MetsPens9ers
11-11-2005, 11:00 PM
November 11, 2005 -- ISIAH Thomas, Larry Brown and Stephon Marbury, of all people, had to know it would come to this.
They had to know the arranged marriage between the consecrated coach and the self-ordained "best point guard in the NBA" would end in a messy divorce. They had to know the perfectionist teacher, as impatient of dumb mistakes, slow learners and individualist inclinations as you'll find in any classroom, and a player yet to confirm he's concerned more about the standings than his own standing, would collide head-on. If Marbury's genuinely cared about winning he never would have forced the up-and-coming Timberwolves into a trade with the Nets; the reason being Kevin Garnett was the man with the mega-salary and Stephon was destined to ride shotgun, poor dear, for the league-lowered max.
They had to know this wasn't going to work because it already hadn't worked in Athens. Because of Larry Brown's burgeoning relationship with Isiah Thomas, who passionately pitched Marbury for one of the 12 spots, the Olympic coach pressured the selection committee to choose him. By the time they reached Europe for exhibition games, the relationship had curdled. Soon after, two sources substantiate, Brown wanted to send Marbury home.
He wasn't the only one. Brown also wanted to distance himself from Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, validate sources. I'm not sure who he had in mind as reinforcements. It's not as if the National Guard was on call with several suitable replacements.
At any rate, Anthony — like LeBron James — was unreceptive to Larry's purist precepts inside and outside his cathedral. Iverson's sin, it's disclosed (a non-revelation if there ever was one) was being late by a minute or two, no more, for a team meeting in Turkey, his second misdemeanor; the first got him benched for a game in Florida with Tim Duncan sitting beside him in civvies for the same infraction. Intriguingly, Duncan was late as well for the Turkish meeting, beating Iverson into the room by 15 seconds or so, testifies my source, yet there was no talk about getting him on the next plane to America.
In any event, Thomas had to know importing Brown to become the Knicks' latest savior would ultimately lead to Marbury's deportation. Even Isiah Lord Thomas can only cater and curtsy to one franchise person at a time. Stephon had his way and sway for 11/2 seasons. Now Larry has all the juice.
This isn't Detroit, where Joe Dumars "fairly effectively" handles the affairs of the Pistons' front office (along with John Hammond) and isn't really all that interested what personnel his coaching staff would prefer to manage. This is New York, where Thomas brought in Brown to save his job and might wind up taking it.
When Thomas dealt Michael Sweetney to the Bulls as part of the package that secured Eddy Curry, he dispensed with the last remnant traceable to previous team president Scott Layden. In less than two seasons Thomas dumped every single player. Now it's time for Brown to start dumping Thomas' players.
Not all of 'em, mind you. For the time being, it appears, the young guys are off limits, odd since none of the acceptable building blocks will ever be mistaken for a foundation. Marbury may not be the first expulsion but he's positively the primary priority. He's also the thorniest and most challenging, especially if there's any intention of recouping a resemblance of star power.
In reality, the process began a couple weeks ago when feelers were put out there. Certain teams (I can't get more specific without risking sources) with explicit needs were notified by Thomas and Brown they wouldn't be averse to moving him.
Why give up so soon on trying to reform Marbury, by far the team's most explosive offensive player? Because Brown has seen this movie enough times during the Olympics and training camp to believe it's played out.
Either Thomas truly feels the same way or it's a case of, "whatever Lola wants, Lola gets." One way or the other, Thomas is telling people he's still Marbury's biggest fan, BUT "the guy's almost 29 (Feb. 20) and it's obvious his habits aren't suddenly going to change at this point."
Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups, Brown's last two imperfect, playmaking pupils, were able to adjust relatively quickly to Brown's style of passing three or four times per possession before hoisting one up. Meanwhile, Marbury continues to struggle during his second brief tour of duty under Brown's exacting tutelage. Wednesday night in Portland was his worst performance of the infant season. He melted in the pivotal third quarter, committing three of his five turnovers, and scored only 13 points in 38 minutes on 3-8 shooting. According to an eyewitness report, Stephon was conspicuously lifeless on both sides of the sphere.
On the surface Marbury is virtually untradable because of his seamy salary, $15 million this season, then $17M, $19M and finally, $20.98M. So it seems, anyway. Still, in case you've forgotten, this is the NBA, where nobody is untradable, no matter how much they're on the books for or what beast of baggage they're toting.
If there were a taker for the Cavaliers' Shawn Kemp and the Sonics' Vin Baker then there's certainly a team out there willing to provide the right atmosphere, coach and complementary cast to bring out the best in Marbury, a team ready to take a gamble he's been misunderstood and not utilized all these losing (exempting Phoenix) seasons.
As Blazers GM John Nash is fond of saying, "I can trade anybody in this league. You just might not like what you get for him."
The difficulty, impossibility, perhaps, as Nash notes, is getting something or someone of consequence in exchange. Realistically, the knucklehead Knicks aren't remotely in position to make any demands for a player whose value is rapidly diminishing and can capsize a budget almost by his lonesome. Logically, Brown will have to put up with Marbury's leisurely learning curve and hope better days will come, or accept the sweetest smelling refuge being offered.
Then again, the Raptors might want to swap Jalen Rose (comparable salary, two years shorter), but I suspect Marbury might as enthused about joining Toronto as Alonzo Mourning was when the Nets exorcised him.
Who knows, the Sonics are staggering; how ironic if Marbury wound up playing alongside Ray Allen, the guy he was originally traded for on draft day '96. The Hawks definitely can use help, but they've already invested big in 6-8 Joe Johnson; the league limit is one over-handling point guard.
Are the Magic open to dealing Steve Francis? Sources say yes, but not for Marbury, I submit; surely Orlando's sights are higher.
The Nuggets? They've already got a surplus of point guards and if Brown can't coach Marbury, what makes anyone think George Karl would like to try? How about reuniting Garnett and Marbury in Minnesota? It's a thought; the T'Wolves might be tempted to give up Wally Szczerbiak, but they seem satisfied with free agent addition Marko Jaric.
I've got one more; Thomas tried to get Jason Williams last summer when he was with Memphis and White Chocolate, er, Milk Dud, certainly isn't untouchable now that he's in Miami. Thomas also tried to get Michael Doleac ($2.6M, $2.6M, $3.1M) back after trading him two All-Star Games ago; he's exceedingly available as well. Problem is, the Heat would have to kick in either Antoine Walker, James Posey or Udonis Haslem in order to conform to salary cap rules, and I don't see that happening. But you never know.
If I were a skeptic, I'd remind you, while Next Town Brown's current crowd is 0-4, his previous pit stop is 4-0, the league's last perfect play station.
Who says Brown and Marbury have nothing in common? Both have the unique ability of making their old employer better.
They had to know the arranged marriage between the consecrated coach and the self-ordained "best point guard in the NBA" would end in a messy divorce. They had to know the perfectionist teacher, as impatient of dumb mistakes, slow learners and individualist inclinations as you'll find in any classroom, and a player yet to confirm he's concerned more about the standings than his own standing, would collide head-on. If Marbury's genuinely cared about winning he never would have forced the up-and-coming Timberwolves into a trade with the Nets; the reason being Kevin Garnett was the man with the mega-salary and Stephon was destined to ride shotgun, poor dear, for the league-lowered max.
They had to know this wasn't going to work because it already hadn't worked in Athens. Because of Larry Brown's burgeoning relationship with Isiah Thomas, who passionately pitched Marbury for one of the 12 spots, the Olympic coach pressured the selection committee to choose him. By the time they reached Europe for exhibition games, the relationship had curdled. Soon after, two sources substantiate, Brown wanted to send Marbury home.
He wasn't the only one. Brown also wanted to distance himself from Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, validate sources. I'm not sure who he had in mind as reinforcements. It's not as if the National Guard was on call with several suitable replacements.
At any rate, Anthony — like LeBron James — was unreceptive to Larry's purist precepts inside and outside his cathedral. Iverson's sin, it's disclosed (a non-revelation if there ever was one) was being late by a minute or two, no more, for a team meeting in Turkey, his second misdemeanor; the first got him benched for a game in Florida with Tim Duncan sitting beside him in civvies for the same infraction. Intriguingly, Duncan was late as well for the Turkish meeting, beating Iverson into the room by 15 seconds or so, testifies my source, yet there was no talk about getting him on the next plane to America.
In any event, Thomas had to know importing Brown to become the Knicks' latest savior would ultimately lead to Marbury's deportation. Even Isiah Lord Thomas can only cater and curtsy to one franchise person at a time. Stephon had his way and sway for 11/2 seasons. Now Larry has all the juice.
This isn't Detroit, where Joe Dumars "fairly effectively" handles the affairs of the Pistons' front office (along with John Hammond) and isn't really all that interested what personnel his coaching staff would prefer to manage. This is New York, where Thomas brought in Brown to save his job and might wind up taking it.
When Thomas dealt Michael Sweetney to the Bulls as part of the package that secured Eddy Curry, he dispensed with the last remnant traceable to previous team president Scott Layden. In less than two seasons Thomas dumped every single player. Now it's time for Brown to start dumping Thomas' players.
Not all of 'em, mind you. For the time being, it appears, the young guys are off limits, odd since none of the acceptable building blocks will ever be mistaken for a foundation. Marbury may not be the first expulsion but he's positively the primary priority. He's also the thorniest and most challenging, especially if there's any intention of recouping a resemblance of star power.
In reality, the process began a couple weeks ago when feelers were put out there. Certain teams (I can't get more specific without risking sources) with explicit needs were notified by Thomas and Brown they wouldn't be averse to moving him.
Why give up so soon on trying to reform Marbury, by far the team's most explosive offensive player? Because Brown has seen this movie enough times during the Olympics and training camp to believe it's played out.
Either Thomas truly feels the same way or it's a case of, "whatever Lola wants, Lola gets." One way or the other, Thomas is telling people he's still Marbury's biggest fan, BUT "the guy's almost 29 (Feb. 20) and it's obvious his habits aren't suddenly going to change at this point."
Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups, Brown's last two imperfect, playmaking pupils, were able to adjust relatively quickly to Brown's style of passing three or four times per possession before hoisting one up. Meanwhile, Marbury continues to struggle during his second brief tour of duty under Brown's exacting tutelage. Wednesday night in Portland was his worst performance of the infant season. He melted in the pivotal third quarter, committing three of his five turnovers, and scored only 13 points in 38 minutes on 3-8 shooting. According to an eyewitness report, Stephon was conspicuously lifeless on both sides of the sphere.
On the surface Marbury is virtually untradable because of his seamy salary, $15 million this season, then $17M, $19M and finally, $20.98M. So it seems, anyway. Still, in case you've forgotten, this is the NBA, where nobody is untradable, no matter how much they're on the books for or what beast of baggage they're toting.
If there were a taker for the Cavaliers' Shawn Kemp and the Sonics' Vin Baker then there's certainly a team out there willing to provide the right atmosphere, coach and complementary cast to bring out the best in Marbury, a team ready to take a gamble he's been misunderstood and not utilized all these losing (exempting Phoenix) seasons.
As Blazers GM John Nash is fond of saying, "I can trade anybody in this league. You just might not like what you get for him."
The difficulty, impossibility, perhaps, as Nash notes, is getting something or someone of consequence in exchange. Realistically, the knucklehead Knicks aren't remotely in position to make any demands for a player whose value is rapidly diminishing and can capsize a budget almost by his lonesome. Logically, Brown will have to put up with Marbury's leisurely learning curve and hope better days will come, or accept the sweetest smelling refuge being offered.
Then again, the Raptors might want to swap Jalen Rose (comparable salary, two years shorter), but I suspect Marbury might as enthused about joining Toronto as Alonzo Mourning was when the Nets exorcised him.
Who knows, the Sonics are staggering; how ironic if Marbury wound up playing alongside Ray Allen, the guy he was originally traded for on draft day '96. The Hawks definitely can use help, but they've already invested big in 6-8 Joe Johnson; the league limit is one over-handling point guard.
Are the Magic open to dealing Steve Francis? Sources say yes, but not for Marbury, I submit; surely Orlando's sights are higher.
The Nuggets? They've already got a surplus of point guards and if Brown can't coach Marbury, what makes anyone think George Karl would like to try? How about reuniting Garnett and Marbury in Minnesota? It's a thought; the T'Wolves might be tempted to give up Wally Szczerbiak, but they seem satisfied with free agent addition Marko Jaric.
I've got one more; Thomas tried to get Jason Williams last summer when he was with Memphis and White Chocolate, er, Milk Dud, certainly isn't untouchable now that he's in Miami. Thomas also tried to get Michael Doleac ($2.6M, $2.6M, $3.1M) back after trading him two All-Star Games ago; he's exceedingly available as well. Problem is, the Heat would have to kick in either Antoine Walker, James Posey or Udonis Haslem in order to conform to salary cap rules, and I don't see that happening. But you never know.
If I were a skeptic, I'd remind you, while Next Town Brown's current crowd is 0-4, his previous pit stop is 4-0, the league's last perfect play station.
Who says Brown and Marbury have nothing in common? Both have the unique ability of making their old employer better.