Hahn's NBA Insider: Cavs' system might drag on LeBron

Mike Brown doesn't have much of an offensive playbook, although "Clear-out for LeBron James" might be the most effective play in the NBA these days. But he seemed to go on the offensive Monday when the Knicks were in Cleveland for the final time this season before July's big free-agency showdown.

"I think that our guys really played the right way," Brown said after his Cavaliers built a 49-point lead before beating the Knicks, 124-93.

The Cavs had a great deal of fun at the Knicks' expense, with King James and his loyal subjects dancing and preening and literally rolling on the floor in laughter with one spectacular fast-break finish after another. Brown let the kids have their fun on this night, but deep down he's a defensive coach who has little use for a game that involves a lot of up and down.

Even with the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, the Cavaliers are running a little more this season, but they still are only 15th in the league in fast-break points (14.1 per game). For the record, the Knicks (who are owned by Cablevision, which also owns Newsday) are 28th at 10.1 per game, but it's pretty clear that Mike D'Antoni hasn't been able to fully engage his "Seven Seconds or Less'' system in New York with a team made up of players whose value was mainly based on when their contracts expired.

LeBron probably would much prefer to play with more freedom (and the rest of the league can only wonder what feats he would perform, considering the amazing things he does in an extremely structured system). In fact, at times he seems frustrated with Brown's lack of imagination with the offense. In New York, James knows D'Antoni waits with basketball emancipation.

That's what likely prompted Brown to send a message through the media to James that also sounded like a shot at D'Antoni (though he also tossed Rick Adelman and Don Nelson in the mix). "Our biggest thing is getting stops," Brown said. "I'm not a huge fan of the old Sacramento, old Dallas, old Phoenix because the success for that formula in the playoffs hasn't been that high. You have got to have a foundation, and our foundation is on the defensive end of the floor."

Brown's intent was simple; it was to remind James that if he truly has championship aspirations, he needs to understand that the fun-and-gun probably isn't going to get him there.

D'Antoni, who guided the Suns to two conference finals that way, begs to differ and wants a chance to prove it. "I'm 100 percent sure the way we want to play will win," he said. "I think we'll win a championship this way. Now, not today, but that's where we want to get to."

Kobe gets over traffic

Consider this while you're sitting in traffic during your commute to work tomorrow morning: Kobe Bryant's mode of transportation from Orange County to downtown Los Angeles to Lakers games are done in the air. A 44-mile drive by car - which at any time of the day can be as maddening and unpredictable as a jaunt of the same distance on the L.I.E. from Smithtown to Manhattan - takes Kobe less than 20 minutes.

Yes, Kobe wins again.

At $23 million a year, he can afford such a luxury. But as outlined in a cover feature in this month's GQ magazine, the 31-year-old Bryant considers it a necessary business expense to spare his battered body.

Just think about how you feel after sitting bumper-to-bumper for a solid hour or more. Hardly ready to take on Shane Battier, that's for sure.

Bryant doesn't have to live in Orange County. He has, however, because of its distance from the madness - and congestion - that is L.A.

Oh, yes, you can expect that to be on the table as the Knicks negotiate with LeBron James. Helicopter? Perhaps they might need to consider a Learjet, which would allow LeBron to continue to live in his beloved Akron, Ohio, while playing in New York.

Caution needed

The good news is that Rodney Stuckey is, according to Pistons strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander, "doing well" and has been released from a Cleveland hospital after he collapsed on the Pistons' bench Friday night during a loss to the Cavaliers. But the Pistons - and the NBA - need to be definitive in their evaluation before they let Stuckey return to the court.

The horrifying scene, which took place on ESPN's national broadcast of the game, occurred 20 years and a day after Hank Gathers' death in a college game for Loyola Marymount. An autopsy found that Gathers suffered from the heart disorder hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Gathers collapsed during a game earlier that season and, after an evaluation, he was prescribed medication and cleared to play.

Stuckey hasn't had a previous episode, but he did miss two games in 2008 after feeling dizzy and lightheaded in the first half of a game.

Skiles scolds rookie Jennings

Brandon Jennings hasn't just hit the rookie wall, he's slammed into it. The emotional Bucks point guard had grown so frustrated with his slumping game that after a 2-for-12, six-turnover performance Wednesday against the Wizards, Jennings said, "I don't even know if I want to shoot the ball."

Scott Skiles, who is a coach of the year candidate for just having the Bucks in playoff contention, didn't want to hear that kind of self-pity. "We're not fond of that kind of statement," Skiles said Friday. "He's too important to our team and our franchise to have any sort of defeatist-type mind-set right now. And he doesn't, really."

Skiles believes it was a "heat of the moment" reaction by Jennings. "We know where his heart lies," he added. "He's a really good person, he's hardworking and he loves the game."

Jennings exploded on the scene in November with a 55-point game against Golden State on Nov. 19 and earned Eastern Conference rookie of the month honors for the first three months of the season. Since then, however, his game has tailed off dramatically. His assist-to-turnover ratio (2.46) ranks 22nd among NBA guards and his shooting percentage (36.5) is among the worst of starting point guards.