End of Season Interviews Transcript - Coach Brown and Isiah Thomas

GREENBURGH, NY, April 20, 2006 -- Knicks President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas and Head Coach Larry Brown met the media at the MSG Training Center to discuss the 2005-06 Knicks season as part of the team's end of season exit interviews. Following is a transcript of their remarks:

Q: Coach Brown, how is your health and how do you see your future in New York?
Brown: Health wise? I'm better than when I took my job. The games I missed I got the flu and some people thought it was worse than that, so Lisa (Director of Player Care Dr. Lisa Callahan) was being cautious and told me to stay away, Isiah told me to stay away, and when she gave me permission to come back I came back. But it's not going to affect whether I can coach or not. I'm better off than I was when I took the job.

Q: You had the Flu?
Brown: Yeah.

Q: So it wasn’t just acid reflux?
Brown: Well, I mean, I have that and I guess the combination of both, I was sick. But when I got sick in Cleveland it was more flu related than anything. They thought I had something worse at the time and she wanted to be cautious so that's why I happened to stay over and that's why I didn't coach the next few games.

Q: Were they worried about the possibility of pneumonia?
Brown: No. You know, the flu had been going around and they thought I had something else, but …

Q: Do you want to continue coaching in New York, and do you expect that to happen?
Brown: Yeah. I said that in Detroit, but I wasn't in control of that. I want to retire here. I want to fulfill my contract and I'd like to stay involved as long as they'll have me. I knew when I took the job, I was excited about the opportunity. After being here a year, even though we won 23 games and there were a lot of really tough, difficult times… I'm more excited about continuing.

Q: Will your other health issue (bladder) impact the summer or next season?
Brown: I went in Tuesday for that and, no, it's not going to affect me one way or another. I might have to continue with the way I've been going, but it won't affect whether I can coach or not.

Q: Will it require surgery?
Brown: I've got a couple more tests, but no I don't think (there's) anything that's going to be done. We're just going to wait and try to figure out what's best, but I don't think it will involve any surgery or anything that will take time away from me doing my job.

Q: In Detroit, you had no control over job security, do you believe that you have it here?
Brown: I meet with Isiah (Thomas) every day. I meet with Mr. Dolan and Steve (Mills) probably once a week. I've never, ever gotten a feeling they didn't want me to be a part of this. And they know how much I want to be here, especially in light of the fact that we won 23 games and I feel directly responsible for that.

Q: Do you think the acid reflux is a result of stress, and will Knicks bring on additional stress and impact your health?
Brown: I'll give you an example. I called [an assistant coach] in Detroit, a couple of their coaches have acid reflux and they won what, 64 games? And he said it was more severe than mine. So, no. It's just something that was uncomfortable. Again, that didn't keep me from coaching. I think the flu bug was going around and I happened to catch it and they were a little concerned it might be something else and they wanted to be on the safe side so I stayed in Cleveland.

Q: What did Malik say?
Brown: I want us to win more games.

Q: How will the Knicks have to go about winning more games?
Brown: We've got to defend better. We got to share the ball better. We have to take care of the ball better and we've got to play hard. And I have to coach better. Now we talked about this, I never imagined when I took the job that it was going to be easy, but I never imagined that we would be playing so many young kids. And I think in all honest, our young kids are going to get better and I think we're both committed and Mr. Dolan is to improving this team whether it's by making players better or finding other players that can do some things that we need to do.

Q: Are you at all upset over speculation about your status here for next season?
Brown: I didn't think about that, but again I've never been around a situation like this before. Nobody can train you or make you aware what it's going to be like coaching in New York, so I heard that a lot of people related this to what happened to me in Detroit. Well, I had hip surgery in Detroit and coached eight days after my hip surgery. And then I had a second surgery and I missed some time. But that was two surgeries. This was the flu. So I don't know how they both relate, but the fact is when you're losing… you know, I'm probably one of the fortunate ones. I don't know how many coaches in this league could coach a team that won 23 games and still have a job. And I realize people have invested a lot in me and have faith in me, so I'm anxious to get started.

Q: Are there any reasons, such as health, that would prevent you from coming back?
Brown: No. Not that I know of. Again, I think I said it. I want to finish my contract here and continue to be part of the Knicks in any capacity that I can.

Q: Is there something you could've done better, or is this a bad team?
Brown: I'm not looking back. I evaluate how we coach and what we can do better, but I'm more inclined to look ahead and figure out how we can get better. I want to become a better coach. I think I've improved a lot being in this situation, but I want to get with Isiah and figure out how we can make this better.

Q: Is this a 23 win team?
Thomas: I think our players are better and I think our coach is better. I don't think that our record is indicative of the type of coach he is or the type of players we have. That being said, we still have 23 wins. Something went wrong, and over the summer Larry and I will figure it out and we'll make corrections.

Q: What do you think so far of team, where did it go wrong?
Thomas: Coach and I will talk about it and we'll figure it out.

Q: How do you rate Coach Brown's performance?
Thomas: We all had a bad performance. We, the Knicks, had a bad performance, myself, coach and the players. It's been a bad year for us. Even though we're rebuilding, we did expect it to be a little better. We didn't expect it to be like this, but we didn't expect to win the NBA championship, either. I know this about myself, and I know this about him, and I believe this about our players - we're embarrassed by this record, but there's enough intestinal fortitude inside of us to crawl out of the hole that we just dug for ourselves.

Q: Did you expect to spend so much time on building relationships? Will better ones help the team next year?
Brown: That's part of coaching, communicating and having relationships. One, you think about it, most of our veteran players got hurt this season. We ended up playing with a lot of young kids, but you have to develop a trust. They have to believe in what you're doing and that you care about them and that you want to make them better and that doesn't happen overnight. We have a lot of guys who simply haven't won before, which is something you've got to teach them, how to win and how to be a good teammate. I'm better for this experience. I'm disappointed because I think when we came here we promised we'd play the right way, we'd play hard, we'd make people proud that they were Knick fans and I don't think that was accomplished. But this was the first year. I'm confident that we're going to get this straightened out.

Q: When you went to the hospital in Memphis, was that caused by acid reflux as well?
Brown: No. Again, they were being cautious because my family had a history of having some heart problems. So I was working out and lifting and I had some chest discomfort.”

Q: It wasn't indigestion?
Brown: I don't know.

Q: What are you doing to correct the acid reflux problem?
Brown: We know 64 wins doesn't do it. I think you have to manage your diet a little better and that's something they're talking to me about, but again I've had it for a long time. It's never kept me out of coaching games. I just got sick. I've been fortunate, in 30-something years I haven't missed too many games.

Q: Why was there so much caution in Cleveland, were you scared?
Brown: I wasn't, but they were concerned. I didn't have any control over that. I listened to Lisa. She's the best. I trust her. She told me I wasn't getting on a plane, that I needed to go to the hospital and get checked.

Q: What kind of tests did you have done? Heart tests?
Brown: Basically. But I've been fine, but it happens. I'm not the only coach who's ever missed a game because they were sick. … I have a doctor I have a lot of respect for. … I'm coachable, I listen to her.

Q: Do you feel that you’re too honest at times, even to a negative effect?
Brown: That’s a hard thing for me to answer because what I tell you, I tell the players. Isiah told me something and I really think I’ve got to think about it more. I talked to Stephon about this just before... until you coach in New York, you don’t understand what it’s like, how tough it is to be a player and how difficult it is to coach in this environment. Because you can say something and seven people are going to interpret it in a different way. I think I’ve got to be careful, but I also think I’ve also got to be impeccable with my word.

Q: The players say that they’re not that far off with this group, and that they can contend. Do you agree?
Thomas: The players want to stay together. But when you’ve won 23 games, I think we’ll make some changes. Coach and I haven’t sat down and fully decided what changes we’ll make. But we’ll probably make some changes. We do have a group that, for everything that I’ve heard today, like each other, want to stay together and want to play together, and believe that they can get it done. However, I don’t know if that will be the case.

Q: Do you understand what Coach wants in a point guard? Do the players get it?
Thomas: Do I understand what he wants? I’m pretty sure I get it. I was one of the best who ever did it and I don’t know if they could do it as good as I did it. No offense, but …I don’t know. I know there’s a willingness to try. Coach has said that from Crawford to Marbury, he only had (Steve) Francis a short period of time, he spoke about those two guys trying to do everything he’s asked them to do, not whether or not can they do it. We’ll talk about that over the summer.

Q: With 23 wins, have you ever considered making a coaching change?
Thomas: We haven’t considered making a change because of his history. He may not want to hear this, but outside of Detroit and maybe, what was the other place, maybe Indy, he starts slow. If you look at his history, he’s a slow starter. And then he picks up steam and all of a sudden players start doing what he wants them to do and GMs such as myself find a way to get him the things that he needs and he finds a way to win. I believe that will be the case here.

Q: Do you have a concern that he will have to miss games because of health?
Thomas: No, there’s no concern of that. We feel that if that was to ever happen, we have adequate enough support on the bench and around him to make sure that we can get through a game.

Q:Many of the players on the Knicks roster are unmovable or undesirable. How will you make changes to the team?
Thomas: I definitely have a difficult job in terms of changing the roster if we decide that it needs changing. But I’ll do my best. You know I’m not opposed to working the phones and trying to make a deal to get something done. But we want to make it right.

Q: Since the trade for Steve Francis, he and Marbury didn’t play much. Do you still believe they’re the back court of the future?
Brown: “We’ll have to see. I don’t think we’ve had time enough to evaluate. Again, they’re both really talented players. We had injuries this whole year and one of the things you guys kept hitting me with was, ‘when are you going to establish a set lineup?’ Hopefully training camp will allow us to do that. Steve and Steph, if they’re here, will have every opportunity to do that. I’m confident that if they’re given a chance, it’ll work.

Q: What do you make of Steph talking about playing with more freedom and doing what he wants to do?
Thomas: I’ll answer two questions, the question that you didn’t ask that I’m going to answer also. And I’ll try to give a long-winded answer to that. Fortunately, I’m a fan and the president of the team… and a lot of the things, and I try to read what you write, but I read everyday and read everything. It’s been suggested that maybe I should’ve stepped in and said something to Marbury or maybe he should’ve done something. In terms of managing the team, a lot of the things that you do in private, you don’t necessarily have to come out and make them public. The situation was addressed in-house and we gave Coach the option if he wanted to suspend Marbury, fine him, whatever type of discipline that he felt necessary at the time, we were willing to take. What he said to us was that he didn’t think that would be appropriate because he didn‘t want to single him out and he thought this was a good opportunity to coach him. There’s a fine line in terms of jumping in and saying something publicly to appease our fan base. I thought the position that Coach and Steph were in, it was a manageable position between those two and he was handling it.

Q: What would be an offense you would have fined or suspended him for?
Thomas: I think any time that something is … a player and a coach is being played out in such a public forum, that type of conflict, the way I was raised and the way I was brought up, the coach is always right, even if he’s wrong. With Marbury, I don’t think there’s ever a time where a player and a coach should be in the newspapers going at each other. Hopefully that won’t happen again.

Q: What are your thoughts on Stephon Marbury?
Brown: We’re on the same page. I met with him …again, I think I’ve expressed this numerous times, before he got hurt, I thought he was doing everything he possibly could to try to play the right way and I thought he was playing great. I told him again that and I said all I want you to allow me to do is coach you. We didn’t talk very long, but I think he understood what I was talking about. He expressed to me he wants to be part of this. I kind of told him that if there was a trade out there that made us better and he was involved, he might not be here. But as far as I was concerned, I was perfectly comfortable with him helping us improve.”

Q: Steph said you made him a better man. Does that comment surprise you?
Brown: He said that to me. All I told him is that the only thing I ever want is to make players better and to feel like you’ve helped them in doing something that they obviously want to do well. I was disappointed in our record. I was disappointed in people maybe pointing a finger at him and blaming him because of what went on this year, but when you’re the coach or you’re the best player or you’re the president, things tend to go our way and rightly so. Again, I think this kid tries to go out and win and he plays hard and I’m hopeful that he’ll get better and better.

Q: You said three months ago if player doesn’t get along with coach, the player is gone. Where does Marbury stand right now considering some of the things he said?
Thomas: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I am loyal to winning. I am not loyal to any singular individual. I love all the players. I like them all. But I’m about winning and if we can make our team better, then I’m going to do what I need to do to make our team better. If that means trading a couple, two, three, four players, I want to win. I’m committed to that. That’s my only agenda, is to try to put together a winning basketball team.

Q: To clarify, Larry’s definitely coming back?
Thomas: Yes.

Q: Are you upset by anything Larry said in papers?
Thomas: I spoke to Coach and I spoke to Marbury. We’ve gone on and off the record that we don’t necessarily like that type of conflict and confrontation being played out in such a public way.

Q: Do you expect to stay?
Thomas: Yes.

Q: You have all talked about developing a good game and about chemistry, but after 23-59, why should we trust you?
Thomas: I’ve got to think about that, then I’ll give you an answer. But my first thought, and I’ll give you the first thought that came to my mind was that it’s because it’s sports. What happens, the great thing about sports is that the guys on the bottom always have a chance to go to the top the next year. If I didn’t believe and think that way … when I was a little kid growing up, all I had was hope and optimism. That’s the only way I know how to think, that tomorrow’s going to be better.

Q: Wouldn’t it be a risk to trust players saying that they want to play better together when you do business this summer?
Thomas: I wouldn’t say we have a good feeling. However, I think we do have a pretty good understanding of who and what we are, and Coach and I will figure out what changes need to be made. But what I got from the players was they’ve been embarrassed and humiliated and I think there’s a certain type of pride in them that wants to come back and have better individual performances, which hopefully will make our team better.

Q: What are your thoughts on the season?
Brown: We won 23 games, whatever we say, if we were happy about that … I hope it didn’t come off today that we’re proud of this season and the job I did and how our team performed. I didn’t think I got that from one player. I think they were trying to express to you, they feel they learned a lot and with what they had to go through, they’re committed to not having this happen again. I left Detroit. They came within a game of winning the championship and got six new players. San Antonio won a championship, got six new players. We won 23 games, so to sit here and think we’re going to stand still is kind of silly. Like Isiah, he’s told me 100 times, he’s loyal to the Knicks and loyal to winning. Now we’ve got a job to do. We’ve got to change this and have people that watch us have confidence that we’re trying to do the right thing.

Q: Is a year like this necessary for everybody to understand what you’re trying to do?
Brown: Because we went through it, yeah, but I wouldn’t wish this on anybody. This is the toughest thing that players, coaches, presidents, fans could go through … I think we’re all embarrassed and disappointed, but this is only going to make us better. We’re going to get through this.

Q: You wanted to coach on Monday?
Brown: She (Dr. Callahan) didn’t want me to coach [Wednesday] night. But I told her I was alright. She listened to me and said OK.

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