School's in session
Knicks desperately in need of Brown's lessons
Posted: Friday September 30, 2005 5:46PM; Updated: Friday September 30, 2005 5:47PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/chris_mannix/09/30/knicks/index.html

The dawn of a new era in Knicks history opened with a buffet Thursday afternoon. In a way, it was the perfect metaphor for the start of the Knicks' season, a host of scribes gathered around a table of food on the second floor of Madison Square Garden feasting on appetizers while waiting for the main course, team president Isiah Thomas and coach Larry Brown. It was fitting the two walked in together because the two men now share a symbiotic relationship: neither can survive in New York without the other.

Let's first give credit where it's due. Brown was the right man for the job and Thomas showed tremendous restraint in waiting out Brown for months after the Knicks' season ended. Brown is the NBA's foremost authority when it comes to teaching the game and New York's roster is one that cries out for a lesson. But while the present of the Knicks resides with its veterans, the future lies with a trio of talented rookies, first round draft picks Channing Frye, Nate Robinson and David Lee, whose time, says New York's newest power couple, may come sooner than they think.

"Teams have won with young players playing key roles," says Brown, who also has 2004 second round pick Trevor Ariza on the roster. "A lot of teams draft based on potential, but we have guys here who have played in college for a while. They will respect the minutes they get, not expect them, and they will be given every opportunity to play."

However Brown's notorious disdain for rookies (see Milicic, Darko) makes it more likely New York's youngsters will spend parts of the season at the end of the bench observing David Stern's new dress code. But will his veterans prove to be much better?

Quentin Richardson will. The 25-year-old Richardson is coming from the most explosive offensive team in NBA history, a Phoenix squad that won 62 games last year and advanced to the Western Conference finals. He's a winner, and by all counts, one who has become accustomed to that lifestyle. He's also the kind of complete player the Knicks have been lacking. Last season Richardson was one of four players to average at least 17 points and 6 rebounds, joining an elite company that included Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce and Jason Richardson. He's your starting small forward.

The backcourt is crowded, but up front is where Brown should be most concerned. The Knicks' last line of defense is either young (Frye, Lee, Michael Sweetney), overpaid (Malik Rose, Maurice Taylor) or unreliable (Jerome James) Jerome James the starting center? No question the 29-year old James is loaded with talent, but in his last year in Seattle he was the target of frequent criticism by his teammates and coaches for what can only be described as a questionable work ethic. Was he worthy of the five-year, $30-million investment the Knicks made in him? Or is he the next Calvin Booth or Jim McIlvaine, to evoke the names of other shot blocking centers who circled the drain after parlaying a handful of good games into multimillion dollar contracts.

"I know that Isiah investigated all the players he signed beforehand," says Brown, his assertion confirmed by a nod from Thomas. "And the people I talked to, Coach [Pete] Carrill in Sacramento and Nate [McMillan] in Seattle all said the same thing: this is a kid who wants to be coached. He wants to get better." James certainly has found the right coach. In Philadelphia Brown molded shot blockers Theo Ratliff and Samuel Dalembert into legitimate NBA centers. In Detroit, Brown helped Ben Wallace, already a dominant defender, become a more complete offensive player.

Frontcourt headaches aside, it's the Knicks' backcourt that will ultimately test Brown's patience. Both Brown and Thomas stated Thursday that oft-injured shooting guard Allan Houston will be ready come Tuesday, when training camps open. Houston has been working out full speed at the Knicks practice facility and his healthy return would be a major addition to the New York lineup. A healthy Houston, coupled with Richardson, would give the Knicks two of the league's top marksmen and would take a mountain of pressure off Stephon Marbury, whose play this season will go a long way towards determining the Knicks future.

Marbury is an enigma. You can't win with him, can't win without him. He is arguably the best scoring point guard this side of Allen Iverson, but there is a reason none of his teams have escaped the first round of the playoffs. Enter Brown, who has made deciphering point guards his specialty. In Philadelphia, Brown realized that Iverson, despite his diminutive stature, wasn't meant to be a point guard, so he shifted him to the two. In Detroit, Brown took a career combo guard in Chauncey Billups and made him into one of the league's elite point men and one of the best clutch players in the game. Brown knows what he's doing. If Marbury is a point guard, he will make him a great one.

Even with Brown the Knicks are years from being a championship contender and with 11 of their first 16 games on the road, don't count on seeing much improvement until Christmas. But they will be better. They may even contend for a division title in the woebegone Atlantic Division. And they certainly will learn a lot about playing the right way.

"I love training camp," says Brown, the teacher in him shining through. "The challenge there is to get the team to defend, share the ball, and try to rebound. That is what we are going to focus on from day one."