What it means for these two teams

Well, the news of Larry Brown’s departure from Detroit and his long-awaited arrival in New York has finally come true. Unsurprisingly, Flip Saunders, the embattled former coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, has now gotten help from a team that has made it to the NBA Finals the last two seasons; win it all in 2004.

First of all, I already understand that Saunders is not Larry Brown; And that could be good news for the Piston organization and its players. The focus should be on the team and not on whether the coach is flirting with other teams for head coaching and/or front office positions. The spotlight must remain on the floor, where this Pistons squad is proven to be a winner. The core of this team is still very young and the window is still open for more championships.

If Brown stayed in Detroit, GM Joe Dumars would more or less admit this team can’t win without him. And in return, this team would spend next season, and every season after, with the gypsy coach at the helm, with the prospect that Brown would always be curious whenever one of the many NBA jobs opens up for discussion.

Brown went on to say of the Knicks opportunity that it was his “dream job.” Well, looking at the Knicks’ return roster, this dream could turn into a bad one relatively quickly. With Stephon Marbury running the show, the “me” remains permanently ensconced in this team. Good luck, Larry, getting Marbury to accept the “team concept” and playing defense. No coach has yet to meet a guy who still believes the ballgame revolves around him. And before anyone compares Marbury to Brown’s guidance of a young Allen Iverson, he’s not even in the AI ​​league; he will never be.

Isaiah Thomas continues to mismanage the team and its finances, bring in role players and hope they flourish in a city that will tell you exactly what they think of you if you don’t live up to those inflated expectations. Jerome James and Quentin Richardson are not the answers to Isaiah’s frontline prayers. Channing Frye is a good draft pick, but he won’t get the ball unless he rebounds, as long as Marbury and Jamal Crawford are shooting jump shots.

So right off the bat, Flip Saunders inherits by far the top team, with the best core of players. Dumars’ job is to keep the team intact. Despite his lack of playoff success, Saunders has a reputation for being cool under fire after T’Wolves GM Kevin McHale stepped on his neck in recent seasons. He is also a player coach, which will help in this situation, where he has a squad that gets along well on and off the pitch and knows how to do things well. He will also use young bench players like Darko Milivick and Jason Maxiell. Dumars because he is increasingly upset with Brown for holding back the development of young people. Dumars has an ego, and drafting Milivick over Carmelo Anthony has made him look foolish.

Detroit players showed during the playoffs that they can ignore distractions and win tough series’; they remain the favorites to come out of the East despite Miami, Cleveland and New Jersey adding pieces to their puzzles. This team will win 55 games in the regular season and will be hungry to get back to the finals.

With the Knicks’ roster problems, this year is going to be a washout, and they’ll be looking to offload some big-money contracts so they can mold the team in the image of their new coach (defense and working for good shots). To be sure, New York is a playoff team from 2006-2007, but an NBA Lotto participant this upcoming season. Unfortunately for Isaiah Thomas, Coach Brown gets restless after a season or two, so this could become another rebuilding project for the man who will succeed Brown. Isaiah may not be around to make that hire, either.

By John Onan (Ego74)