Guest FishFanInPA Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Admin Brown hears the boos, too. Bad shots. Awful defense. Poor decisions. And a whole lot of frustrated fans at Madison Square Garden. "This is much more difficult right now than I ever imagined," the New York Knicks coach said Thursday after practice. More than a quarter of the way through his first season in charge of his hometown team, the man who preaches doing things the right way is stuck with a bunch of players doing just about everything wrong. New York has lost four in a row, falling to 6-15 heading into Friday's game at Atlanta. Worse, after playing well during a recent trip out West, the Knicks haven't been competitive in two games since returning home. "We're just not doing it," Brown said. "We're not matching the energy of our opponent. We're doing the same things we've done all year. We turn the ball over too much, don't make simple plays, and don't execute very well." Never was that more evident than recently. In double-digit home losses to Milwaukee and Orlando, the Knicks committed 38 turnovers -- they rank last in the league in that category -- and left shooters wide open while struggling to defend pick-and-rolls. The Bucks and Magic combined for 23 3-pointers, many of them uncontested. "They had like miscommunication out there. They didn't help each other," Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu said after the Magic's 105-90 victory Wednesday. "I think they have a bunch of young guys there and they're still learning, so that's why they messed it up. You can't leave guys who are making shots in a row like that, you have to do something." Brown isn't the only New Yorker tired of the lapses. The Knicks were booed during both games, especially in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's loss. "I don't tune them out at all," Brown said. "I hear it all. I'm embarrassed. I know how much they love basketball and love this team and want us to do well. And when we play poorly, I hear it, and it kills me because I'm responsible." Brown, a Brooklyn native, knew things weren't going to be easy. While the Detroit team he coached to the last two NBA Finals was a veteran club, the Knicks have mostly young players on a mismatched roster that went 33-49 last season. But he was expecting more veteran help. Instead, he watched Allan Houston retire during training camp. And the Knicks traded Tim Thomas, previously coached by Brown, before the season started. Combined with injuries to newcomers Eddy Curry and Jerome James, that has left Brown forced to experiment with combinations featuring younger players. He has used already used 15 different starting lineups. The inexperience is showing on both ends of the court. "I don't even really have an answer for you," veteran guard Stephon Marbury said. "Right now, as far as for the way we're playing, we're going backwards, we're not going forward." The turnovers are of the biggest concern to Brown. The Knicks are committing 18.1 per game -- some in ways Brown can't even explain. "I've seen turnovers that they're trying to make the right play," Brown said. "We had two or three dump-down passes that were good passes that we didn't catch. To me, that's a guy trying to make the right play. "But then we have five or six turnovers where we're ahead on the break and throw it behind us, or we try to throw a crosscourt pass and it goes into the fifth row. I mean, there's things that I've never seen before." The defensive struggles could be more costly. Players from the Bucks and Magic both pointed to Knicks' inability to stop the pick-and-roll. According to Brown, his players knew what they were supposed to do. "We gave up two 3-pointers in the second quarter on a play we went over," he said. "We left a guy that we said we weren't going to leave. So it's just execution." Brown did say he was pleased with the progress of some of his younger players -- some he never expected to be playing so much. But he knows the Knicks' struggles could last a while. "After these two last games, you look at the schedule, you don't think we'll ever be able to win another game," he said. "But you can only try." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passion Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 /bitter 76ers fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FishFanInPA Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 why would i be bitter???? Maurice Cheeks is a fine coach......and we're in first place in a bad division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying_Mollusk Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 It's not Brown's fault that they assembled a roster of overpaid junk. The Knicks are rebuilding and I think Brown is developing the pieces turn them around soon. Frye is playing awfully well and could end up being a really good pro. Curry, Crawford, and Richardson are solid players to surround around Frye is he can be what they hope he can be. He just needs to get Marbury to become a decent player. Although they dont really have to worry about their high salary, they really are precluded from making big moves outside the MLE in free agency. They need to stop making stupid signings like Jerome James. Other then that, they have a decent starting five that a good coach like Brown can work with. Its not like he has never done it before. C-Frye PF-Curry SF-Qrich SG-Crawford PG-Marbury Not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanks1212 Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Isiah Thomas deserves most of the blame for the Knicks current state of affairs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 ..and the Bulls get their draft pick. cha-ching Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ShaqandWade323 Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Trade Stephon Marbury and Jerome James and you got a winning team, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FishFanInPA Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 if it were only that easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marlins02 Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 Isiah Thomas deserves most of the blame for the Knicks current state of affairs most? ill never forget when the sports guy said this job will kill brown because he'll always fear that phone call from zeke telling him "great news!! i just got Bonzi Wells for 4 1st round draft picks!!!". that sh*t had me laughing for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanks1212 Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 Most as in he's acquired these players who underachieve and/or aren't good. However some fault lies with players who underachieve for various reasons, provided they aren't related to poor coaching, injuries, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odom006 Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 ya u do come off as a bitter 76ers fan........ we all knew Brown wasnt gonna make this knicks team an instant playoff team in 1 year its gonna take em adleast a 3 year period to be contenders........ he knew what he was takin ova when he left the pistons..... a bunch of inxperinced ball hogs...... and as 4 my boy Q the man should not be playin basketball with all the sh*t thats going on in his life right now....... he needs to take a break and i think NYK orgnization should respect that..... and give em a s mch time as he needs........ cuz clearly his head's not in the game wha he like 2-11 last night? anyways as a heat fan, its been great to watch the knicks blow year in and year out hahahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonataArctica121 Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I see my Nets miss all these 3 pointers and screw in the most horrible way, but it pays off when I push the up button on my controller to go from 55(YES Network Nets/Yankees/Giants Station) to the # 56 Channel( AKA the secondary and or less popular NY/NJ teams like the Mets and the Knicks) to see there is actually a team playing worse :thumbup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FishFanInPA Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I repeat....no reason to be bitter....I love Maurice Cheeks and this Sixers team will make the playoffs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonataArctica121 Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I repeat....no reason to be bitter....I love Maurice Cheeks and this Sixers team will make the playoffs.... You are only leading because you played 2 more games then us :mischief Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FishFanInPA Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I repeat....no reason to be bitter....I love Maurice Cheeks and this Sixers team will make the playoffs.... You are only leading because you played 2 more games then us :mischief Nets are your us??? I fully expect them to compete....the Nets are probably better but AI and Webber are in sync right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Mike (New Brunswick NJ): What's the status of the Knicks' draft picks the next few years? They still have to give picks to the Suns and Bulls. SportsNation John Hollinger: OK, if you're a Knicks fan and didn't already know this you might want to sit down. The pick in the Curry trade had NO LOTTERY PROTECTION. So if the Knicks end up with one of the top picks, which they're headed toward, they'll just hand it over to Chicago. (But hey -- you still have San Antonio's pick from the Malik Rose trade!) Wait, come back off the ledge, I have more. The Knicks also gave the Bulls the option to swap picks in 2007, so if the Knicks stink a year from now -- which is more plausible given their lack of a draft pick -- then they'll also forfeit that lottery pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonataArctica121 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 I repeat....no reason to be bitter....I love Maurice Cheeks and this Sixers team will make the playoffs.... You are only leading because you played 2 more games then us :mischief Nets are your us??? I fully expect them to compete....the Nets are probably better but AI and Webber are in sync right now. I am pretty sure your team does not choke as bad as we have recently. I was mad, 1 month ago, we go to sign up to go to a free Nets game if we went to this boring talk about safety and stuff for 3 hours, it was in my math class. Only 45 sheets and sniors got first pick with only 28 left afterwerds and I was absent the day Juniors (ME) could take one :tissue and it's the one tomarrow. I could be leaving school early, of course wasting 3 hours, but then getting to watch a free nets game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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