I have a bet with a friend on the Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers series. I bet him a 12-pack (of Dr. Pepper, of course!!) that Boston will knock Cleveland out of the playoffs. My friend thinks I've been hanging out with Whitney Houston.

One of the main reasons I think the Celtics, who I hate being a Lakers fan, will beat the Cavs in this east semi is Cleveland coach Mike Brown.

Brown became head coach of the Cavs in June 2005 after spending two seasons as the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers and three seasons as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. For the past five years, he's had the pleasure of coaching one of the 15 most physically gifted players in NBA history in LeBron James. Brown has had success, leading the Cavs to the playoffs in each of his five seasons, including taking Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2007 where it was swept by San Antonio in four games.

Brown is most known as a defensive-minded head coach.

He should be known as the absent-minded head coach.

Mike Brown is deserving of his position (he averages 54 wins a season), but there's no way the Cavs will win a title this season - or ever - with Brown at the helm. Too often, Brown has failed to do the things that make good coaches great and great teams champions. He doesn't make good in-game adjustments, doesn't utilize his timeouts correctly and he works a rotation as good as Craig did the first time Smokey passed him a J in "Friday."

Most championship coaches change up their rotation from the regular season to the playoffs. Coaches like Brown seem to believe the same things that work November-April work May-June, too.

Take second-year forward J.J. Hickson for example. Hickson started 73 games for the Cavs during the regular season, played about 21 minutes a night and chipped in with 8.5 points and 4.9 boards a game. Since the playoffs started, it's almost like Brown caught Hickson flirting with his wife because J.J. has barely sniffed the floor. Hickson's minutes have dwindled down to 8.9/game; and he's averaging a ROBUST 13 minutes a game in the east semis.

And has there been an APB put out for Zydrunas Ilguaskas yet? Ilguaskas was dealt to Washington in a mid-season trade that got Cleveland Antawn Jamison. He sat out a month before returning to the Cavs. Although he has bad feet, Z (I'm not trying to spell his last name again), at 7'3," can stretch the floor and runs a pick & pop superbly. For the playoffs, Z averages less than 8 minutes/game and hasn't played since game one of the Boston series.

Cleveland's best unit consists of Mo Williams, James, Jamison, Hickson and Anderson Varejao. The group plays together - but sparingly. It took Brown more than six playoff games to figure this out. When he did, that group was the main catalyst in a 124-95 drubbing of Boston Friday night - that and James 21-point first quarter. One Sunday, when the Cavs scored 37 less points than on Friday night, that unit together on the court - but sparingly.

Brown seems like a nice enough guy, but if I'm Cleveland brass and I wanna keep James, who come July 1, will be the most sought-after free agent in league history, I'm getting a new coach. The James/Brown situation seems similar to what Michael Jordan did following the 1988-89 season in essentially telling Bulls higher ups to oust then-Bulls coach Doug Collins.

Jordan's next coach? Phil Jackson, who the G.O.A.T. won titles with his last six full seasons in Chicago.

The Cavs still have a shot to win this series and the title, but I have my doubts about that (not enough guy's who come up in big spots before, misuse of Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams' playoff inconsistency).

If I'm right, and Boston does go on to bounce Cleveland from the playoffs, I'm splitting that 12-pack with Brown. He'll have earned it.