- So what took them so long? Mike Brown got the Coach of the Year award in the NBA, formally known as the Red Auerbach Trophy, today in the worst kept secret in post-season awards history. But what took them so long? He’s taken the Cavs to the playoffs in each season he’s been here and they went to The Finals two years ago. There’s paying dues and then there’s ridiculous.

LeBron James came up with a reasonable explanation for that - his presence has handicapped Brown in some respects.   As weird as it sounds, it’s very possible.

I think it was the main reason. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that we still have to go out there and play for him and abide by his system and go out there.  There’s a lot of teams with great talent, but that doesn’t automatically classify you as a good coach or give you wins as a team.

- The Cavs aren’t putting much stock in the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic losses to the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic against the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers respectively, a smart move given the pedigree of those teams.  Although, as I type this the Celtics are in a nip-and-tuck battle with the Bulls at TD Garden.

It’s just one game.  A series is never won in one game, LeBRon James said.

Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said it could turn into a lesson for his team:

It just goes to show you every team and play and if you let your guard down, before you know it you won’t have a homecourt advantage. Or it happens very quickly and then you have a fight on your hands. If anything we should learn from it and keep our focus.

You have to appreciate their ability to keep their eyes on the here and now.  Read below for another example.

Other views:

On ABC Sunday Magic Johnson, the former Los Angeles Lakers legend, said that his former team watched the Cavs 102-84 win over the Detroit Pistons and wanted to one-up them by blowing out the Utah Jazz.  The Lakers ultimately beat the Jazz by 13.  LeBron James wasn’t buying into that notion:

We buy into the fact that we’re keeping an eye on Detroit.  Detroit is our only main focus right now.  It’s a long playoffs and we got to approach Game 2 like it’s our last.

And, yes, Tracy McGrady is around for the playoffs, he’s just not playing for the Houston Rockets- and whether he plays hoops again is up in the air.  But he has no limit to when it comes to opinions about who will win the NBA Championship.  It’s not who he picks, but how he dismisses the Cavaliers in an interview:

It’s no knock on Cleveland, I think Cleveland’s gonna get there… Cleveland to me is really not that good.  If you take what the Celtics did last year… You knew, they were either gonna get to the finals, or they were gonna win it.  You can’t really say the same thing about the Cavaliers.  Although, they had the best record in the league this year, a lot of people like, ‘Okay, they havin’ a great year, but we don’t know if they can win the championship.’  They really didn’t do anything on the road with the elite teams in the league, they lost, they had a bad record when they went to face the elite teams in the league.  I think they’re a good team, but I don’t they’re ready to take the next step.

Ultimately he may be proven right, but the lack of respect for what the Cavs have accomplished this season is interesting for someone who’s never sniffed a second-round playoff game.

If you’ve been following the NBA playoff race at the bottom rung of the Eastern Conference, you’ll notice a small, albeit significant chance to standings. The Chicago Bulls, by virtue of a win last night over the Miami Heat, have inched into the seventh seed.  And Detroit, currently on a three-game losing skid, has slipped into that eighth spot.

And I do not want to see them there for reasons both personal and professional.

Let’s deal with the latter first.  Despite the fact that the Pistons have a losing record at 34-37 and despite the fact that there appears to be a quiet protest going on with Allen Iverson regarding his playing situation , the Pistons will be dangerous for the Cavaliers.  There’s just too much intensity in the rivalry for them not to be.

Nevermind that the situations have changed over the course of just a season with the Cavs running away with the division, they still have Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and, according to reports, Iverson, who always has fun at the Cavs’ expense, will return next Tuesday for the final push.

Yes, there are no guarantees should they play the Bulls given that the Cavs finished their season series against them before they completed trades that brought Brad Miller and John Salmons to the team.  There, however, hasn’t been much of a rivarly there since Michael Jordan frustrated the Cavs years ago.

Detroit?  Different story.

As for why I don’t want to see it?  The Palace at Auburn Hills is a great facility, but it reminds me of the Richfield Coliseum in that it sits almost in the middle of nowhere. 

Secondly, driving I-75 as repairs continue to be made would test the patience of a Bhuddist monk.