Larry Brown's next stop might be Golden State

http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedition...ny-sports-print

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">BY JON HEYMAN
Newsday Staff Writer

May 15, 2006

While the Knicks are taking measures to remove Larry Brown as coach, he probably won't have to head to the unemployment line. Golden State has emerged as a possible landing spot for Brown.

Although speculation has centered on Sacramento, which has an opening for a coach, a person close to Brown told Newsday that Golden State is more likely to be the well-traveled Brown's next employer. The Warriors are owned by Brown's neighbor, Chris Cohan, who resides less than one-tenth of a mile from Brown in East Hampton.

The Knicks seem determined to go ahead with their plan to buy out Brown in any case, but the emergence of a new suitor for Brown could mean the Knicks wouldn't have to swallow the entire $40 million remaining on his contract.

Things appear headed for a repeat of last year's severance scenario, whereby the Pistons bought out about half the $14 million left on Brown's contract. However, Brown and agent Joe Glass are so proficient at this severance game by now, Brown could actually profit after a 23-59 record in his one and only Knicks season.

Top Golden State executive Chris Mullin said April 17 that Mike Montgomery will return as coach after their league-worst 12th straight playoff-less season. But that was before there was any serious indication that Brown's Knicks bosses wanted the Hall of Fame coach out.

Montgomery, the former Stanford coach, had a bumpy adjustment to the pro game.

Newsday reported April 23 that Brown's bosses were so disenchanted with him that they'd already discussed a buyout. The Post reported yesterday that Knicks owner James Dolan gave the go-ahead to replace Brown with Isiah Thomas, and Newsday confirmed that is their current plan.</div>

I woulnd't mind a change of coaching at all, especially if it means bringing in a pro like Larry Brown. I think NY's failures were chemistry issues and obviously Isiah Thomas. Not Brown, IMO. But would Cohan really consider paying Brown a huge contract?

 

Let me think:

Brown = Foyle playing too much, Biedrins not playing, Monta not playing, Diogu not playing, halfcourt offense, focus on defense.

Defensive minded is the only thing that I like in Brown.

 

Yeah I'd want Brown also (maybe), he'd play Foyle way too much. And I absolutely despise that guy. Brown has a much better chance of succeeding here than NY. But I feel Sacramento will get Brown, the Maloof's said they want a defensive minded coach. Who better than the soon to be available Brown. Brown also likes to wind the clock down, which means less fast breaks probably, which Baron is the master of. Brown is 50/50 to me, but I'd take him over Monty.

 

Larry Brown might make the Warriors get more games on network tv and maybe even make them reach the playoffs but not before he alinates everybody on the team. I wouldn't call it a sure bet to hire brown if he is available but I'm rather more wary and cautious of hiring him. Instead of being a sure shot, I feel like its more of a risk. I also feel that Biendrens, Diogu,and monta would suffer and probably have their growth as players stunt.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Duckmyster:</div><div class="quote_post">Larry Brown might make the Warriors get more games on network tv and maybe even make them reach the playoffs but not before he alinates everybody on the team. I wouldn't call it a sure bet to hire brown if he is available but I'm rather more wary and cautious of hiring him. Instead of being a sure shot, I feel like its more of a risk. I also feel that Biendrens, Diogu,and monta would suffer and probably have their growth as players stunt.</div>

Brown was forced to play rookies in NY, lets hope his mindset changed after that. If he gave Nate Robinson minutes, I'm sure he'd love to give Monta minutes. I agree with Run BJM that other coaches would fit better, but Brown wouldn't be a bad choice.

 

After watching Larry Brown this season, I can tell you how badly he’s coached. Isiah is partly to blame for the Knicks, but don’t blame it all on him, Larry is just as much to blame. He’s coached the Knicks horribly and admitted it, too.

We set an NBA record for different starting lineups in a season and had all types of chemistry issues because of him. Personally, I feel as if the game has passed by Larry Brown and he should just call it quits.

If Brown was with Golden State I’m sure he will run it into the ground as well. Don’t expect any of the younger players to get minutes, and expect old, washed up players to get most of them. I can just see Brown letting Foyle play 35+ minutes a game. I can also see some friction between him and Baron Davis.

Too many times people deny the facts and use Brown’s résumé to justify some of his illadvised coaching decisions. It’s kind of like how he poorly utilized Team USA’s potential. He kept LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amaré Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony glued to the bench most of the time.

So no, I don’t think Brown would be a good fit in Golden State. I think you’re better off keeping Mike Montgomery over him.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AnimeFANatic:</div><div class="quote_post">Brown was forced to play rookies in NY, lets hope his mindset changed after that. If he gave Nate Robinson minutes, I'm sure he'd love to give Monta minutes. I agree with Run BJM that other coaches would fit better, but Brown wouldn't be a bad choice.</div>
He really had no choice, especially when Marbury and Francis were both injured. He also barely played David Lee and should have played Frye some more minutes, too. Our guys were seniors and juniors, but Monta came out of high school. I don't know if he will be logging any major minutes under Brown.

 

Thx. Mr. J. BTW do you kind of agree in a way that Montgomery and Larry Brown play similar styles with regards to not putting pressure on the rookie players right away? I think they do a lot of things that frustrate fans such as not playing Monta Ellis or not playing double/double potential guy like David Lee or relying on veterans. They both have a thinking about the game few fans understand, relate, or see right away. I think with any coach, if you give them the right players to succeed and enough bench depth to get by with minor injuries, they'll win. The problem is guys like Chris Mullin and Isiah Thomas set their coaches up to fail by making too many moves or not making the right moves to fit a proper/balanced team design. Now I think whatever style these guys choose to play, it must be the kind of play that can adust to whatever the opposing team is throwing at them. Like for instance, if a team can't win in the halfcourt, try running a fastbreak by leaking out and play 3/4's of the court pressure. If we can't win in the running game, slow it down and get some good plays so you take the tempo away from the opposing team. Both the Knicks and the Warriors do not have a good style where they can control the tempo because in the running or halfcourt game they cannot control the defensive end of the floor or they don't run fastbreaks well. Also, both teams have few real go-to guys in the 4th. If we thought Jrich/Baron was a go-to guy how come they can't shoot free throws? It's possible to win without a true go-to guy if we can run some plays and execute so that the other team has to constantly be reacting and is out of position to guard the guy who has a chance to score. The guy shooting the ball has an easier time than shooting it contested because he's got help from his teammates moving off the ball. But nope... too much standing around on offense and taking bad shots or not playing enough defense... This team has crap defensive players and it's why they need to play some good help D.... but they can't even do that. The only time we ever played smothering D (but shot really poorly) was when we had Baron and Murphy injured. We had a string of games where Dunleavy, Richardson, Fisher played great D outisde and Foyle/Diogu/Biedrins we're making it tough for players inside. Even Dunleavy at power forward was making guys fearful of getting a charge.

I guess the difference is that Mr. J, you think Larry Brown coached badly the same way that fans perceive that Montgomery coached badly, but I think both coaches are good coaches but they just have crap teams and other internal issues we probably don't know about. The press doesn't tell us everything the coaches are trying to do in a game or give us an accurate picture at times of what the problem is. I think both teams don't have the ideal perimeter and interior help on offense and defense and they've got role problems since Marbury isn't a true point guard and neither is Francis and Curry, Crawford have some big flaws.

Here's what I would like to see:

A good vet coach like Larry Brown that will properly "vet" Mike Montgomery so when Larry Brown retires, we can still keep a good coach prospect. I still have faith in the head coach Montgomery, but very poor faith in our roster which does not have a good inside-outside game yet or any kind of good individual defense or team chemistry, but I think he can succeed if this all changes. The biggest thing we need is defense though... Help defense in the NBA can only get you so far because it requires a lot of people to react and compensate for the rest of the team's shortcomings... We just can't defend dribble penetration because nobody can react fast enough and there's nobody inside that makes people fearful of taking it inside. So I just hope we can trade whoever is going to be a below average all-around defender. I think that definitely includes Murphy and not Jason Richardson. Jrich at least averages more blocks at the hoop and is willing to commit a foul to save a layup even though he is the team's go-to scorer. The more guys we have that intimidate and play physical, the more teams are willing to settle for jump shots. The more teams are willing to settle for jump shots, the easier it will be to control the %'s the other team is shooting at as long as we're not giving up open jump shots.

 

Allen Iverson called Larry Brown the best coach in basketball after Larry Brown left. That is saying something.

What Larry Brown may do with Ike, Monta, and Taft doesn't concern me too much. What he will do for this team's core; Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy does concern me though. I believe he can do a good job here in Oakland. He had an interesting relationship with Allen Iverson but they ended up being successful, and he got along with Rasheed OK. Larry Brown is the coach Baron Davis needs in his career. And once Baron is ticking, and once there is a system working, this team is going to be good and the rest will follow.

Also if Larry Brown is focused about defense then players like Monta, Mickael, and Andris will definitley get some good PT. And if he goes to the bench, who else is he going to choose? I don't believe Calbert is going to be around next year. I suppose Fisher may play several minutes, but I believe the team would have an identity and a system that will be more forced to be followed than what the team had last year, which would mean better basketball movement and plays.

I would really be interested in what Larry Brown can do for Monta Ellis who has been compared to Allen Iverson and Mickael Pietrus who is a tough defender with some great potential.

But over the last couple of weeks I have heard that Larry Brown would be a bad fit for the Warriors and that Rick Adleman would be a bad fit for the Warriors. So my question is, who would be a good fit for the Warriors? A guy like Avery Johnson, Terry Porter, Byron Scott, or Mario Elie? Or who?

 

I actually wouldn't mind seeing Mario Ellie as head coach, he loves Monta.

 

Life isn't that sweet gentlemen. Brown isn't coming here.

 

Didnt Larry say that NY would be his last coaching job? due to his health problems or what ever it was.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NTC187:</div><div class="quote_post">Didnt Larry say that NY would be his last coaching job? due to his health problems or what ever it was.</div>

He said that after Detroit too. I think he even said that after Philly.

Wait, Jordan said that after Chicago...

oh yeah and Phil Jackson said that after his last stint with LA

 

My kneejerk reaction when I heard Golden State mentioned as a possible next job for Brown was to welcome him with open arms. He's truely one of the brightest minds in basketball.

But that lasted about two minutes. Then I thought...

...wait, every team Brown has had success on was a veteran, defensive team. The Warriors are a young, offensive team. It's well known that Brown does not like to play rookies or second year players. And, when he does, he only does if they are defensive minded players such as Tayshaun Prince. Brown simply is not a good fit for this roster.

Brown is absolutely responsible for delaying/preventing the development of a lot of talented young players, such as Larry Hughes and Darko Milicic. Why on earth would you want him to come in and not develop Ellis (who seems to be the latest in the long list of "next big things" according to Warrior fans), Diogu, Biedrins, Taft, and whoever the Warriors draft this year?!?

I thought you guys hated Foyle and Fisher? Guess what, if Brown becomes the coach, guess who is going to get a lot of minutes...

Now, if you know me, then you know I'm a big fan of stability and team chemistry. You can be sure that if Brown were to become the coach, he'd want to get "Larry Brown" players in here. Now if that means trading Baron, Murphy, and this year's pick for KG and filler ("cough* Marko Jaric *cough*), great. But most likely its going to mean dusting off George Lynch and trading Pietrus for Lindsay Hunter. Then we can all watch as the rebuilding process starts again for the eight time in the past 10 years (Carlisimo gets two because of the Spreewell incident).

Now I'd personally like to give Montgomery one or two more years, but that's a topic for another thread. If there were a coaching change, I'd prefer Adelman to Brown. The Warriors roster is built more like an Adelman team, which is young, athletic, and offensive-minded. But since Mullin played for Adelman from '95 to '97, I'm sure he's got a good idea about whether Adelman would be a good fit for this roster.

 

Adleman benched Timmy and Mully for Armstrong and Kersey. He's consistently underacheieved (those Trailblazer teams were stacked.... he had Uncle Cliffy, Drazen Petrovic and Robert pack coming off the bench and he choked). Remember that they were up 2 games on the road and managed to blow that finals series. He had a stacked team in Sacramento and managed to choke year after year (and don't give me that Robert Horry luck crap.. they would've choked later too). He's a decent coach that never will win it all. I hate him more than any other coach in this league for his brilliant substituting paterns (sarcasm) and constant crying.

Larry Brown demands respect from his players. This roster is loaded with character guys that work hard. Brown leans hard on guys that have no work ethic. I think he'd be a great fit. As for Monty... if Brown's not available, I think he'll be ok. I wouldn't want to have the guys have to learn the roster all over again. If Mullin felt the need to can Monty and can't get Brown, then I'd prefer the next coach to be Smart or Elie, someone who is familiar with the roster already.

 

Why would Larry Brown leave a team where Marbury is the star and go to a team where Baron Davis is the star? Coaching in GS would be just as frustrating, Davis is Marbury with a couple extra pounds and a worse pg%. The only difference is that the Warriors have more veterans that would be willing to listen.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting wtwalker77:</div><div class="quote_post">My kneejerk reaction when I heard Golden State mentioned as a possible next job for Brown was to welcome him with open arms. He's truely one of the brightest minds in basketball.

But that lasted about two minutes. Then I thought...

...wait, every team Brown has had success on was a veteran, defensive team. The Warriors are a young, offensive team. It's well known that Brown does not like to play rookies or second year players. And, when he does, he only does if they are defensive minded players such as Tayshaun Prince. Brown simply is not a good fit for this roster.

Brown is absolutely responsible for delaying/preventing the development of a lot of talented young players, such as Larry Hughes and Darko Milicic. Why on earth would you want him to come in and not develop Ellis (who seems to be the latest in the long list of "next big things" according to Warrior fans), Diogu, Biedrins, Taft, and whoever the Warriors draft this year?!?

I thought you guys hated Foyle and Fisher? Guess what, if Brown becomes the coach, guess who is going to get a lot of minutes...

Now, if you know me, then you know I'm a big fan of stability and team chemistry. You can be sure that if Brown were to become the coach, he'd want to get "Larry Brown" players in here. Now if that means trading Baron, Murphy, and this year's pick for KG and filler ("cough* Marko Jaric *cough*), great. But most likely its going to mean dusting off George Lynch and trading Pietrus for Lindsay Hunter. Then we can all watch as the rebuilding process starts again for the eight time in the past 10 years (Carlisimo gets two because of the Spreewell incident).

Now I'd personally like to give Montgomery one or two more years, but that's a topic for another thread. If there were a coaching change, I'd prefer Adelman to Brown. The Warriors roster is built more like an Adelman team, which is young, athletic, and offensive-minded. But since Mullin played for Adelman from '95 to '97, I'm sure he's got a good idea about whether Adelman would be a good fit for this roster.</div>


ugh. Montgomery's had 2 years and there isn't a stable offensive structure. This team was built in the mold of run TMC and the only thing I see is chucking up any open shot and no defense. It's not going to happen. Musselmen sucked and got something coherent in 50 games. Monty is starting year 3 and there's still nothing.

Brown constructs a team with his "star" and his "roleplayers". Outside of Biedrins & Ellis, nobody plays their roles. Murphy thinks he's a star, Jason shoots three's in transition thinking he's in NBA Jam, Foyle laid the biggest egg all year and still thinks he's a starter, Ike doesn't play D, Dunleavy is complaining about Baron while putting up 11 points for the year after signing a huge extension. When the entire team sucks....you can only blame the coach...Michael Montgomery.

If we dump some prospects, then so be it. This plan of internal development hasn't gotten us anywhere. If we dump some of our prospects, it's not going to kill us to get a few roleplayers.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Why would Larry Brown leave a team where Marbury is the star and go to a team where Baron Davis is the star?</div>


I don't know, maybe because Davis was 2nd in the league in assists/game on a team with no true shooters?