Larry Brown fired as NY Knicks Coach

[naiwf 0]

Well, the eastern conference doesn't have a lot of depth. A team with a 45% winning percentage has a good shot.

 

That's still 37 wins. The Knicks had a robust 23 last year. Isiah Thomas as a coach isn't worth 14 wins and the team hasn't been improved at all.

[Precious Roy 0]

It may be a case of addition by subtraction. I can see Marbury, Francis and Curry having career years playing for Isiah, in large part due to the influence that Larry Brown had on them, if that makes any sense. It seems like Crawford and Q-Rich were the only vets to really buy into Brown's coaching, and honestly I can see them both regressing. But overall Isiah is probably better suited for this particular roster than Brown was. If they'd given Brown a fair chance and made some personnel changes he'd have been fine, but what's done is done. In the short term this probably means a much more competitive team.

 

Plus, I expect some movement, the team has way too many guards. There's not enough minutes for Marbury/Francis/Crawford/Robinson/Richardson/Rose, so at least one (ideally two) of them have to go

[Brett Favre 0]

They're probably going to draft a guard too, and I would myself, because all the big men in the draft suck. He's already shopping Richardson, and he'll probably trade Francis too.

[cabbageboy 0]

In regards to the Houston Rockets, yeah them winning was pretty much the nadir of the league since it was so obvious they only won because Jordan was retired. I won't give them too much shit about it though because at least Hakeem and Co. took advantage of Jordan's absence. In my view the Phoenix Suns had the best team in both 1994 and 95 but just choked their nuts off the moment they saw the Rockets. That's why I don't have much sympathy for guys like Barkley, Malone, and Ewing. Those guys had their chance in 94-95 and they blew it.

 

Take a look at that 1994 playoffs. The #1 seeds were Atlanta and Seattle, one of whom was a total joke with zero credibility that lost the 2nd round to the Pacers..and the other was (I think) the first #1 seed to lose to an 8. Combine this with the MLB strike in 94 and is it any wonder the NFL became the premiere sport?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I don't get how people say the Rockets couldn't win when MJ was in the Leauge, because they have never faced them in the finals. Hakeem was the most skilled big man I think ever in the leauge.

 

If MJ beat the Hakeem Rocket's in the finals their would've been no doubt, but it never happen so we can only speculate. That doesn't prove shit.

[Chuck Woolery 0]

they would have played the rockets if houston hadn't choked their own nuts off to seattle in '96. i remember getting amped for houston/chicago in '96 and being pissed when seattle beat houston in... six? i think it was six.

 

also forgotten in the '95 finals was orlando being up by 23 points going into the fourth quarter of game one and completely and utterly blowing it, setting the tone for the whole series.

[naiwf 0]

I don't get how people say the Rockets couldn't win when MJ was in the Leauge, because they have never faced them in the finals. Hakeem was the most skilled big man I think ever in the leauge.

 

If MJ beat the Hakeem Rocket's in the finals their would've been no doubt, but it never happen so we can only speculate. That doesn't prove shit.

 

The Rockets couldn't win when MJ was in the NBA BECAUSE they never even made it to the Finals to face him. Seriously dude, how could they have beaten the Bulls when they couldn't even get out of the West until he was gone? It's not an accident either that the Knicks never made the Finals while Jordan was in the league. The only difference between Hakeem and Ewing, Barkley and the other titleless victims of the Jordan era was that they capitalized on that two year window, or Hakeem wouldn't have any rings either.

[Brett Favre 0]

Dolan said himself, Larry called for Rose and Francis, and two weeks later, he wanted them out. And on two different occasions, Isiah offered a deal to another GM, and the GM said that he'd consider it, but your coach made an even better offer. It seems like Larry wanted and took more control than what was given to him, which is why he was fired. Isiah is getting one year for some improvement.

 

What Dolan said:

 

"The policy is clear: you do not communicate to your fellow employees through the press.... we made that absolutely clear to Larry, he agreed to it, understood it, took training on how to follow the policy, and did not follow the policy at all. That was one thing."

 

"Also, we couldn't get the coach to focus on coaching. The coach was focusing on being the president and general maneger. We had several situations where Isiah was negotating with GMs of other teams, was making an offer to that GM, and the GM said "look, I normally wouldn't do this, but I already have a better offer from your coach. " That happened once during the season, and once after the season. He needed to let the GM do his job, and we tried to get him to do that... but we couldn't get him to stop. That was another thing."

 

"Larry said, 'I'm dying to have (Jalen), I have to have this player.' He told me 'I'm begging you to take Steve.' Both times, we did it, we agreed to it. Less that 4 weeks later, we have Larry saying, 'These players are no good, you gotta get rid of them.' Those two moves cost the organization 80 million dollars."

[alfdogg 0]

they would have played the rockets if houston hadn't choked their own nuts off to seattle in '96. i remember getting amped for houston/chicago in '96 and being pissed when seattle beat houston in... six? i think it was six.

It was a sweep, actually.

[alfdogg 0]

Larry Brown's never liked Jalen Rose...he wouldn't play him the year he coached him in Indiana, either. It's sort of odd that he wanted him on the Knicks all of a sudden.

 

I think a lot of people confuse "overpaid" with "worthless"...there's no doubt Rose is overpaid, but he can still add plenty to a basketball team. I also think people have really underrated him since he was in Chicago. He couldn't handle the pressure of leading a team, but there never seemed to be a problem with him with the Pacers or Raptors, where he didn't have to do as much.

[Brett Favre 0]

I like Jalen Rose. He's a good scorer, and passer. But he can't defend for shit. I don't mind him on the team, but hes probably going to get traded.

[alfdogg 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2501271

 

Check out the SAS soundbyte...I'm listening to it right now, it's a good listen.

[cabbageboy 0]

Backing up a bit, let's say the Rockets would have faced the Bulls. First, the Bulls almost undoubtedly would have had home court both years if Jordan had played (hell, the 1995 Bulls had the SAME record as the rather mediocre Rockets, who were a mere 6 seed). Let's face it, the Rockets weren't a real dominant team. Just a placeholder champion type team in between the two Bulls runs.

 

I don't think the Bulls would have swept them, since they never swept anyone in the finals. It would have been a ho hum 5-6 game series both times, maybe not quite as interesting as either series vs. the Jazz.

[CanadianChris 0]

Did I mention that the Knicks are going to the playoffs next season?

They'd better, or a certain shitty GM is out of a job... (link)

 

Isiah Thomas has one year to turn around the New York Knicks -- something Larry Brown couldn't do. And if Thomas doesn't, he'll be gone, too.

 

"I'm saying this right with Isiah here. This is his team," Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan said Monday. "He made this bed. There's nobody better than him to make this thing go forward.

 

"But he has to do that and he has one year, one season to do that. At this time next year, Isiah will be with us if we can all sit here and say that this team has made significant progress towards its goal of eventually becoming an NBA championship team. If we can't say that, then Isiah will not be here."

 

The remarks by Dolan were his first since firing Brown as coach Thursday and replacing him with Thomas, the team president and general manager.

 

Dolan acknowledged that the team "made a mistake" hiring Brown.

 

Thomas assembled the roster that went 23-59, tying the franchise record for losses in a season. And though Dolan said the Knicks are still rebuilding, he wants to see results next season.

 

Dolan wouldn't say how many wins the Knicks would need, only that he wanted "evident progress, not just debatable progress."

 

And if he doesn't, he said Thomas would not only be replaced as coach, but he also would lose all his roles within the Cablevision-owned organization.

 

"It's his ship to steer," Dolan said, "his ship to make go fast, his ship to crash. His ship."

 

Thomas, who was seated to Dolan's right in a meeting with writers who cover the Knicks, said he was prepared to work under the deadline and would not sacrifice his plan to build with young players -- the Knicks have two first-round picks in Wednesday's draft.

 

"I've been in pressure situations before," Thomas said. "All my life has basically been about pressure and about having to get it done. Just because you say it publicly does not make me afraid of it or shy away from it. We've got a job to do, we'll get it done."