11/05/24
June 04, 2005
Larry Brown is no Dean Smith: After winning that NBA title a season ago, Brown had a chance to reshape his legacy for the history books. He had a chance to end his career with far more dignity and grace than he had conducted it. But Brown showed once again that he's the most selfish and disingenuous coach the profession has ever spawned.
posted by justgary to basketball at 12:15 AM - 10 comments
Larry brown is horrible, and I live in Detroit so I would know. Hecannot make up his mindand every other week he's ready to trade away all of his players. So good luck Cleavland when on the turn of a dime he trades away Lebron and your left with nothing. I cannot waitthe day the Larry Brown saga is out of my city
posted by navy9112000 at 08:53 AM on June 04, 2005
I have to agree with chmurray. Brown ALWAYS leaves his teams in better shape than before his arrival and his teams are always competitive. Larry Brown is definately no Dean Smith, but who the hell is? Not Phil Jackson, Rick Pitino, Lenny Wilkens, Roy Williams, or anybody else. If you expect Brown to stay at your organizations longer than four years, then you need to have your head examined. The Cavs know what they are getting in Brown, and please, don't expect Lebron to be traded.
posted by curlyelk at 11:33 AM on June 04, 2005
Larry brown is horrible, and I live in Detroit so I would know. Yeah, like the rest of us don't have web access or ESPN or live in cities where Brown's coached before. He's horrible because after leading the team to their first title in over a decade--the only Eastern team other than PJ, MJ and the Bulls to do so since--and has them back in the conference finals this season? That's my definition of a horrible coach too. The guy's 70, knows he's only got a few more years to work at this level and has a shot to take another young team to the top. I suppose if I had a chance to help Lebron James reach his potential I'd pass on the chance too. Whatever.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:23 PM on June 04, 2005
He is happy when things are going bad and sad when they are going good. he should retire now and keep his dignity he truly is a great coach though I mean come on he took the Clippers to the playoffs, he is the only coach to win a ncaa championship and nba championship he is a hall of famer show him some respect
posted by Footballgouy51 at 01:24 PM on June 04, 2005
Larry Brown is a great coach. If he wants to hopscotch around the league looking for challenges, that is Larry Brown. He's entitled to do what he wants. Dean Smith is a great coach. If he wanted to stay at North Carolina for 36 years, fine. He's entitled to do what he wants. They are both great basketball coaches. So they travel different career roads. So what. Larry Brown is no Dean Smith. Dean Smith is no Larry Brown. But they do have something in common. They both win basketball games. And that's the bottom line.
posted by roberts at 07:19 PM on June 04, 2005
Well said, roberts. Very well said.
posted by Ufez Jones at 07:37 PM on June 04, 2005
Brown ALWAYS leaves his teams in better shape than before his arrival...
The folks he left on probation at UCLA and Kansas might beg to disagree.
posted by tieguy at 09:40 AM on June 05, 2005
OK so he wins games , and ?? If winning is ALL that is important then we have a problem here . Yes he is a good coach . Great ?? He latches on to winning teams or teams on the brink . He has never BUILT a team from square one .All this aside the real issue here is loyalty , something that seems to be lacking these days . It is the value that Reggie Miller had , (he could have went to another team and gotten his ring , but didn't ) Loyalty is something most people these days don't understand , along with many other VALUES that seem to have been left behind . This nation has become a nation of selfish and self centered people , and Brown is only reflective of that . Sad commentary on him and on the way we are headed .
posted by iceman58 at 09:51 AM on June 05, 2005
Since when is it okay to leave teams in the lurch because your selfish ass wants to go job hunting before the season's over? New Jersey's president did the right thing with Brown lo those many years ago -- told him to pack his shit and hit the road now, since you obviously don't want to be here later. You think Detroit is being all it can be in these playoffs knowing their head coach has one foot out the door already? What sort of message does it send to the players if they won a championship last season and had a very legitimate shot at another, but yet their coach is out sniffing around for another gig? I don't suspect guys like Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton will be all that affected ... but it sure as hell can't help -- and it has to make you wonder as a player -- "What the hell is so bad about us?" Finally, why the hell would you hire a guy like Brown? So you can be shit on yourself in a couple of seasons? Larry Brown, in 33 years of coaching, has exactly two titles -- one championship with a Kansas team that could have won the NCAA title with Charlie Brown at the helm and last year's Pistons championship, which was a combination of good coaching and a down year for dominant NBA teams. Am I saying he's a bad coach? Absolutely not. He's never been anywhere and left with a losing record, and god, he even had a great record with the Clippers. But Larry Brown is not going to build stability in an unstable franchise -- and he's not even much of a lock to win you a title. Look elsewhere, Cleveland, and save yourself some trouble down the road.
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:20 AM on June 05, 2005
This is precisely the kind of ESPN article that I absolutely hate. Somewhere buried in there is some interesting commentary about the kind of coach that Larry Brown is, but it is completely buried in rhetorical bs - the agenda of the writer is clear. This reads more like an assignment in an introductory writing class than a professional piece of journalism. Larry Brown takes decent teams and makes them better. That's pretty much it. It's very rare for Larry Brown to field Championship-caliber teams, because he never really seems to know what the "next step" is. By comparison, Phil Jackson takes good teams to a chamionship level of play. It'd be interesting if his approach would work for the Hawks - I think Brown would do a much better job with them than Jackson would. Who is the better coach, then? There's nothing "dishonorable" about the way Larry Brown treats the teams that he coaches. Brown leaves a franchise in a better place than where it was when he got there. Not everyone has to be Dean Smith.