Accepting the job may rank at the top of the list, although Brown isn't saying. What Brown was willing to talk about is that he wants to return next season and that he believes Garden chairman James Dolan and team president Isiah Thomas want him back.

"We've won (21) games, so I mean, you've got to evaluate the coach based on the record we have," Brown said yesterday following the Knicks' morning shoot-around. "I don't doubt they want me back. I don't get caught up in that. I want to coach here. I want us to get better and I'm confident we will. I'm confident we'll do the right things. But that's their choice."

Only a coach of Brown's stature could survive a season that even he called "miserable."

Brown's Hall of Fame credentials and his contract - he's owed $40 million over the next four years - give him more leeway than most coaches. He hinted on Wednesday that he may be losing some support in upper management but he's in no danger of being fired.

But Brown said recently that during training camp he felt the Knicks would face trouble this season and that drastic changes would be needed. Thomas has made it clear to Brown that he will work with him to revamp the roster. One of changes likely would include trading Stephon Marbury, who has feuded with Brown all season. If Brown stays, Marbury is just one of several players that Brown would like to move out.

"I just believe in this team and this organization and I know we've got to make changes and I know we've got to get better," he said. "I remember when I won 21 games with San Antonio. I used to talk to Mr. (Red) McCombs every day. It killed him when we lost but he never wavered from saying we'll get this thing done.

"I haven't found any difference here. Sure we got David (Robinson) and ended up winning 35 more games the next year, but I have every bit of confidence in Isiah and Mr. Dolan that we're all committed to doing the very same thing. How quickly it will happen, I don't know. But I know we'll be better. I know we have a pretty good handle on what we need to do."

How i personally feel is this: Brown knows he has a job to do and wants to complete it by making this team competitive and respectful. In the past, he started out 21-61 with San Antonio and the next yr won 56 against 25 losses..

In Philly, he went 31 and 51 his first yr coaching iverson.. The next which was a strike shortening season, they went 28- 22.. A yr later, 49 - 33.. Very impressive

He's knowned for taking a team and turning them from chicken S^^t to CHicken salad and im sure knick fans excluding the LArry - HAters, have the confidence and belief that he'll get this team back to competition..

Larry usually stays during a team's crisis stage until they get better..

It's when the team makes a complete turnaround and becomes elite is where he decides to leave, after all that restructuring..

Hopefully, he stays until they win that prized championship

[Edited by - woodmannyk on 04-08-2006 09:59 AM]

i'd settle for competitive and worth watching. what a ripoff this team has beeen for the last 2 years. it would be a lot easier to build toward being an elite team if we first reach stable, competitive status. i guess that would be the "cultutre" or "environment" that we're looking for. then from there we'd know what individual pieces to add without having to make these dumbass junk-for-yet-more-expensive-junk deals that have been killing us.

last night i had the perfect opportunity to sit and watch the game - and couldn't get myself to turn it on. i followed periodically on espn.com, but i just did not want to see the same s##t. ultimattely my loss since they apparently played pretty well, but it's a sad state when any of us knick junkies are purposely avoiding watching them to spare ourselves yet another episode of head-shaking disgust.

Posted by Marv:

i'd settle for competitive and worth watching. what a ripoff this team has beeen for the last 2 years. it would be a lot easier to build toward being an elite team if we first reach stable, competitive status. i guess that would be the "cultutre" or "environment" that we're looking for. then from there we'd know what individual pieces to add without having to make these dumbass junk-for-yet-more-expensive-junk deals that have been killing us.

last night i had the perfect opportunity to sit and watch the game - and couldn't get myself to turn it on. i followed periodically on espn.com, but i just did not want to see the same s##t. ultimattely my loss since they apparently played pretty well, but it's a sad state when any of us knick junkies are purposely avoiding watching them to spare ourselves yet another episode of head-shaking disgust.

I'm with you. I almost didn't even go to the game.

Posted by gunsnewing:

now would be a good time to start watching the games and looking for positives because they are competing and a lot of it has to do with Marbury being out.

you're a charlie brown too? pint of guiness says they lose by more than 15 tomorrow.

and the three blowouts before that were marbury's fault as well.

So obvious.

Posted by gunsnewing:

now would be a good time to start watching the games and looking for positives because they are competing and a lot of it has to do with Marbury being out.

Posted by SlimPack:

does anyone know if san antonio under larry brown won only 20 games becuase larry kept messing with the starting lineups and substitution patterns? or was it becuase of something else? becuase if they lost games becuase of the same reason we are than that would be reason to be optimistic about the future, but for some reason Im guessing they lost for different reasons.

I think it matters less why they lost and more why they started winning - they were joined by a 7'1" HOF center the next year.

Posted by rvhoss:

curry gets in shape, he's that 7 foot HOF (before you all laugh, check my sig)

Yeah but I wasn't talking about a Huge Oafish F**k

^ wow that's good!!