Feb
26, 2001
NBA
BASKETBALL - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Larry
Brown's First Stand By
TOM SNOW SMG
SPORTS SNOWWTSNOW@HOME.COM
The
long arms and engaging smile of Dikembe Mutombo are headed north to join
the frail body, huge heart, and sour countenance of Allen Iverson for a
run at the NBA title. The improbable Sixers, owners of the best record
in the NBA, swapped emerging but injured star Theo Ratliff and overrated
Toni Kukoc to the Hawks for Mutombo, the NBA’s leading rebounder this season,
and Roshown McCloud.
The
Sixers, all spirit, spit, and venom, now have a large and calming presence
in the middle to match up with the humble hills in the Eastern Conference
and the tallest peaks in the West. Suddenly, the Rocky-esque season
of the upstart 76ers seems almost legitimate as true center Mutombo creates
a wall of support behind a tenacious perimeter defense.
But
the really interesting thing about this trade is the dynamic that will
unfold along the sidelines should Philadelphia reach an Atlantic Division
Championship game with Miami, then defeat Milwaukee to win the Eastern
Conference, before moving on to face the Lakers in the NBA Championship
Series. This scenario would pit Larry Brown, Head Coach of the Sixers
against Pat Riley’s Miami Heat, George Karl of Milwaukee, and finally Phil
Jackson’s Los Angeles Lakers.
There
has long been a whispered suspicion around the NBA that Larry Brown, a
coach with no NBA titles, is actually the best coach in the NBA.
Pat Riley and his glamour, charisma, and four NBA titles, and Phil Jackson
with his karma, deft personal touch and six NBA titles, can each make a
strong objective case for being the best coach of our generation on the
strength of their championship credentials. After all, as we all
know, the best always find a way to win the “big one”.
But
somewhere lost in the din of the Pat versus Phil coronation, a lonely,
ragged band of coaching purists have suspected that the true heir to the
throne, he of the noblest coaching blood, toiled away in relative obscurity.
This man simply moved from city to city, from team to team, teaching the
game of basketball. A Coach’s coach.
Larry
Brown’s signature has always been to come into a troubled situation, fix
it, turn it around, transform a losing program into a winning program,
and then move on. With the exception of his NCAA Championship at
Kansas, his nomadic journey to the next job always cut short the building
project short of a title.
But
he never left under pressure and he always left programs stronger than
when he arrived. His inability to stay the course and wring dynastic
results from a winning program may say something about his personality,
but it implied nothing about his basic ability to teach and coach basketball
at any level, anywhere.
So
how, in the face of the multiple titles and untainted success by coaches
Jackson and Riley, can Larry Brown merit consideration as the best coach
in the NBA? Admittedly, the body of evidence, as represented by wins,
and especially titles, undermines this assertion. But is it really
that simple?
It
is generally accepted that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player
ever. But consider why; Jordan won titles-as did Scottie Pippen.
And it is safe to say that had Michael not had Scottie as a teammate on
the Chicago Bulls, his trophy collection may have been somewhat less robust.
But nobody-I mean nobody-argues that Michael, not Scottie, was the best
ever. Simply put, Michael Jordan demonstrated to tangible perfection
on the court, that he had the skill, the will, and the discipline to bring
about victory. And the greater the stakes, the tougher the situation,
the better he was. When “whatever it takes to win” was the required
element for victory, Jordan delivered “whatever.”
Unfortunately,
in measuring coaches, the process is less exact. Coaches facilitate,
they cajole, they design, and they manage, but the work that results in
points for and against and, ultimately, in wins or losses for a team, are
separated from the actions of the coach by the action of the players.
Of course all the teaching and cajoling and managing are critically important,
and thus we know generally who among NBA coaches belong in the upper echelon
of their profession. But any logical construct that attempts to tie
game results directly and without qualification to coaching ability, night
after night, is inherently flawed. You simply cannot remove Michael Jordan,
Magic Johnson, and other truly special players from the equation.
To do so would be like breaking the chain of custody for critical forensic
evidence in a capital crime; the crucial piece of evidence needed to support
a conviction is at least tainted, and quite possibly corrupted.
So
Larry Brown, finally piloting a ship arguably as richly talented as any
in the NBA, may get a chance to face Pat Riley and Phil Jackson with a
championship at stake. Each coach will stroll the sidelines, berating
players and officials, managing the game clock and foul situations and
substitutions, and designing plays and player combinations to create favorable
matchups. But for the length of each of these potential series the
objective elements of past success - banners, rings, Coach of the Year
honors - will be presently diminished. And Larry Brown, his roaming
days finally over, will bring his team and their undisguised urban attitude
in to face the pedigreed and pretentious Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.
The
question we all want to know is: as good as Phil Jackson and Pat Riley
are, exactly how good are they? What is Phil minus Michael and Scottie
or Shaq and Kobe, and what is Pat minus Magic and Kareem and Worthy, and
where, exactly, does Coach Larry Brown belong in the list of best coaches?
The final month of the 2000-2001 NBA season may finally shed some light
on these questions.
More
likely, however, this season will merely add to the growing legend of these
two great coaches while, perhaps, finally codifying with championship clarity
Larry Brown’s place among them. And the great sport of ranking players
and coaches and cheerleaders and mascots can continue on into next season
and beyond. Maybe we’ll even begin to argue about how good Larry
Brown would be without Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo.
- - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[InsideHoops Home | Message
Board | NBA News | NBA Teams]
Find this basketball info useful? Share it with your hoops fan friends! Quick links:
