[elrod-tom]

I know that this guy has a history of flakiness, but in the middle of a championship run?

I say good riddance. The Pistons made the right choice here IMHO.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom I know that this guy has a history of flakiness, but in the middle of a championship run? I say good riddance. The Pistons made the right choice here IMHO.

What is the real scoop here ET..........obviously Dumars and Brown had a fall out and perhaps some players vioced concerns. I know Pistons were not pleased with Brown talking to other teams before season ended, but there must be some other issues here, What?
How can you release coach with his record last 2 years? (looks like NY Knicks will hire Brown)

Flip Saunders gets job after dismal job he did with Timberwolves last year? What?

 

[bundee1]

Thank you Detroit!

 

[Jahn]

The Knicks will take Brown for however long he works his magic - man, get the Knicks in the playoffs and you can bolt at halftime in Game 7 of the Finals for all we care!

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel What is the real scoop here ET..........obviously Dumars and Brown had a fall out and perhaps some players vioced concerns. I know Pistons were not pleased with Brown talking to other teams before season ended, but there must be some other issues here, What?

The scuttlebut here in the Detroit area is that, though they didn't say anything about it at the time, the players were VERY pissed about this whole Cleveland thing occurring in the middle of the playoffs. The owner was also pissed about it, as he IMHO was justified in feeling that Brown did nothing to discourage these rumors...on the contrary, he seems to bask in that sort of light.

Management in Detroit was also understandably concerned about how year #3 of the Brown regime would have worked out. IMHO, the team would have imploded at some point.

Brown strikes me as being similar to Billy Martin. Teams used to bring Billy in, get good or better right away, and let him go in fairly short order. He seemed to have a shelf-life with teams he managed...I see Larry Brown as being similar to Billy in that regard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel How can you release coach with his record last 2 years? (looks like NY Knicks will hire Brown)

Rick Carlisle had the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals, without Rasheed Wallace, in the year before Brown was hired. One could have said the same thing about that firing, which reportedly occurred because of similar issues that led to Brown's dismissal.

Bill Davidson (Piston's owner) is one of the best owners in sports. Last year, his Pistons (NBA), Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL), and Detroit Shock (WNBA) teams won their league championships. I trust him to do the appropriate thing...a LOT more than a coach with a LONG history of exactly this kind of flakiness. I'm thinking Mr. Davidson felt like he brought Brown into a situation where the one thing missing from his record - an NBA championship - was very much in play. One would think that might, just might, inspire some loyalty (to say nothing of appropriate behavior during the playoffs).

Everyone talks about what Brown did for the Pistons. What about what the Pistons did for Brown?

As for NY getting him, they can have him. Be careful what you wish for, however...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel Flip Saunders gets job after dismal job he did with Timberwolves last year? What?

Saunders had the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals last year. I don't know a lot about why they fell apart this year, but I gather that there were certainly some issues with injuries.

Word is he's good at developing young talent, which the Pistons are going to need a LOT of help (cough...Darko...cough!!) doing in very short order. Chauncy Billups thinks he's a terriffic coach, and is looking forward to working with him again. Finally, given Billups' feelings about Saunders, you never know who ELSE might enjoy the prospect of rejoining their former coach (cough...Kevin Garnet...cough!!) in Detroit.

We'll know a lot more this time next year, but IMHO he was the best available coach. That pretty much sums it up.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom Everyone talks about what Brown did for the Pistons. What about what the Pistons did for Brown?

Agree... hes ALWAYS been a playoff contending coach (frequently deep in to playoffs). Heck he even coached the Clippers to a playoff spot for a couple years. THAT is as much of an accomplishment as anything IMHO.

BUT he NEVER won it all till joining the Pistons.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 BUT he NEVER won it all till joining the Pistons.

Ahhhh, but he won a REAL National Championship in 1988 with the Kansas Jayhawks while I was in graduate school there!

As much as I love the NBA, nothing that Larry has done since the "Danny and the Miracles" season even comes close by comparison. They were a #6 seed in their regional, and went on to beat Duke, Kansas State and Oklahoma on their way to the crown. These were the same 3 teams that had beaten them on their home court during the regular season!

 

[gshan]

Seems like his nature to just move on and not settle. I think he just loves coaching and sharing the game with as many players as he can. Make no mistake he's left an impact in Detroit, and it's very unfortunate that he couldn't settle.

 

[en480c4]

Too bad what everyone fails to mention is that Cleveland approached Dumars and asked permission to speak to Brown about there GM position in case he wasn't healthy enough to coach, and Dumars granted that permission. Dumars admitted as much during an interview during the finals. So I don't understand how the Pistons could get all pissy now... if they didn't want the distraction, they never should've granted permission for Cleveland to approach Brown during the playoffs in the first place.

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 Too bad what everyone fails to mention is that Cleveland approached Dumars and asked permission to speak to Brown about there GM position in case he wasn't healthy enough to coach, and Dumars granted that permission. Dumars admitted as much during an interview during the finals. So I don't understand how the Pistons could get all pissy now... if they didn't want the distraction, they never should've granted permission for Cleveland to approach Brown during the playoffs in the first place.

Three points -

1) Joe Dumars is ALSO on record as saying that his understanding was that such conversations were to take place AFTER the season was over, NOT while the Pistons were in the middle of a tough run through the playoffs AND a title defense.

2) Is there no responsibility on the part of Larry Brown to ensure that, permission granted or otherwise, BS like this doesn't provide a distraction for his team? Why not simply tell Cleveland that NO FURTHER DISCUSSION will take place until AFTER the season?? Clearly he didn't do that...

3) It would be one thing if we were talking about another coach. We're talking about a coach with a well-established history of this kind of nonsense. Earlier in the season, he'd basically batted his eyelashes at NY, LA, Denver, and so on.

If you want to take the position that Pistons' management shouldn't be getting all pissy about it because they "gave him permission", that's one thing. I'll take issue with that, as I view the whole matter as largely under his control, but it's a legitimate position to take. If, on the other hand, what you're saying is that his PLAYERS have no right to be upset by the public and ham-handed way he handled all this, you're dead wrong about that one IMHO. For that I blame him 100%.

Either way, it put Larry Brown out front as the mercenary head-case that he's always proven to be.

 

[YngwieJMalmsteen]

I honestly can't take anything LB says at face value (same for phil jackson), it's all part of some complicated game going on in his own mind. I don't know whether there ever were any "health problems," I think he just wanted to consider being a front office guy instead of a coach. It seems the grass is ALWAYS greener for this guy even when you're leaving a championship level team to go to (IMO) the most troubled franchise in the NBA. And don't get me started on how badly he blew it coaching the olympics!

Then again if the knicks make the playoffs he will garner some of my respect.

 

[Tuberoller]

Yeah,

That's Larry Brown's MO alright. He's a rolling stone and cares nothing about loyalty or stepping on other's toes. Iverson told us all this a few years ago and I think we dismissed it as Iverson being a "spoiled athlete" (which he is not). Iverson said that Larry Brown would'nt last long and would almost certainly demand more control as soon as he saw the opportunity. I bet we'll all hear later of how Brown wanted GM control over the team and knew he would never get it from Dumars.

As far as Kevin Garnett leaving the Timberwolves,this will never happen as long as the Wolves still want him. He has said many times(as recently as last season on XM Sports) that the only teams he'd play for are the Wolves or the Bulls(A long shot). He loves the fans in Minn and they love him. I can't think of a more popular player in his home stadium.

 

[RYCeT]

Well, Knicks got his guy, we'll see how good knicks going to be next season.

Reports: Brown accept Knicks job

 

[Sleestack]

Well as a Knicks fan, I'm hoping this rights the ship... or at least sets us on the right course for about 2 years.

 

[saab]

Part of me thinks that no matter how good of a coach Brown is, Isiah has/will screw things up beyond what a good coach can fix. Maybe a playoff appearance, but never a true contender. This is just a feeling, and knowledge of everthing else Thomas has screwed up.

Now, I just hope that Saunders can keep this group heading in the right direction and bring along our young players (Darko, Delfino, and this years rookies).