What cliché should I write here? There has to be something to capture the return of the coaching drifter. But it has to be something that ESPN won’t beat me to using. Let me try a few out on you right now. Just bear with me because eventually there should be a nice little story and analysis going on.
Every time I think I’m out, they pull me back in.
Guess who’s back? Back again. Larry’s back. Tell a friend.
He’s baaaaaaack.
Show me the money!
Okay, I’ve got that out of my system now, and more importantly, Larry Brown has coaching back in his system. Don’t be fooled about his last job. Larry Brown got screwed over and that’s why the Knicks failed under him. It isn’t because he’s a bad coach. It isn’t because the game has passed him by. And it sure as hell isn’t because he can’t lead an organization. This guy is a great coach. Not was a great coach; IS a great coach.
Larry Brown hasn’t had a General Manager that has had his back in 2 of his last 3 jobs. In Philadelphia, Billy King was simply too incompetent to get behind him with Allen Iverson. They were so worried about selling tickets, getting corporate sponsorships, and keeping Allen Iverson happy that they never backed Larry Brown when he was in the right. Allen Iverson got mad; Larry Brown had to cater to him. AI was disenchanted with what was going one; LB had to kiss him on the forehead and tell him that it would be all roses and strawberries.
In New York, he was thrust into a clusterf*&k that he never had a chance at succeeding in. He was saddled with disinterested players who had just received their big payday so they no longer had to play like it was a contract year. He was given a point guard that wasn’t willing to listen to him unlike in his previous stints in Detroit, Philadelphia and Indiana. Stephon Marbury wasn’t willing to learn the right way to play point guard like LB is so great at teaching. Look how much he improved Mark Jackson’s understanding of the game and how to run/lead a team. Look what he did for a guy like Eric Snow. He turned Snow from the original Mike Wilks into a guy that played a pivotal role in an NBA Finals team and a guy that will always have a job because of his ability to minimize turnovers and play stellar defense.
Most importantly, he turned Chauncey Billups into a household name instead of a vagabond point guard that was better known as the Celtics’ consolation prize for losing the Tim Duncan sweepstakes. Chauncey was dying to become the star that he knew he should be. He had never been properly coached in terms of maximizing his personal ability. Everything had always been learning a system and how to fit in. Larry taught him how to not only learn the system but also lead his team through that system in the way that would maximize his output. Chauncey Billups didn’t need to be taught his clutch shooting because you either have that or you don’t, but LB taught him how to get his team to that point. The result? 2004 NBA Champs.
However, when he took on his hometown New York Knicks and worked for Isiah Thomas and James Dolan (two of the most incompetent people trying to accomplish a goal since Lloyd and Harry trying to get to Aspen Colorado in a dog van), he was a head coach with no power. He was a puppet-master with defective and disinterested puppets. He had guys that nobody wanted for the price tag that accompanied him. Isiah Thomas had a chance to lead by example and force Stephon Marbury to be the player and student that Larry Brown needed, but instead, he just let Marbury have sex in SUVs with interns and come up with new ways to harass employees. He brought in Steve Francis to be the Earl Monroe to Stephon’s Clyde Frazier or maybe to be the Clyde Frazier to Steph’s Earl Monroe or maybe it was to be the weed to dealer to Stephon Marbury’s Lamar Odom. I’m not quite sure.
Whatever move he made and whatever demands he put on the Knicks’ lame duck coach were always wrong and irrational. The best thing they could’ve done was let Larry Brown go so he didn’t have to put up with that for the next 4 years. The problem was that they put the blame on Larry Brown and the fans/media bought into it. This was proven to be wrong over the next two seasons as the problem turned out to be MSG’s Enron-caliber management staff but the damage in the public eye was done. LB is a loser. Ignore the NCAA title, the NBA title, and the 1000+ wins. He can’t get it done.
Well, he’s about to get it done again. This time, his project will be the Charlotte Bobcats who took a big step sideways this year when everyone expected a jump forward. Larry Brown coached teams have failed to finish .500 just 4 times in his NBA coaching career. He’s failed to get his team to the playoffs just 7 times and one of those was when he coached the Spurs the year before they drafted David Robinson. He even got the Clippers to the playoffs in the 90s both seasons that he coached them. This guy creates winners and he’s going to mold Raymond Felton into a top 12 point guard even though he’s on the verge of being a bust lottery pick right now.
The Bobcats gave Sam Vincent a raw deal in firing him after just one season as the head coach of the Bobcats. He was given a below average team with above average expectations and then he had 2 of his key bench contributors lost to season-ending injuries before the season even began. A rookie head coach should not be expected to turn around a franchise in his first season. However, if you’re getting Larry Brown to replace him, then it’s very understandable. Brown is a winner. But the real question is will he be able to coexist with Michael Jordan?
I think that he absolutely will … for now. MJ isn’t as strong willed and bullheaded as Isiah was as a builder of a franchise. MJ knows that Larry Brown is the best guy to turn this thing around and with their North Carolina connection; I think that he’ll give him more room to operate. Larry probably won’t be here more than 3 years, but that’s plenty of time to turn this hapless, young franchise from a 30-win club into a 45 to 50-win club. As long as Larry Brown gives results, MJ will give him whatever he can.
The Bobcats will make the playoffs in two years. LB will be the reason.
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