Knicks, Brown Losing Uglyposted: Friday, November 11, 2005

It almost always starts ugly with Larry Brown. We all know this. No one expected magic at the beginning of his Knicks tenure. But did anyone expect tragic?

Already Oh-My-Goodness! and 5, the Knicks face the very real possibility of starting the Brown era 0-9. After folding like linen in Portland on Wednesday and a second disappointing loss to Golden State, they visit Sacramento, Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver before mercifully being sent home from their West Coast trip.

Or will it be gangsta-slapped home, the battered Knicks rolling like tumbleweed back to the Garden?

Normally, such a slow start isn't reason for concern, but the disarray that has engulfed the Knicks makes this situation noteworthy.

Brown is undoubtedly one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, and he has my utmost respect on the bench. However, if his name were anything but Larry Brown, Phil Jackson or Pat Riley, the New York tabloids already would be reporting "speculation" about his job security.

Trust me, after serving as a New York basketball beat writer for six years, that is not an exaggeration. Granted, the "speculation" would be nothing more than the chatter of the local beat writers, but that's how it often works in the Apple. But I digress ...

Brown admitted yesterday that he has no clue what to do with Stephon Marbury, and that appears to be the case with the rest of the roster.

How does Matt Barnes go from starting the first three games to being put on the inactive list for the fourth? Heck, how does Matt Barnes start the first three games?

How does Malik Rose go from cheering from the bench the first 43 minutes to being inserted down the stretch of a close loss to Golden State?

How does Quentin Richardson go from missing all of training camp to starting the opener over Jamal Crawford?

One game, Jerome James logs 2 minutes, 49 seconds, the next game he starts.

One game Maurice Taylor's a key member of the rotation, the next he's on the inactive list, the next he's back in the rotation.

It's the largest rotation this side of the CYO -- 13 guys.

Honestly, if this weren't Brown, you'd think he was overmatched. Lenny Wilkens was pilloried as mindless for creating less confusion.

Brown has been critical of his own performance, but he also wants you to know that Thomas' $116 million roster matches like polka dots and plaid. He seems to believe he has a bunch of perimeter types but no true 1, 2 or 3 men.

Which brings us to Marbury. Give Steph credit for trying. He is saying all the right things and doing his best to carry out Brown's orders. He knows Brown is a winner, and he's trying to conform.

But this kind of looks like a match made in, well, you know: H-E-double hockey sticks.

There are the well-documented accounts of their personality clashes in the 2004 Olympics, but I'm not even talking about their getting along. I'm talking about a player who just doesn't seem to fit Brown's mold.

There are such players by the way. In Athens, their names were LeBron, Carmelo and Amare.

Say what you want about Marbury, but one thing he has always been is an outstanding individual talent. While he hasn't won anything major, he hasn't been quite the loser everyone says. I remember him pushing San Antonio to six games while leading Phoenix in the 2003 playoffs.

In trying to adjust to Brown's scheme, Marbury has become pedestrian. He looks lost, playing without his usual confidence, aggressiveness and swagger. He looks like Roy Jones against Glen Johnson. He doesn't know whether to shoot or pass or pick or cut -- or just throw his hands up in exasperation and sprint into the locker room.

There's a report that the Knicks have come to the conclusion that Marbury and Brown are oil and water and that Marbury's already been on the trading block for two weeks.

With four years and $77 million remaining on his contract -- not to mention his excess baggage -- Marbury will not be easy to move. But if there's a team that should try and land Coney Island's Finest, it's Minnesota.

The Timberwolves aren't going anywhere except the first round and out with their current roster, and they could sell a Marbury return as the long-awaited reunion between him and Kevin Garnett.

After years of saying he hasn't had the right pieces around him, Marbury would presumably appreciate a second chance to play with Garnett.

I can see him now at his opening press conference: "I was just young. I didn't understand the league. I should've never left. We'd already have at least one ring by now."

While this trade wouldn't put Minnesota on San Antonio's level, it would certainly put it back among the Western Conference elite.

The Knicks wouldn't get equal value in return, but they could perhaps get Wally Szczerbiak and Troy Hudson, or Szczerbiak and Trenton Hassell.

Would that make the Knicks better? I don't know, but eventually, Brown will definitely turn them into winners (or at least, a playoff team). Their roster will probably look very different when he does it, but make no mistake, he will do it.

Then we'll all look back and laugh at how he started his dream job 1-8 (my prediction).