From the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/22/sports/basketball/22marbury.html?)

Knicks' Guard Is Trying to Tame a Life Lived on a Roller Coaster
By HOWARD BECK

When Stephon Marbury, the Coney Island basketball prodigy, returned to New York, he came with outstanding fanfare, outsized expectations and a big, fat warning label.

Like the infamous scowl that Marbury carries from one town to the next, the label is hard to shake. It says he is by turns selfish, difficult, abrasive and - worst of all - not a winner.

It is, by most objective measures, an oversimplification, a caricature.

But the image sticks, and it is not entirely unearned. Former teammates swear by Marbury, or swear about him.

Former coaches and general managers profess nothing but love and admiration for Marbury, yet they keep trading him - three times in a nine-year N.B.A. career.

Yet here he stands, decked in the white, orange and blue of his hometown team, the designated savior for a franchise desperate for revival. Marbury cannot do it alone, and the Knicks' 21-32 record is testament to an awkwardly constructed roster. Yet the more the Knicks lose, the more critics point back to the star point guard with the star-crossed career path.

"When we got him here in New York, the reason why we were able to get him is because he has flaws," said Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' president, who acquired Marbury in a splashy trade last January. "And you don't correct those flaws in four months. But I look at where he is at today and this year, he's laying a great foundation for him to springboard to success in this league. And it's not easy."

Marbury, in fact, pays a price every day for losing games in his hometown. "It's hard losing anywhere, but losing here is worse," he said.

Worse, because he has to explain the Knicks' problems daily to family and friends. Worse, because when the Knicks lost 19 of 24 games, it only emboldened his critics.

At first glance, there is still nothing soft and cuddly about the scowling point guard from the Surfside Gardens projects. His brusqueness can be a turnoff to strangers, some teammates and most reporters. Botch a play or a drop a pass, and brace yourself for that menacing glare.

But to friends and supporters across the N.B.A., Marbury is warm-hearted, generous, even funny.

Some scouts condemn his playing style as self-indulgent, yet Marbury has averaged more than eight assists a game in his career.

The record shows that he has failed to win a playoff series, that teams have improved after he leaves - but those teams were weighed down by injuries and inexperience when he was there.

Marbury claims not to care about public perceptions, yet teammates say he reads every story about the Knicks, every day. "He'll get this story even if he's on Mars," one player said.

So cognizant is he of his public image, and so guarded with his feelings, that "no comment" and "next question" are frequent refrains, often used to skirt questions that might lead to criticism of a teammate.

But if Marbury's rocky first year with the Knicks has proved anything, it is that the quest to make over his image and transform his career - indeed, to transform himself - is continuing.

Thomas placed the franchise's fate in Marbury's hands nearly 14 months ago, acquiring him in an eight-player trade with the Phoenix Suns. He says he does not regret that leap of faith, even as the Knicks hurtle toward the draft lottery.


Signs of Becoming a Leader


Lost amid the team's struggles is that Marbury is having perhaps the finest season of his pro career, and may be blossoming into the leader that Thomas envisioned. Marbury's field-goal attempts a game (15.7) are down, his shooting percentage (.473) is up, and there is no indication the team has given up, or begun to splinter.

Thomas said it was a credit to Marbury's leadership, and he is not alone in saying that. One supporter is Penny Hardaway, a teammate in Phoenix and New York, who admitted he had clashed with Marbury and who still keeps a distance off the court.

"I think Steph has grown into being a better leader, and I think he understands that, too," Hardaway said.

Some of the growth is public, on display on the court. For every piercing stare now, there is a pat on someone's back. For each barb, there is a twirling towel, a high-five.

The moodiness and the edginess are tempered these days by a veteran's perspective, and by Thomas's mentoring. The president and the point guard, next-door neighbors in Westchester County, confer daily.

"Being under his guidance and his supervision, it's been the best thing as a basketball player and as a person," Marbury said.

Despite his reputation, Marbury has fans in every city of his N.B.A. odyssey: Flip Saunders, his coach in Minnesota; Ed Stefanski, the Nets' general manager; Bryan Colangelo and Mike D'Antoni, the general manager and the coach in Phoenix.

But he has no greater supporter than Thomas, who mixes his advice with lectures on defense and leadership. A few weeks ago, Thomas had to calm tensions when Marbury and forward Kurt Thomas exchanged words; the two players continue to work effectively on the court.

"I think Steph has to continue to grow intellectually," Isiah Thomas said.

"The type of leader I think he's developing into, he's accepting of his teammates' criticism. Before, it was like nobody could say if he was doing anything wrong. Teammates were afraid. So everybody kind of sniped behind his back, as opposed to trying to help him and teach him."

Thomas speculated that Marbury had tried to lead through intimidation. That certainly seemed to be the case in New Jersey, where Marbury publicly criticized Kerry Kittles and Keith Van Horn; and in Phoenix, where Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion reportedly grew weary of his demeanor.

By the time Marbury became a Knick, his reputation was established: He could not make his teammates better, and he could not win a playoff series. The selfish label came while Marbury was averaging 17 to 19 shots a game for six seasons.

"That image came from basically playing on teams where you didn't have guys that were able to do certain things to win games," Marbury said. "So I pretty much had to basically put it all on my shoulders."

It is true that the Suns and the Nets improved after Marbury left. The Nets won two straight Eastern Conference titles after trading Marbury for Jason Kidd. The Suns - who signed Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson with the money saved by trading Marbury and Hardaway - have the league's second-best record (41-13).

But consider Marbury's final season with the Nets: Kenyon Martin was a rookie recovering from a broken leg, Kittles missed the season because of knee surgery and Van Horn played in 49 games.

"That year was a such a disarray of injuries," Stefanski said. "Everyone pointed toward Stephon, but that wasn't fair."

When Kidd arrived, he was handed a team that had a healthy Martin, a healthy Kittles and a gifted rookie, Richard Jefferson.


Asterisk in Phoenix


The Suns had some talent around Marbury, but there is an asterisk there, too. Stoudemire, now an All-Star, was a 19-year-old rookie in Marbury's first season there. The next season, Stoudemire missed a month of games, the team slumped and management - looking for a way to dump salary and chase Kobe Bryant in free agency - dealt Marbury and Hardaway to the Knicks.

"Steph is really a very unselfish player," a Suns official said. But once divisions arise, he added, "Steph isn't good with breaking it down, with the way he acts."

In four seasons as Marbury's teammate, Hardaway has seen it all. The two had a falling out in Phoenix, yet Hardaway believes he understands Marbury better than most - the exasperated glares, the sharp words, all of it.

"If you don't understand Steph or know him, you would take that in a bad way," Hardaway said. "But he just wants to win so bad.

"He expects a lot from his teammates, because he brings a lot to the table, and if you don't meet up to those expectations, he might give up on you. If you're not giving it 100 percent out there and you're lazy, he gets turned off by that."

But Hardaway added: "Every game I can see, he's off the bench cheering when I do something or teammates do something. He wants to support guys now. That lets me know he's trying to become more of a leader."

Some of Marbury's most meaningful gestures are kept private. He does not talk about his dinner on Thanksgiving, when he invited Jamal Crawford and Trevor Ariza, whose families are on the West Coast, to celebrate with his family.

"He's really looked out for us," said Crawford, perhaps Marbury's closest friend in the locker room.

Marbury said: "You don't force-feed anyone to basically be in your presence. You know the people who want to be in your presence. I think the things that I've done over my career, I've done everything the real way. I never do nothing fake."

Early last season, while still in Phoenix, Marbury was introduced to his new teammate and protégé, the rookie Leandro Barbosa. All Marbury knew of him was that he was skinny, Brazilian and poor. When he heard Barbosa needed a new car, Marbury called a dealer in New Jersey and ordered a Cadillac Escalade. Marbury paid for it. "He really took an interest in the kid's life," said the Suns official who related the story.

The Knicks can only hope that the next stage of Marbury's development is enough to lift them back to respectability. Marbury, who turned 28 on Sunday, is averaging 21.3 points and 8.2 assists and shooting a career-best .473 from the field. He is indeed passing more, and sometimes deferring too much. "He's always been a guy that in my view that I would hate to play with, because he has to have the ball all the time," said a scout for another N.B.A. team. "But lately, maybe he's trying to change that, because it's not been successful."

Some suggest Marbury may be best suited to play shooting guard, rather than point guard, to maximize his skills and keep him from dominating the ball. "I think a lot of people expect him to be a great point guard, but I don't think that's his main suit," D'Antoni said.


Knicks Need More Help


In any case, the Knicks need to provide Marbury with more help. They lack a dominant post player. Their best shooter, Allan Houston, is a knee twinge from retirement. Their next best scorer, Crawford, is young and untamed. The young prospects, Ariza and Mike Sweetney, are not ready for major roles.

A Western Conference scout who has watched several Knicks games referred to Marbury's surrounding cast as "a bunch of marginal role players."

Isiah Thomas said the Knicks would rise again when he found "four or five more guys" with the toughness to match Marbury and Kurt Thomas. Until then, Marbury will be judged on his past, and Isiah Thomas will be judged on his faith in the player from Brooklyn with the hazy reputation.

"I know that Isiah is not going to settle for what's going on," Marbury said. "And I know that eventually it's going to change."



I like that Marbury has taken Crawford and Ariza under his wing, they're probably the only two players on the team that he appreciates going night-in, night-out and hustling all the time. Get this team some big men and a deeper bench, and with the maturation of Crawford and Ariza I think they could turn it around. Lose this year, get that pick, draft that big man.

http://ultimateknicks.com/forum/topic.asp?t=8073