Mo and The King Help Cavs Outscore Kings 117-110

I just watched Mike Brown's post-game press conference.  Needless to say Brown, known for his attention to detail and the pride he takes in defensive effort was not happy.  Disgusted might be a better term.  The Cavs allowed the Sacramento Kings, the same Kings who had 10 wins all year, the same Kings team that is winless against the Eastern Conference, to score at will.

Brown was not pleased...

"It's a win, we try to take wins, errr, we take wins any way we get them.  You have to give Sacramento credit, they know how to score the basketball. 

But.......

Starting with me, and we'll start with me, we didn't bring it defensively.  110 points and 50%, and the way we went about playing on that end of the floor is not Cavs basketball.   From that standpoint I am a little concerned."

That is why I love Mike Brown.  As the game was winding down I was thinking just how great of a win this would be.  The Cavs win, yet Brown was going to have a reason to chap the ass of the players over the next 24 hours. 

Perhaps thegreatest response by Brown was a simple one word answer to a question asked by some ESPN850 intern, who apparently has no idea what Mike Brown is looking for.

Dumb Reporter -- "You out-rebounded the Kings by a 2-1 ratio tonight.  Despite not giving the defensive effort you have to feel good about the effort on the glass"

Smart Coach Brown -- "Ok.....ok.....ok"

Love it.

Mike Brown sees what is happening with his basketball team without Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  The team is getting back to its bad habits of last year.  Shoot early in the shot clock, settle for perimeter jumpers and run up and down the floor.  They are also giving little effort on defense.  Tonight was especially troubling because the Kings were able to shoot 50%+ even though they are a perimeter team.  The Cavs failed to close on the 3-point line.  That won't get it done on Thrusday Night, and could get the Cavaliers embarrassed.

Now, for the good.  LeBron with the quietest Triple-Double you'll ever see -- 23-15-10 -- sick, just sick.  The star of the night, offensively anyway, was Mo Williams.  43 points, a career high, 8 rebounds and 11 assists.  All that production, yet Williams was only a +5.  That is a problem.

Like Coach Brown, I will give the Kings alot of credit.  It was like the Kings players were auditioning for Danny Ferry in hopes Ferry will trade for them.  They played hard from start to finish and hit shots all night. 

IN the end, it is Mike Brown's job to be critical.  Not us fans.  This is a win, the 35th for the Cavs in 43 games, and that is what is really important.  Time to get ready for the next challenge, a showdown in Orlando with the 34-10 Orlando Magic.