Anyone getting tired of Larry Brown?

[greasywheels121]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2112728

 

Knicks GM Thomas has already phoned Brown

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Larry Brown's agent said Wednesday he expects the unemployed coach to make a decision on his future in the next couple of weeks, and the New York Knicks are already hard at work trying to persuade the 64-year-old nomad to settle down at Madison Square Garden.

 

Knicks president Isiah Thomas spoke to Brown on the telephone Tuesday night, just hours after the Detroit Pistons announced they were parting ways with the coach who led them to the NBA Finals in each of the past two seasons.

 

"They talked last night and agreed to meet in person in the next few days," Knicks spokesman Joe Favorito said. The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that the Knicks were prepared to offer Brown as much as $60 million over five years.

 

"It's too soon to have any discussions along those lines. The ink hasn't even dried yet [on his severance package from the Pistons]," said Brown's longtime agent, Joe Glass. "I'm hoping he'll take advantage of the time off, relax, refresh and revitalize."

 

The Knicks' pursuit of Brown will result in a longer period of limbo for interim coach Herb Williams, who guided the team over the final 43 games of the 2004-05 season after Lenny Wilkens was fired. Williams' head coaching contract expires July 31, though he remains under contract to the Knicks as an assistant coach for the upcoming season.

 

If Brown decides to turn down the Knicks, or if he chooses to wait a few months before deciding his next move, all indications point to the Knicks retaining Williams for the upcoming season.

 

Williams, through a team spokesman, declined comment. Brown did not immediately return a call to his summer home in East Hampton, N.Y.

 

In the past, Brown has publicly endorsed Williams for the Knicks' head coaching job, and in comments to New York reporters on Tuesday night he sounded uneasy with the prospect of possibly replacing Williams.

 

But Thomas has already made it clear who he would prefer to have at the helm, and it's a safe bet that the Knicks would find a place in the organization for Williams, one of their most loyal and longest tenured employees.

 

"It's early, and there are a lot of things that can happen," Glass said. "A lot of people are concentrating on Isiah and the Knicks, and I wouldn't want to be in [brown's] shoes, answering 'Where are you going now?"'

 

"Things take their natural course, and we'll see where this goes."

 

Throughout the season and the playoffs, Brown insisted he wanted to return to the Pistons if doctors deemed him healthy enough. He underwent two major surgical procedures during the season, then had a third procedure to address a bladder condition shortly after the Pistons lost to San Antonio in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

 

All along, Brown said he wouldn't want to lead another NBA team from the sideline. But Brown also told the New York Post in the middle of last season that coaching the Knicks would be a "dream job."

 

With his departure from Detroit now finalized, that dream could be a lot closer to becoming reality. The next step will likely come after Thomas and Brown have their face-to-face meeting.

 

"I don't think it'll be a couple of months," Glass said. "I think it'll be a couple of weeks. It certainly won't be couple of days."

[DBAHO]

The Knicks won't make the playoffs next season anyway even with Larry Brown as coach.

[rangercal]

I have no respect for Brown or the Pistons. They both got screwed in this and I love it! Detroit, I bet you would love Rick Carlisle back now !

[Brian]

Getting tired? Every off season we have to deal his drama.

[Kyyle23]

With Isaiah in charge, we have nothing to fear from New York. He has consistently made bad personnel decisions and increased the payroll in New York. Now he is trying to get out from under Crawford or Marbury's contract because he traded for Quentin Richardson. I say let them all lie in their s***-stinking bed, I think its quite funny.

 

Steve Czaban said it best "In Toronto, Thomas ran into the house(the house being the Toronto Raptors) and set fire to everything, and walked out the front door and said "I dunno what happened in there. Now he is doing the same thing in New York, the same bad personnel decisions, setting fire to everything, and with the same look on his face. How long before he steps out the front door and says "I dunno what happened in there". Probably not too long."

[OilCan]

Let's see...the NY Roster has....

 

15 combo PG/SGs, and

15 undersized power forwards.

 

And Larry STILL wants to coach the Crips?

 

[Rowand44]

To answer the title of this thread, yes, very much so.

[Pauly8509CWS]

To answer the title of this thread, yes, very much so.

 

 

I agree its as widespread as the Red Sox love.... :fyou Larry Brown

[Palehosefan]

I'm a huge UNC fan and and I'm still dead tired of him.

 

Edit: lmao, I can't type today apparently.

Edited July 22, 2005 by Palehosefan

[shakes]

I have no respect for Brown or the Pistons.  They both got screwed in this and I love it! Detroit, I bet you would love Rick Carlisle back now !

 

They still got two finals appearances and a title from him.

[LauraJ14]

They still got two finals appearances and a title from him.

 

Why do teams keep throwing 5 year deals at him when they know he is only going to be around 2 years?

[Dick Allen]

He has a championship and another finals appearance the last 2 years and the Pistons are so sick of him they paid him to go away, so therefore just about everyone who knows who he is has to be sick of him.

[Texsox]

Yes, I'm tired of him.

 

In his defense, coaching NY, his hometown, is a dream job. I am inclined to cut him a small bit of slack for wanting to end his career back home on the worlds biggest stage. If he was leaving for Minnesota or something equally silly, I'd have no sympathy.

[Soxfest]

I am so sick of LB I cannot stand it :finger LB

[DBAHO]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA;

 

Stephon Marbury is guaranteeing the Knicks will make the playoffs this year.

''We're making the playoffs,'' Marbury said in the radio interview. ''I'm guaranteeing that. We're going to make the playoffs.'' It doesn't sound like he cares if his coach is Larry Brown or Herb Williams (our money is on Larry) and that's a pretty bold statement, given the Knicks potential starting lineup. Marbury and Jamal Crawford in the backcourt, with Quentin Richardson, Mike Sweetney and Jerome James up front. They'll have a shot at the playoffs, but guarantees this early are a little strong, unless you play in Miami, Detroit or Indiana. Jul. 22 - 10:08 pm et

[greasywheels121]

And there it is, the Knicks have their nomad...

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2117399

 

Reports: Brown accepts Knicks' offer in principle

ESPN.com news services

 

NEW YORK -- Larry Brown has been offered a contract by the New York Knicks to become the franchise's 22nd head coach, with the New York Times and (New York) Newsday reporting he has accepted the job in principle.

 

Brown's agent, Joe Glass, had confirmed to the Associated Press earlier in the day Brown had received an offer. Glass was more emphatic in the Times.

 

"[brown's] made his decision that he wants to coach the Knicks," Glass told the Times. "Now it's up to the Knicks and myself to come up with an arrangement that works for both parties."

 

The Times and Newsday both reported terms of the deal could be completed Wednesday, with Brown sitting at a podium alongside team president Isiah Thomas and owner James Dolan to make things absolutely, positively, official as early as Thursday.

 

That scenario, of course, can only happen if there are no snags, and Glass wasn't ready to call everything a done deal.

 

"There's some other things to hash out, but there's nothing definitive at this point," Glass said to the Times before returning to the talks. "A lot of things can happen between the talk and the execution. I'm only secure when it's done."

 

And with the 64-year-old Brown, who has coached seven NBA teams and two college teams, the likelihood of something happening between the talk and the execution can never be underestimated.

 

"We're making progress, and we're continuing to talk at this point," Knicks spokesman Joe Favorito told The Associated Press.

 

Glass was not sure when contract negotiations might wrap up.

 

"Too hard to say," said Glass, 80, whose son has been an agent for several NBA players. "There's no time factor as far as we're concerned. We'll get it done as soon as we get it done."

 

Brown had dinner Monday night with Thomas and interim coach Herb Williams, a meeting that Brown described as "positive." Brown had been uneasy about the prospect of displacing Williams as coach.

 

"That was a huge obstacle for me, not for him," Brown said. "It's not at all anymore."

 

Brown's wife, Shelly, had been concerned about her husband's health. Brown missed 17 games last season due to a hip replacement operation that led to a bladder problem, and Brown underwent his third surgery in nine months shortly after the Pistons lost Game 7 of the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs.

 

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic told Brown he needed rest, and he and his wife have decided he'll get enough of it during the next two months before training camp begins.

 

Brown's two young children also are enthused about the move to New York.

 

"No one wants this to drag on," Shelly Brown said. "I know everyone's on the same page."

 

The Knicks' hiring of Brown would come a little more than a week after he parted ways with the Detroit Pistons after two seasons -- both of which ended with trips to the NBA Finals.

 

Trying to turn the rebuilding Knicks into a winner would be the latest challenge for Brown in a nomadic NBA coaching career that has included stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets. Brown also coached collegiately at Kansas and UCLA, and his first professional coaching job was with the Carolina Cougars of the ABA.

 

Brown was the coach of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that finished a disappointing third. Part of that roster included Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, who would be reunited with Brown.

 

New York reportedly is willing to offer Brown a five-year contract worth between $50 million and $60 million.

 

Still unclear is what role Williams would have with the Knicks under Brown, and which of New York's current assistant coaches might remain with the club.

 

Williams' head coaching contract expires Sunday, but his assistant coaching contract has another year left. The Knicks finished 33-49 last season and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years.

[Rowand44]

And there it is, the Knicks have their nomad...

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2117399

:sleep

[DBAHO]

Hey we'll giv ya Steve Francis for him;

 

Only between the ears of Larry Brown does it make sense to demote oneself from head coach of the Eastern Conference champion Pistons to a spot with the rudderless Knicks. That is like trading a week on the QE2 for a three-hour tour on the S.S. Minnow.

 

Eventually, Brown will take over in New York. Given his knack for the quick fix, that could mean 45 wins next season, a playoff spot and a healthy dose of job security for Brown's boss-to-be, Isiah Thomas.

 

But 45 wins likely will mean the East's sixth or seventh seed and a first-round playoff exit. Brown won't be able to fix the fact that the Knicks simply are not elite material.

 

Unless they take a drastic step, one that looks simple--and even obvious--to veteran Knicks-watchers. If New York wants to succeed with Larry Brown, it will have to get rid of another hometown hero, Stephon Marbury.

 

Marbury isn't Brown's kind of point guard. He's a scorer. He doesn't shoot well. He holds the ball for ungodly lengths of time. He doesn't do defense. All of these things are true despite the fact that Marbury is coming off the best season of his career, one in which he averaged a career-low 2.8 turnovers and had career-best shooting percentages from the field (.462), foul line (.834) and 3-point line (.354).

 

They're true despite Brown's track record. In Detroit, Brown took another point guard who wasn't his type--Chauncey Billups--and changed him. He taught Billups to attack immediately on defense to get the ball out of the opposing point guard's hands. He taught Billups to eschew his own offense, and to give up popping 3-pointers on fast breaks. Billups averaged 5.2 assists under Brown after averaging 4.2 before Brown.

 

But Billups was a midlevel signee for the Pistons, a guy who had been a sixth man in Minnesota and a forgotten man in four other places. He was open to Brown's nagging (er, teaching). It's nearly impossible to imagine Marbury being that open to Brown's philosophy--it didn't happen at the Olympics in Athens, when Brown was coach and Marbury was his only point guard. Marbury struggled before getting hot late. Even when his shot was falling, he clearly was not playing the way Brown wanted, offensively or defensively.

 

Perhaps Marbury will be open to change--he made a token effort to share the ball more last season. But at his core, Marbury is accustomed to being the show, a big-time star who knows a lot about scoring but not so much about winning. He has a maximum-dollar contract, a tight relationship with Thomas and a high opinion of himself--remember that "I know I'm the best point guard in the NBA" comment? Does anyone really think Marbury suddenly will submit himself to Brown's "play the right way" doctrine?

 

Brown is 64. His health has been dodgy. He will do a great favor to Thomas by being crazy enough to coach the Knicks. Thomas should do Brown's health a favor first and trade Marbury, the one player on the roster who will drive Brown even crazier than he already seems.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Larry Brown is a tool. A great coach, but a tool.

[AddisonStSox]

Finally. Now, maybe the national sports shows can get back to something we actually care about.

 

...gosh, I hate the NBA.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-k...ov=ap&type=lgns

 

Brown to be introduced as Knicks coach

By CHRIS SHERIDAN, AP Basketball Writer

July 28, 2005

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Larry Brown is employed again, and the New York Knicks might just become a team to watch after nearly a half-decade of malaise and mediocrity.

 

Brown's ``dream job'' became a reality Wednesday when his agent and the Knicks wrapped up contract negotiations. Brown will sign the documents Thursday before a news conference at Madison Square Garden.

 

Not since Pat Riley took over the team in 1991 has there been a summertime buzz surrounding the Knicks to match what's been transpiring lately. Brown has made the Knicks relevant in the local sports scene again, and the fans who have watched the franchise stumble and slump into insignificance finally have something to give them some promise.

 

Sure, the Knicks' roster is sub-par compared to the top echelon of teams in the NBA's Eastern Conference. But with Brown's proven track record of turning losers into winners, those feelings of hope have some legitimacy behind them.

 

``I want badly for this thing to turn around,'' Brown told The Daily News in Thursday editions. ``I'm going to do my very best. It's not going to happen because of me. It's going to happen because of all the people Isiah has in place.''

 

Brown will sit alongside team president Isiah Thomas when the Knicks introduce the 22nd coach in franchise history. The final contract details were ironed out less than 10 days after his divorce from the Detroit Pistons was finalized.

 

The Knicks were Brown's favorite team when he was growing up in Brooklyn, and the eighth stop on his NBA coaching carousel will truly be a ``dream job'' -- just what Brown called it earlier this year.

 

He'll join a long list of distinguished coaches -- including Joe Lapchick, Red Holzman, Riley and Lenny Wilkens -- who have guided one of the NBA's charter franchises.

 

In 22 seasons as a professional coach, Brown has compiled a 987-741 record. The title he won with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 was his only NBA championship.

 

Brown didn't return calls Wednesday night seeking comment.

 

July has turned out to be a whirlwind month for the coach who will be 65 by the time training camp begins. He began it at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where he underwent surgery for a bladder problem, then told the Pistons he was prepared to return.

 

He and Glass met with Detroit owner Bill Davidson and team president Joe Dumars, a get-together Brown originally thought had gone well. But Davidson, peeved that Brown had spoken to the Cleveland Cavaliers during the playoffs, had grown tired of the drama that constantly surrounds the high-maintenance coach.

 

Just hours after the Pistons finished a severance agreement with Brown that paid him $7 million, Thomas picked up the phone and made it known that New York had a serious interest.

 

``One of the neatest things is that I get to work with Isiah. I love Isiah,'' Brown told The Daily News.

 

Meetings with owner James Dolan, interim coach Herb Williams and Madison Square Garden president Steve Mills followed, and Brown gave his agent the go-ahead to hammer out the contract language.

 

Brown becomes the team's fourth coach in less than a year, following Williams, Wilkens and Don Chaney. The Knicks haven't been to the finals since 1999 under Jeff Van Gundy and haven't won a title since Holzman coached in 1973.

 

``I know what the New York Knicks mean to basketball, the city and what they mean to the league,'' Brown said to The Daily News. ``I know how passionate people are in this environment and how much they understand the game. It's pretty amazing. They know when you're playing the right way. I used to love to watch them play with Pat and then Jeff.''

 

Brown takes over a roster that Thomas has transformed into a mix of youngsters and high-salaried veterans. Turning them into a winner will be the latest challenge for Brown in a nomadic NBA career that has included stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets.

 

Brown also coached Kansas to an NCAA title in 1988, had stints with UCLA and the Carolina Cougars of the ABA, and led the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that finished a disappointing third. Part of that roster included Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, who clashed with Brown last summer. Marbury has already publicly endorsed Brown's hiring, and Brown has said he will have no problem coaching the enigmatic guard.

 

After missing 17 games last season due to a hip replacement operation that led to the bladder problem, Brown's wife, Shelly, had been concerned about her husband's health. He underwent his third surgery in nine months shortly after the Pistons lost Game 7 of the NBA Finals to the Spurs.

 

Doctors told Brown he needed rest, and he and his wife have decided he'll get enough of it during the next two months before training camp begins.