Before the Orlando Magic face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, I was able to speak briefly with Cavs head coach Mike Brown amongst the media. Here's what he had to say:
What improvements have you seen from your team from the beginning of the season to where you are now, at this post?
Well, the biggest thing is that I've simplified stuff for my group. I think in this game, the simpler you are, the better. Less is more and so I've helped in that area. I've also helped, a little bit, by having a better feel for the guys rotation-wise so because of that, it has put the guys in ease more on the floor and then on the floor, it's a daily growth with LeBron playing with Shaq, Mo [Williams] playing with Shaq and LeBron, Z coming off the bench, Andy [Varejao] coming off the bench, and it's just a learning process I think every day. The more we play, the better we will become.
Defensively, we've improved since the beginning of the season. Hopefully that will continue and like I said offensively, just the familiarity of being out there with the different combinations, we'll improve on that end of the floor.
What type of intangibles has Shaq brought to the team, aside from his play on the court?
He's a locker-room presence. He's been great for myself, he's been great for our young guys, he's been great for the team. We can learn a lot from his experiences that he can pass on to all of us, which are valuable, and he's also a funny presence, too.