01/14 Afternoon Minute: What Can Brown Do For You?

It looks like we’ll have some time to find the answer.

Amidst rumors of Mike Brown being on the “hot seat” in terms of NBA coaches, owner Dan Gilbert quenched all rumors today as the Plain Dealer is reporting that he has extended the contract of his head coach – with terms not available as of this post.

Yes, he is the winningest coach (in terms of percentage) in team history, but even Brown has to be surprised by this news.

01/11 Second Minute: More On Shannon Brown

Just a heads up as this one may take more than a minute to digest.

As I mentioned below, the Cavaliers’ Shannon Brown being sent to the Developmental League will likely be overlooked by many.  To a lot of the casual fans, he is just some guy who looks a bit like Ira Newble, but he can finish on offense.  To others, he is just that – offense. 

Many of times, Brown looks for the highlight dunk instead of the smart basketball play.  But you’ll have this with a player who has failed to crack the 17 minutes per game mark in this, his second season with the team.  You are looking at a kid who just turned 22 years of age that was once thought to have the upside of Gilbert Arenas.

Obviously, this will never be the case as Arenas has produced more thus far in his career than any pundit – aside from Gilbert, himself – had ever expected.  But what he is is a very athletic swingman with good speed and a physical presence on defense.  But what he also is is a guy that plays the same position as Larry Hughes, a guy who makes considerably more money, but also a guy that was added to the team a year earlier. 

Which poses the question: Why was he drafted?  Just add it to the list called “Danny Ferry’s First Rounders.”

01/11 Morning Minute: Dust Off The Suits…

…The Cleveland Indians have gone corporate. 

In an era where almost every major sports facility is backed by a corporate sponsor, it is not surprising to see the Cleveland Indians do more of the same.  What was known to many as Jacobs Field (or “The Jake”) will now be called Progressive Field – named after the publicly traded insurance company, headquartered just outside of Cleveland. 

While I tend to be more of a traditionalist in this regard, I would be naive to think that this was not going to happen.  I was hoping for something to maintain the Jacobs Field name within, who am I kidding?  Progressive Field, it is.