Brown is no geniusposted: Thursday, March 23, 2006 | Feedback
filed under: New York Knicks

I was as guilty as anyone. Last summer, when the Knicks were pursuing Larry Brown, I said on national TV that he was the best fit on the planet for Isiah Thomas' club. I also said Brown's brow-beating, micromanaging style was crucial to Detroit's success the past two years and that without him, the Pistons would not win the East (while that may yet prove true, it certainly won't be because of Brown's absence).


I was not alone in my exaltation of Brown. In NBA.com's annual preseason survey of GMs, Brown was voted the best coach in the league, and only 15 percent of GMs thought Detroit would win the East without him. Most GMs actually thought Indiana would beat out the Pistons for the Central Division crown, and 73% gave the East to Miami.



That makes me feel better about putting Brown on a pedestal, but as you might imagine, I've had a change of heart.



Since hardly anyone else is willing to say it, I will: Brown is overrated.



He's still a very good coach (historically speaking), but he's not the legendary genius he's been touted as the past two years. He's not in the class of Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich. And this year, he's been the worst coach in the league. By far.



Brown's been so bad that it's tempting to think he's purposely sabotaging the season. I refuse to make that claim because I can't imagine anyone doing that, but I also can't imagine that he's truly as overmatched as he appears to be.



When the Knicks hired Brown, one of his former players (a retired guy who had a long and productive NBA career) told me Brown was going to create a rift with his best player (Stephon Marbury) and break the Knicks down to rock bottom so that when he built them back up, he would look like a savior.



Obviously, the first part of that prediction has come true, but even if Brown turns the Knicks into a playoff team next season, he won't look like a savior to me. I don't think the Knicks should be nearly as bad as he's made them this year.



If Isiah Thomas had announced when he was hired that in two years, the Knicks would have Marbury, Steve Francis, Eddy Curry, Jalen Rose, Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford, Malik Rose and one of the league's top three or four rookies at power forward - all being coached by Larry Brown - New York would have gone bananas (in a good way).



So for all those ripping Isiah, save a little thunder for the head coach.



One highly-respected executive told me last week that "if anything, the Knicks have too much talent.'' He added that he can't understand the moves Brown's been making.



But I am not basing my demotion of Brown on this season alone. While he's had great success all over, he's also had too many missteps to be a "legendary'' coach. People make a lot out of him turning San Antonio from a 21-win team his first season into a 56-win team the next ('89), but the addition of David Robinson had more to do with that resurrection than Brown.



Then, in his fourth and final season in Indiana, Brown failed to get the Pacers into the playoffs. The next season, Larry Bird, who had never coached a game in his life, led those same Pacers to the conference finals.



And of course, there were the 2004 Olympics. Brown was as bad then as he has been this season. I know that team was poorly put together, but it still had two MVPs (Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan) and the four best young players in the world in LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony.



Yet Brown hardly played the youngsters, even though Anthony was his best shooter and one of the few guys with extensive experience against a zone defense. James made something good happen every time he entered the game, yet he got few minutes.



Why not press fullcourt when depth and athleticism are your major advantages? Why not double team Carlos Arroyo to take the ball out of his hands instead of letting him single-handedly lift Puerto Rico over Team USA?



Even in Detroit, folks forget that Brown's Pistons had lost 7 of 8 games before trading for Rasheed Wallace. Detroit was already a two-time 50-win team that had made the conference finals under Rick Carlisle the year before Brown got there. When Joe Dumars added Rasheed to that club, it was lights out. They went 20-5 the rest of the regular season.



But nobody knew at the time how good they were, so when the vastly underrated Pistons beat the mighty Lakers, who boasted four future Hall of Famers, in the 2004 Finals, the only explanation seemed to be that Brown had worked a coaching miracle.



Never mind that Karl Malone was hurt, or that Gary Payton was a physical shell of himself and in a mental funk because of Phil Jackson's triangle. Never mind that Shaq and Kobe were feuding.



That's when Brown went from being viewed as a very good coach to one of the top five of all-time.



Perhaps the only good thing about this Knicks season is that it has brought Brown, and the rest of us, back to reality.



hate to say it guys, but i agree. very good coach most of his career, but he has been more than terrible this year.

This guy Broussard has obviously been copying my posts.

oohah

I recognize a few of my opinions in there as well.

I agree with Broussard. LB is no doubt one of the best of coaches but he is doing a terrible job here and now. This team may be flawed but they were certainly capable of winning more than they have. Most of the guys have been disillusioned all season with LB's crazy antics

He's still a very good coach (historically speaking), but he's not the legendary genius he's been touted as the past two years. He's not in the class of Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich. And this year, he's been the worst coach in the league. By far.


he WAS a very good coach. now, he is the worst I have seen in new york. honostly, i was thrilled when we got him, and i was a huge fan of his in detroit. but i have never seen a worse coaching job than he has done this year, honostly if we could go into next year without him and get a new coach here, like rick adelman, i would love it.

Phil Jackson's team is struggling to be .500

hey, this guy stole my posts as well.

Still, some seem to be blindly convinced that brown is doing the absolute best job he can.

It's crazy. 19 wins? Come on man.

We have too much talent, and the reason players don't care may be because brown is coaching like a freak.

It's time to open your eyes sim and stop refusing to admit the obvious:

He's still a very good coach (historically speaking), but he's not the legendary genius he's been touted as the past two years. He's not in the class of Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich. And this year, he's been the worst coach in the league. By far.

For those that keep pulling this guys history, I say "so what".

19 wins?

do you defend him because he's w****?

[Edited by - rvhoss on 03-25-2006 12:55 PM]

Posted by simrud:

I'm intrigued with the w followed by stars lol.

I think it was a moronic racist remark. Correct me if I'm wrong, rvhoss. Otherwise, nice job.

Posted by Solace:

Posted by simrud:

I'm intrigued with the w followed by stars lol.

I think it was a moronic racist remark. Correct me if I'm wrong, rvhoss. Otherwise, nice job.

I wouldn't expect much more from RV. He's a jackass. He always finds ways to insult people on this forum, especially when he has no argument to what their saying. I'm really not surprised RV would stoop to that level.

Look at the Facts!!!!

We have players that don't care, don't play with effort and pride. That is Not something a coach is supposed to provide - the players provide their own effort! I am starting to believe what the article says, that Brown may be driving this team into the ground to build them back up his way. I think his plan hasn't worked yet because the resistance from the players has kept the power struggle going. Either way, I am going to wait until the middle of next season before deciding if this plan will eventually work or not. By Brown doing things this way, if/when the players respond - look for a faster progress from this team next season. It's like breaking a horse, or training a dog. Once he gets control, we can see how good his coaching abilities really are. Isiah is part to blame b/c he created a division by being too close/friendly with Marbury.

Help me out, are we trying to lose then? Because LB sure sounds pissed off if he is trying to lose. He is some actor. And the HOF coach doesn't have a clue on how to steal a few wins. What makes you think anything will change next year?