News has surfaced today that the Knicks have taken out an insurance policy on Larry Brown’s contract, should health issues force him to quit. This means, of course, that on your chalkboard at home, under the column labeled “Smart Things Isiah Thomas Has Done,” you can mark a one.
A friend asked me yesterday if I thought that Larry’s recent health crisis was the beginning of the end of his time in New York. I said, perhaps naively, that no, I didn’t think he was quitting. For some reason, I can’t shake this fondness I have for Larry Brown. Maybe it’s because I just think so much of him as a coach, that I let it cloud my judgement elsewhere… but I don’t think he’s quitting in New York. I think it’s important to him to see it out, and not leave the franchise in the state it is right now.
And I’m going to go ahead and predict right now that the Knicks will make the playoffs next year. And the thing about that that makes me uncomfortable is not the amount of faith I have to have in Larry Brown, but the faith I have to have in Isiah Thomas. I have zero faith in Stephon Marbury, of course, but that should be fine… because he has to go, right? I mean, he has to. No decision in sports has ever been more clear.
If he isn’t moved or dropped or cut or somehow otherwise removed from the Knicks roster this off-season, it’s about the equivalent of a patient saying to a doctor, “Oh, what’s that? I have cancer, and it’s life threatening? Fuck, that’s terrible. Wait, but it’s treatable, and you can remove it right now? Hm. Ah, you know what? Fuck it. Let’s leave it there. I wanna take my chances with it.”
And I really believe that would be enough to vastly improve the Knicks and push them into contention for a playoff spot. It’s not just that he doesn’t get it on the court, it’s the attitude he brings, the distraction, the drama, plus the fact that his teammates seem to all kinda hate him, too… the Knicks can’t move on until they drop him.
Don’t worry about getting value for him in a trade, don’t worry about getting 50 cents on the dollar… 3 or 4 cents would be fine. A 3rd round draft pick would do. He just has to fucking go… even if you have to outright cut him. No one should have to explain this to Isiah Thomas.
I’m not saying Marbury is solely responsible for the Knicks on-court problems this year… just like 96% of it. I’ll give 2% to Eddy Curry’s work ethic, 1.5% to the inexperience of Channing Frye, and .5% to Steve Francis, just for being there.
Anyway… you know, when I started this post, I had no intention of even mentioning Stephon Marbury. I just wanted to say that I think Larry Brown will be back, and that yes, I think he is the right coach to improve the Knicks. But that’s how strongly I feel that the guy is a complete dickwad. My fingers typed this words, completely independent of my brain. It was involuntary. You’d be surprised at how often that happens. Anyway, yeah… I think Larry Brown will be back.
Unsilent Majority
so larry and starbury are gonna be gone. this can only mean one thing. Next year Zeke plans on coaching the team and playing point guard.
April 17, 2006 at 12:22 pm
JOBS
“No decision in sports has ever been more clear”
No matter if you meant to talk about Starbury(irks me to call him that)the post took a nice turn. I hope Larry is back. I like the guy as a head coach and he’s proven from Detroit days. Who’s going to want this guy on his team? It’s worse than TO. At least TO is actually one of the best producers on the field. Starbury is a pussy.
April 17, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Brett
What would the premiums be on LB’s contract, considering that he has been hospitalized twice this year and recently had surgery that meant he had to coach from a Lazy Boy?
90% of the total value, maybe?
April 17, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Moonshine Mike
can you send a NBA player to the NBDL? like the equivilant of the minor leagues? that would rock.
April 17, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Unsilent Majority
jobs, i’m pretty sure larry brown was “proven” LONG before his Detroit days.
April 17, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Carlos
Marbury will be gone, Brown will stay,…and the Knicks will still suck, because there is not one real point guard on the roster, there is not one (even one!) good perimeter defender on the roster and there isn’t a shotblocker either. If Isiah can’t get these things by trading Marbury (and I bet he won’t, because Marbury trade value is at an all-time low), the Knicks are still fucked. Will they improve? Sure, they may win 30 games or so, but that will take them back to 2004-05, right?
April 17, 2006 at 1:48 pm
warren
whoa whoa…how is it marbury’s fault??
first of all i hate him just as much as anybody, his cancerous ways and his idiotic ‘starbury’ next season comment. but the fact is that he DID play alot differnt to try to fit larry’s system. but no one is gonna talk about all the players he played? i believe i understand why he played all those guys, but THAT is the reason for all the losses.
all i know is that even with marbury acting like a fool, if he plays full minutes next season with a set roster, he will get the system and they will win games.
NO PERIMETER DEFENDER??? im actually not surprised that people think that because no one watched knick games this season. livin in ny, all the games were televised and i watched many of them. Q rich and nate rob are 2 of the best one on one defenders i have seen in a very long time. Q single handedly slowed KingJames for a win and nate did the same to iverson.
April 17, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Unsilent Majority
hahaha! I’ve been watching Nate for nearly four years and he is not a lockdown defender!
I’ll comment on the first part of your post as soon as somebody explains what it is you’re trying to say.
April 17, 2006 at 5:19 pm
warren
i dont get what you dont get..
i blamed the losses on the 42 differnt guys playin everynight and not on marbury and i am confident that even with all his bullshit, when the roster is solid, larry brown will win and prove that he can continue to win with any pointguard.
now from what ive seen, both q and nate do a great job of stayin in front of their man and gettin a hand up, which is all you can do…the only time either really loses thier man is off a pick, and from what ive seen lately, they send picks at nate on every single play. In the game earlier in the season against phily, iverson tried to get in the paint without a pick the way he does against everybody else but he couldnt get cleanly past nate and ended up forcing a bad shot.
But im sure you will disagree because this is just 2 opposing opinions.
April 17, 2006 at 11:55 pm
Unsilent Majority
apparently the knicks have more guys in the bench than msg has in the seats
April 18, 2006 at 7:29 am
Andy
Nate Robinson is probably the absolute best player to have on your opponent’s team. He’s exciting, fun to watch, and routinely does dumb stuff that results in turnovers and kills his team.
April 18, 2006 at 6:10 pm