IS IT LARRY'S FAULT?

Over at espn.com Ken Shouler seems to think so. It's all Larry Brown's fault. I find this rather difficult to believe when I consider his track record and what his teams have done both before and after he has left.

Valued reader PV and I joked about what kind of accolades should be given to Brown should this group of players (I'm reluctant to call it a team) actually succeed. We figured that Coach of the Year would just not cut it. PV suggested a Nobel Peace Prize.

I wonder if the author of the article would also be willing to pen one detailing the moves Isiah "If it's not broke I'll break it" Thomas has made. I'm no basketball guru--it's merely the name of my new band--but it seems to me he was assembling a fine roster for fantasy basketball, not the actual game where defense and unselfishness carry a little more value than shooting the rock.

Also troubling to me are the unattributed quotes from "veteran" NBA writers.

"Never in all my years have I seen a coach run down his best player in the press like Brown," one veteran NBA writer said.

"I covered him for six years in Philadelphia and he did it all the time," said another, unsurprised at his antics this year.

I don't understand why they can't be named. That's pretty weak. As is the strawman that coaches who call out players in the press are not effective or don't know what they are doing. I can think of a few off the top of my head--and I'm only on cup of coffee #1--that used the press in that fashion and had quite a bit of success: Ditka, Knight, Parcells, even Ozzie Guillen to an extent. They all have bright, shiny rings.

Blaming Larry Brown? Please. Maybe the author of the article should have included this quote from Isiah:

“Larry Brown is not just one of the best coaches in the NBA today, but in its history,’ says Knicks President, Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas. “He has made every team he has ever coached a winner, with a legendary approach to teaching and motivating his players. His value to us as a franchise at this time is immeasurable.”

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Larry Brown
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Isiah Thomas