Nalod
Posts: 68922
Alba Posts: 154
Joined: 12/24/2003
Member: #508 USA
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While we all have our feeling of negativity over the media, they do know more than we do traveling with the team and haveing access to the locker room. Larry does have to balance his locker room.
Marbs may not be the man for leadership. Interesting read.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com Larry could use allies like Davis
Friday, October 7th, 2005
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Just as the Knicks are counting on Eddy Curry to provide a presence in the post, they're looking to Antonio Davis to make his presence felt in another area, no less critical: their divided locker room.
But Davis - who was traded to New York along with Curry but has told Brown that he'd rather not leave Chicago for the Knicks - might never enter the Knicks' dressing room, which has been one big tension convention since Isiah Thomas brought Stephon Marbury to New York. More than a few teammates have been at odds with Marbury and eventually became ex-teammates. Kurt Thomas was one. Tim Thomas, sent to the Bulls as part of the Curry deal, was another. They and a few others who are still around hate the fact that Marbury has more clout with the team president than he should.
With Larry Brown, you know that will change. You know Brown will use his power to push for the addition of one of what he calls his "character guys." Just as Phil Jackson had Ron Harper in his first go-round with the Lakers to get his message across in the locker room - while Harper also dutifully reported back to Phil on what the climate was in there with Shaq and Kobe - Brown wants one of his character guys to serve as his eyes, ears and mouth when it's players-only in the dressing room. And, in this case, to lessen, if not stamp out, the Marbury influence.
Brown might have been in Detroit the last two years, but he knows that Marbury has been a divisive element at the Garden. There's no room for that on a Larry Brown team. He has a program and everyone needs to get with it - with no interference from star players or star executives.
"I thought it would be such a neat thing to have him here with our young kids," Brown said yesterday about Davis, whom he coached in Indiana. "But if it's not in his best interest, then we'll move on. ... I don't want to stand in the way if he doesn't feel comfortable. I'd be disappointed, but you don't want somebody who doesn't want to be here."
Brown is going to be more than just disappointed if Davis doesn't come to New York to be a locker-room leader. He's perfect for the role, which, incidentally, he was filling for Scott Skiles in Chicago before this week's trade. He's got the stature - he's president of the Players Association. He's been around long enough to have earned the respect of his peers. And he has the strong work ethic Brown seeks in his players.
"He'll have a presence in the locker room," Brown said Wednesday. "I look at him and his value will be amazing. On a young team, you need to have guys like him. It kind of reminds me of having Elden Campbell (in Detroit) and LaSalle Thompson (in Indiana). It makes it easier to get your point across to the younger kids."
If Brown sounded resigned yesterday to seeing Davis released, Isiah Thomas was the exact opposite. Here we have the first public disagreement between the two, and it's only been about five minutes since this unlikely alliance was formed. Thomas has held all the power since he arrived to fix the Knicks. But in Brown, the Knicks brought in a real heavyweight. Plus, Brown is better at his job than Isiah is at his. So clashes were inevitable.
"He has no choice," Thomas said, referring to Davis, who is expected to ask the Knicks for his release. "This isn't charity."
This is shaping up as a fascinating showdown between Thomas and Brown, but it's only the first. No one knows exactly why Davis doesn't want to be a Knick. He went back to Chicago to tend to a family matter and wasn't available. But the horror stories about Marbury's influence with Isiah are out there.
For Isiah, Davis' aversion to coming to New York has to be a slap in the face. He has been under the false impression that all 400 NBA players are dying to be on his team. Having Marbury here, that has been nothing short of a great miscalculation.
But from Brown's standpoint, if Davis doesn't fill the role, he's got to find another character guy - and fast - to starting getting his locker room in order. So don't be surprised if he begins pushing Isiah to make a trade for George Lynch. He was one of Larry's "character guys" in Philly when Allen Iverson needed some reining in. The other day, Lynch demanded that the Hornets trade him and he has been banned from their training camp.
You don't really think that Larry Brown missed hearing that news, do you?
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