NBA Finals 2017: 5 reasons the Cavaliers can repeat as champions

2. Tyronn Lue and his advantage over Mike Brown

I know exactly what you’re thinking. What difference does Mike Brown make? The Warriors are so loaded with talent, that Brown just has the give out high-fives and slap butts and Golden State should be fine.

With the absence of Steve Kerr, due to a back injury that’s been bothering him for over a year now, Mike Brown has stepped into the role of head coach. He hasn’t been challenged much so far, expect for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Even then, it was a Steve Kerr halftime speech that lit a fire underneath Golden State to lead to their comeback.

An ex-head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron’s first stint, Brown has a reputation for flaws in finding the right matchups and lineups and also drawing up plays after timeouts. So far in the playoffs, the Warriors haven’t been in close enough situations for Brown to show his true coaching ability. The talent of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Co. have carried the Dubs to 12-straight wins in the playoffs.

On the other bench, the Cavaliers have the perfect head coach to lead them to an NBA Championship. Why? Because he did it last year against the same team. Lue replaced David Blatt midseason last year and the Cavaliers were a completely different team after. They started to play with more pace and tighten up the defense. Not only that, but LeBron’s been a happier man with Lue.

Lue’s game-planning on the defensive end and ability to adjust lineups and matchups to secure victories separates him from Blatt. He’s able to get through to his players in the right way and that’s allowed for a better locker room in Cleveland.

These will be close games and Lue knows exactly what he wants to run coming out of timeouts and down the stretch, while Brown hasn’t had much real-time experience in doing that himself with this Golden State squad.

If Steve Kerr was still on the bench for Golden State, they might have the slight coaching advantage in this series, due to Kerr’s locker room leadership and scheming. But with Mike Brown at the helm, Lue is light-years ahead of Brown, as Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob would like to say.