Brown's path to Lakers' job started in Mesa

 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/

As the recently cast caretaker of the NBA's wackiest soap opera, Mike Brown already is at the mercy of vigorous scrutiny.

League watchdogs are wondering if the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers has the chops to thrive in this combustible environment. Specifically, they're wondering if he can muster the psychological muscle of Phil Jackson, whose matchup Zen steered the franchise to five championships in 10 years.

But the minefield tucked inside the job description includes Brown's ability to share the same page with twilight-encroaching superstar Kobe Bryant, a player whose ego can push lesser personalities into the margins.

Observers also are wondering if Brown can cajole a collection of disparate egos into embracing the five-players-on-a-string defensive concept that seems to be working so well around the NBA. And is he qualified to rehabilitate the confidence seemingly lost by Pau Gasol in the 2011 playoffs?

Will he preside over an offensive scheme that fits the skills of certain Lakers with the efficiency and attendant mysticism of the triangle? Does he want or need a real point guard and, if so, will the Lakers get him one? Is he capable of formulating a killer three-man rotation co-starring his celebrated post players?

Did LeBron James really coach the Cleveland Cavaliers late in games?

Will Brown inspire sufficient respect from Jack Nicholson?

Do the Lakers have the right man for the job?

"How am I supposed to know that," Tom Bennett said when hit with that last question, "without really knowing their program?"

OK, fair point. While sitting next to Gilbert High School boys varsity coach Jay Caserio last season, Bennett probably didn't spend much time analyzing the inner workings of the Lakers, so when one of his former players and good friends is called to duty in Tinseltown, the Valley coaching legend is taking the pragmatic approach to assessing Brown's future in L.A.

"I know him well," Bennett, who finished with a record of 711-269 in 33 years coaching community college and high school basketball, said of Brown. "He's a class person, a very good person. That's my knowledge of Mike Brown."

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And Mike Brown's knowledge of basketball -- with much of it credited to NBA coaching mentors such as Gregg Popovich, Hank Egan and Rick Carlisle -- includes a great deal of what he learned playing for Bennett at Mesa Community College.

"He was a good player, not a great player," Bennett said of Brown. "But he was a great leader. He had a high-level work ethic and leadership. His involvement with others around him was significant. And he was a strong defender."

Right, the commitment to defense we've seen in Brown's NBA work began long before any enrollment in the San Antonio Spurs' way. Anyone familiar with Bennett's teams at MCC or Gilbert High (the Tigers won the Arizona big-school state championship in 2003) have seen similar dedication to stingy team defense, patient offense and overall hard work from Brown's teams.

In five years coaching James and his supporting cast with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brown posted a record of 272-138 along with one NBA Finals run and two trips to the Eastern Conference finals.

"The thought processes, the attention to detail, the work ethic ... that's what sets him apart from a lot of people," Bennett said of Brown, who played guard for his T-Birds from 1988-90.

Brown went from MCC to the University of San Diego, where he played two seasons for Coach Hank Egan. Shortly after finishing at USD, Brown was employed by the Denver Nuggets as a scout and video coordinator. In 2000, Popovich hired him as an assistant coach in San Antonio, where the Spurs brought home the O'Brien trophy in 2003. Carlisle wooed him to Indiana the following season, and Brown helped steer the Pacers into the 2004 Eastern Conference finals. He was hired as head coach by the Cavaliers in 2005.

Brown's coaching-ladder climb is considerably different from the career arc of Bennett, who churned out players, future coaches and victories from the same part of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

After the '89-'90 MCC squad finished 32-3, Bennett was named National Junior College Athletic Association Coach of the Year. That team secured one of Bennett's five Region I and nine Arizona Community College Athletic Conference titles.

Bennett, whose skill as a player at Southport High and Wabash College led to induction into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, won 20 or more games 15 times at MCC. His son, Randy, is the highly respected head coach of the St. Mary's College Gaels.
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So although his coaching influences are considerable, Brown was exposed to winning and its important variables at an important stage of development.

"At that point, I don't know if he was focused on being a coach," said Bennett, who has spent a couple of post-retirement seasons assisting the Gilbert High program. "I knew that whatever he chose to do, he'd probably be a success in, because he is a hard worker."

Some of Bennett's former assistant coaches have said that their mentor and Brown still talk basketball, but Bennett downplays any current influence he might have on the Lakers' new sideline boss.

"I just know Mike's tremendous," Bennett said. "An outstanding coach and a tremendous person."