boutons_
01-13-2006, 04:53 PM
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/logoprinter.gif (http://www.nytimes.com/)
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/fox/printerfriendly.gifhttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/fox/IMAY_NYTIMES_88X31_2k.jpg (http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&camp=foxsearch2006-emailtools06-nyt5&ad=printer-IMAY88x31&goto=http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/imaginemeandyou/)
January 13, 2006
Basketball
In Marbury, Brown Just May Have Found His Facilitator
By HOWARD BECK (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=HOWARD%20BECK&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=HOWARD%20BECK&inline=nyt-per)
GREENBURGH, N.Y., Dec. 12 - Larry Brown handed Stephon Marbury his highest compliment Thursday. "He's playing," Brown said, "like a point guard."
It was a simple statement, but it carried the rhetorical weight of a Congressional proclamation. Marbury is a point guard by trade, but a shooting guard by habit. Brown, the Knicks' coach (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newyorkknicks/index.html?inline=nyt-org), is a purist who believes point guards exist to pass the ball and to make their teammates better.
For two weeks, Marbury has been a splendid combination of everything - passer, scorer, leader - and his sudden evolution has fueled the Knicks' longest winning streak in two years: five games and counting.
"We have a lot of guys that are playing at a very high level, and it really starts with Stephon," Brown said. "He's been great."
Two weeks ago, Brown was criticizing Marbury for being too passive. Two months ago, Marbury was pleading to play shooting guard rather than to adapt to Brown's rigid point-guard rubric. And Brown was lobbying for a new point guard to make that switch possible.
Over the past six games, starting with a loss at Milwaukee, Marbury has averaged 9.8 assists and 24 points a game. He had a string of four games with at least 10 assists.
Even by Brown's standards, Marbury has been a superb facilitator. He has done it without compromising his best talent: scoring. It appears that Brown, the Hall of Fame coach, and Marbury, the star-crossed playmaker, are forging a meaningful understanding for the first time.
"I'm learning about him," Brown said. "I'd rather raise the bar for my players than lower it. I'm learning what he can do. And I think the sky is the limit for him, because he does want to do what's right."
Said Marbury: "I think Coach understands that I'm not the typical point guard. I'm not the point guard that goes out and plays to get 20 assists. If that happens, it happens."
When Brown arrived last fall and told Marbury to focus on passing - giving up the ball much earlier and much more often - Marbury found it awkward. After a 4-point, 10-assist performance in a loss to the Lakers (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/losangeleslakers/index.html?inline=nyt-org) in November, Marbury groused, "If we lose, of course I'm not going to be happy playing like that."
It seems that Brown and Marbury have found a middle ground. The key, according to scouts, is that Marbury is more aggressively looking to score, then finding open teammates as defenses react to him.
It is not a complicated formula, but it took some time for Brown and Marbury to meld their styles. Brown recently noted that while players had to adjust to his approach, he had to figure out 15 new personalities.
"I respect that, because it's true," said Marbury, who met with Brown a few days after their last disagreement. "For him, he probably couldn't get around to everybody. Which is all right, because I guess things had to get worse before it got better."
How long their accord and the Knicks' success can last is unknown. The relationship has been so scrutinized that Marbury refuses to discuss their past disputes. When asked if he no longer felt the need to switch to shooting guard, Marbury cut off the question, saying, "I have no comment on that." He gave three more "no comments" on the subject.
Brown, who has used Jamal Crawford more extensively at point guard, said he still wanted to use Marbury off the ball occasionally to exploit his scoring abilities. Brown said Marbury appeared "much more relaxed" and "looks like he's having fun."
The results have been eye-opening. The winning streak includes victories against three of the top teams in the league - Phoenix, Cleveland and Dallas - and four of the five victories have come against teams that made the playoffs last spring.
A steady lineup, a tighter rotation and the return of Eddy Curry have helped. But Marbury is making it all work.
"He's playing at a high level, like a point guard," Brown said. "And I'm just really encouraged by what he's done. But again, I think he needs to be in a position to take a lot of shots, because he's such a threat and he's playing so unselfishly that he'll get other people shots as well."
REBOUNDS
Maurice Taylor's brief physical contact with a referee Wednesday did not merit any punishment, N.B.A. officials said Thursday. The incident occurred when the referee Tony Brown stepped between Taylor and Dallas guard Jerry Stackhouse, who were jawing at each other. After the game, the Mavericks' (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/dallasmavericks/index.html?inline=nyt-org) owner, Mark Cuban, angrily asserted that Taylor should have been given a technical foul for pushing Brown. After reviewing the play, league officials concluded otherwise. "There was no improper contact between Maurice Taylor and the game official," said Tim Frank, a league spokesman. ... Larry Brown's next victory will be his 1,000th as an N.B.A. coach. Only three others have won at least as many games: Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Don Nelson (1,190) and Pat Riley (1,120). "One of my coaches came up to me the other night and said how many I had," Brown said. "I started looking in December. You start thinking back, I'd be thrilled if we just won one game."
Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/fox/printerfriendly.gifhttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/fox/IMAY_NYTIMES_88X31_2k.jpg (http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&camp=foxsearch2006-emailtools06-nyt5&ad=printer-IMAY88x31&goto=http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/imaginemeandyou/)
January 13, 2006
Basketball
In Marbury, Brown Just May Have Found His Facilitator
By HOWARD BECK (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=HOWARD%20BECK&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=HOWARD%20BECK&inline=nyt-per)
GREENBURGH, N.Y., Dec. 12 - Larry Brown handed Stephon Marbury his highest compliment Thursday. "He's playing," Brown said, "like a point guard."
It was a simple statement, but it carried the rhetorical weight of a Congressional proclamation. Marbury is a point guard by trade, but a shooting guard by habit. Brown, the Knicks' coach (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newyorkknicks/index.html?inline=nyt-org), is a purist who believes point guards exist to pass the ball and to make their teammates better.
For two weeks, Marbury has been a splendid combination of everything - passer, scorer, leader - and his sudden evolution has fueled the Knicks' longest winning streak in two years: five games and counting.
"We have a lot of guys that are playing at a very high level, and it really starts with Stephon," Brown said. "He's been great."
Two weeks ago, Brown was criticizing Marbury for being too passive. Two months ago, Marbury was pleading to play shooting guard rather than to adapt to Brown's rigid point-guard rubric. And Brown was lobbying for a new point guard to make that switch possible.
Over the past six games, starting with a loss at Milwaukee, Marbury has averaged 9.8 assists and 24 points a game. He had a string of four games with at least 10 assists.
Even by Brown's standards, Marbury has been a superb facilitator. He has done it without compromising his best talent: scoring. It appears that Brown, the Hall of Fame coach, and Marbury, the star-crossed playmaker, are forging a meaningful understanding for the first time.
"I'm learning about him," Brown said. "I'd rather raise the bar for my players than lower it. I'm learning what he can do. And I think the sky is the limit for him, because he does want to do what's right."
Said Marbury: "I think Coach understands that I'm not the typical point guard. I'm not the point guard that goes out and plays to get 20 assists. If that happens, it happens."
When Brown arrived last fall and told Marbury to focus on passing - giving up the ball much earlier and much more often - Marbury found it awkward. After a 4-point, 10-assist performance in a loss to the Lakers (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/losangeleslakers/index.html?inline=nyt-org) in November, Marbury groused, "If we lose, of course I'm not going to be happy playing like that."
It seems that Brown and Marbury have found a middle ground. The key, according to scouts, is that Marbury is more aggressively looking to score, then finding open teammates as defenses react to him.
It is not a complicated formula, but it took some time for Brown and Marbury to meld their styles. Brown recently noted that while players had to adjust to his approach, he had to figure out 15 new personalities.
"I respect that, because it's true," said Marbury, who met with Brown a few days after their last disagreement. "For him, he probably couldn't get around to everybody. Which is all right, because I guess things had to get worse before it got better."
How long their accord and the Knicks' success can last is unknown. The relationship has been so scrutinized that Marbury refuses to discuss their past disputes. When asked if he no longer felt the need to switch to shooting guard, Marbury cut off the question, saying, "I have no comment on that." He gave three more "no comments" on the subject.
Brown, who has used Jamal Crawford more extensively at point guard, said he still wanted to use Marbury off the ball occasionally to exploit his scoring abilities. Brown said Marbury appeared "much more relaxed" and "looks like he's having fun."
The results have been eye-opening. The winning streak includes victories against three of the top teams in the league - Phoenix, Cleveland and Dallas - and four of the five victories have come against teams that made the playoffs last spring.
A steady lineup, a tighter rotation and the return of Eddy Curry have helped. But Marbury is making it all work.
"He's playing at a high level, like a point guard," Brown said. "And I'm just really encouraged by what he's done. But again, I think he needs to be in a position to take a lot of shots, because he's such a threat and he's playing so unselfishly that he'll get other people shots as well."
REBOUNDS
Maurice Taylor's brief physical contact with a referee Wednesday did not merit any punishment, N.B.A. officials said Thursday. The incident occurred when the referee Tony Brown stepped between Taylor and Dallas guard Jerry Stackhouse, who were jawing at each other. After the game, the Mavericks' (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/dallasmavericks/index.html?inline=nyt-org) owner, Mark Cuban, angrily asserted that Taylor should have been given a technical foul for pushing Brown. After reviewing the play, league officials concluded otherwise. "There was no improper contact between Maurice Taylor and the game official," said Tim Frank, a league spokesman. ... Larry Brown's next victory will be his 1,000th as an N.B.A. coach. Only three others have won at least as many games: Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Don Nelson (1,190) and Pat Riley (1,120). "One of my coaches came up to me the other night and said how many I had," Brown said. "I started looking in December. You start thinking back, I'd be thrilled if we just won one game."
Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)