Damning Coaches

God I Hate Larry Brown... And So Does the Rest of His Team.

It's almost sacriledge to start off a blog entry here talking about the Knicks, but since they have Eddy Curry and I love Eddy Curry, it seems I've been watching a lot of Knick games lately. Which hasn't been the best of times. For some reason Larry Brown can't seem to settle on a lineup. It's amazing. Lately, he's been sending out a starting forward set of Malik Rose and Antonio Davis. This lineup would be alright except for 2 things: it's not 1999, and Malik Rose cannot play small forward. Why does Larry insist on doing this? I wish I could answer that question. In the last 2 games, his greatest low post scorer, Mr. Manlove himself, has played less than 30 minutes combined. This is the same player that Larry professed he would love to play 30 minutes on opening night. Just so everyone knows, Eddy scored 12 pts in 17 minutes on Sunday, imagine what would have happened if he got 35. Also astonishing, is the quick decent of Trevor Ariza into Larry's doghouse. Ariza is considered the best wing defender by everyone, yet, Larry decided to play him a grand total of 1 second in the second half on Friday. E-freakin-Gads!!!

So Larry, this is what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to tell you your rotation and how many minutes each player should get. Stick with it, you'll do much better than you have been.

Starters:
C - Eddy Curry (35 minutes)
PF - Channing Frye (30 minutes)
SF - Trevor Ariza (30 minutes)
SG - Quentin Richardson (35 minutes)
PG - Stephon Marbury (40 minutes)

Bench:
Nate Robinson (15 minutes)
Jamal Crawford (25 minutes)
David Lee (15 minutes)
Antonio Davis (10 minutes)
Malik Rose (10 minutes)

Note - I didn't add those minutes up to see if they reached the total for a game, but they're approximate and I hope that Larry could do some math.

Somebody Claim The Hawks!!!

Well, seems that it took less than 10 games for Atlanta to decide that they wasted a lot of money on a shooting guard masquerading as a point. Shame they woefully overpaid. Even worse, this decision now forces Tyron Lue into the starting lineup. Shame that he is masquerading as a basketball player. So, once again, I am providing the fix.

Start Salim Stoudamire. Let him bring the ball up, then hand off to Johnson in the half court to initiate the offense. The issue with Johnson at the point was his ability to get to that point, it wasn't the actual initiation, it was getting there. Stoudamire would have no problem with this. And he's 10 times the basketball player that Tyron Lue is. Stoudamire would be able to keep opposing defenses honest by forcing the other team's smallest player to defend him (instead of Johnson) as well as with his dead-eye 3 point shooting.

And 1 more thing. Josh Smith should be starting over Josh Childress. Childress can be the guy who scores 12-15 off the bench. Smith should be starting for his defense and athleticism. Is anyone going to argue that Stoudamire/Smith isn't better than Lue/Childress?

My Kingdom For a Big Man

All offseason I said my main gripe with the Sixers was their backcourt depth. They added frontcourt player after frontcourt player and I screamed that they needed a guard. Well, it seems like I was wrong. Of course, it doesn't look like the Sixers added the front court player they needed.

With Samuel Dalembert sitting in street clothes, the Sixers have been eaten alive by driving guards. TJ Ford in the opener, Mike James (MIKE FREAKIN' JAMES!!!!) against Toronto, Lebron and Larry Hughes against Cleveland.

The only other Sixer who is listed as a center is Stephen Hunter. Hunter started off the year well, picking up double doubles and blocking some shots. Recently his playing time has been in steep decline. Which leaves the likes of Chris Webber patrolling the middle. And that isn't exactly a deterent, nor does it give the team a wealth of rebounders on the court. The Sixers need Dalembert back if only to provide both of those. His health is of paramount importance. With him healthy, the Sixers aren't forced to rely on Chris Webber in the middle and won't get eaten alive by anyone who wants a dunk.

And more importantly, they won't lose when they score 120 pts.

In Lieu of Manlove

Still too early in the season to give Manlove away, so I'll just give these 2 awards out first.

The "I Can't Believe I Convinced Them I Could Still Play Basketball" Award

Gary Payton - Seriously Gary, it's getting sad to watch you play. Please, no more after this year. You're an absolute shell of your former self. You can't get into the lane, you can't shoot from the outside, and boy are you making bad decisions. Who would have thought that you would make your team wish for a healthy Jason Williams and his steady playmaking.

The "I Can't Believe You Can Still Play Basketball" Award

Dikembe Mutombo - At this rate, Deke will still be coming off the bench and pulling down rebounds and blocking shots well into his sixties, if he isn't there already. I'm amazed everytime I see him on the court.