What's with the love for L. Brown? If he's looking for the fast track to the finals, Detroit is the deal. I love the Rockets but did you notice that the West is one tough conference with possibles 3 (including Houston) tough teams in Texas alone! It won't be easy even with Ming and Steve firing at peak performance as a "I pass to Yao" tag team. Brown HAS the best chance to at least reach the finals with Detroit and it's 2nd pick in the Draft. They will likely add either the 17yr old 7 ft European "future do it all" or C. Antony (sp). Either one is pretty good no? Detroit will more likely make the finals in the next 3 years then the Rockets period. So if that's the case, would you blame him for trying to get there one more time before he starts collecting SS benefits? As for the Rockets missing the boat. Even if they did, no one can say the Rockets didn't spend the money when they are spending and wasting $$ on players that all of you know about and they did give Rudy a very high contract. And freakly, I don't think L. Brown was the best choice for the Rockets anyway, he might have being the "best" FA coach out there at the time, but that doesn't make him a automatic best fit for the team.
Brown is like Jackson, he isn't going to a team unless it has a chance of making his inflated "talent" even more inflated. Detroit will beat NJ without Kidd next year, and he gets a chance to whup up on his old teams often. He would get killed in the west with his style of play (see RT with slight differences)
Why is Larry Brown the best coach out there? He has never won an NBA title. He has never even led an NBA team to the Finals. Van Gundy and Dunleavy have both led NBA teams to the Finals. Brown would have been the biggest name hiring, but not the best coach.
No Deuce, you are way off base here. If you weren't blinded by LB's aura, you'd be asking yourself some pointed questions about LB's actions over the past 2 weeks. For example, the speed at which the Detroit deal went down would appear to indicate that LB and Dumars had to have been in contact while RC was still their head coach. I find that distasteful. Next, he appears to have jumped ship at Philly in order to go to a team with better players in Detroit. It would appear that it's his belief that Detroit has a better chance to get to the NBA Championships than does Philly and I find this particularly damning as LB was the reason for the poor talent base at Philly. In other words, he made f**ked up personnel decisions which backfired on him and instead of staying to correct them, he walks out on the team, leaving the mess he's made for the next coach to deal with. The only word that can adequately explains this is f**ked! Now, this is the guy nearly everyone on this BBS is crying like babies over and blaming CD & Uncle Les over his "loss". LB wasn't interested in the Rockets - he merely used them for "cover" as he negotiated under the table with Detroit. This is the kind of guy you want to coach the Rockets? The Rockets dodged a huge bullet by not signing LB. I speak with certainty here because in 2-3 years he'd have done the same thing to the Rockets. I speak with certainty here because that's how he operates and what just happened proves it.
It's not like everyone didn't know exactly what they were getting in Brown. The guy didn't even need to be interviewed. His record/reputation and self is known in detail throughout the NBA. How many conversations, events, games, dinners etc. do think Dumars/Brown had through the years? The Rockets interviewed Brown to appease the press/fans. I just don't want them to hire an Eastern Conference castoff. I'd rather have the West coast version - Dunleavy. He didn't do a bad job in Portland considering the player mess and off court troubles he was handed. Nobody could have "coached" that team... Dunleavy looks like the best available at this point. Van Gundy shouldn't be considered for a vacancy at Sam Houston let alone the Rockets. He even stinks as an announcer... Where's Doug Moe when you need him?
Dunleavy is a good coach. He's kind of like Phil Jackson lite. Give him some talent, and he can produce. he took the Lakers to the finals without Kareem, then they had 43 wins the next season without Magic. He had a sh*t team in Milwaukee. Glen Robinson and Vin Baker haven't done anything since they've left Milwaukee. Also, his Blazers and Adelman's Kings are the only two teams to take the Lakers to seven games. If not for the colassal choke job by the Blazers, the Shaq/Kobe era might have never even gotten off the ground...
Really? "Brown resigned as Philadelphia 76ers coach Monday, ending the longest stay in his 31-year coaching career after six seasons. The Pistons would be his seventh NBA stop, but his first to take over a team with a winning record. " Once again, another completely IGNORANT comment by RiceRocket with ZERO truth. And that's 100% contrary to what Clutch reported. And your source is..... You are just talking out of your arse.
Exactly. If he didn't want to come here, then what could Les or CD have done? It wasn't about the money, he's making less than he did in Phili. I fail to see how this is the Rockets fault. He didn't want to come here, get over it.
Riet, That reminds me of your statement where you said Dunleavy has been fired 3 times, when the TRUTH () is, he was fired once and resigned twice. Would you call that an ignorant statement with zero truth???
OK, just saw the front page. I'm flaming myself before anyone else does. Curse you, Les and CD, curse you!! Why couldn't you offer him more money?!?!?
You're going to have to explain that one to me because I after re-reading your post, I still come to the same conclusion as my first response.
Care to rethink your nonsense in light of the new info. from Clutch? Oh and I seem to be just as blinded by Larry Brown's aura as the Basketball Hall of Fame, every single one of Brown's coaching peers in the NBA, and many if not all NBA GM's. Maybe you need to step back and look at what teams are doing to acquire Brown and say, hey, maybe I don't know dick about this game after all.
Man, why let a little thing like facts get in the way of a good story? Fact: Until this hire, Brown had never gone to a team with a winning record before. Never. Yeah, clearly he just looks for easy touches.
Yeah. I can't wait for the "trade Yao because he's too expensive" controversy. It should start midway through next season. I could be wrong. Or maybe it will be the "trade Francis to make room for Yao's salary" controversy. Either way, following today's news, I can't see Les shelling out close to $100 million to each Francis and Yao. To cliche, Houston we have a problem.
I'm throwing in with the Dunleavy crowd. At Portland, Dunleavy was a great coach, and he was made a scape goat by a very bad GM. People forget how good the Trail Blazers were under Dunleavy, and they have been falling downhill ever since. I really like Dunleavy and he would be a much better long term choice. Larry Brown is too flaky. In two years there will be speculation as to whether he is staying in Detroit or not. I don't want that instability here. He's never been satisfied in any place for very long. HIRE DUNLEAVY - BE HAPPY!
I said early last week Rox should make Brown a preemptive offer to test water. Even Piston expressed intersted by then, they hadn't discussed details, and Brown was not sure what he could go there. Then he might accept Rox offer, Piston wouldn't be part of the game.
That was beautiful CJD. Probably the best post by anybody in quite awhile. You've illustrated your point quite clearly and its something most everyone can relate to. Well done Sir.
