Brown fires back in anger at Marbury

[BAMAPHIN 22]

Larry Brown fired back in anger after Stephon Marbury said, among other things, that he needs freedom on offense, according to The New York Times.


"Look, I've been coaching how many years?" said Brown, whose Hall-of-Fame career spans three decades. "I never left a team in worse shape than I got it. Not one. Now think about that. Think about me and think about the guy who's talking," he said, referring to Marbury. "I never left a team in worse shape. Never asked anything of my players any different than I'm doing right now. Think about that. Think about that."


The Times says it was Brown's strongest, angriest, and most honest appraisal of a feud that became a back-page staple in the Big Apple not long after the start of the NBA season.

"So the bottom line is, I want us to rebound, defend, share the ball, play hard. That's all. If you can't do that, if that's not important enough to you, it's not on me. It's not on me. And you owe it to your teammates to do that every single night if you care about the right things. We're 17-45, all right? So we've got to figure out a way to get better."
Brown's tirade came in response to Marbury's recent cry for more freedom on offense. The star guard, citing the Knicks' poor record, also said that playing Brown's way has not worked, and that he would go back to playing as Starbury, the nickname he has given himself.


http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5414810

 

[Roman529]

Brown is doing a poor job as a coach, as is Isiah Thomas as their GM....I love it when the Knicks spend all that money and can't make the playoffs year after year.

 

[PHINATIC13]

Larry"the Gypsy"Brown has been a very good coach throughtout his long career,but with A.I. in Philly and now Marbury in NY I feel it's time for Larry to call it a career.I know both AI and Marbury are not the easiest personalities to get along with but with all of Brown's experience you would think he could handle the situation better then he has showed.

 

[finfansince72]

I don't know why Brown even took this job with Marbury there. No team will ever win with Marbury. Has he even played in a playoff game? Brown should have made it clear that Marbury had to go from the start. Seems like they are both blaming each other when its clear that Brown has been terrible as the Knicks coach and Marbury has been terrible as the Knicks PG. Isiah has put together a terrible team and theres really nothing anyone can do about it.

 

[King Felix]

john wooden prolly couldnt get wins out of starbury.

 

[Prime Time]

I feel sorry for Brown. He went their because he wanted to turn the Franchise in the right direction. The teams needs to be dismantled..they need to trade these players for younger players or draft picks.

 

[King Felix]

they are very young.

 

[Ferretsquig]

Brown is there to collect 10 mil per year. What I dont get is why he doesnt just bench Marbury. If your star player publically calls you out and says hes not going to play your way, why is he still on the court?

 

[MikeO]

I don't know why Brown even took this job with Marbury there. .

$10 mill a year!

Good enough reason for anyone!

 

[MikeO]

4 things to remember....

1) Marbury WILL be traded. Now I know you guys are saying.....who's gonna take that contract. Easy, a team with 2 BAD contracts they will unload on the Knicks. Who we have all seen will take on bad contracts anytime, anywhere, and without fail. Some team with 2 bad contracts will ship them to NY and Marbury will be gone this summer. It will put NY in further bad cap shape, but they are so far down that hole it doesn't matter at this point.

2) The Knicks are young. Frye, Lee, Francis, Curry......these guys are still in their early 20's. Sure, they are that one superstar away from being a legit team but this team wasn't going to be turned around overnight.

3) Brown isn't going anywhere. The guy isn't leaving that kind of money. The Knicks aren't going to buy him out either, that is a pipe dream. Isiah could step down if that whole "sexual harassment" thing heats up again, but I doubt it. I think he has 1 more year at least.

4) There was serious talk in many inner-circles that the Knicks made the Francis trade because they felt they had a legit shot at seasons end to land either Jermain O'Neal or Kevin Garnett in a blockbuster trade with the extra asset they acquired. Being able to package a Marbury or Francis with a Lee and some picks to get a guy. While Garnett will PROBABLY end up in Chicago. O'Neal could wind up in NY in a package deal. I am not a HUGE O'Neal fan, I think he's soft.....he would upgrade the Knicks greatly.

I actually DO think there is a plan in place for this team, this Marbury stuff sorta de-rails it and hides it. But things are never as bad as they seem and things are never as good as they seem in this league.

 

[Boik14]

All I have to say is Lee, Frye, Robinson, Jackie Butler, Malik Rose and Q shouldnt go anywhere this offseason. These are the only players on the team that give any kind of committment to defense and hustle.

Anyone else on the team Id deal for whatever i could get for them. Just get me a few more players who give a damn.

Last nights game vs the hawks was fun to watch for the 4thQ and the 2 OT's because the lineup was Nate, Butler, Lee, Qyntel Woods, and Crawford...and guess what, they won. Sure it was vs the Hawks but there wasnt a quarter all season they played with more energy or committment to D. These kids are hungry while the vets on this team are just fat and overpaid. If brown went with the kids the rest of the way and Marbury caught splinters on his behind along with Jalen, and Stevie Tunrover Id be pretty happy. And we'd have a more entertaining team.

And by the way, MikeO, Francis is 27/28. Not really early 20's. Maybe the light goes on playing for brown the same way it did for Billups but Im not raising my hopes on that. Curry has no heart...literally. On offense hes more polished than any big man coming out this year so in that respect I didnt hate the trade but on D and rebounding he has a long way to go. He cant pass out of the post (You should have more than 20 assists by accident! For a season total its just sad), he cant rebound (though hes trying more) and his blocks p/game are actually down so as far as IM concerned hes just a tease right now. I saw the O neal and KG rumors as well, but I think KG is just a pipe dream. I like O Neal a lot though and would happily settle. My biggest concern with J O neal is that hes hurt a lot (Soft isnt really the word Id use since that implies he gets flakey little nothing injuries).

Finfansince72; Marbury's made the playoffs 3x I believe but never got out of rd 1. The 1 great series he had was with Phoenix where they nearly upset the spurs. Vs the nets Kidd destroyed him though steph had very little help that year. I think Steph's time there is growing shorter. Brown wont tolerate guy who wont play D imo.