Mo Williams

I’ll admit that I’ve been on the Mike Brown hate-parade for some time now. I wondered why he never posted LeBron up, why he insisted that Big Z played back-to-the-basket 90% of the time even though his strength is a 15-18 foot J. But Brown has definitely shut up a lot of his detractors this year, as the Cavs’ offense ranks fourth in points per game in the NBA.

What’s been the biggest difference? As LeBron said after the game, the Cavs aren’t afraid to “attack the clock.” If they can get an early look, they’re going to take it – no matter who has the ball. Instead of waiting for James to get a touch on every possession, the supporting cast is playing far less timidly this year. In fact, on those possessions when the Cavs get a shot off before ten seconds come off the clock, they convert assists less than 50% of the time. Compare that with the Knicks – who assist almost 70% of the buckets that they get in less than ten seconds. That suggests that the Cavs are being productive even when they aren’t running through the offense.

And I think the biggest reason for that is because of how their half-court system has changed. There’s a touch of John Calipari’s attack-and-skip offense from the University of Memphis in what Mike Brown has done. Every single lineup Brown has put on the floor this season has at least two capable three-point shooters on the floor – not counting LeBron. That allows for excellent floor spacing. And Brown has taught his guys to take advantage of that – skipping the ball from one side of the court to the other on a consistent basis. That has been the biggest key to their success.

As we saw last night (though the Knicks aren’t a good gauge for the rest of the League right now), the Cavaliers were ridiculously open at times because of their ball movement. With LeBron’s ability to get in the lane, this offense is designed to use James to make those around him better. And it’s working well enough to make some people forget about the whole idea of posting him up in the first place.