Posted by nixluva:

All we asked Brown to do was coach the team and teach the young players. All he had to do was lay low in the 1st year and get them into the playoffs. Did we need him to tell us how dumb our players were or how poor their fundementals were? I think we all knew that already. JUST COACH THE DAMN TEAM LARRY! That's all we wanted. We knew this wasn't the Pistons, so why act so shocked and appalled by the fact that this team wasn't great like your last team? I was hoping that he would look to establish some consistency, but he NEVER did that. This is what I blame him for the most. He acted like the young players had the plague, when in fact they showed the most ability to play his game. He should have put up with their mistakes and we would've benefited from whhat the DID do right. The young guys effort and hustle, which often got us back in the game. For much of the year our bench outscored our starters, so what does that tell you? It tells me that he was starting the wrong guys!!!

LB was a FOOL to change our starting backcourt. Q SUCKED and he destroyed Jamal's confidence until the very end of the season, when he finally got it back. He should've started Steph and Jamal, since they at least had some chemistry from the year before. We had too many new players and a new system too. The smart thing would be to at least use the little chemistry you did have to help things along. Last year Steph and Jamal avg'd 40ppg and 12 asts. We didn't need to change that. We just needed to have them work harder on D.

That's all man! Brown did not do his part. He should have did all of this then submitt his list to isiah. Keep it in house and about basketball. Be professional.

This is post of the year!

Marbury had a career year last year. We had a 2-15 January and sucked lasy year also. Does that mean Herb/Lenny did a good job of coaching? Who cares about stats? Isnt that the problem with this team? Francis and Marbury have been all stars because of their stats, but they have never won dick (well, maybe Francis has)

Brown had an agenda that can be the only pausible reason for his horrible and whimsical coaching this year. Even a blind man can see this. He wants to be a GM in NY the only way to do that in his eyes is to discredit and belittle the current setup.(can you honestly tell me he is not capable of this) I'm not saying that the roster is great by any stretch of the imagination but it did not warrant the current record.

Posted by Bippity10:

What has Francis won?

He can't be serious. Marbury's won more than Francis, though neither has won most. I think it was just sarcasm.

Posted by rojasmas:

Considering teams made the playoffs in the East who didn't have a winning record, I don't think it was too much to ask for LB in his first year. This team has some talent. He didn't play to his talent. They should have won at least 40 games. LB underachieved by at least 11 games in my opinion. Scott Skiles achieved more with less than LB.

Can you find one writer, GM or player who in the preseason expected this team to win 40 that did not mention Larry adding 10 games. I didn't find any? Everyone basically thought this was a 30 win team and that Larry could add 10. I didn't see any predictions that this team was a playoff team without Larry having a big positive impact.

40 games is an average NBA team it only takes 41 wins to be at .500. Take a look at the rosters around the league and take off your rose colored glasses regarding our players - this is a much worse the average NBA roster.

what one writer thought:

Knicks' sitcom has hit the air

Larry won't like their reality show

by bob Raissman

Larry Brown sat at the end of a table, holding a WFAN microphone, listening to Joe Benigno deliver a stern lecture on how recent Knicks teams have never made a commitment to defense.
Brown was making the rounds from radio to TV to print interviews yesterday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, where the inevitable - his coronation as Knicks coach - occurred and reality began sinking in.

As Benigno rapped, his partner, Sid (Sidiot) Rosenberg, pointed to some kind of electronic board in front of him. The light on this gizmo had gone dark.

"Are we off the air now?" Benigno asked.

A serious-looking guy, holding a telephone, nodded yes. He looked at a technician who was fingered for the sudden silence. Brown surveyed this bizarre scene and smiled.

"You guys make mistakes like I make mistakes," Brown said.

The line broke the tension. The techie and his serious colleague commenced their attempt to get the show back on the air. Sidiot started yapping about his beloved Brooklyn.

He asked Brown about his Brooklyn days and where he grew up.

"I would have gone to Midwood (High School) ..." Brown said.

"My sister went to Midwood," Rosenberg said.

Benigno: "Are we back on the air yet?"

They were not.

The technical guys continued scrambling. Brown had more interviews to do. No one could blame him, or his Garden PR chaperone, if he split. Instead, Brown had a question.

"How did the Mets do yesterday?" he asked.

The talkies told him they won.

Brown: "What's that, seven of eight?"

Benigno: "No, they lost the first two in Colorado. Big series against the Astros tonight - Pedro. You a Met fan Larry?"

Brown: "Yes I am, I love baseball."

In these few moments, easily the most spontaneous of the well-choreographed Garden extravaganza, Brown showed what a patient man he can be. Face it: anyone spending time with Benigno and Rosenberg, when he doesn't have to, is a patient soul.

Stephen A. Smith is a loud one.

Sitting at his ESPN-1050 broadcast table at the Theater, Smith sounded more preacher than pundit.

"I don't want to even hear people debate if this is a good move for the Knicks," Smith bellowed. "Larry Brown ... in the Mecccccccca! Think about it."

Smith banged both hands on the desk.

"I say what I mean. And I mean what I say," Smith, full of frenzy, said.

Hallelujah!

And it seemed like we were all in a house of worship when the crowd hushed and a procession, led by Brown's family, walked slowly toward the front of the Theater.

"We've not yet seen Larry Brown," MSG's Al (Wiggie) Trautwig, in a tone previously reserved for the second coming of Elvis, said. Then came the parade of Garden suits featuring Glen Sather's fishing buddy James Dolan, Steve Mills, Isiah Thomas and Brown.

The flashbulbs started popping.

The platitudes started plopping.

Isiah: "He is my friend, my mentor. Welcome home." And Herb Williams is a great guy.

Mills: "It's clear Larry Brown has re-energized our fan base." And Herb Williams is a great guy.

Dolan: "Yes" (answering someone who asked if he was happy). And Herb Williams is a great guy.

Brown: Herb Williams is a great guy. "And I know this will be my last stop."

Now, that was real comedy.

It was topped only by the sight of Smith's ESPN-1050 valet, Brandon Tierney, dipping chunks of corned beef into a glob of mustard before sucking them down, while Stephen A. was interviewing the coach.

As Brown made these multi-media pit stops, it was clear he knew going in what was going to be asked. He was prepared. By the time Brown was halfway around the room he was recycling answers ("I do know we have kids who can get better," "It's going to be ugly early," "I'm going to drive him (Thomas) crazy," "I'm a young 64. I love what I do."

All this was not nearly as as compelling - nor will it ever be as memorable - as that day, in that very same room, when Mark Messier and then-Garden boss Dave Checketts literally buried the hatchet by shoveling dirt on an ax housed in a giant fish tank.

Now, that was showmanship.

Yesterday was about a certain kind of phoniness clouded by saccharine nostalgia. They wanted us to believe the old coach was just yearning to return to his roots and teach.

Still, reality - and $10 million per - tells us the Knicks might be Sweathogs, but Mr. Brown ain't no Mr. Kotter.

Originally published on July 29, 2005

[Edited by - McK1 on 04-25-2006 08:34 AM]

Posted by Killa4luv:

Posted by OldFan:

Posted by rojasmas:

Considering teams made the playoffs in the East who didn't have a winning record, I don't think it was too much to ask for LB in his first year. This team has some talent. He didn't play to his talent. They should have won at least 40 games. LB underachieved by at least 11 games in my opinion. Scott Skiles achieved more with less than LB.

Can you find one writer, GM or player who in the preseason expected this team to win 40 that did not mention Larry adding 10 games. I didn't find any? Everyone basically thought this was a 30 win team and that Larry could add 10. I didn't see any predictions that this team was a playoff team without Larry having a big positive impact.

40 games is an average NBA team it only takes 41 wins to be at .500. Take a look at the rosters around the league and take off your rose colored glasses regarding our players - this is a much worse the average NBA roster.

HOw could everyone have thought that when we won 33 last year and we now had Curry, 3 promising rookies, and Q? No one with a brain predicted we would go backwards. There is no way to spin this one. Who predicted we would go 10 games backwards? Who even thought it was possible?

Rookies even promising rookies rarely lead to wins and I think KT and NAZR was a much better defensive front-line that what we put out there this year. There is no way this was a no-brainer improved team. AGAIN - no one has explained to me where the hell the defense was suppose to come from.

Posted by Killa4luv:
What were your predictions for this team then? was it an improvement, the same or 10 games worse?

What difference does it make? Just as many people probably didn't expect us to go from 39 wins to 33 last year either.