| A Raw Deal For Larry Brown Authored by Daniel Sonnenberg - July 19, 2005 - 3:00 pm
The Detroit Pistons have almost guaranteed that they will not be returning to the NBA Finals by making the Larry Brown situation much worse than it ever had to be. While there have been many online polls asking fans how the Pistons will far without the often loved, much maligned Larry Brown.
Columnists are making it look as though Brown wanted out and that he wanted to appear as a martyr or the one who tried to make things work and then couldn’t. Larry Brown has given more to the Detroit over the past two seasons than almost any other could would have been able to.
There’s a short list of guys who could have done the same thing, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley among them with a Van Gundy brother coming in at a distant third.
It’s sad for the game of basketball when a great natured coach and all around respected man is pushed out of one of the league’s few remaining pseudo-dynasties. If the Pistons think that bringing in Flip Saunders will have any impact, be prepared to lose in the second round or in the conference finals, ala no defense mentality in Minnesota.
Hopefully Larry Brown teaches defense and team mentality to another former NBA powerhouse in New York, making Detroit this year’s version of the Dallas Mavericks, who last year wouldn’t re-sign Steve Nash.
Other Thoughs Around The League
What would also be good for the league this off-season is if the Chicago Bulls somehow manage to hold onto their baby Twin-Towers of Tyson Chandler and Eddie Curry. I recently spoke to Tyson outside of a Los Angeles nightclub and he beamed with a smile while mentioning what could have happened in the playoffs had Eddie Curry and Luol Deng been on the Bulls’ playoff roster. If the Bulls manage to keep their talent, which will prove to be quite costly, look for them to be perennial Eastern conference contenders.
Expect the same out of what looks to be the revamped New Jersey Nets with a starting five of Kristic, Kidd, Jefferson, Carter, and Abdur-Rahim. Sounds great on paper, but they’ll be playing the games on the court and hopefully have no injuries, which given the names mentioned is highly unlikely.
Out West both the Lakers and Rockets are making incredibly significant moves to bolster their lineups. The addition of Stromile Swift to the Rockets’ lineup will add another fast break player into the mix and allow for McGrady to play a little more of an uptempo game. Bringing in Swift means that Jeff Vangundy will have the luxury of switching between a T-Mac and Yao offense.
The Lakers meanwhile will get solid contributions from both Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum. Bynum is wowing people in the summer leagues and will continue to do so. Look for more than expected out of the young man whose got not a gorilla but rather a center on his back. Lamar Odom will play the role Pippen played in Chicago and look for the Lakers to make another point guard acquisition to fill in the void left by the Atkins trade. While the Atkins diet works for millions of Americans, the Atkins point didn’t quite work in Los Angeles. Enjoy the summer league games and look for this year’s rookies to contribute about as much as the class of 96’ because they’re deep. |
