Some high praise from Larry Brown

[Natebishop3]

I think you misunderstood (or I did a poor job of being clear) I like Batum as the long term answer in a few years when he's not so raw offensively and he's put on a little bit more muscle. I'm totally OK with adding an aged vet who will only be around for 2 or 3 years while some of the youngins mature into their roles.

I wasn't really arguing with you Nik. You said "he wouldn't be the long-term answer" and I was kind of building on that point.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I wasn't really arguing with you Nik. You said "he wouldn't be the long-term answer" and I was kind of building on that point.

Gotcha, no worries.

 

[rocketeer]

Uh, no. Did you see the Knicks under Isiah Thomas?? They were worse than the Knicks under Larry Brown.

33 wins the season before larry brown. 23 wins with larry brown. 33 wins the next season with isiah thomas.

 

[Natebishop3]

Larry has had some pretty good teams and only won one title. The fact that he never won with Indiana was pretty sad. The Pacers were better than the Knicks and they were better than the Magic. They should have gone to the Finals at least once more than they did, and it took Larry Bird to get that team past the ECF.

 

[alex42083]

Nice props from Larry. Good to hear some high-profile coaches throw praise our way and not get bothered so much by that e-mail. 28-17, whoo hoo!

 

[Minstrel]

Larry has had some pretty good teams and only won one title. The fact that he never won with Indiana was pretty sad. The Pacers were better than the Knicks and they were better than the Magic.

I don't think they were better than the Magic or the Knicks. The Magic were much better. Shaq and Penny weren't that far off Shaq and Kobe and they had great complementary pieces in Horace Grant (when he was still close to his prime), Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott. That was a pretty tremendous team. The Knicks are more arguable, but they were structured similarly to the Pacers: One star and a bunch of good players. But Patrick Ewing was a much better player than Reggie Miller.

I really never thought the Pacers were very talented during the Larry Brown years. They broke through in one of the weakest Eastern Conferences ever. A few years later, they had a pretty excellent team, with a prime Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and a declining Reggie Miller. But Brown had moved on by then (and beat them with his Pistons team).

 

[PapaG]

Larry has had some pretty good teams and only won one title. The fact that he never won with Indiana was pretty sad. The Pacers were better than the Knicks and they were better than the Magic. They should have gone to the Finals at least once more than they did, and it took Larry Bird to get that team past the ECF.

To be fair, two of those years were when the Bulls were absolutely dominant.

 

[Boob-No-More]

And, Brown also took a Philadelphia team that was basically Allen Iverson, and an already old Dikembe Mutombo and a bunch of scrubs to the NBA finals. I mean come on that team started George Lynch, Tyrone Hill and Eric Snow - and they made the finals.

Yeah, I know the East was weak that year, but that's nothing new.

BNM

 

[Minstrel]

And, Brown also took a Philadelphia team that was basically Allen Iverson, and an already old Dikembe Mutombo and a bunch of scrubs to the NBA finals. I mean come on that team started George Lynch, Tyrone Hill and Eric Snow - and they made the finals.

Yeah, I know the East was weak that year, but that's nothing new.

They were also the only team to win a game against the Lakers in the playoffs that year.

 

[alex42083]

And, Brown also took a Philadelphia team that was basically Allen Iverson, and an already old Dikembe Mutombo and a bunch of scrubs to the NBA finals. I mean come on that team started George Lynch, Tyrone Hill and Eric Snow - and they made the finals.

Yeah, I know the East was weak that year, but that's nothing new.

BNM

That Game 1 was incredible where Philly took that 1-0 lead I think in the series. AI, being draped all over by Tyonne Lue the entire game, then hits the dagger with a crossover and steps right over him. Sweetness.