March 13, 2006 -- Stephon Marbury has given Larry Brown a taste of his own, bitter medicine.
Late Saturday night, Marbury took a dig at Brown by praising Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff for allowing his players to play with freedom. The remark came following the Knicks' awful 116-109 loss in Charlotte that gave Brown's clowns the league's worst record at 17-44.
It is a tactic Brown has used against Marbury at least twice this season - when the Knicks coach went ga-ga over point guard Baron Davis after the Golden State loss and T.J. Ford after the Milwaukee loss.
When Marbury was asked about Charlotte rookie Raymond Felton's 20-point night, Marbury responded, "He plays with so much confidence. Bickerstaff, he does a great job instilling that in his players. He allows players a lot of freedom, as you can see."
Zing.
All season, Marbury has grappled with the delicate balance of adhering to Brown's system while having the freedom to ad-lib and attack. Several Knicks have seemed to lose confidence under Brown's tutelage, especially Jamal Crawford, who seems to be constantly looking over his shoulder at Brown.
Marbury spoke over the weekend about playing next season with more aggression, about being more of a scorer in what seemed a knock at Brown's restrictive system.
"I went into this year trying to do something to put myself in a position where we can win, to help the team win games," Marbury reportedly said Saturday. "Unfortunately that didn't happen. So what do I do now as far as the way I play? I go back to play like Stephon Marbury, Starbury. I haven't been Starbury this year. I've been some other dude this year."
However, Marbury told a confidant that remark was not a knock on the system but on himself for being too tentative. Even Brown has said on occasion that Marbury has passed up too many open shots on plays run for him.
Marbury's scoring average is down to 17.5 points from 21 points last season, but his lower production is not the cause for the Knicks' demise. Their atrocious defense is a larger factor.
If Marbury is teamed with Steve Francis next season, Marbury's shots are bound to decrease anyway.
With only 21 games remaining in this despicable season, Brown is expected to finally pair Marbury and Francis together as the starting backcourt, as soon as tonight against the Nuggets.
Brown, who cancelled practice yesterday, has used the Marbury-Francis starting backcourt pairing once since Francis arrived - another bizarre Brown maneuver.
Management's spin after the trade was if Francis-Marbury doesn't mesh, it will just trade one of them this summer. Easier said than done. Marbury's contract is nearly prohibitive to trade. And there weren't a lot of teams clamoring for Francis at the trading deadline.
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