When it comes to the Knicks, I have always been the irrevocable optimist. I put a positive spin on every transaction no matter how senseless it might have been in reality, I remind myself of the on-court chemistry in a positive two minute stretch of a blowout loss, and I find possible reasons why the team might be better in the future. At this point at the end of this frustrating season Ifind myself all out of positive spin. Save for a few late season Jamal Crawford buzzer beaters, this Knicks team looked like it would have set the franchise mark in futility, but unlike the dark years of the mid-80s, there isn?t a twenty year old Patrick Ewing waiting in the wings.The Knicks? rebuilding process has taken a giant step backwards this season. If I had glimpsed into the future this past summer and seen the team?s record at 23-59, I would have been shocked. Hell, after the six-game win streak in January that had all of New York thinking first-round upset, I didn?t think it was fathomable that the team would plunge so deeply thereafter.It?s a little pathetic that I am longing for the good old days of January 2006, where Stephon Marbury was ?Starbury,? Eddy Curry was ?Baby Shaq,? Jamal Crawford was a Sixth Man of the Year Candidate, and Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, and David Lee made Isiah Thomas look like the Billy Beane of the NBA draft. I find myself asking why that six game stretch was so different from the rest of the season? I have to believe it?s that Larry Brown was finally playing a set rotation, and it was the right players! Here lies the real shame of this wasted season, that I genuinely think it could have been avoided. I can tolerate the losing; after all this was the fifth straight year with a losing record, but I cannot stand the obvious detrimental coaching decisions that ?legendary? coach Larry Brown has made since day one.This past off-season I believed Larry Brown was the best thing that could have happened to a young talented Knick team that just needed to find an identity. Instead Larry Brown has given this team Multiple Personality Disorder with the games he has been playing all season. He initially stated that the first twenty games would be a test run of lineup experimentations and unusual rotations. While it pained me to watch players like Matt Barnes and Malik Rose take time away from others younger, athletic, and talented rode the bench, I reasoned that Brown would eventually settle on a lineup and make a push for the playoffs. A record setting forty-two starting lineups later, I am amazed at how poor of a coaching job Brown has done. He has started players in their hometowns like a middle-school ?B? team, benched players who showed heart and energy in favor of overpaid veterans, and embarrassed himself with his constant whining to the media. At this point Brown has me questioning his ?thirty year career? which he so proudly decided to compare to Stephon Marbury?s, igniting an embarrassing media feud.I don?t want to come across as another fan/writer who thinks he knows so much more than the coach, but is it really even questionable whether Channing Frye should have been playing over Mo Taylor all season? That David Lee should have been playing over Malik Rose? That Jerome James never should have taken off his warm-ups this year? Several times this season Brown has claimed that he would finally settle on a rotation, or that he would start playing the younger players more minutes, but then the next game eleven out of twelve players will see playing time before the end of the first quarter.I distinctly remember ESPN analyst Greg Anthony describing Isiah?s signing of Larry Brown being good for ten more wins. This season he has single-handedly LOST over ten games; one example being the third game of the season. After the Knicks started 0-2, they found themselves down double digits to the Golden State Warriors at home when Brown inserted the ?youngins? into the game; Trevor Ariza, Channing Frye, David Lee, Jamal Crawford, and Nate Robinson. This energetic and passionate squad erased the deficit and had Madison Square Garden rocking. After a time out late in the fourth quarter, Brown pulled the team and reinserted among others, Antonio Davis and Malik Rose, as the Knicks squandered the lead and lost 83-81. After the game Brown said ''It's going to take some time. We're trying to figure out who can play and who can help us.'' One would have hoped that game provided some serious evidence.I understand the reluctance of an experienced coach to bench his veterans in favor of rookies, but as the season bore on and the Knicks? playoff chances diminished, wouldn?t it have been beneficial to their development had they been playing more? Channing Frye surprised everyone in the league with his play the first few months of the season, but his play since then has ushered in references to the ?rookie wall.? Frye didn?t hit any wall other than Larry Brown, who relegated the star rookie to less than twenty minutes a game. David Lee went from a starter during the celebrated win streak to the inactive list for no apparent reason. Wasn?t he a ?Larry Brown guy? who hustled for rebounds and played tough defense? The same could be said for Nate Robinson, and Trevor Ariza, who Brown pushed out the door, getting rid of one of the only true role-players on the roster.If I sound confused when describing some of the general trends of the season, it is because there seems to be no common sense or logic behind them. Brown?s constant altering of the rotation, his random assignments to the inactive list, barrage of insults towards his players in the media, and preaches for specific players to be brought in have destroyed all morale in the locker room. I almost feel proud of the Knicks players when they show emotion on the court, or when the camera flashes to the bench players (whoever they might be that game) pumping their fists after one of their teammates makes a good play. Lucky for the players, and thank god for the fans, this season is over and most likely many of them will be shipped out, away from Brown?s mind games.http://realgm.com/src_twoplusthefoul/105/2...rown_do_for_us/Perhaps next year Brown will have players he can actually work with. Perhaps he will come out of training camp with a rotation of seven or eight that he will stick with for a season. Perhaps I just found a little more of that optimistic spin.
He helped us (the Pistons) improve as a team before he left and I think he will help the Knicks along the line, but with players like Stephon not willing to give 100% to his coaching style, you have to expect it to be hard for Larry to do his full amount of teaching.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pistonfan11 @ May 12 2006, 06:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He helped us (the Pistons) improve as a team before he left and I think he will help the Knicks along the line, but with players like Stephon not willing to give 100% to his coaching style, you have to expect it to be hard for Larry to do his full amount of teaching.</div>I agree. Brown needs players who will buy into his system (preferrably veteran players), and the Knicks definitely do not have that. The only players I think that would buy into his coaching style are Channing Frye and David Lee, but they are young guys... and we all know how Brown feels about playing young players.Brown likes to bring in players that he feels fit his system. Look at what he did in Philadelphia. He traded everybody that he inherited except Allen Iverson, and brought in scrappy players who fit his system to play around him (Coleman was brought back towards the end of his career). What makes that so hard to do in New York is Isiah Thomas. In Philadelphia, Brown was the GM, despite what anybody thinks. The Knicks roster, contracts, etc., are hindering Brown and Thomas from building Brown's ideal roster, so he has to make do with what he had last season.Now, it is tough to coach a ballclub when the majority of the players, especially your "leader" (Marbury), don't buy into the system. OK Stephon, you want to be Starbury? You want to "do it your way" because doing it Brown's way didn't work? What have you done in your career? Never made it out of the first round? Been a cancer on pretty much every team you have ever been on? Yeah... I guess you know more better than the Hall of Fame coach who has won a ring in both college and the NBA, right? You know more than the coach who is responsible for guiding Allen Iverson, a player who was looked at in a similar way as you are currently looked at, to being one of the greatest, if not the greatest, little men in NBA history? A coach who helped mold Chauncey Billups into one of the top point guards in the league, right? Yeah... right. The only way you help a team Stephon is by leaving them. Look what happened when Marbury declared in 2005 that he was the best point guard in the league. THAT is when the Knicks began losing.Which brings me to another point. I found it quite amusing when Marbury told Brown he wanted to be used like LB used Iverson in Philadelphia... and I found Brown's response even more hilarious, but 100% correct... "you are nowhere near Allen's league." Iverson, despite all the negative aspects (i.e. missing practice, showing up late and/or hung over from the night before, etc.), gave 150% on the court, always played with heart and effort, and never let his teammates down when gametime rolled around. Hell, he even reached out to coach Brown and made an effort to change the things that Brown had problems with... and look what happened that season. Brown and Iverson led the Sixers back to the NBA Finals for the first time in 18 years, and they would have won a ring if they had faced anybody other than the Lakers that season.If Marbury knew what was good for him and his career, he would stop this crap and listen to Brown, and do it his way. Playing like Starbury didn't help your team win... EVER.I'm sorry, but all these people blaming Larry Brown for the Knicks' woes are sadly mistaken, and yet the majority of them are the same people who cry foul when coaches are blamed for a team's lack of success instead of the players.Larry Brown is one of the greatest coaches in the history of BASKETBALL, not just the NBA. Will he be able to turn this franchise around? Only if Isiah Thomas actually helps him by doing what he needs to do to get the right players. I always hated Brown when he coached the Sixers, but it wasn't till he left Philadelphia that I realized what he brought to the team, and appreciated his true genius.
damn nice post.In the long run, Browns sucess will depend on what Starbury, Stevie, Jamal..It'll depend on if they all give 100% to the team. If they're being jerks and not listening to Larry then I see no improvement for this team. Its not his fault that hes stuck with 6 ball hog Guards.
Wow, I can't agree anymore.It's amazing how awful Brown has done this year, he's done the worst coaching job in the NBA by FAR.Supposedly the Knicks were going to be pushing for the playoffs? And instead of Brown being villified, Isiah Thomas gets the blame.Sure, Jerome James was a bad signing and Nazr for Malik was a bad deal and getting Francis was not good for our future, but he's drafted Channing Frye who will be a starter for years, David Lee who should start and is one of the best rebounders in the league already for a PF, and Nate Robinson who can become a starter because of his great penetrating ability and defensive ability.Isiah has been a genius in the draft and when he saw a chance to get Curry for our #1 pick this year (Thinking we woud be good) it looked like a great deal with Sweetney as a throw in. Now, our pick would be on a guy like Aldridge who is worse than Eddy "#2 In the NBA in FG%" Curry...which was a GREAT move. Brown has been indecisive, but the team chemistry and egos have not helped him out at all, but Larry Brown needs to adapt to our team because we are not the Pistons.Stephon Marbury should have been benched for the year after he spoke out about Larry Brown and Nate Robinson should have started.I think the Knicks within 3 years will become a much better defensive team as Browns genius has affected Quentin "I Dont Play Defense" Richardson and turned him into the best defender on the Knicks (not saying much, but he really is good). Our permanent lineup for next year should bePG: Nate Robinson (Marbury -Trade ASAP) SG: Jamal Crawford (Francis -Trade ASAP) SF: Quentin Richardson (Rose -Trade ASAP)(Ime Udoka/Qyntel Woods?)PF: Channing Frye (David Lee)(Malik Rose - Trade)(Mo Taylor)C: Eddy Curry (Jackie Butler) (Jerome James - Trade Away)Our problem is that we have a ton of underachievers and career losers and overpaid players that find a way on the court.If we had that lineup all the time we would be a great team, but Marbury brings the team down, Francis brings the team down, Rose is overpaid, Malik Rose is a bad player, Jerome James is a bad player...I can see why Isiah brought in James, after his playoff performance. Remember last time someone was released after a great playoff performance? Yeah..Steve Nash it was. (Yoda I am..)
I think you hit one of the big issues right on the head... or atleast I interpreted it that way from your post. A lot of Knicks fans expected the Knicks to be contending for the playoffs right away this season, but a lot of people, including myself, who followed Brown and knows his history in turning around franchises knew that it would take atleast two to three years before Brown has the impact people are expecting.Patience... that is what the Knicks need (along with moving some of their players). You can't win overnight... it takes time.
great post. everything said in that article is true. the rookies brought the knicks back into several games. brown is a great coach but he may have hit the end of the road as a coach right now. this whole season was not the way brown usually coaches. i never heard of a coach with that many rotations. hopefully things will work out next season.
Knicks need to trade Stephon Marbury, before he becomes "Starbury" again. Larry Brown needs to work with Steve Francis, Steve Francis was good but I think if Jamal Crawford is good as a 6th man, and also Eddy Curry is good because he is young and has a good future but he needs to get better at ball handling. He is a solid scorer but is a terrible finisher.
