NBA notes: Knicks' Brown keeps tinkering
By Newsday and The Associated Press
Coach Larry Brown of the New York Knicks, shown during a game Friday in Dallas, continues to experiment with lineups as the Nov. 2 regular-season opener draws near. Brown coached the Detroit Pistons last season. He says Knicks rookie guard Nate Robinson, who played college ball at Washington, is improving
SAN ANTONIO — With little more than a week left before the opener on Nov. 2 in Boston, many New York Knicks still are in the dark regarding Larry Brown's plans for them.
The coach seems to be puzzling over the answers for how to take an ill-fitting collection of talent put together by team president Isiah Thomas and mold it into a team.
The Knicks obviously have struggled to adjust to Brown's demands, but there have been subtle signs of progress. For one thing, hints of accountability and honesty are creeping into the locker room.
In an exhibition game last night, the visiting Knicks beat the defending champion San Antonio Spurs 96-90 as rookie Channing Frye scored 19 points.
After a three-hour practice session last week, the Knicks responded with a good defense-and-rebounding effort in Friday night's 86-85 loss at Dallas. On the other hand, they blew a 19-point lead thanks to 30 turnovers, and guard Jamal Crawford failed to execute the play that was called before missing a 19-foot shot at the buzzer.
Brown called for Crawford — a graduate of Rainier Beach High School in Seattle — to
drive and pass to Frye, but Crawford kept the ball on a pick-and-roll and ran into a help defender who contested his shot.
"That wasn't the play," Crawford said. "The play was to drive and dish. That didn't happen. Basketball is an imperfect science."
Against the Spurs, Crawford scored six of his 13 points in the final 1:33.
Brown is known as a perfectionist obsessed with teaching his players to do things "the right way." After watching the Knicks fall apart defensively when they tried to run with Philadelphia on Tuesday, he ordered a change of strategy for their Texas trip.
"Coach didn't want us to run any fast breaks, so every shot, we had to call a play," guard Stephon Marbury said. "Everybody had to basically hone in and focus on what we had to do on every play and every possession. ... Is it good? I mean, it's based on what Coach thinks is right."
Marbury and rookie guard Nate Robinson, a former Washington Husky from Rainier Beach, each had six turnovers against Dallas. But although their execution faltered at times, their effort never did. The performance of the guards in Brown's system is vital to success — and since experienced depth is a problem on the perimeter, the 5-foot-9 Robinson is likely to receive significant playing time.
"Nate's going to be fine," Brown said. "He's getting better and better every day. And these kids getting minutes in the guts of the game, it's good for them."
The other young players include forwards Frye and David Lee, who were on the floor at the end against the Mavericks. Unfortunately for Frye, he failed to box out on the winning basket for the second time in two meetings.
The availability at power forward of such experienced veterans as Antonio Davis, Malik Rose and Maurice Taylor gives Brown a variety of options, so he doesn't have to rely on the youngsters. But it has been curious to see how often he has gone with them in the fourth quarter
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