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Robertson: Rockets should read Brown's mind for right signs

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Free Agent, May 27, 2003.

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  1. Free Agent

    Free Agent Member

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    I guess every Chronicle columnist is gonna get in on the Brown watch...

    http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/1927187

    Rockets should read Brown's mind for right signs

    By DALE ROBERTSON
    Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

    He's won everything there is to win except the one thing he has spent most of his nomadic coaching life pursuing. Larry Brown has won at the college level and on the international stage. He has won enough everywhere to be in the Hall of Fame. But after 20 seasons spent with six franchises, an NBA title still eludes him.

    The question Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has to ask himself: Does Brown at 62 have that burning, all-abiding, all-consuming passion to fill in this one back-lit blank in his resume?

    We know he'll be passionate about teaching and about implementing his methods, but will his efforts amount to a grand intellectual exercise or a hard-bitten pragmatic one? Will he expend all his energies proving points to his players -- at the risk of irritating or alienating them -- or can he compromise his my-way-or-the-highway posture just a tad to serve a practical end?

    The Rockets under Rudy Tomjanovich did much in recent seasons to frustrate us with their boneheaded decisions and ponderous style of play. Nonetheless, the greatest source of our frustration hasn't been in the details but rather the results. We're OK with ugly ball as long as it's also winning ball. Offhand, I don't recall anybody booing the '94 team during the parade.

    Brown and Alexander talked Tuesday. It's imperative that Les reads Brown 100 percent right, to be beyond certain that Brown needs his first championship as badly as Houston desires a third one. Otherwise, it figures to be an expensive hire that, once the not-insignificant initial buzz has died down, will only further exasperate and/or alienate a dwindling customer base.

    The Rockets are at a crucial juncture in their history. While it should be the best of times with the plush new downtown arena about to open, they have been beset by strained relations with Houston's minority community, lagging season-ticket renewals, tepid interest in their fantastically expensive suites and a strong buyer's market for the building's naming rights.

    Brown's name is intriguing enough to perk up a few ears, but when people are anguishing about forking over $175 per for a lower-bowl sideline seat, the man in the Italian suit ranting over on the bench is unlikely to turn too many nays into yays vis-?vis writing what has come to be a home-mortgage-sized check.

    The Rockets have most of the right pieces in place to reoccupy the NBA's throne three or four years hence. When Yao Ming matures, he will be the league's preeminent center, possibly as dominant a force as Shaquille O'Neal became before he stopped caring all that much. Steve Francis has superstar talent in his own right, no matter how much we grumble about his shortcomings. In short, Brown has never taken the reins of a pro team close to being as far along as the Rockets.

    Denver of the ABA was 37-47 the season preceding his arrival. New Jersey was 24-58. San Antonio was 31-51, as were the Clippers. Philly was 22-60. Indiana had reached .500, but those Pacers didn't have the raw materials these Rockets have.

    Brown is famous for his building, not his maintaining, never mind his hanging around to see the process through. And like Bill Fitch, he tends to wear on his players over time. When they are finally ready to win big -- remember the mid-1980s Rockets? -- the window of opportunity closes to a tiny crack, because that's when the tuning out begins.

    Brown himself has admitted he lost the hearts and minds of the Pacers, who went 39-43 in his final season but were 58-24 a year later and took the Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. You sense he saw the same thing happening with Allen Iverson and the 76ers.

    What we'd hope, however, is that Brown's decision regarding which job most excites him will reveal everything we need to know about his intentions and objectives. Of the five franchises needing coaches -- and three more jobs could open up -- Houston is clearly No. 1 in terms of ultimate upside. The Rockets should be a playoff fixture tomorrow, and maybe today. Spoiled by the two titles almost a decade ago, we expect a lot more than we're getting, although our deep personal affection for Rudy T bought him a surfeit of slack.

    Should Brown crave the Rockets job, it stands to reason his desires are a matched set with ours, because there happens to be a more attractive option in the mix for him if the overriding issue is lifestyle. He already owns a house in Malibu, and the burden of expectations in Clipperland is never unduly draining.

    Nobody would ever, in his or her right mind, assume the Clippers could win until they had actually won, a seemingly impossible occurrence before the fact. Brown could set his pace, and his agenda, in LA without undue pressure or scrutiny. Plus, he would be returning to the place where he presumably intends to spend his life after basketball, a compelling side benefit for a guy his age.

    He spoke emphatically about the needs of his family (Mrs. Brown, first and foremost) when he walked away from the $12 million he had coming from the Sixers. That would suggest the Clips, despite Donald Sterling's entrenched parsimony and ineptitude, are on Brown's short list, which might include just them and the Rockets.

    It seems absurd, for example, that he would consider leaving cold, gray Philly for cold, gray Cleveland, James the boy king notwithstanding.

    Assuming it's clear to Alexander that Brown prefers Houston hands down, then Les should hire him. It would mean Brown wants exactly what we want, because although the sunsets over the Katy prairie can be quite lovely, the sunsets over the Pacific in Malibu they aren't.
     
    #1 Free Agent, May 27, 2003
  2. SLA

    SLA Member

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    No one really cares about Jeff Van Gundy.
    It will be disappointing if Larry Brown isn't the coach next season.
    After he quits, Rudy can take over once again...if Larry Brown does become the coach.
    What do they talk about in interviews anyway?
    We need Larry. Larry doesn't need us. I hope he comes here. NOT THE CLIPPERS!
    We kinda want Mike Dunleavy. He wants to be with us....
    JVG......we would want him.....and I think he wants to be here...
    Come here!
    And fans have to be patient....even though the ticket prices are kinda expensive.
     
    #2 SLA, May 28, 2003
  3. SmeggySmeg

    SmeggySmeg Contributing Member

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    nice work Mullet Robertson
     
    #3 SmeggySmeg, May 28, 2003
  4. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    Has anybody been so mediocre in their job for such a long period of time than Houston sports columnists? Robertson, Herskowitz, Blinebury, et al have been turning out the same drivel since about the time I learned to read...in the 70's.
     
    #4 SamFisher, May 28, 2003
  5. rockergordon

    rockergordon Member

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    If I'm Brown, my dilemma would be:

    Can the Rockets really contend for a championship in 4 years max?

    If not, I'll just go to LA and start my retirement while still getting a decent paycheck by coaching a mediocre team for a couple years.

    Lets hope he believes in the Rockets.

    Hell, what about Phil Jackson while we're at it? Or does Auerbach want to try to beat out Phil Jackson by winning a title for us?

    I think all bets are off. This is getting interesting.
     
    #5 rockergordon, May 28, 2003
  6. rockets-#1

    rockets-#1 Contributing Member

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    I know! Always the same bs. Blinebury can be really good sometimes though.
     
    #6 rockets-#1, May 28, 2003
  7. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    That's what happens when you have no competition. The main three columnists for sports are Blinebury, Robertson and Lopez. Herskiowitz just does Sunday stuff. Even their news and business guys (Thom Marshall - blech!) are bad.
     
    #7 Jeff, May 28, 2003
  8. steddinotayto

    steddinotayto Contributing Member

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    i think it's time to make some new job openings at the chronicle.....
     
    #8 steddinotayto, May 28, 2003
  9. Fegwu

    Fegwu Contributing Member

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    What is wrong is with this Robertson piece?

    IMO I think he wrote a very very good piece. I don't know where your pain is coming from. I have been reading his pieces for years now and I think he is okay.
     
    #9 Fegwu, May 28, 2003
  10. smackpeddler

    smackpeddler Member

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    I didn't mind the piece, the problem is that there is no NEW news to report. They are all writting basically the same thing "Get Brown, he is very good"
     
    #10 smackpeddler, May 28, 2003
  11. xiki

    xiki Contributing Member

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    Amen!

    BTw - not that Sefko was much better, but what drove him out of the Cronk (and golf?) to Dallas?
     
    #11 xiki, May 28, 2003
  12. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    I get more out of reading MacBeth's posts than a chron column.
     
    #12 SamFisher, May 28, 2003
  13. Fegwu

    Fegwu Contributing Member

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    smackpeddler
    I am not sure you read the piece very well. But if you did I then think you did not understand it. First it was an "essay" that was not meant to cover "new" news. Mr Robertson was not asserting that Les and CD should get LB by all means possible but to thread carefully and really find out what is deep in his heart/mind before making any decision. A very good essay as far as I am concerned.



    Samfisher
    I like Macbeth's pieces no doubt. But I see your unnecessary bias towards Robertson. I know it is bias because if the author of this piece happened to be Macbeth your tone and opinion of it would have been completely different. I bet. If nothing else, give Robertson credit for a well written thought arousing esssay

    :rolleyes:
     
    #13 Fegwu, May 28, 2003
  14. HillBoy

    HillBoy Contributing Member

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    Exactly what's wrong with that piece? I think he hit the nail on the head about LB. I simply fail to grasp why so many on this BBS have the hots for this guy given his track record. Sure, he'll make them a playoff team but if they don't win the championship in 3 years, he'll be outta here and headed back to Cali. And THEN we'll be back to square one.

    I only hope that all of the LB fanatics will still be around to admit their mistake in putting their faith in this guy to deliver them an NBA Championship. After all, they won't be the first ones to make that mistake, only the latest.
     
    #14 HillBoy, May 28, 2003
  15. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    No, if Macbeth had written it, it would probably be good. This is not.

    Look Fegwu, I've lived in a lot of cities and read a lot of sportswriters, and Dale Robertson isn't one of the better ones that I've read. I don't understand why this makes you so upset.
     
    #15 SamFisher, May 28, 2003
  16. NJRockFan

    NJRockFan Contributing Member

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    what do you guys think of Eddie Sefko who wrote for the Post back in the day?

    The reason we don't have good sportswriters is because there isn't any competition. Most large cities have more than one newspaper. Example, NY, LA, etc.
     
    #16 NJRockFan, May 28, 2003
  17. finalsbound

    finalsbound Contributing Member

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    I wasn't in Houston when Sefko wrote for the Post, but I'll never understand how one can write about a team, go through the ups and the downs with that team, laugh with that team, cry with that team, win a championship with that team, and then go write for another team. I mean, Eddie Sefko seems like a good writer, so when the Post folded, he just lost his job? If that's the case, I feel sorry for the guy, but do you guys see where I'm coming from? He became part of the family (during the GLORY YEARS, nonetheless) and now writes for the Mavs.
     
    #17 finalsbound, May 28, 2003
  18. RIET

    RIET Contributing Member

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    These people aren't multimillionare players. They have to make a living anyway they can. Maybe he wanted to stay in Texas.

    If your company went bankrupt, you take any job you can.

    Lastly, the Mavs aren't like the Jazz. When's the last time the Rockets played the Mavs in the playoffs?
     
    #18 RIET, May 28, 2003
  19. finalsbound

    finalsbound Contributing Member

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    You're right, money is always the driving force behind everything. :(
     
    #19 finalsbound, May 28, 2003
  20. VDM

    VDM Contributing Member

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    I have to agree with Sam Fisher. After growing up in Houston, I've lived in a number of major cities, and in comparison to other papers in major cities, the Chronicle is just painfully bad. The sports columnists, in particular, are just about un-readable. This Robertson piece is typical of just about every Chronicle Sports column I've seen for the past 15 years. It contains one dull, original idea: the Rockets should hire Brown only if he is really excited about the team and wants to win a championship. Wow, that is really groudbreaking on Dale's part. The rest of the article just summarizes what most basketball fans already know about Brown. It's 500 words that say next to nothing.

    Most Chronicle sports columns seem like they were written in about 15 minutes. They offer no real insight into the teams or players; they are generally not well written, nor are they amusing. This is an old debate at cc.net, but it just seems to me that the Chronicle sports columns are just filler written by guys with no real insight or passion. Any number of poster here do a better job already.
     
    #20 VDM, May 28, 2003
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