Larry is to blame!

[VintageNYK]

Re: Larry is to blame!

Take it from a lifelong Knicks fan: This edition is the sorriest ever. And the reason is Larry Brown.The last Knicks championship was 33 years ago ... 33 -- that was the number of Patrick Ewing's jersey and Cazzie Russell's jersey. That was six presidents ago. In the spring of 1973, the World Trade Center officially opened. The Watergate hearings had just begun. It has been a long time between sips of champagne. This year has made it seem intolerably longer.Before his hiring, Brown was anointed as the Socrates of the sidelines, capable of divining the inner mysteries of 12-man harmony. He said coaching the Knicks was his "dream job" and that former Knicks coach Red Holzman was once his "hero." No rational person expected the 2006 Knicks to play at the divine level of Holzman's 1970 and 1973 championship teams. After all, six Hall of Famers emerged from those two squads.

Full ArticleSelected Portions I thought were good points:

Brown has employed 39 different starting lineups. No one, not even his own players, can divine his kaleidoscopic pattern of lineups and substitutions. If you can figure it out, please get in touch with me for your next assignment: to explain the sound of one-handed clapping.

Well, he has dogged Stephon Marbury, his best player, running him down in the press on a regular basis. The Marbury slamming started at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and continued last August -- just a month after Brown was hired -- when he asserted that Allan Houston was New York's "best player" last year. Oh, really? The same Allan Houston who missed 62 games and averaged 11 points last year was better than Marbury, who played every game and posted 21 points and eight assists a night? Explain that one. Moreover, explain why you would say that aloud.

Larry Brown has attained cult status as a thinking man's coach. He coached the 2004 Pistons to a title. He has made many teams better than he found them. The other side of bettering them is leaving them: He has coached nine ABA and NBA teams in 22 years.

But his handling of Marbury and the rest of the Knicks demonstrates his willingness to scapegoat his players. It seems that Brown believes he is responsible when his teams win, but not when they lose.

It's not on me. It's on Marbury, the guy who leads the team in minutes, scoring, assists and steals -- one of two players in NBA history to average 20 points and eight assists for his career. (Oscar Robertson is the other.)When teams play worse, it's not Brown's fault. He had very similar critiques of the Pistons when he coached in Detroit. For instance: "We have to play a lot harder, we have to be a lot more aggressive, we have to share the ball better, rebound the ball better. I think those are things that you talk about every game, though. I say this over and over again. I write on the board before every game, play hard, play unselfishly, play smart, try to defend and have fun."According to Brown, he wins games but doesn't lose them.

To reinforce his points, Brown criticizes his players relentlessly, both publicly and privately."Never in all my years have I seen a coach run down his best player in the press like Brown," one veteran NBA writer said. "I covered him for six years in Philadelphia and he did it all the time," said another, unsurprised at his antics this year. To get some perspective on the Knicks' disastrous season and Brown's handling of his team, I talked to the player I consider the greatest Knick of all, Walt Frazier, a longtime color commentator for Knicks games. What does Frazier think about Brown's tactic of playing canary to the media? Did Red Holzman settle scores in print? "Red would get in your face," Frazier said, laughing. "But not in the press." Bob McAdoo, now a Miami assistant coach, played for Jack Ramsay on the Buffalo Braves during 1973-76 and for Riley with two Laker title teams in 1982 and 1985. Did either of those coaches upbraid players in the press? "Oh no," McAdoo replied. "Everything was in-house, behind closed doors. The fans never knew the inner workings of the team."Why did those coaches hold their fire in the media? "What good could come out of that?" McAdoo added. "Why attack your top players? They are prideful and they're not going to take an attack from anyone." "Stephon is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't [according to Brown]," said Frazier. "If he scores, he's selfish. If he doesn't, he's not playing up to his potential."They have to get along," Frazier said. "Marbury wants to win. He came up to me on the plane and pointed to my [1973 championship] ring and said, 'I want what you have.' Besides, the guy has skills; he can get to the basket against anyone."

 

[BrewCityBuck]

Re: Larry is to blame!

Brown has been a joke this year, but he has a mess...the starting lineup thing I fail to understand.

 

[LAZY]

Re: Larry is to blame!

Brown ruined himself. He left Pistons...best team in the NBA. Now he's stuck with headace Isiah Thomas. This team would be better off in the NHL

 

[nykfan4life]

Re: Larry is to blame!

stop blaming larry. everyone is to blame. mostly isiah for being just as bad as scott layden.

 

[pistonz4life]

Re: Larry is to blame!

With the calibur team they got. You have to blame either the front office or the coach. They got the talent to be a good team but don't got the chemistry that is held together by a solid coaching staff/or a good front office.

 

[Nemesis]

Re: Larry is to blame!

When you look at it. Q-Rich, Nate Robinson, Eddie Curry, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis. Are you kidding me? Those are some great players. And you are still the worst team in the nba? Come on now.

 

[BuLLzDoMaIn]

Re: Larry is to blame!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nykfan4life @ Apr 5 2006, 06:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>stop blaming larry. everyone is to blame. mostly isiah for being just as bad as scott layden.</div> :worthy: Its not larrys fault. I dont even thing phil jackson can help this team

 

[jkidd51524]

Re: Larry is to blame!

Not even God could help this team :no1:

 

[nykfan4life]

Re: Larry is to blame!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nemesis @ Apr 5 2006, 07:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>When you look at it. Q-Rich, Nate Robinson, Eddie Curry, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis. Are you kidding me? Those are some great players. And you are still the worst team in the nba? Come on now.</div>chemistry is huge and they haven't had it. guys have been tuning out the man in authority.

 

[Heatfan32]

Re: Larry is to blame!

I really hate it when players blame others for there problems.If you have an All-Star team and they don't wanna play,is that the coaches fault or the players?It's obvious the Knicks just haven't had a good season and there is no reason for the coach to be blamed.

 

[mavsfan1000]

Re: Larry is to blame!

Blame Isiah. He has made a poorly constructed team with the players he has brought in. No way any coach could be successful with the players they have now.