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diderotn
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more good reading
http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/magazine/magBlogArchive?id=2080176&month=july#July22,200512:36:07PMPDT
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Marbury Blesses Brown
While Knicks president Isiah Thomas is not looking for anyone's blessing regarding his courtship of Larry Brown as head coach, he has received a thumbs-up from his star point guard, Stephon Marbury.
Thomas spoke with Marbury on Thursday, and according to a person close to both parties, Marbury is excited about the possibility of playing for Brown. Marbury even offered to call Brown on the telephone to aid the recruiting effort.
On Friday, in an appearance on the Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio, Marbury refused to choose between Brown and Knicks interim coach Herb Williams, perhaps because he does not want to be perceived as orchestrating personnel moves. But he did call hiring Brown "a no-brainer,'' adding that "for him to be the coach, it would be great.''
Marbury and Brown clashed famously during last summer's Athens Olympics, when Team USA finished with a disappointing bronze medal. The New York Daily News reported on Thursday that a week before the Games began, Brown lobbied USA Basketball officials to have Marbury cut from the squad. The report, as well as one in the New York Post, led to speculation about the duo's ability to coexist.
But on Thursday, Marbury told Thomas he believes Brown could help make him the player he has always wanted to be.
Thomas met with Brown for four hours on Thursday, and Marbury, along with the rest of the Knicks roster, was a subject of conversation. Joe Glass, Brown's agent, said in a telephone interview on Friday that Brown would have no qualms whatsoever about coaching Marbury again.
"Stephon Marbury should be very excited about Larry Brown being critical of him because he's only critical of players who he believes have great talent and who are not reaching their talents,'' Glass said. "David Thompson, Reggie Miller, Danny Manning, Allen Iverson all were great talents, and Larry had some controversy with them because he felt they were not achieving their maximum potential.
"So if I were Stephon Marbury, I'd be very happy that Larry was criticizing me (in the Olympics) because he only does that to players he knows can play. It's like the old saying, 'the only person a father can yell at is a son.''
Glass said neither Marbury nor Brown's health would stop Brown from coaching next season, but he refused to comment specifically on Brown's talks with the Knicks.
Brown also coached another Knicks, Tim Thomas, for a season and a half in Philadelphia. Thomas admitted the two had their share of problems before Thomas was traded to Milwaukee but he said that would not be an issue if Brown is hired to lead the Knicks.
[Edited by - diderotn on 07/23/2005 22:24:19]
The true Knickabocker..........
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7/23/2005 6:54 PM
