deserved a thread...sorry mods.

Posted by crzymdups:

interesting take from Vecsey. if you can stomach his bad puns, I get the impression he's one of the few reporters who actually has sources and is trying to figure out what's happening behind the scenes here:

http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/67278.htm

STEALING THE SHOW
KNICKS DEBACLE ATTRACTS ATTENTION
by Peter Vecsey

DOLLARS & SENSE: Larry Brown leaves the NBA pre-draft workouts for the last time in Orlando yesterday. Peter Vecsey says the decision to fire Brown comes down to the bottom line.

June 9, 2006 -- ORLANDO - Consider this an open apology to the New York Knickerbockers and all they stand for.
Despite what the whole human race thinks, Camp Cablevision knows what it's doing. After all, here I am, tailgating Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown to the NBA's pre-draft camp at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex, and keeping their disharmony-from-a-distance under surveillance as The Finals get underway in Dallas.

The last time "The Knicks" and "The Finals" were mentioned in the same sentence, Jeff Van Gundy was seen on their sidelines and Pat Riley's aura had been downgraded to just plain obscene.

While everyone censures James Dolan and Steve Mills and Thomas for their perceived uncouth treatment of Brown and portray his professed public humiliation as a permanent stain on the magical world of Madison Square, I wish to highlight the following fact:

Long after flim-flam franchises like San Antonio, Detroit, Phoenix and New Jersey have evacuated our stream of unconsciousness, the Knicks clearly haven't lost the knack for arresting our undivided attention.

What other 23-win oddball outfit could possibly get this sort of pub the day before the Belmont? (Author's aside: noted tout Ken Lay advocates betting out on High Finance.)

That's my dominant thought as I stand on the top deck of the Milkhouse Gym Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon peripherally eyeballing point guard Jordan Farmar - said to be insisting on a commitment from a top 20 team or else he'll return to UCLA - and South Carolina's small forward Renaldo Balkman separate themselves from the 55 or so second-round and undrafted projections.



Down below the double-parking, lame-duck coach, who's looking for love in all the wrong places, is within my unobstructed view. Each workout Brown makes a habit of burrowing between frayed security blankets - Donnie Walsh, Billy King and Kevin O'Connor. During break he intermingles with very few others.

Every now and then, Brown's spirits are buoyed, as he's made to feel less unwanted by a courtesy call from the Mayo Clinic.

If I turn to my right and look to the extreme rear, there's the overmatched president of basketball operations/coach-in-waiting, who's hanging the current one out like a wind chime. Thomas is rubbing knees (I'm not the jealous type) with assistant GM Brendan Suhr, fired wherever he's been - Detroit, Atlanta, Orlando, Detroit - for being brazenly untrustworthy.

If I hadn't witnessed the genius that is Isiah up close and personal at any number of his previous pit stops, I might be a bit concerned about the roster he has assembled and the company he's keeping.

By the way, wasn't it last summer (or the Summer of '42) that coach-for-the-moment and coach-for-next season did everything short of exchanging vows in a civil ceremony?

Yet, as far as we know, nary a word has been spoken since Brown and Thomas arrived here earlier this week. So much for Disney World being the happiest place on earth!

By refusing to confirm or deny my report, the Knicks are largely co-signing off on it.

"That's true," substantiates someone stuck between the clown coach to the left of him and the executive jokers to the right.

What's not true, I'm counseled, is my assertion Thomas is championing the charge to dump Brown overboard, buyout or not. While, there's no doubt Thomas is livid at Brown for undermining his ability to trade alleged assets by relentlessly accentuating their defects to the media, Next Town has alienated Dolan to a far greater degree. From what I'm able to piece together, Dolan has been in an unforgiving mood for months and months because Brown routinely refused to adhere to the owner's phone and behind-closed-door orders.

Only two weeks into the season, after a game at Golden State, Brown was told in no uncertain terms to mute his negativity toward Stephon Marbury, who declined to let the comments slide and called out his coach. Dolan and Thomas have chosen to keep their grievances in house, before and after the news of Brown's impending deportation got out.

Despite many more warnings from Dolan to zip it, Brown's withering words at the expense of Poisonbury, and many teammates continued unabated for the remainder of the season.

"Larry's mistake was picking a fight with Dolan," says someone in the know.

Many people look at how Brown's situation is being handled and feel the Knicks should be above publicly embarrassing their Hall of Fame coach, that in spite of his unprofessional conduct, he deserves respect for contributing so much to the league and the sport.

Dolan feels Brown is trying to embarrass the Knicks into paying him off. That belief is validated each time Brown grants an interview regarding his situation. Following my story, the owner gave explicit instructions to everyone in the organization not to discuss the matter. Only in the past few days has the repeated message seemingly seeped into Brown.

By all accounts from the Nets, to the Pacers, to the 76ers, to the Pistons, normally Brown doesn't take on his bosses and his players until two or three years into a contract. The Knicks knew that going in and were prepared to deal with it accordingly when the time came. They definitely knew about the eccentric they were getting.

"But when Larry acted like he did right away, it caught Dolan and Thomas by complete surprise," underscores a former Brown supporter.

OK, so what's stopping the leader of some garage band from doing what must be done?

The answer is strictly bottom line. Contrary to evidence, Dolan is forever carefree and careless about toeing it.

"His resources may be ridiculous," offers someone with objective perspective, "but writing a check for that amount is plenty reason to pause before making a definitive decision."

But, hey, it's The Finals and we're talking Knicks. Viva Camp Cablevision!



[Edited by - rvhoss on 06-09-2006 12:16 PM]

I like larry even more today.

I knew I had this guy pegged right all along...

Nah he just rides IT's jock all day and night.

I think larry should take the high road, hold a press conference and apologize for anything he's done that may have been taken the wrong way.

then go on to say he's ready to bury the hatchet and let by gones be by gones and coach the knocks to the promised land.

wouldn't that save everyone?

or does he want to be fired and set free from this land of misery?

actually i'm prepared for this to drag on indefinitely. I really don't care, cuz it doesn't make a difference at this time if he's the coach or not. We'll know the answer soon enough. I'm more concerned with the job Isiah does with the roster this summer. Larry, Dolan and Isiah deserve each other, but we fans don't deserve the mess this has turned into. Still right now I could care less about how Larry is being treated. I could care less about how the rest of the league feels about all of this. Heck the rest of the country pretty much hates NY anyway, why would I care what they think? All that matters is that this teams roster gets the help it needs and i'm sure that just about any good coach will be able to have success with this team if its built right. Larry isn't the ONLY coach who can run a team well. Unless you have the players, it doesn't matter who the coach is.

LOL.

You are one unbiased obeserver.

What a moron.

Posted by nixluva:

actually i'm prepared for this to drag on indefinitely. I really don't care, cuz it doesn't make a difference at this time if he's the coach or not. We'll know the answer soon enough. I'm more concerned with the job Isiah does with the roster this summer. Larry, Dolan and Isiah deserve each other, but we fans don't deserve the mess this has turned into. Still right now I could care less about how Larry is being treated. I could care less about how the rest of the league feels about all of this. Heck the rest of the country pretty much hates NY anyway, why would I care what they think? All that matters is that this teams roster gets the help it needs and i'm sure that just about any good coach will be able to have success with this team if its built right. Larry isn't the ONLY coach who can run a team well. Unless you have the players, it doesn't matter who the coach is.

i dont buy into larry, zeke and dolan deserving each other......other than that, good post. what i dislike is the media suggesting stern put an end to the drama that may be drawing recognition from one of the best playoff runs in modern times.

what a lot of people are missing, and thank you for pointing this out, the fans do not deserve this kind of tratment, period