Dear Mike Brown: Don’t Make This More Complicated Than It Needs To Be

Dear Mike Brown,

↵Last night, while your Cavs were getting shellacked, you may have noticed something in the fourth quarter. Your team went on a run. Closed a 25-point Boston lead to 10. And even though you guys wound up losing, it was hopefully one of those things you coaches like to call “a teaching moment.” For you, Mike. It was a teaching moment for you.

↵We’ve been down this road before, remember? From back on March 1:

↵↵For a few years now, the Cavs have been better when they play small. More fun, more explosive, and just better. The problem this whole time is that Mike Brown, for all his defensive wizardry, almost never goes to small ball unless foul trouble or injuries forces his hand. This doesn’t necessarily make the Cavaliers a bad team, but ... it transforms their offense from what should be a sports car, into a plain-but-perfectly-reliable sedan.

↵Playing small, the matchups get a lot more impossible for Cleveland opponents. They can spread the floor with shooters, put Lebron and JJ Hickson in the high or low posts, and ... just eviscerate defenses.

↵Suddenly, that team goes from a Ford to Ferrari.

↵↵Except... Here you are again, making things harder on yourself. Harder than they need to be. At least with this series. So here’s some free, unsolicited advice.

↵↵1. Sit Shaquille O’Neal. He makes the whole team slower.

↵2. Give Shaq’s minutes to J.J. Hickson and Anderson Varejao. They make the whole team more difficult to guard.

↵↵Against the right mix of players, the Celtics are liable to get run off the floor. And you have the right mix of players. Remember the fourth quarter, when your smaller lineup went on a 20-6 run at one point? Learn your lesson. Don’t make this stuff too complicated. Okay?