Larry guarded on point position

BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Larry Brown would be worry-free on the point guard front if Isiah Thomas and Phil Ford were just 20 years younger. The experience and trust Brown's craves at that most vital of positions can be found in the Knicks' front office and on Brown's coaching staff.

As for the current roster, Brown is not as confident. In fact, the coach wouldn't even commit to publicly naming Stephon Marbury as his starting point guard, which sounds less like a budding controversy and more like Brown having fun at the media's expense.

Marbury, for better or worse, is still the Knicks' best player as well as their only accomplished point guard. But it long has been rumored that Brown would prefer to acquire a veteran point and move Marbury to shooting guard.

Brown admitted yesterday that at the very least he would feel more confident if the Knicks added a veteran to back up Marbury, which is a nice way of saying that Jamal Crawford and rookie Nate Robinson better serve the Knicks as shooters for the time being.

"I don't know, we'll see," Brown said at the Tarrytown practice facility when asked about acquiring a true playmaker. "It wouldn't hurt to have another more experienced guard back there."

Crawford has point guard skills but a gunner's mentality. He and Brown have worked on decision-making and thus far Crawford has demonstrated the ability to pass first, chuck second. In six preseason games, Crawford has 24 assists and 17 turnovers compared to Marbury's 17 and 16 and Robinson's 18 and 17.

"I feel comfortable playing point guard," Crawford says.

Robinson is a scorer trapped in an undersized point guard body. The first-round pick from Washington averaged 16.4 points and attempted 406 shots in 35 games last season. Brown is confident that the 5-9 Robinson can defend point guards, but feels he is better suited to play an up-tempo game as opposed to running a half-court offense.

"He'll start figuring things out," Brown said. "I had Travis Best when he was a rookie (with Indiana). He reminds me a lot of Travis. He can really score. As he gets more experience he'll do more things. Every day in practice we're trying to train Nate. He's never been asked to do that. I have to help him and find out ways to make it easier on him. I don't worry about him defensively but offensively it's going to be a big change."

In his first season with the Detroit Pistons, Brown had Mike James backing up Chauncey Billups. When James departed via free agency, Carlos Arroyo was brought in to serve as Billups' understudy.

"But that's a championship team," Brown said. "This is a team that's a work in progress."

From the moment the Knicks hired Brown in July, there were rumors about Eric Snow and Kevin Ollie, two point guards who played for Brown in Philadelphia. The Knicks looked at Steve Blake before he signed with Portland and even brought in Kenny Anderson for a workout in September.

The Knicks scored 31 second-half points on Tuesday against the Sixers, with Marbury sidelined. Yesterday, Marbury missed the final 10 minutes of practice after being poked in the eye. Even with one eye closed, Marbury still is the best the Knicks have.

"We don't know if he's going to start or not," said Brown, protecting the names his starting five as if national security were at stake. "Who knows how much he's going to play. I ain't worried about it right now."

Notebook

Q-QUOTIENT: Quentin Richardson participated in some shooting drills yesterday but is not expected to play in tonight's preseason finale against the Nets at the Garden. The team is optimistic that Richardson will be ready for Wednesday's season opener at Boston.

Originally published on October 28, 2005

Brown said he has had to play Stephon Marbury at point guard more than he had anticipated, mostly because of the continued development of Jamal Crawford and Robinson

Posted by EnySpree:



I'm sick of talking about it.....guys just need to play ball.

Posted by franco12:

who did he have in detroit? It was chauncy & rip...

Posted by JUNKMEIN:

Posted by Nalod:

Junk,

Long ago we dubbed him a "brother from another planet!"

A pleasent chap whom is good natured and can take a joke!

But it would be a mistake to discount his special mind powers!

Nalod, are these mental powers/suggestions of his naturally or artifically induced?

Better living thru chemistry?