On the Loose: Larry Brown

Brown and Jordan both bleed Carolina blue. I'm glad LB is back coaching. Whether you like him or not, the guy makes talking about the NBA more interesting.

Charlotte seems like a good fit for LB. People who are just going by the Knicks disaster should recall in that the 11 other pro and college head coaching stops he had before that (Charlotte is his 13th), he improved the teams he coached in EVERY situation, with significant improvement in almost all of those cases. 11 of 12 is not bad. As always, he won't be a guy who sticks around for the long haul, and his ego will drive people nuts on occasion, but I'd be happy to have him if I were a Bobcats fan who hadn't had much to cheer about up until now.

How come San Antonio didn't make the Finals in 2004 and 2006 if they had such a great coach pushing the team?

LB could win with any officials, even Tim Donaghy.

Chris Sheridan of ESPN comes down on the "LB will want to trade everyone" (well, maybe just Okafor and Morrison) side of the fence:

ESPN - Expect LB and MJ to clash sooner -- and later - NBA

I can't believe the greater fool theory led to MJ.

Max, we will have to agree to disagree on this one. I think that the fact that Davidson paid LB $7 million to leave, instead of LB resigning, is strong evidence that Bill D. wanted LB out more than LB wanted to leave the Pistons. Bill D. is a savvy businessman, and he must have concluded that LB would not resign, or he would not have paid him $7 million to leave.

I do think Larry wanted a new and improved deal from Bill D., and I think he would have been unhappy without one, but I don't think he would have resigned, and I think Bill D. must have drawn the same conclusion.

I think Bill D. could have probably retained LB without giving him a better contract. But I also think Larry deserved a new contract, and that would have been the ideal solution. Keep him and keep him a happy camper. He was, as I said, the perfect coach here.

I also think that LB and his agent went too far in some of their negotiating tactics, and those tactics clearly backfired with Bill D, who apparently was deeply offended by them. But LB is not unique among players or coaches in professional sports in wanting to revise an existing contract to reflect improved market value after a championship, and I will not fault him for that.

Good post, Max. You nailed it once again!

I believe I can fly.

Good article.

Warning: Low and other Brown loyalists...do NOT read this.




"At this point, watching a Larry Brown introductory news conference is like catching the last days of Sinatra in Vegas.
There’s really nothing left to see; nothing but an old legend hanging on, so desperate for the lifestyle and applause that he’ll play the songs he knows he can’t deliver, all for a fawning audience so desperate and delusional it willingly will suspend belief."



MJ, Bobcats fall for Brown's tired act - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Nice to see someone call Brown out. He is a bad person.

Maybe a bad person...but a Hall of Fame coach.

Pretty harsh article, but I don't agree with its conclusion about LB being gone from there by the end of next season in another acrimonious buyout. With no title expectations and no NY media spotlight, it seems like a better fit for LB to do his well-established thing of improving a young team that hasn't done anything. I don't think whatever happened with USA basketball in '04 has much relevance to a situation like this.

Come on Max. All he had were a bunch of washed up vets and rookies with no idea how to play the right way.

Tim Duncan (not a true center), Allen Iverson (ball hog), LeBron James (no experience), Dwyane Wade (poor jump shot), Amare Stoudemire (not fundamentally sound), Shawn Marion (energy player), Carlos Boozer (screwed over a blind guy), Carmelo Anthony (drafted behind Darko, so he must be bad), Stephon Marbury (plays in cheap shoes), Richard Jefferson (only good for fast break bball), Lamar Odom (shoots with the wrong hand), Emeka Okafor (inexperienced).

It's a miracle that he medaled at all with that rag-tag team.

I still haven't heard a good answer as to why Darko was left off that team.