
In the first two games of the series, Brown started Wally Szczerbiak and let him defend Caron Butler, and he used James to shut down Gilbert Arenas in Game 2. He also heeded a suggestion from reserve guard Eric Snow and called the two late-game plays that resulted in the decisive baskets by James in Game 1.
"If you give him a chance to play one team and dissect one team, he's going to really dissect it. He's going to try to attack the team to wherever they are vulnerable," Snow said.
Another key to Brown's success in Cleveland is that he has been able to establish a healthy working relationship with James, whom Brown said he can challenge and give freedom to make mistakes on the floor. "He's going to get coached. He's going to listen most of the time and it's going to make it easier for me to get through to the sixth or seventh man," said Brown, who was given a contract extension in January. "He's so talented, he's so good, he can easily get bored with things. And if you're not challenging him, then you could end up losing him."
That hasn't been the case yet.
"Mike Brown is very intense and I'm the right player to be around him, because I am, too," James said. "At the end of the day, we want to win. He's very locked in during the postseason and he helps us. He doesn't allow us to think ahead or think at one point that the series is over or we can relax. He makes sure we're in tune every day."
And he's also willing to shield his superstar from harm.
