One Knick Knows It's Not the Coach
By HOWARD BECK
Published: April 7, 2006

Quentin Richardson came to the Knicks as a 3-point gunner, not a locker-room mediator, amateur psychologist or motivational speaker. But consider his road to New York, and it is clear why Richardson's voice is the loudest and the most impassioned.

In four spirit-crushing seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Richardson saw a promising team ripped apart by personal agendas. In one glorious season with the Phoenix Suns, Richardson saw the obvious benefits of selflessness and team unity.

So with the Knicks bordering on rebellion and tuning out Coach Larry Brown, Richardson channeled his inner Dr. Phil this week. After Tuesday night's debacle in Washington, Richardson and Malik Rose criticized teammates for failing to compete.

One night later, the Knicks responded with a surprising upset of the Cleveland Cavaliers, prompting Richardson to say, "I was definitely proud to be a Knick tonight."

In a splintered locker room, Richardson is among the few players who are unabashedly loyal to Brown. Late Wednesday night, as the Knicks enjoyed their rare victory, Richardson explained his motivation.

"I said from Day 1, and I'll say it now: I know Coach is a great coach. He's proven it," Richardson said. "So the only thing that means to me is that we're not doing it right. We can't be doing it right. Because he's won championships on every single level. So what does that make us? Imbeciles. That's all it can make us."

Richardson acquired a low tolerance for selfishness after four hard seasons with the Clippers, from 2000 to 2004. His teammates included Lamar Odom, Darius Miles, Elton Brand, Keyon Dooling, Michael Olowokandi, Corey Maggette and Andre Miller — all lottery picks. For a time, it was viewed as the best young collection of talent in the league. But after a breakthrough 39-victory season in 2001-2, the Clippers were torn apart by egos and greed.

Comparing the Clippers — who had the league's lowest payroll — with the lavishly paid Knicks of today, Richardson shook his head. The Knicks, despite a league-high $125 million payroll, have the N.B.A.'s worst record, 20-54.

"I feel like this is the worst thing I've ever been in, because even then, when we were losing, we were losing because we were all rookies and sophomores," Richardson said of his old Clippers team. "We were all trying to get our careers off to a good start. That's the reason why we were all not meshing, because one through nine, we were all trying to score too much or trying to become a superstar. This team, it's like, everybody's paid. We're the highest-paid team in the whole N.B.A. There's no reason we shouldn't be winning. We should do what we have to do to win, plain and simple."

Richardson signed with the Suns in 2004, joining a star-studded team that included Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson. With egos held in check, they won 62 games and made it to the Western Conference finals.

"Being a part of last year's Phoenix team, I recognize and I know that if we win, everybody gets recognized," Richardson said. "My whole starting five was part of All-Star weekend. So I know for a fact that if we win and we do well, everybody gets the love, praise and everything they want. It's all about what you do."

Curiously, Wednesday's victory was spearheaded by Jamal Crawford, who despite a rocky start also remains steadfastly dedicated to Brown's agenda. Crawford was disappointed when he was left out of the starting lineup last fall and was frequently criticized by Brown for his defense and ballhandling. Crawford was nearly dealt to Orlando in the Steve Francis trade in February.

Rather than rebel or sulk, Crawford has been a model student. He scored 37 points and hit the game-winning basket Wednesday night and has improved greatly as a defender. Crawford was selected by members of the news media as the winner of the annual Oppenheimer Funds Team Contributor Award, which goes to the Knicks player who contributes the most on and off the court.

"He's the most improved player I think I've ever coached. And he's as good a kid as I've ever been around," Brown said. "He does things for our team to please me to a fault. But you get enough like that and we'll have some people cheering for us."

Crawford is close to Stephon Marbury, who has openly feuded with Brown, and Nate Robinson, who has sometimes appeared defiant of Brown.

"It's tough, because you know both sides," Crawford said.

Friendships aside, Crawford is unequivocal about his belief in Brown.

"I just want to get better," he said. "I'd be crazy not to listen to a guy that's a Hall of Famer and who's seen everything. He's coached great players and that's what I want to be, a great player."

Rebounds

The Knicks signed Ime Udoka, 28, to a contract for the rest of the season. Udoka, a 6-foot-6 swingman, averaged 17.1 points for the Fort Worth Flyers of the N.B.A. Development League.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 04-07-2006 12:12 AM]

i know q-rich has had a crappy year....but the man is right in not quesitoning LB...cause he has a point...he's a proven winner on all levels....im not an LB supporter right now, but i cant question his track record...although his coaching this year is the worst job he's done in his career

also, Ime Udoka? I wonder if he can check Paul Pierce? no one else on our team can, so why not?

Posted by crzymdups:

I agree that Q is probably right, but Brown makes it REALLY hard to listen to what he says by his constant inconsistencies and contradictions. How many times did he say he was going to pare down the rotation or just play the kids? I know there's a lot of similar talent, but still, it's on him to pick a roster. There was no consistency, even Q complained at times about not knowing when he was going to play and what his role was.

I know it was a record setting number of lineups but I also think too much has been made of them. Steph, Q, and Curry have been very consistent starter when healthy, and if I remember correctly AD was too while here, though he might have shuffled between PF and C depending on Curry's health.

So that's 3 or 4 positions basically set. The PF and SF positions have been unsettled but for good reason, there are no standouts and guys like Malik and Lee are tweeners to begin with, as was Mo in thinner days, so they're not easy to just fit into a slot. Then there were giving guys like francis and Rose a look, giving the kids a shot (which everyone wanted), and the hometown starts, which I think is also given way more attention than it deserves.

So yes, it totals a lot, but the key positions were filled and the rest where a tweak at one position or so at a time. The difference between one guy getting the start over another really shouldn't derail a season.

Posted by crzymdups:


I don't care about the starting lineup as much, but how many nights has Clyde said, "and once again Brown empties his bench by the early second quarter" in disbelief? Brown never developed a rotation or 9 or 10 guys which EVERY other team in the league has. That's on him.

Well speaking for myself I'd have been disappointed not to see everybody get their chance. Brown is not alone in this, but with many coaches we'd have seen little of Ariza, Nate, and Lee, and perhaps little from Woods and Butler. Most GMs and owners want to play the guys they pay the most for, and we have many.

And most GMs and coaches want to bring the kids along slowly so as not too put too much pressure on them and/or turn them into entitlement babies.

And if Brown went all youth too early ti might have been seen as a slap in isiah's face, like "I can do better with 5 kids and $10M than this 125M pile of crap you've assembled." Of course it's turned into that anyway, but that's just how the cards fell. Never woulda happened if the vets were as mentally tough (or ego deficient) as the kids.

Perhaps when LB said he'd play the kids more it was a motivational threat toward the vets. Or perhaps isiah told him to keep giving everyone a chance.

The youth is obviously our best hope for the future, but realistically, for next year, we'd be better served getting great effort from the veterans of this team. if they played with half the commitment that the kids do we'd be a lot farther along.

And I think some of that is what LB means when he says he's not giving up. To me he's saying nobody is out of it, everyday is an opportunity to prove yourself.

Some fans like to put it on Brown that the kids don't start, as if isiah would have it otherwise, but we were as hopeless last year and we we didn't see Sweets and Ariza logging a lot of starts then either.

People always talk about Brown's proven track record, but always fail to mention one part of that track record - he's been fired everywhere he's gone. The Pistons are one of the best run teams in the league and they couldn't fire him quickly enough. The Pacers players revolted against Brown, missed the playoffs (in a season that looked a lot like this one) and took the Super Bulls to Game 7 the very next year with the exact same team and Larry Bird's first coaching job ever. His record in Philly is up and down and Iverson claims to love him, but Brown had him traded to Detroit - the only thing that stopped the deal was a Matt Geiger no trade clause. Even in Detroit, right after they won the championship in 2004 he told Dumars he didn't want Mike James back as the backup PG - think Mike James might've helped against the Spurs in 2005?

Brown has a track record, alright, he's a guy who is never happy with his roster, is constantly demanding trades, embarassing his players and wearing out his welcome.

I'm not saying he's the team's only problem, clearly Isiah Thomas has done a dreadful job and has made several gigantic gambles that have blown up in his face, but to me the most offensive thing Isiah has done is to hitch his wagon to Brown to give himself credibility and avoid the firing line. Pathetic.

Does it put a dent in Brown's track record for anyone if the Pistons win 67 games and a championship without Brown? That will be four straight years of winning 50+ games, getting to the Eastern Conf Finals or further and two titles and Brown was only there for two years. Brown is a good coach, but he has a lot of baggage and I don't know how anyone can say he's done a good job here.

minutes breakdown

steph    36.4
jamal    31.3
jalen    29.1
francis  27.7
eddy     26.3
q1       26.2
frye     24.2
ad       20.8
nate     20.2
trev     19.7
q2       19.5
penny    17.9
mo       17.3
lee      16.4
barnes   15.5
malik    15.0
jackie   12.2
jerome    9.3

lb got everybody minutes this year.

Posted by djsunyc:

minutes breakdown

steph    36.4
jamal    31.3
jalen    29.1
francis  27.7
eddy     26.3
q1       26.2
frye     24.2
ad       20.8
nate     20.2
trev     19.7
q2       19.5
penny    17.9
mo       17.3
lee      16.4
barnes   15.5
malik    15.0
jackie   12.2
jerome    9.3

lb got everybody minutes this year.

Now how many games did Lee, Nate, Jackie, Malik, Q2, Trevor, Frye miss? How many times have there minutes been cut after having a good game for no apparent reason?

I feel like everyone HAS gotten a chance. I dont subscribe to throwing out rookies just for the same of minutes regardless of what bad habits they exibit. Nate/Lee/Frye all got good playing time this year. What I also like is LB has played guys for a whole game, rather than 10-12 minutes a night like Ariza saw last year. Yes, while Lee, Nate, Woods, JB, etc got plenty of DNPs we got a chance to see what each one of them would do over a stretch of games playing STARTER type minutes. By seeing those guys play 30 minutes you see the good and the bad. Most arent ready to be NBA starters and thats fine. Its dispelled the notion that a guy thats good for 12 minutes will be good for 30 minutes. All our young guys have grown and benefited from this year. I have no doubts of this. They will know whats expected of them next year as well, in terms of effort and conditioning and preparation.

Posted by bigbeast:

How many DNP's?

Not an excuse just an educated shot in the dark......but is it possible that Larry is doing that so these kids don't hit a total brick, steel reinforced, concrete reinforced, 12 foot thick wall like Frye did and they lose their confidence as Frye did? It seems the DNP's were alot more grouped than sporadic (not one game here, one game there-but 2 or 3 games on the bench then they get a bit of time), which signifies to me that there was a reason he was doing it....what the reason is being trying to keep them from getting too tired, maybe keeping them out of the media's glare (good game=media coverage=questions about PT and Larry and Marbury), to coaxing them because all of them have to work on their D (here you can have this if you play D...a little taste of the game and then back to work).