Mike Brown has much work cut out for himself

The pressure is great for the first-year coach to take the team to the postseason.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Stalking the sideline during the Cavaliers' first home exhibition game, Mike Brown suddenly realized everything he was yelling could be heard by media members sitting courtside.
"I guess I'd better be careful," Cleveland's first-year coach said with a smile.
This rookie learns fast. He had better.
Because of all the off-season acquisitions made by the Cavaliers to ensure they'll never miss the NBA playoffs again with LeBron James, the one who will come under the most scrutiny is the 35-year-old Brown.
Meager first salary
A highly regarded assistant who began his pro career making $15,000 a year for the Denver Nuggets in 1992, Brown enters this season with zero head coaching experience.
Brown was an associate head coach for two seasons with the Indiana Pacers, serving as Rick Carlisle's top aide, and he twice coached San Antonio's summer league team a few years back.
But the Cavaliers are all Brown's, and his first gig as the man in charge will be to take a team featuring one of the game's top talents and a roster of proven players to the postseason -- and perhaps beyond.
"He's going to do great," Carlisle said. "They're going to be much improved. He's going to be a guy that's going to be one of the guys people are talking about as one of the hot new coaches. They've got a good thing going there, because they made the right moves over the summer and they hired the right coach."
Brown will make his NBA head coaching debut tonight as the Cavaliers open the 2005-06 season at newly named Quicken Loans Arena against New Orleans.
The Cavaliers would like nothing more than to get Brown, the league's second youngest coach behind New Jersey's Lawrence Frank, his first win.
How he's perceived
"We've got that in mind," James said. "We know he has a lot of pressure on him being a rookie head coach. But we don't look at him as being a rookie coach. He seems like he's been doing it forever. He hasn't showed us any nervousness, but I know he will be before the game."
Brown, who expects "a ton" of family members to attend the opener, said the butterflies haven't arrived yet.
"I'm not nervous," he said. "I don't know why, but I'm not."
Having a player like James on his roster helps, and it doesn't hurt to have an owner willing to invest $150 million on free agents, either.
Brown knows he has inherited a treasure trove in his first job.
"I've been handed a lot of things," he said. "When I do step back and look at it, it's not to say, 'Oh, gosh, I've got a lot of pressure on me.' I say, 'Wow, what a lucky guy I am.' "
Brown wasn't the highest-profile candidate being mentioned last June when Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert began his coaching search. He wasn't even the best known Brown, as Larry Brown was once thought to be Cleveland bound.
His reputation
But in NBA circles, Mike Brown had already made a name for himself as a hardworking, defensive-minded assistant coach who had a good rapport with players.
"He's a players' coach," Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal said. "He demands respect from his team, but he's not going to over-coach. He's going to put out a game plan, and he wants guys to follow that. If you don't like a Mike Brown, then you're really an uncoachable player."
So far, the Cavaliers, who barely missed the playoffs last season, have embraced their coach's defense-first philosophy. They have no choice, really.
To play for Brown, you have to be able to guard someone.
"If you've been to a Mike Brown practice," James said, "it is all about defense."