nydailynews:Stephon Marbury says he never asked Larry Brown to take him out of the Knicks' victory over Detroit Friday, but admitted he didn't want the ball in the final minute because Jamal Crawford was a better option at that moment.
"When I went into the game, Coach drew up two plays for me and I'm like, 'Let's run a play for Jamal. Jamal is hot,'" Marbury said before last night's 111-100 loss to Miami at the Garden. "He's the guy we need to be going to right now. I'm not the dude that should be taking the shot at the end of the game when I just came into the game. Even relief pitchers get to go out and throw some pitches before they get on the mound.
"That's basically how that went on. I think everybody knows me as a guy who wants the ball at the end of the game. I never refuse the ball at the end of the game."
Marbury was on the bench with 41.7 seconds remaining and the Pistons leading by two when Crawford converted a three-point play. Marbury, who didn't start the fourth quarter, did return with 3:47 remaining and committed a crucial turnover with 1:09 left that led to a go-ahead basket for Detroit.
On Saturday, Larry Brown claimed he took Marbury out because the guard complained he was stiff. Following Friday's victory, Marbury said he didn't know why he wasn't on the floor with :41.7 to play.
"No, I wasn't upset," Marbury said yesterday. "I was just mad at the fact that I felt like Jamal should've been the guy that was going to take the shot. I wasn't the guy that was supposed to take the shot because I just came into the game. We had a guy rolling, hit like three or four shots in a row. Why would I be the guy who got the play designed for (him)?"
Marbury returned with 18 seconds left for defensive purposes and was on the floor when Crawford hit a game-winning jumper with 2.2 remaining. Speaking for the first time since Friday, Marbury asked reporters why they continue to make his feud with Brown the focal point of the Knicks' season.
"Why don't we concentrate on what's really going on, like our record?" Marbury said. "Everybody's got this big hype about Coach and I. Let's deal with the real problem with what's going on. Us two are not the problem. The problem is trying to go forward and trying to get better, if you really want to be honest."
When asked to identify the problem, Marbury gave an answer that indicted himself, his teammates, Brown and Knicks president Isiah Thomas.
"We've got to get better as a team," Marbury said. "We're a bad team right now.
He also took exception to the Daily News back page yesterday that had a picture of Marbury under the headline, "What A Stiff."
"But to me, this (controversy) is like --- right here. For real, to truly be honest, every day we're talking about what I'm doing with Coach, and I'm a stiff because I didn't take the last shot. It seems like everything is being pushed away from what's really going on. What's really going on is we're a bad basketball team and we're trying to get better. I know I'm used to being the scapegoat, but damn, come on. When is enough going to be enough?"
