Mike Brown’s Biggest Challenge Is Communication
With Steve Kerr‘s extended leave from the bench due to his back pains, the Golden State Warriors will continue to entrust Mike Brown with the head coaching role for the Conference Semi-Finals against the Utah Jazz.
Looks like Mike Brown is getting another chance to be a head coach in the NBA. To make the most of his opportunity, he’s going to need to be able to communicate with his team of superstars.
Last season, Steve Kerr was out for the first half of regular season and was replaced by Luke Walton, who realized a 39-4 record and the team’s all-time best start. This year Kerr was able to coach for the entire regular season, but the exacerbation of his back pain pushed him out again during first round of the playoffs. And Kerr has been replaced on the bench by Mike Brown, the former head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.
The way he coached in Game Three against the Blazers earned him immediate respect and drew congratulations from the players. Draymond Green, one of the leaders of this Warriors team, defined Mike Brown the MVP of the game, explaining some samples.
Steve Kerr echoed those congratulations, explaining how he watched the game from home and how he thought the same things Mike Brown was deciding at the same time.
In any case, the Golden State Warriors are expected to run the same strategy and playbook with Brown that they would under Kerr. The Golden State Warriors will run the offense with Stephen Curry, the defense with Draymond Green as the leader in blocks and the second unit with Andre Iguodala.
There doesn’t seem to be a need to change a group able to manage the gameplan by itself. Instead, it will be interesting to see how these players will replace Steve Kerr’s leadership. In fact, the biggest risk for Brown is in breaking the excellent level of communication the team has enjoyed the last few years.
Up to now, acting head coach Brown has impressed positively, picking up good reviews from veteran players. In fact, at the end of the first round, the players admitted to appreciating the attitude of the acting head coach.
Klay Thompson said Mike Brown looked confident during the conference press in Game Three and Andre Iguodala explained how much he contributed in that game.
Having notched an easy series win over Portland, the situation now is different. The second round, in fact, presents the Utah Jazz as new opponent. The Jazz are a more organized and structured team. What Brown should care for in this case first is the mental approach of his team, moreso than the tactical one.
After Game One with Utah, Mike Brown joked about the credits on the few turnovers allowed (only 24) in the last three games. The rotations are the same, except for David West who is finding more minutes. But in any case, the system has obviously remained the same.
The considerations are different if we consider the communication aspect though. This is an element that should not be underestimated in Kerr’s story with the Warriors because it was important to take the things up a notch over Mark Jackson‘s management of the team.
Even Shaun Livingston, an important veteran on the bench, admitted Kerr as head coach is able to prepare the entire environment before the games “He’s our leader, somebody that we count on.”
During this season, Mike Brown has changed and evolved his personal approach with the players as a coach, especially if we compare the approach he had with players during his years in Los Angeles and Cleveland. That’s why it will be important to find out how Brown will interact with players during the critical times of the game, when adrenaline and tension can bring Green to shouting at his own head coach as has happened in the past to Steve Kerr.
Next: Warriors’ Steve Kerr Faces Physical and Emotional Test
To keep the whole team cohesive, Mike Brown is continuing to involve every member of the staff — just as Steve Kerr used to do ever since he was a player for the San Antonio Spurs. In fact, if Brown was elected as substitute of Steve Kerr in his year over veteran assistants, Ron Adams and Jarron Collins, it is because his previous experience as a head coach, when he brought LeBron James into his first NBA Finals in 2007.
A final against LeBron James would be the most epic end of this basketball saga. Mike Brown and LeBron James facing off again each other ten years removed from those Finals, while the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers playing for the title for the third consecutive year (it would be NBA record), would be high drama indeed. Everything seems to be set.