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BlueSeats
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Joined: 11/6/2005
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Barbara Barker
BASKETBALL
Billups stunned feud got out of control
March 17, 2006
Every day is a soap opera playing for Larry Brown. No one knows that better than the Pistons, the team he left last summer for the Knicks after coming within one win of a second consecutive NBA title.
Trying to make Brown happy is emotionally draining. More than once, Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups wanted to tell Brown to jump in the Detroit River, to let him know exactly what he thought about his pass-first offense. Yet even in his darkest of moments, Billups never considered taking on Brown publicly, as Stephon Marbury has.
"There were times I was frustrated and wanted to sound off, but I wouldn't do it," Billups said yesterday. "I don't think it's the right way to do it."
Nothing is going the right way for Brown and the Knicks this season, a point that likely will be driven home again tonight when they host the Pistons. Like any soap opera diva, Brown is a tortured soul, so it seems only logical that he will conclude the most miserable week of his most miserable season by playing his former team.
As much as Brown insists that the Pistons pushed him out the door, his former players believe he would still be there in Detroit if he wanted to be. He could have been coaching the team with the NBA's best record instead of the team with the second-worst. He could have been working with a most valuable player candidate in Billups instead of a most volatile player candidate in Marbury.
"It's true. He had this," Billups said, gesturing at his teammates. "He drove this Rolls-Royce. He chose to change up. It is what it is."
What Brown changed up to is an unsightly jalopy in dire need of a muffler. Brown and Marbury have spent an entire week sniping at each other in the media. Yesterday, the two did sit down, and Brown may have finally gotten Marbury's attention by reminding him who had the most "juice" in the organization. Still, there are no guarantees that the latest détente will last through next week, let alone through the end of the season.
There are many differences between the Pistons and Knicks, most of which boil down to talent. Another key difference, however, is that it is hard to see a battle like this playing out for an entire week in Detroit, hard to see it getting so personal that a player thinks he can actually call his coach insecure. The biggest reason is that someone, either in the front office or on the team, would have stopped it from going so far.
"I think if something had blown up, for instance, between me and Larry, I know the guys would have turned to me and said, 'Man, it ain't that serious. Look at the big picture.' And, I'm sure [general manager] Joe Dumars would have said something."
Knicks president Isiah Thomas, who made Marbury the linchpin of his rebuilding effort, has remained publicly quiet this week. Because Marbury has long been the favored son, the Knicks don't have anyone on the team with the stature to challenge him - or even make him think twice - before he takes on Brown.
Flip Saunders, who replaced Brown on the Pistons, coached Marbury for three seasons in Minnesota. He believes that Brown and Marbury eventually will be on the same page, but it won't happen as quickly as it did with Billups.
"Steph is one of the most competitive guys I've ever coached, and he can be very stubborn from that," Saunders said. "Chauncey is not that stubborn. You can sit down and talk with him. Steph, with your sitdowns, you're going to have to have a few of them to convince him. Once he believes in it, he goes overboard."
Though no one on the Pistons wanted to give Marbury advice, it's clear that for all the mixed feelings they have about the way Brown left them, they respect him as a coach.
"When he was here, everybody grew under him," Rip Hamilton said. "He made everyone a more complete player."
No one benefited more than Billups, who went from journeyman to All-Star under Brown. At the beginning of this season, Billups predicted that Brown would also do great things for Marbury. Instead, Billups is stunned by what's transpired.
"I'm really saddened by it," Billups said. "I know I couldn't play with that [feud]. I think it's taking its toll on everybody."
You don't have to be one of the best point guards in the NBA to see that.
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7/9/2006 11:25 AM
