The sworn enemy of the Cleveland Cavaliers is back with another preseason gem. This time, Mike Brown is in the crosshairs of his team-by-team coach grades.
At the top of the list of "C" coaches -- "strictly average" -- is Brown, with the following comment from Rosen:
"Still learning on the job so his offense is predictable. Hampered by lack of defensive players. His misusage of James will sooner or later result in a serious injury."
What a shock. Rosen, the same guy who thinks Frankenstein was pieced together better than the Cavs' roster, thinks that Brown is such a bad manager of LeBron's minutes, he is going to essentially destroy LeBron's career.
(Say, you don't think Rosen wants to see LeBron go down with an injury? Bring him back to the pack a bit, so to speak? Make him -- ahem -- actually work for something? Nah. Rosen isn't that much of a spiteful bastard. Right?)
I have no problem with people pointing out what the Cavs need to do better, in an objective sense. But Rosen is far from objective about the Cavs. For whatever reason, he hates this team. He predicts horrible, franchise-altering maladies for the Cavs at every turn. He apparently wants them to fail. Maybe Danny Ferry or Dan Gilbert stiffed him for an interview once, or maybe he really does despise LeBron James for the fact that he's had so much success, so soon.
But what is known is that he thinks the Cavs would be in better hands if they were run by a blind chimp.
I've never seen a playoff team with so many national antagonists as the Cavs. Geez, after years and years of lousy basketball, you'd think people would be happy to see a downtrodden franchise finally winning, the same way everybody is all warm and fuzzy on the Tigers right now.
But, alas, not for the Cavs. While the national media can't stop drooling over a Bulls team that hasn't won a playoff series since Michael Jordan left, all the Cavs get are folded arms and glares at best, and Rosen's apocalyptic drivel at worst.
Maybe, in this case, it really is us-against-them. It seems the Cavs have no real allies, outside of maybe ESPN's Chris Broussard, in the national media.
2 comments:
I heard a Chris Broussard interview where he was asked if Wade was ahead of LeBron because of the championship, and Broussard just laughed, "Hell no, all that means is Wade's supporting cast is better than LeBrons. You're taking Shaq over Zydrunas. You can't say Wade is better based on that."
I was shocked. Logic.
Then I read Chris Broussard's bio: "Chris Broussard grew up in the Midwest (Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Syracuse, Des Moines and Cleveland) dreaming of being the next great tailback at USC. Instead, he became the next underachieving point guard ("I should have averaged 20'') at Oberlin College. In 1990, he launched his sportswriting career at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Four years later, he started covering the NBA for the Akron Beacon Journal. He spent 2½ seasons as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat writer before going to the New York Times to cover the Nets (two years), the Knicks (three) and then the NBA (one). He joined ESPN The Magazine in September 2004."
He's one of us.
But I think you're right, Rosen hates LeBron cause he's didn't go to college, has a few tatoos and wasn't a all-NBA defender the second he stepped on the floor.
Look, say what you will about Brown (and I have) but he did win 50 games in his first season coaching. And took his team to a second round game 7. I don't know if he's great, but I don't think he's average.
I remember reading Rosen when he was still with Page 2, before the 03 draft. He was all over LeBron. No defense, no jump shot. He said Lebron would be a mediocre player at best.
I guess he's just bitter about being so wrong.
Maybe Rosen went to Toledo.
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