And the award goes to.. Lebron's coach

How on earth did Cavs head coach Mike Brown NBA Coach of the Year honors?

Honestly? Pull all-everything league icon Lebron James out of his lineup and he’s got himself a .500 team. Maybe. Cleveland's defense has stepped it up a notch, same with the offense, but neither due to anything radically different from the coaching staff. It's better explained by the evolving, ever-broadening talents of #23. Lebron is bringing a more aggressive nature to his game, and his teammates are dialing up their intensity to keep pace. Plus, LJ is quicker on transition and recovery, encouraging everyone around him to take more chances on the perimiter. As a result, turnovers and transition baskets are up, while the added pressure has helped cool opponents' shooting.

And give an assist to star treatment, which has finally shone down upon the Lake Erie shoreline. It's hard to believe these are the same two teams who played in the 2007 Eastern Conference finals. This year's Cavs-Pistons series more closely resembles '91 Bulls-Pistons--the year the "automatic" whistles started going Michael's way. Friday's game 3 saw one of the worst no-calls on a blatant goaltend that I have seen. It saw Danny Crawford give Rasheed Wallace a T for calling him "an idiot" while sitting on the bench. Lebron carried the ball but the ref defended the deep-throating his whistle with a "it's not walking; he was bobbling it" gesture. And Crawford counted Zydrunas Ilgauskas' last-second shot although the ball was clearly in his hands when the backboard lit up (it was later overturned). The Pistons had 14 team fouls at intermission, and would go to the line just 12 times to Cleveland's 30. Lebron--who finished with 0 fouls--is a smart man, and will take whatever he's given. So he's taken advantage of the star treatment like no one since that other guy in the red #23 jersey. And well he should.

Which brings us to coach Brown. His most important attribute this season is the fact that he's liked by Lebron. And I'm being sincere here. There is absolutely no disharmony on his team. Sure they're all on LB's back, going for the ride. But they all pretty much started at the same time and have all grown together, figuratively and literally. So if the NBA ever has a mock election, he wins "Most Popular Coach in his Class" hands down. But COY? Sorry, Mr. Congeniality. Even with two monstrous Ilgauskas steps in the paint I can't go that far.

Off the top of my head I can think of four coaches--FOUR!--who are equally if not more deserving this season:

• Nate McMillan (Portland was the league’s youngest team and also happened to turn in the biggest one-season turnaround, going from "Playoffs-DNP" to "home-court advantage in round 1".)…

• Jerry Sloan (This guy’s never had less to work with at Utah. Yet this year's 48-win result looks like those of the Stockton-Malone days)…

• Rick Adelman (He got the Houston Rockets to elevate their play for an entire season, even though he rarely had his team intact and injury-free. 53-29? Are you kidding? This is perhaps the greatest coaching feat of all)…

• And Phil Jackson (yes, Phil Jackson. After the 2004 Finals meltdown and Shaq’s departure, everyone thought the Lakers were done. And as strong as last season’s Western Conference champions were, this year’s team plays even better. This may be Jackson’s best coaching performance yet.).

All but one of the above names have proven themselves in years past. This is where Brown's lack of big-game success would seem to be the biggest cause for hesitation. In this rarefied air he's still wearing the proverbial breathe-rite strip.

What if the Cavs get to the Finals and repeat their embarrasing four-and-out 2007 NBA Finals performance against the Western Conference champion? What if they don’t even reach the Finals? They still have to go through Boston. And whether or not the Celtics have Garnett in the lineup, they’re still the defending champs.

The Bulls fired Doug Collins after successive trips to the conference finals. The Pistons let go of Rick Carlisle AND Flip Saunders despite each having just reached the NBA’s final four. Jeff Van Gundy ring a bell? He was dismissed and all he did was bring the Heat within two minutes of the Finals.

To date the biggest games of the Mike Brown era are games 5 & 6 of the 2007 conference finals against Detroit. In the former, LJ scored 29 of the team’s final 30 points; in the latter a steadily depreciating and easily defeatable Pistons squad melted down inside Quicken Loans Arena. If there were a test to prove one’s untestedness, the Cavs wouldn’t have even been there to take it. I hope that’s clear.

Bottom line is, the coach could lose his job at the end of the season. So how can he possibly be named NBA Coach of the Year? If Brown doesn’t keep the Cavs from underperforming in the playoffs for the third year in a row, the club must do whatever is necessary to reach the next level.

If they don’t, you can bet King James will.