nydailynews:When your point guard says that the team is still "trying to figure out" what the coach wants after 59 games, that's pretty revealing, if not alarming.
But when the point guard is Stephon Marbury and the coach is Larry Brown, you realize this is nothing out of the ordinary. Marbury and Brown haven't been on the same page for most of the year.
"I don't react to what he says," Brown said yesterday. "I've said the same message for 30-something years. You share the ball, you play hard and you try to guard and you have a chance to be successful."
Brown was responding to comments Marbury made two days earlier in Milwaukee, where the Knicks won for only the 16th time all season. Marbury said: "We're still trying to figure out what we're supposed to do on the basketball court. It is unusual but it is what it is."
Marbury, who did not practice yesterday due to a sore left shoulder but is expected to play tonight against the Pacers in Indianapolis, has had a history of problems with coaches. Brown's history is that he can be tough to play for but that in the end he gets results. His record - one NBA title, three Finals appearances, Hall of Fame membership - speaks for itself. Marbury, meanwhile, has never gotten out of the first round while every team he has played for has flourished once he has left.
Steve Nash, who replaced Marbury in Phoenix, won 62 games last season and captured MVP honors. Nash is the odds-on favorite to repeat as MVP while winning with a supporting cast that includes Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Eddie House.
Coincidentally, Brown hinted that the Knicks have to fill out their roster with hungry role players. Brown had Bell and Bruce Bowen in Philadelphia. But the Knicks also lack veteran leadership. Malik Rose has assumed that role but teams tend to take on the personality of their best player.
Phoenix is an unselfish, hard-working team. The Knicks? During Friday's last-second loss to Chicago, Marbury argued with officials rather than running back to guard Ben Gordon, who hit the go-ahead three-pointer.
Nash has released an instructional DVD breaking down his brand of basketball and in the commercial for the product, Brown says no one in the league does it better than the Suns' point guard.
"To me, the message should have been clear when we left Charleston," Brown said, referring to training camp in October. "You can have deficiencies in a lot of areas, but when you do the things that are important and those are your priorities, you're going to be successful. Hopefully, we're starting to figure that out. I don't know if wins and losses will reflect that, but I think we'll give ourselves a chance to win games.
"The last few games you see how many assists we've had, it's been a lot better," Brown added. "If we share the ball, try to guard and try to play hard, you'll generally get something accomplished. I've been preaching that forever. If you want to listen and learn you'll get it. If you don't, chances are you won't figure it out."
Brown said that he's never changed his message or his methods. When players buy in, they're usually successful.
"I've never talked anything about being a systems coach in my life," Brown said. "I've been a basketball coach, about guys playing the right way. That's always been what I've said. It's amazing to me the guys that have wanted to do it have really prospered."
With 23 games left, Brown and Marbury will have to tolerate one another. There is a strong possibility that one of them will not be back next season. Brown has said repeatedly that he has no intentions of walking away from the Knicks. In that case, team president Isiah Thomas has a tough decision to make this summer.
Trading Marbury will be difficult. Negotiating a buyout, a far-fetched scenario last year, no longer sounds that crazy. The Knicks, after all, have only 16 wins this season with Marbury. Brown won that many games two years ago in the postseason with Detroit. Somehow, Chauncey Billups figured it out.
"Wherever I've been it's always been about team," Brown said. "That's the only thing that really matters. If that doesn't matter you ought to run track, play golf, play tennis, things like that."
