Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Can I Really Have Two Stories About The New York Knicks?

Two stories stuck out about the Knicks as I was skimming the net this morning for news. On story is very much 'Coach Larry Brown' in the positive sense, the other is 'Coach Larry Brown' in the weird, crumungin sense.

First the positive: the Phoenix Suns are one of the best teams in the NBA today, and the New York Knickerbockers are one of the worst. Knowing all this, its amazing how Brown was able to keep his team focused and motivated to outplay the Suns in a triple-overtime game, eventually ending 140-133.

And then there was news the Knicks have indefinitely suspended center Jerome James on the official term of "conduct detrimental to the team," saying he was unprepared to practice this weekend. And unofficially noting that he was never ready to play all season, after signing a five-year, $30 million contract and coming to training camp overweight and out of shape.

While the blame for James falls squarely on team president Isiah Thomas for signing him, Coach Brown's response to the matter ("I'm not commenting on Jerome. He's not on the active list. I'm talking about active players right now.") in comparison to his response to the monster win ("I'm just proud of them because that's a quality team and we managed to survive, and then we figured out a way to win.") is typical to the mythos that is Larry Brown.

- Roundup: Knicks survive triple OT; Bucks bump Bulls (USA Today)
- Knicks suspend center Jerome James (USA Today)
Posted by J. Cleveland Payne @ 10:49 AM   0 comments ---------------------------------------