Well we all knew Larry Brown wasn't going to last another season in Pistons land & of course he didn't. He did however land his "dream" job. I think this is a realllllly good move for the worst GM in the league. The Knicks have a ALOT of talent but none of the players can seem to work together. Brown can be that missing peice which brings them together. I for one think they will make the playoffs. Around 5-8 seed. What do you think?
Good move, yes. (But Isaih even worse than Knight? Or Shinn's toady?) It, and Phil Jax' return, will add elements of fun to next season. I don't see them in the Finals against each other during their collective bi-coastal tenure.
Voted yes, but once I thought about it I think it's closer to a... HELL NO! I think, unless something crazy happens, that the locks for the Eastern Conference playoffs are the Pistons, Heat, Pacers, Nets, Cavs, Sixers, and Celtics. The first five don't need any explanation, talent wise they're the class of the East, the Sixers and Celtics are locks because of AI and Paul Pierce leading young teams with Webber and Walker as their running mates. That only leaves the eight spot for the Bulls, Wizards, Knicks, Magic, and Bucks to fight over. The Raptors, Hawks, and Bobcats are probably the only locks to miss the playoffs. Won't call the East the LEast anymore that's for sure. They'll be a lot better than before though, and Stephon Marbury will finally be on a winning team again, in terms of being an over .500 team, although they will still miss the playoffs.
As the team is currently constituted: no, I don't think so. Marbury IMO is, like last year and the year before, the Knick's primary bright spot. While he isn't the ball-dominating cancer that Steve Francis is - and as far as point-guards with two-guard skills go he's the best in the business - his game isn't suited to Brown's style of play at all. Brown forcing him to be more active in pressuring opposing point guards on the defensive end will wear him down. Taken together with how he reportedly clashed with Brown last summer, this could end badly. Backing him up is rookie Nate Robinson, who at 5'8" probably isn't capable of guarding a single player in the NBA. Sure, he looked great in the summer leagues... but let's see how he does against real competition. Plus, with Marbury and Crawford, they had no need for him when they could have drafted Johan Petro. Adding Richardson is a plus mainly because it reduces Jamal Crawford's minutes at shooting guard - he's undersized and couldn't guard a brick. Richardson's fantastic shooting and post-up game will cause matchup problems, whereas before having Crawford and Marbury on the floor at the same time was a nightmare for the Knicks. However all their players capable of playing the 1, 2 and 3 positions are still turnstiles defensively, and Richardson's arrival does nothing to change this. Look at how badly Josh Howard abused Q-Rich in the Dallas series. Then it gets worse - their frontcourt is even worse than last year's, and last year I'd say that the expansion Bobcats had better bigs. Thomas and Ariza are all they have at the 3, and the former is likely gone in a trade. Sweetney has to lose maybe thirty-forty pounds to become quick enough to guard any of the league's power forwards. We all know how bad Taylor is. Rose and JYD are good, but way overpriced and completely redundant. And then they went out and added another undersized and one-dimensional power forward in David Lee. Why didn't they just roll the dice with Blatche or Taft? Then there's Frye, the next Acie Earl. After Mohammed was traded for crappy picks and Malik Rose, they had no choice but to draft him if they wanted any immediate help whatsoever up front. Frye may look like a center on paper, but he plays way smaller than his height. Which would be fine if he were tough and athletic, but he's soft, slow-footed and needs to gain as much bulk as Sweetney needs to lose. Their draft pick SCREAMED Andrew Bynum, and Isiah blew it and passed up on the real prize. Then he went out and blew his entire mid-level exception on Jerome James. How many fouls will he and Frye average between them? They don't have a single player who's a lock to play 20 effective minutes at the center position. Look for them to fight with Toronto at the bottom of the division. Isiah has created an example of how not to put together a team.
I hate the question.... Can he and will he make the playoffs, probably. But when it comes down to it, all we're doing here is finding another way to glorify an overrated coach. This question makes it sound as if becomming at least an 8 seed is some kind of noteworthy accomplishment. I think it's safe playing .500 calibur ball and having a shot at the playoffs in the Leastern Conference isn't any kind of insurmountable feat yet that is the reality. The better question is can Phil Jackson take the Lakers to the playoffs in conference that is actually more than 3 teams deep.
The answer to that is an emphatic no, but this thread is about Larry Brown, so I don't feel like explaining why I think so.
If you could order the Lakers and Knicks next season at a Mc Donald's it would probably sound like this... I'll take two historic franchises, with TEN MILLION DOLLAR coaches, and no playoffs please. Thanks! Who pays a coach ten million for the regular season?
I personaly think he is a good coach. The only thing realllly bad about him is of course commitment to a team. He has never commited long term to any team & most likley never will.
