RILED RAPTOR
Smooth B
February 15, 2006 -- What a mess!
Ex-Knick Antonio Davis continued to air the Knicks' dirty laundry,
pointing the finger yesterday at Larry Brown for ruining the
confidence of the team's young players with his verbal jabs at
practice and in the media. Davis, who abandoned Team Titanic for
Toronto in the Jalen Rose trade 10 days ago, said last week the Knicks
were "a mess", "a circus" and claimed Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown
"aren't on the same page." Davis' Raptors face the Knicks tonight at
the Garden in the last game before the merciful All-Star break.
"With an older guy, when you break him down, you build him back up and
he's going to come back at you," Davis said. "He's going to have that
experience that says 'I've just got to keep going. I know I'm going to
get better.' For a young guy, they tend to shut it down and get
confused. And I think that's what's going on."
Indeed, it has gotten even messier since Davis left. Davis' remarks
come after the latest development when Malik Rose charged Monday the
club's biggest problem is too much "finger-pointing" going on by both
the players and Brown.
Losers of 10 straight and 16 of 17, this is a team that doesn't play
well together on the court or like each other much off the court. And
you can hang the blame on Isiah for assembling a mismatched group and
Brown for running it into the ground.
When Malik Rose was asked if Brown finger-points too much, he said the
problem runs "from top to bottom", adding "It's not my place to
second-guess him. Although I may not agree with everything he does or
says, I'll do it. Even if I think it's wrong."
Davis said Brown and young players may not be a good mix at this
stage. "I don't think Larry has had the opportunity to coach a young
team where you have to really go into basics, pick and roll, roll with
the ball, how to box him out and rotate," Davis said. "I know it's
tough for him. But he's just going to have to break down and just
teach."
When Brown was asked Monday night about Davis' recent remarks, the
Knicks coach said angrily, "I love Tony Davis. He's a good friend. I'm
not going to comment on what he says. That's not my place."
The young players such as Nate Robinson, David Lee, Channing Frye,
Trevor Ariza and Eddy Curry are regressing instead of improving.
That's shocking, considering Brown's rep as basketball's best teacher.
Brown gave them off yesterday - one of the few times this season the
Knicks coach gave his team off after a back-to-back set, which is
standard procedure for virtually all NBA coaches. "I don't want to
beat them up," Brown said.
Brown already has. Brown's Knicks are the first in franchise lore to
lose 16 of 17 games. Two more losses will match the longest losing
streak in team history at 12. They are 23 games below .500 at 14-37,
with a losing percentage of .274.
The Knicks coach addressed the issue of "finger-pointing" in a Monday
meeting in their Dallas hotel. Brown asked the players to "look in the
mirror" first before blaming someone else.
Ariza admits locker-room dissension is high. "In order for us to move
forward, we can't take a step backwards and start pointing fingers at
everyone else," Ariza said. "We all have to take blame for what we're
not doing right. If you miss an assignment, take blame for it."
Quentin Richardson, who got into a shouting match with Stephon Marbury
during a meeting when the Knicks captain accused the team of quitting
vs. the Lakers, said of the finger-pointing, "Myself included, I have
to say what can I do to make myself better, make us more competitive,"
Richardson said. When asked if finger-pointing was a problem,
Richardson said, "What do you think?"
Joe Blow
> February 15, 2006 -- What a mess!
> Ex-Knick Antonio Davis continued to air the Knicks' dirty laundry,
> pointing the finger yesterday at Larry Brown for ruining the
> confidence of the team's young players with his verbal jabs at
> practice and in the media. Davis, who abandoned Team Titanic for
> Toronto in the Jalen Rose trade 10 days ago, said last week the Knicks
> were "a mess", "a circus" and claimed Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown
> "aren't on the same page." Davis' Raptors face the Knicks tonight at
> the Garden in the last game before the merciful All-Star break.
Antonio Davis is full of shit. The younger players are actually
performing decently, given their age. It's the veteran "leadership"
that sucks! This empirical fact is in complete discord with Davis's
bogus observations. I don't see any evidence that Channing Frye is
"regressing." Maybe Lee isn't getting his chance -- that's a fair
criticism -- but it's a stretch to say that he or Nate Robinson are
regressing. Robinson-the-mighty-midget ain't all that good to begin
with. Davis just sounds like an embittered, washed-up veteran who's
grumbling about being dissed by his ex coach.
JB
Capn'O
Joe Blow wrote:
> Antonio Davis is full of shit. The younger players are actually
> performing decently, given their age. It's the veteran "leadership"
> that sucks! This empirical fact is in complete discord with Davis's
> bogus observations. I don't see any evidence that Channing Frye is
> "regressing." Maybe Lee isn't getting his chance -- that's a fair
> criticism -- but it's a stretch to say that he or Nate Robinson are
> regressing. Robinson-the-mighty-midget ain't all that good to begin
> with. Davis just sounds like an embittered, washed-up veteran who's
> grumbling about being dissed by his ex coach.
Brown's response of: "I love Tony Davis. He's a good friend. I'm not
going to comment on what he says. That's not my place." is awesome. In
a torched season, at least I can get some laffs from this guy. Not his
place to talk about this stuff in the media? Ok Larry...
Zoe Chen
wrote:
>Smooth B wrote:
>> February 15, 2006 -- What a mess!
>> Ex-Knick Antonio Davis continued to air the Knicks' dirty laundry,
>> pointing the finger yesterday at Larry Brown for ruining the
>> confidence of the team's young players with his verbal jabs at
>> practice and in the media. Davis, who abandoned Team Titanic for
>> Toronto in the Jalen Rose trade 10 days ago, said last week the Knicks
>> were "a mess", "a circus" and claimed Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown
>> "aren't on the same page." Davis' Raptors face the Knicks tonight at
>> the Garden in the last game before the merciful All-Star break.
>
>
>Antonio Davis is full of shit.
I'm sure you know way more about what's going on inside the Knicks
lockerroom than someone that actually's been there.
> The younger players are actually
>performing decently, given their age.
Hogwash. Crawford is worse than ever. Robinson sucks. Ariza is not
even being use. Frye is being baby for no apparent reason. The
endless 12-13 man rotation where each player gets 20-25 minutes. No
continuity, no identity on offense nor defense, and no one player that
we can put our finger on and say, "you know what, this kid's improving
despite us losing." That's the facts.
> It's the veteran "leadership"
>that sucks!
Leadership rests with the head coach, not veterans. If the team
depends on veterans than why the fuck hire a head coach? Let the
veterans coach.
>This empirical fact is in complete discord with Davis's
>bogus observations. I don't see any evidence that Channing Frye is
>"regressing."
>Maybe Lee isn't getting his chance -- that's a fair
>criticism -- but it's a stretch to say that he or Nate Robinson are
>regressing. Robinson-the-mighty-midget ain't all that good to begin
>with. Davis just sounds like an embittered, washed-up veteran who's
>grumbling about being dissed by his ex coach.
Crawford? Ariza? Frye might be excusable because he's a rook. Yeah,
Robinson sucks. But Larry hasn't shown me much instead he's bashing
the kids as if it's all their fault. Yo Larry, the bucks stop with
you.
>JB
Granville Waiters' Ghost
"Capn'O" <dz...@bard.edu> wrote:
I wasn't going to say anything, but I just think it's weird that Larry
Brown calls him "Tony." I've never heard him called Tony. I wonder if AD
calls him "Uncle Lar" or something.
Joe Blow
even being use. Frye is being baby for no apparent reason. The
endless 12-13 man rotation where each player gets 20-25 minutes. No
continuity, no identity on offense nor defense, and no one player that
we can put our finger on and say, "you know what, this kid's improving
despite us losing." That's the facts."
What, you consider Jamal Crawford as part of the hopeful future and an
integral cog in the
Knicks's "youthful rebuliding phase?" Though he be well spoken, the
guy is a moron on the court. I don't even consider him worth
considering. The "youth" is Curry, Robinson, Lee, Frye, and Ariza.
Before tearing Brown a new a-hole, you'd do well to consider the
possibility that these guys just aren't that good to begin with. Frye
looks okay, not the main player on an NBA championship calibre
team...but okay. You want to stake the future on David Lee, Nate
Robinson, Trevor Ariza, and the mercurial oaf Eddie Curry? All this
clamoring I hear on WFAN (and here) about playing the youngsters seems
to be a good move on the surface, but I'm not convinced that any of
these guys has the potential of a Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, or
Lebron, obviously, or Dwight Howard, or a number of other youngsters
new to the league that have already begun having an impact. The
"youth" that the Knicks are supposed to rely on in the future is WAY
overrated, a hype whose origin is attributable primarily to how BAD the
veterans are. Sure, play the rookies over Maurice Taylor and Malik
Rose...but don't hold your breath waiting for these guys to gel into
the new San Antonio Spurs. It's fashionable suddenly to rip on Larry
Brown, but as their record shows, this New York Knicks team just plain
stinks. Gutless, overpaid, and way too vain given their current
standing.
Antonio Davis? Good riddance. He's one of the many morons who made a
significantly bad contribution to this atrocious season. I wouldn't
believe a word that this bum or his angry biatch wife has to say, about
anything.
JB