Yeah...you can't talk about it on a Pistons forum though. You can't rip into our hero Isiah Thomas. We love him. The guy gave his heart to win two Championships.

He has made a mess in NY. As a GM our beloved Zeke is a total imbecile. He has become a joke...and yet we are much more comfortable ripping into Larry Brown because he is such a flawed character...he is easy to dump on.

Your right Micro he's not the biggest problem in NY. Could Scott Layden have done any worse??

Amen Darth! We need to get out of our rocking chairs once in a while...dang it's boring when everyone just agrees on everything. A little spat never hurt anyone.

Personally, I believe Isiah deserves a lot more loyalty from us than Larry. He did a lot more for this organization. In a sense, he built it. Larry got a free ride.

That being said, IMO, Isiah shares equal blame with Larry for the situation in New York. He should not be immune to any criticism for the New York situation...or any other criticism for that matter. But this thread was about LB and that is why I was talking about him and not Isiah. I was initially responding to a comment regarding whether or not LB has changed.

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"Quite simply captain, I examined the problem from all angles, and it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that under the circumstances, the only logical action would have to be one of desperation. Logical decision, logically arrived at." -- Spock

The only problem is, Darth doesn't bring any "game". He just hides behind the "micro is oppressing me because it's his board" nonsense.

I imagine DT lives much of his life blaming others for his problems and shortcomings. Not unlike Larry Brown. Maybe they are related?

In that case, I would have to say I like Darth because he reminds me of Larry.

Darth, you are ok with me.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Is that one of those backhanded compliments Micro?

Okay you guys, keep it civil. Nobody's changing any outcomes or opinions, so why get heated up? Save it for Miami.

Trouble is, regardless of their individual strengths, Zeke and Larry are a perfect storm as a management team. Neither calms or balances the other, the way Joe did for both. So there's plenty of blame to go around.

And for the record, I think Larry did point a finger at Sheed. Not because he's malicious or insecure, but because he just can't shut up when he should.

I was pretty pissed at Sheed right after that play too, I am NOT a fan of LB, but I imagine it was pretty hard to stay calm after such a boneheaded play. I mean, how many tens of thousands of Pistons fans were sitting in front of the t.v., just before the ball was inbounded, saying:

"Don't give up a three. Don't give up a three. Don't give up a three. Don't give... WHAT THE @#$&!!! ARE YOU @#$% KIDDING ME!! SHEED! WHAT THE @#$% WERE YOU THINKING!!"

Am I wrong? I think those were my EXACT words.

Now I understand that a coach is expected to have more poise than that, but in the heat of the moment - and given that we already know LB is a jerk - I didn't think his comments were that bad. He definately didn't fall on the grenade, but I also don't think he threw Sheed directly under the bus.

I look at it more like when you're asked to volunteer for something crappy. You casually nudge the guy next to you forward just a tad while simultaneously clearing your throat and taking a half step back, trying to blend in with your surroundings while making no eye contact whatsoever.

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Larry,
sucks
Been to a bunch of Knicks games this year, and the one thing I've seen is that Larry does not coach to win. He's coaching to get players to play his way. He'll break up a unit that's winning because someone did something stupid on one play.

Losing the right way as opposed to winning the wrong way is ok in amateur sports, but not the NBA. The worst thing LB did this year was to not get his team to play the best that THEY could play. He wants them to play his way or no way. Which is why he'll be fired.

After watching this spectacle, I'm pretty sure he'd bench Dirk for shooting too many jumpers, bench Wade for not making the extra pass, waive Kobe for being Kobe, and bench Shaq for not playing D. Larry's a perfectionist, the Pistons ruined him, he thinks every guard should play like CB, and every Center like Ben. Well I'm sure they would if they could, but they can't, and it's up to a good coach to get the best he can out of them, not play like an allstar or i wont play you.

BTW,
The reason the Pistons are so good this year, is that the Pistons are essentially great offensive players that can play D (not counting Ben). Larry wanted them to be great Defensive players that can play O. We won once that way, but then came up short.

Now, we're dominating, and barring some bizarre setback with the bench putting us in some insurmountable hole, we will win again, because Flip plays the starters to their strenghths. Which for Rip, CB, Tay, and Sheed is putting the rock in the hole.

I completely agree, but Larry's been doing that for years. That shouldn't come as a surprise. LB strips players down to nothing and then builds them back up to the player he wants them to be. I'm not saying I agree with his approach, just that its been LB's MO for decades. Its not like he's a new coach in the league. Zeke knew what he was getting.

Personally I couldn't be happier!