USA TODAY International Edition
Knicks are expected to win under Brown
downtrodden teams, his unabashed love for New York and the Knicks’ recent struggles, Brown seemed destined for the job.
“ He’s the best teacher in the game,” Thomas says.
Brown takes over a young team. Nine of the 15 players on the openingday roster are 25 or younger. That should give him plenty of opportunities to teach. But he understands he was hired to win and win big, not just to teach. He also knows how intense media scrutiny is in New York, how unforgiving Knicks fans can be when expectations aren’t met.
“ Every practice is like being in the Finals,” Brown says. “ But I still love coaching. It comes with the job. I don’t worry about it. If you do your job in New York a nd do it well, the media will understand that. If you do your job and don’t do itwell, they will understand that, too.
“ There have been more than 100 coaching changes ( in the NBA) the last three years. To say there’s pressure in New York, yeah, there might be. But it seems to me it’s all over.”
Health, says Brown, no factor
Thomas didn’t leave anything to chance in going after the big- name coach New Yorkers have yearned for since Pat Riley bolted Madison Square Garden for Miami in 1995.
Thomas wooed Brown openly, visiting his home in East Hampton, N. Y., even though Brown was leaning toward sitting out the season to recover from u rina ry p roblems tha t developed after hip surgery last fall.
“He recruited my wife,” Brown says. “ I really wanted to take the year off. A lot of people thought itwould be bad if I sat out ( the entire year). I thought if I sat out and then all of a sudden came back in the middle of the year thatwould be bad. Isiah really sold Shelly.”
But as big of a concern as Brown’s health was during last season’s playoffs, it has become a non- issue in New York. Brown missed 17 games last season after twice undergoing surgery.
“I would never have taken the Knicks’ job if I had not felt like I could do this,” he says. “ I’ve done it ( coached with the urinary problem) since Nov. 3 of last year. It has changed my lifestyle a little bit, but I’m perfectly capable of coaching and I’m excited about it.”
Thomas acknowledges Brown’s health is an issue, but he says team doctors have assured him it is a manageable issue. Should B rown have to miss games, Thomas says Herb Williamswould coach the team.
Williams was 16- 27 after replacing Lenny Wilkens last season. It seems clear that if the Knicks are to return to the postseason, Brown will have to stay healthy.
Teaching skills at the ready
Brown says he has felt pressure in each of his jobs, but he put it on himself. That self- imposed pressure might be even greater in New York because the rami . cations of winning, Brown says, are far reaching.
“ What was so much fun coaching Phillywas people always commenting on how hard our team played and how they admired that,” he says. “ Coaching Detroit, people always said that team played the right way. If you can have that combination in New York, it can really help our sport because of the visibility of the franchise.”
The feeling around the league is that Professor Brown and the young Knicks are a good . t and he will make them competitive right away. The Knicks were 33- 49 last season, nine games out of the eighth and . nal Eastern Conference playoff berth.
“ It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re a playoff team,” Philadelphia 76ers president Billy King says. “ He’s easily worth 10 victories.”
Teams Brown has taken over during his 33- year coaching career have failed to make the playoffs in his . rst season just twice: San Antonio in 1988-89 and Philadelphiai n 19971998. All but San Antonio had better records in Brown’s inaugural season than in the previous year.
“ What Larry will do is . rst of all bring in great defense, which will improve them right away,” Indiana CEO Donnie Walsh says. “ Then he will put the players in the right roles. I expect them to be competitive for the playoffs and maybe more right away.”
Forward/ center Antonio Davis, acquired from Chicago in the trade that brought Eddy Curry to the Knicks, played four seasons for Brown while with the Pacers. He gives the Knicks veteran leadership and can offer his new teammates insight into Brown’s coaching methods.
“ I tell them to be patient,” Davis says. “ He’s trying to . gure things out. In the beginning he’s throwing a lot of plays at you, a lot of situations, changing things up, playing a lot of different players together. That can frustrate players.
“ But once you l ea rn to trust h im, trust the system and just listen to what he’s telling you, everybody is going to love what he’s trying to do.”
Marbury- Brown relationship key
Success or failure could well depend on Brown’s relationship with Mar bury, a legendary New York prep player who has yet to be on a team that haswon a playoff series.
Much has been made of how they clashed when Brown coached Mar bury on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that . nished a disappointing third at the Athens Games. Both say the situation has been overblown and that theywon’t have any problems.
“ It was tough on me in the Olympics because I didn’t know what he wanted,” Marbury says. “ I was trying to . gure it out. It was a . ght to understand. Coach is the way all coaches should be. He’s very demanding. He sets the bar very high.”
Marbury says that experience helped him immensely coming into training camp.
“ I know he’s going to get on me,” Marbury says. “ I know one day I might be t he g uy whose n a me i s ‘God damn.’ We make a joke about that. He does that with everyone. It’s not personal at all.”
Brown says Marburywas the USA’s most improved player when the Olympics ended, and that he has been eager to learn Brown’s system with the Knicks. He says the biggest problem he anticipates with Marbury, a point guard with a scorer’s mentality, is determining howto use him.
Brown had a similar situation with Allen Iverson in Philadelphia. He moved Iverson from point guard to shooting guard, where he became an All- Star and league MVP. Marburywill likely be asked to do the same at times this season.
“ I have to . nd out his niche,” Brown says. “ It’s a very sensitive thing when you coach a kid who is talented that maybe has been playing one way and you ask him to change a little and not take awaywhat he’s capable of doing.
“ Allen gave us a chance to win every night by the way he played. I’ve got to . gure out how to do that with Stephon, whether it’s point or an off guard or a combination. I really have the feeling he wants to do what I ask. Every day in practice he asks questions. He’s trying to . gure it out, and I’m trying to . gure it out. As time goes by, I think it’s going to be . ne.”
Marbury is accustomed to dominating the ball on offense. He averaged 21.7 points and 8.1 assists last season.
“ It doesn’t matter to me as long as I’m on t he c ourt,” M a rbury says. “ Whatever situation he feels is going to be best suited for me to help this team to win.”
Thomas says former NFL coach Bum Phillips’ saying of what a legendary coach can do — “ He can take his’n and beat your’n, then he can take your’n and beat his’n” — . ts Brown perfectly.
“ That’s Larry,” Thomas says. “ Guys like him don’t come along that often.”
Brown says he will continue to coach a s long a s he h a s the p a ssion and feels he can help players to improve. But given his history for jobhopping, questions remain as to how long he will coach in New York and if New York will indeed be his last stop, as he has said itwould be.
Even Brown doesn’t have answers. those