Bad, Bad Larry Brown
So pound for pound Larry Brown has done it. He has made it impossible for Mr. D. and Mr. D to keep him in Detroit. All his drama about dream jobs in NY, what a great player Kobe is, and how much fun it is to build a team finally reached the breaking point here in the D. You see, Detroiters have a thin skin when it comes to flirting with others, especially when you just about admit that we are the girl next door, and you'd rather take someone sexier to the prom.
My earlier post about the uproar over Jeannie Zalasko disrespecting Ernie Harwell really touched on this sensitive nerve that Detroiters have. What I didn't realize was that these feelings of insecurity extended into the Pistons front office. Let's see--LB is now the third coach in the last 10 years to be fired/forced out within 1 year after posting a 50-win season. That means, the Pistons organization is leading the league in firing good coaches because of behind the scenes issues. Either the organization does a great job of finding coaches who overachieve but burn out quickly, or they do a great of hiring geniuses that are impossible live with day-to-day or they cannot stand to share the spotlight with the coach. Say it ain't so, Joe!!! You have gotten yoeman's credit for turning this franchise around, move after move had the Midas touch, but now, for the second time in three years, you are looking for a coach. Is it your hiring? Or is it your ability to get long with and share the spotlight with these guys? You're bigger than that, Joe.
It appears as if Bad Bad Larry Brown, baddest man in the whole damn town, has even a tough guy like Joe Dumars feeling small, so small that he and Bill Davidson decided they would rather have Flip Saunders try to lead the team. And I emphasize try, because it is not that clear to me that he is a great coach. Or the right fit for this team. It is really not clear whether the players will be able to play as in sync with each other under him as they appeared to do under LB. Make no mistake, this team had a rythym, a sense of awareness, and a camaraderie that was something special, something that is not likely to be replicated. And it is gone. All because of egos that needed a little love. And a junkyard dog.
posted by SportPsych Detroit @ 12:05 AM
8 Comments:
It's too easy to lump the three fifty-win firings into one convenient egomaniac package.
Consider this. The players rebeled against Doug Collins. He worked them hard and he won games, but he chased Alan Houson to New York and sent Grant Hill packing to Orlando.
I never understood the Carlisle firing, but with the team winning a championship under Brown, I thought it was justified. You only have so many chances to win a title, so you take your best shot when you have it.
And now Coach Brown is moving on. This one is complicated with health issues, dedication issues, and an ESPN report that Coach Brown had accepted a job with Cleveland. During the playoffs.
Remember when Bill Freider took the ASU job right before the tourney. Three weeks later, he was watching on TV when Michigan beat Seton Hall for the championship.
When a coach wants to walk, you kick him to the curb.
Air,
I tend to agree that LB doesn't want to be here. I just think he is playing the Pistons, and if they are such a smooth-running PR machine, they should be embarassed by how he is making them look.
According to Scoop Jackson, he is refusing to sign the buyout because it restricts him from coaching next year. hey Larry, I though you wanted a break from coaching--isn't that the excuse you gave the Pistons, that you want to be on payroll but not have to coach until February? Now, you want your $18 mil, and are ready to coach a new team tomorrow!
I think we are going to miss LB, but a more disingenuous person I don't think I've ever seen
Frieder was out b/c Bo wanted a "Michigan man" to coach Michigan. So, who would be the "Piston man" to coach the Pistons?
Anon,
That appears to be part of the problem. It's not that people don't want to see Larry go...it's that we don't want to face him in the playoffs next year, and we don't want to end up with a coach who will get outcoached by either Larry or Rick Carlisle. I agree with Air, that the move to LB netted us a chip, but that won't feel really good when flip gets outcoached and the Pistons are out in the second round
Anon - My point was when you talk about leaving or sign a contract during the playoffs, you should be gone. Bo made the right call then, and the pistons are making the right call now.
A Piston man? Maybe Bill Laimbeer. I've never seen him coach, but he won a championship with the shock, and as a player was all about 48 minutes.
The big thing is getting someone who can coach Darco.
But Michigan wasn't favored to do anything that year, They rode Rice's hot shooting, went on a run, and Fisher lucked into a job he never would have gotten. The rest was a disaster for the program. And that is exactly the point! Bill Laimbeer?!?! We are in the middle of a title run! We can't be breaking in new coaches
I don't think you can blame the Pistons organazation for this one. His actions showed that he didn't want to be here. He may have said all the right things publicly, but as they say, actions speak louder than words. If the Pistons allow him to coach net year, I hope he enjoys toiling in for teh Knicks, and turning Marbury into a "true point guar" who "plays the right way" and misses the playoffs.
Good riddance LB, thanks for the memories, but don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Amen, brother...but will you feel as good about getting rid of him when we get outcoached by Rick?
I think Anon is right in that I really have a bad feeling about this....
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