KoriEllis
08-22-2004, 03:34 AM
www.nypost.com/sports/27309.htm (http://www.nypost.com/sports/27309.htm)
August 22, 2004 -- ATHENS — It is so easy for Larry Brown's army of apologists to sit on their couches thousands of miles way from Greece and hide their eyes from what everyone else can see so clearly. Through a television screen, Brown may seem like some tortured victim of circumstance, idling through a thankless job.
Up close, this is what it looks like:
A man with a big coach ing reputation who has thus far been supremely overwhelmed by the job at hand, who has set himself up with a litany of excuses as long as his coaching re sume in the event that this all ends badly for the United States.
Once again last night, the U.S. lost an Olympic bas ketball game. Once again, LeBron James played spar ingly, for reasons known only to Larry Brown. Once again, Brown filled his press conference with all manner of excuses, some subtle, some not so much. Which is fine. The ultimate basketball con man has al ready prepared the ulti mate con game for when this is all over.
With a theme as old as the job itself:
I coached great but, man, these guys sure played bad. You know what would be a nice change of pace? For Brown to stop proselytiz ing, stop preaching, and start remembering some of the skills that won him all those basketball games at all those many stops along the way. Great coaches are supposed to help their teams out once in a while, too. Pining for Brent Barry through media mouthpieces is a perfectly useless strategy right now.
Making adjustments would be a whole lot more helpful.
For weeks, there has been so much talk about how unlikeable this U.S. team is, how hard it is to root for it, how it doesn't seem to care. But you know something? Up close, it sure seems to be playing hard. It sure wants to win. Maybe Carmelo Anthony pouts too much, but you know what? No one else does. Not even James, whom Brown has treated like a walk-on in this tournament.
You know who has made this team unlikeable, and borderline unwatchable? The coach has. He hasn't covered himself in glory during these games, nor with grace afterward. Yesterday, while trying to hand Lithuania's magnificent Sarunas Jasikevicius a compliment, he paired that up with an inevitable shot at his own team:
"Jasikevicius is a great player," Brown said, "but I don't think he would make it in the NBA with the kind of screens set there."
Right. In case you forgot, our players aren't well-coached by anyone except those fortunate enough to work under the tutelage of L. Brown. You know something? It really is time for Brown to shut up. It's time for him to remember what it is that will ultimately land him in Springfield as one of the best coaches of his generation.
It's time for Coach Brown to do some coaching.
And save the whining for the media mouthpieces back home. They're the only ones who are buying now.
August 22, 2004 -- ATHENS — It is so easy for Larry Brown's army of apologists to sit on their couches thousands of miles way from Greece and hide their eyes from what everyone else can see so clearly. Through a television screen, Brown may seem like some tortured victim of circumstance, idling through a thankless job.
Up close, this is what it looks like:
A man with a big coach ing reputation who has thus far been supremely overwhelmed by the job at hand, who has set himself up with a litany of excuses as long as his coaching re sume in the event that this all ends badly for the United States.
Once again last night, the U.S. lost an Olympic bas ketball game. Once again, LeBron James played spar ingly, for reasons known only to Larry Brown. Once again, Brown filled his press conference with all manner of excuses, some subtle, some not so much. Which is fine. The ultimate basketball con man has al ready prepared the ulti mate con game for when this is all over.
With a theme as old as the job itself:
I coached great but, man, these guys sure played bad. You know what would be a nice change of pace? For Brown to stop proselytiz ing, stop preaching, and start remembering some of the skills that won him all those basketball games at all those many stops along the way. Great coaches are supposed to help their teams out once in a while, too. Pining for Brent Barry through media mouthpieces is a perfectly useless strategy right now.
Making adjustments would be a whole lot more helpful.
For weeks, there has been so much talk about how unlikeable this U.S. team is, how hard it is to root for it, how it doesn't seem to care. But you know something? Up close, it sure seems to be playing hard. It sure wants to win. Maybe Carmelo Anthony pouts too much, but you know what? No one else does. Not even James, whom Brown has treated like a walk-on in this tournament.
You know who has made this team unlikeable, and borderline unwatchable? The coach has. He hasn't covered himself in glory during these games, nor with grace afterward. Yesterday, while trying to hand Lithuania's magnificent Sarunas Jasikevicius a compliment, he paired that up with an inevitable shot at his own team:
"Jasikevicius is a great player," Brown said, "but I don't think he would make it in the NBA with the kind of screens set there."
Right. In case you forgot, our players aren't well-coached by anyone except those fortunate enough to work under the tutelage of L. Brown. You know something? It really is time for Brown to shut up. It's time for him to remember what it is that will ultimately land him in Springfield as one of the best coaches of his generation.
It's time for Coach Brown to do some coaching.
And save the whining for the media mouthpieces back home. They're the only ones who are buying now.