by marc berman

January 2, 2006 -- They're speaking!

Knicks coach Larry Brown revealed he and Stephon Marbury finally had an airing-out session regarding last Wednesday's fiasco in Orlando in which the point guard looked completely disinterested. The conversation was the first sign of a thaw in their frosty feud.

Against the Magic, Marbury shot 0 for 7, with three assists. Brown ripped the performance, saying his point guard was afraid to shoot. Marbury dug in his heels, responding defiantly that he played the right way in deferring to his hotter teammates such as Eddy Curry.

Their relationship turned to ice during two days in Milwaukee, as they avoided speaking to one another Thursday and Friday. Marbury was furious that Brown ripped him to the beat writers but didn't talk to him privately.

In Friday's game against the Bucks, Marbury responded with a brilliant outing, dishing out a season-high 12 assists with 23 points. But Brown and Marbury didn't look at each other the two times Marbury came out of the game.

On Saturday, when the club held an optional workout, Marbury arrived at the Westchester facility and Brown finally broke the ice.

"I talked to him about it [Saturday]," said Brown, whose Knicks host the Suns and Steve Nash tonight at the Garden. "He got to take shots. The more aggressive he is looking to take shots, the better he becomes.



"I thought he was great [in Milwaukee]. And I told him. I want him to get as many good shots as he can and that will open it up for everybody else. It wasn't a sit-down. I coach him. We talked about it. I reiterated to him he can't take seven a game."

The relationship between the coach and captain is the biggest issue of this 7-21 wreckage. If they are not getting along, Brown will have no chance of making Marbury into a winning player.

Marbury, who made a desperate plea Thursday not to be traded, accepted the criticism but stuck to his guns. He said the difference between Milwaukee and Orlando was not about him, but the defense.

"I was aggressive the other night," Marbury said. "The way the flow of the game was in Orlando, it didn't play out the same way. Every game is different. Every game isn't the same as far as the way they were guarding me, the way they guarded Eddy [Curry].

"[The Magic] were playing behind Eddy on the post. Normally teams are in front of Eddy. For us, the way we played against Orlando was a total difference than against Milwaukee. The ball bounced different off the rim than it did against Orlando."

Last New Year's Eve, Marbury made his boast about being "the best point guard in the world," after which the Knicks lost 17 of 19 games. Reminded of the well-publicized remark yesterday, Marbury said, "No comment."

When asked if he still believed it, he said: "No comment. That's last year's news."

Ironically, Marbury goes up against his former team tonight and his Phoenix replacement Nash, widely regarded as the game's best point guard. Marbury is probably tired of hearing about Nash.

In fact, Marbury took a noticeable dig at Nash, when asked if he's the toughest challenge to defend.

"I would probably say Baron Davis and Gilbert Arenas right now, because Gilbert is playing well and he's getting up a lot of [shot] attempts," Marbury said. "Steve Nash is hard to guard because they set a lot of picks for him. But individually . . . far as scoring, it's not that difficult to really guard him. It makes it difficult because he has a lot of guys who can shoot the ball."

"Steve Nash is hard to guard because they set a lot of picks for him. But individually . . . far as scoring, it's not that difficult to really guard him. It makes it difficult because he has a lot of guys who can shoot the ball."

Posted by Killa4luv:

For the dummies blinded by hate:
1. Nash goes around screens strictly, he cannot take you off the dribble. one-on-one he really isn't a tough guard, watch the games.
2.Thanks for posting some playoff schedule. This isn't the playoffs, every great player's stats go up in the playoffs.
3. Lets bet he doesn't put those numbers up. Hater.

Posted by BlueSeats:

I also love Quitbury's hypocrisy on the Orlando game, where he said he only took three shots in the first 36 minutes cause Curry and JC were going off, yet he only logged three assists for the game cause his teammates weren't hitting their shots.

Posted by BlueSeats:

2.Thanks for posting some playoff schedule. This isn't the playoffs, every great player's stats go up in the playoffs.

no surprise then that steph's go down.

Posted by BlueSeats:

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by BlueSeats:

I also love Quitbury's hypocrisy on the Orlando game, where he said he only took three shots in the first 36 minutes cause Curry and JC were going off, yet he only logged three assists for the game cause his teammates weren't hitting their shots.

did you watch that game? thats how it looked to me

Yes I saw the game. What is how it looked to you, that he's trying to have it both ways, that his guys were going off but he didn't assist them cause they weren't hitting their shots? Which is it, they were hot, or they couldn't sink a bucket????