Red Right 88

Brian Shaw may be what the Cavs need

With the Tom Izzo flirtation (thankfully) in the rear view mirror, the Cavs have turned their attention to interviewing actual NBA-caliber coaches.

After talking with former NJ and NO coach Byron Scott, the team is now talking with Laker assistant coach Brian Shaw. Shaw has been on Phil Jackson’s staff for five seasons; he won three titles as a player before retiring in 2003 and taking over as the Lakers’ scouting director.

There’s a lot to like about Shaw, as is evident from this 2006 interview with the LA Times.

First is his coaching philosophy: “I like the triangle offense, but every game that we play, if there’s one or two wrinkles out of (our opponent’s) offense or defensive scheme, I keep a book with all the different ideas that I like. Overall, I like pressure defense, I like an aggressive rotating defense, and I like the ball to move on the offense and for everybody to get a touch and feel like they’re part of the game.”

The Cavs were a defense first team under former coach Mike Brown, so playing an “aggressive rotating defense” should fit well. And the ball moving on offense with everyone getting a touch? Sounds good so far. And don’t forget that LeBron is reportedly “interested” in the triangle offense.

What he’s taken from Jackson: “I like Phil’s brand of doing things. He allows players to figure things out for themselves and challenges you mentally every single day. He’s not going to baby you, so if you’re not mentally tough you’re not going to be able to handle the system. And I like that because it makes you mature and it makes you responsible for your actions out on the floor.”

Letting the players work though their mistakes, with a squad led by LeBron James and his high basketball IQ, would work well at the Q.

On his relationship with Kobe, who can be somewhat difficult to say the least: “We’ve had confrontations many a time. And I think he respects the fact that we want the same thing, but I’m not gonna back down or compromise how I really see things and how I think that they should be. If I think he’s dead wrong, I’m going to tell him. And he’s going to respond because he’s an alpha male and that’s how he is. But I’m not going to sugarcoat anything. I’m going to say what I’m going to say, he’s going to say what he’s going to say. And I think he respects that.”

If Shaw can put up with Kobe, he’ll have no problem working with LeBron, who works so hard to make everyone around him better. Additionally, Shaw played with Shaq in both Orlando and LA, so he knows the what to expect if Shaq returns. Wait, let’s not think about that for now.

It seems, at least on the surface, that Shaw is an ideal candidate for the Cavs vacant coaching position. Of course, this being Cleveland, there are a couple of catches. First, no one knows if Jackson wants to come back next year and coach and, if he does retired, LA would want to consider Shaw for the same reasons that Cleveland does.

The other issue that the Cavs have to seriously consider is that the Jackson coaching tree is, to put it nicely, extremely infertile, as Kurt Rambis is the only former Jackson assistant currently with a team.

There are several potential reasons for that, with the most common one, according to Sports Illustrated, being that Jackson and his teams imbued the triangle with a mythology that has made other front offices hesitant to buy in.

“I think a lot of general managers think that what we run won’t be a good for the personnel that they have and they think that’s all the basketball we know,” Jim Cleamons told SI. “You have to look at upper management. They have to be open-minded to see what we run can produce and does produce winning basketball. But it takes time to learn if your personnel is amenable, and by amenable I mean they have somewhat of a basketball IQ.”

Say what you will about Dan Gilbert, but he’s nothing if not open-minded and willing to go against the norm of the NBA. That willingness to take chances may just pay off if the team does land Shaw as coach.

And if they do, it may just put the team one step closer to that illusive championship. Because if they can’t talk Jackson into coming to Cleveland, maybe his right-hand man would be just as good of a choice.