Here's a difference between Cheeks and LB

[rickortreat]

But Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks told Williams early on that he should compete for a spot in the rotation, not just be happy with wearing an NBA uniform.

"Why should he settle?" Cheeks said. "Why should he just come out and say, 'Well, I'm not going to be one of the guys and I won't be able to play'? I think that does him a disservice. If it comes to the point where he can step out there and play, why wouldn't I put him out there on the floor? He has to compete day in and day out and compete like he has a chance to be out there."

Brown would never say that, and never give a rookie a chance.  This is one aspect of coaching where Cheeks is better than Brown.  If the player is the best one you have, you play him.  Pretty logical, wouldn't you say?

 

[Guest_Randy]

Hmm, I thought the difference was that Brown has PROVEN he is a very good coach and Cheeks hasn't!

Oh, the whole "changing into a Sixer's uniform and becoming a star" doesn't just apply to players but coaches too?

[westkoast]

But Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks told Williams early on that he should compete for a spot in the rotation, not just be happy with wearing an NBA uniform.

"Why should he settle?" Cheeks said. "Why should he just come out and say, 'Well, I'm not going to be one of the guys and I won't be able to play'? I think that does him a disservice. If it comes to the point where he can step out there and play, why wouldn't I put him out there on the floor? He has to compete day in and day out and compete like he has a chance to be out there."

Brown would never say that, and never give a rookie a chance.  This is one aspect of coaching where Cheeks is better than Brown.  If the player is the best one you have, you play him.  Pretty logical, wouldn't you say?

I think its kind of the old school way of coaching Rick.  Alot of the coaches from the 80s/90s dont like to play the rookies.  Unless of course their hand is forced.  The NBA is a different time now where rookies come in and are expected to push a team to the playoffs (See Melo, Lebron).  Back when guys like Brown were comming up in coaching the  rookies were like interns with uniforms!!  I dont think Brown was/is horrible at helping new talent I just believe he has a different mentality when it comes to the new kids on the block.  We can only sit back and assume because we really dont know how he is helping these kids out in practice and on the sidelines.  He may like to handle developing new talent in a different way.  We dont really know for sure.

As a Sixer fan you should be happy at seeing something like this.  There are a number of players on this team that need some developement.  I really do love his comment myself...sounds like Williams had lost his spot on this team in his head before the season even started!!

[rickortreat]

Hmm, I thought the difference was that Brown has PROVEN he is a very good coach and Cheeks hasn't!

Oh, the whole "changing into a Sixer's uniform and becoming a star" doesn't just apply to players but coaches too?

I didn't say Cheeks was a good coach, or a better one than Brown.  That has not been established yet at all.

What I did say was that Cheeks has a better philosophy about dealing with young players from a logical perspective.

Brown is old school and some of those traditions are just plain stupid.  I think keeping a young player on the bench, just because he's young is a mistake.

I don't know how good Darko Milicic is, or whether he could have helped the Pistons last year, but that's because Brown didn't play him.

I know that he retarded the growth of several young players in Philly by not playing them, or even trying to get them into games at garbage time.  Larry Hughes got lost because Brown insisted on playing him at the point.  That was really STUPID.  AI can clearly play the point, and Hughes is better suited to being a 2 than a 1.  I'd really like to see Larry defend that decision today!

The most important thing for a coach to do is support his players.  Give them a chance to show what they can do, and not be too harsh if they come up short.  But sitting them on the bench is just childish and short-sighted.  This is especially true of teams that don't have adequate talent to compete anyway.  

[Guest_Randy]

Rick,

You CAN'T argue with success -- and Brown is DEFINATELY the most successful coach in the league when it comes to number of teams that he has taken deep in the year.  Clips, Sixers, Detroit, etc.  

You can say ALL you want about how you don't like Brown (personally, I don't like him either -- he ought to be taken out and shot for what he did during last year with the Pistons, IMO -- the problem is that so should the entire management team and ownership) but you CAN'T say he isn't a good coach.  I doubt that there's a coach out there alive that I would agree with 100% -- it doesn't keep them from being a great coach.

Sure, Cheeks hasn't proven himself yet -- but he had an opportunity to do so and failed.  Now he has another opportunity -- it will be interesting!  Can he connect better with AI, Webber and co. than he did with the Jailblazers?

[rickortreat]

Randy how does your mind jump around like that?

Where did I say Brown was a bad coach.  He's clearly a great coach, but as you may note, he's not perfect, and does have some identifiable flaws.  His carpetbagger approach is also something I could take issue with.

Did Cheeks really fail with Portland?  He did get two 50-game seasons out of those guys.  Not too bad a record.  Not a complete success, but only one coach a year gets that, and it's easy to argue that the teams he had weren't quite as good as the other contenders.  This year, he has a chance to improve on a team that still isn't good enough.

It all depends on Webber, and if he can really play the way he used to.  If he can play at all-star status, the Sixers should be able to contend.  With Webber and AI and Andre, Sam, Lee Nailon and the others, they should win the Atlantic.  But to expect them to beat Indiana or Miami is probably unrealistic.  That would require Webber to play like an all star, and Sam Dalembert to put in 15 and 10, AI to put in his usual performance, Nailon to provide 10 and 10 and Andre 15, 5 and 5.  That would be great for Philly fans, but more like a dream than a possible reality.

And yes, I agree with you about the Pistons managment.  I thought it was very lame of them to have Rick Carlisle work so hard with that team and then get shoved out the door.  Still, Larry came in and got them the ring with Rasheed Wallace.  I'd say that Carlisle could have gotten them the ring too, with Rasheed on the team.

 

[Guest_Randy]

Randy how does your mind jump around like that?

Where did I say Brown was a bad coach.  He's clearly a great coach, but as you may note, he's not perfect, and does have some identifiable flaws.  His carpetbagger approach is also something I could take issue with.

Did Cheeks really fail with Portland?  He did get two 50-game seasons out of those guys.  Not too bad a record.  Not a complete success, but only one coach a year gets that, and it's easy to argue that the teams he had weren't quite as good as the other contenders.  This year, he has a chance to improve on a team that still isn't good enough.

It all depends on Webber, and if he can really play the way he used to.  If he can play at all-star status, the Sixers should be able to contend.  With Webber and AI and Andre, Sam, Lee Nailon and the others, they should win the Atlantic.  But to expect them to beat Indiana or Miami is probably unrealistic.  That would require Webber to play like an all star, and Sam Dalembert to put in 15 and 10, AI to put in his usual performance, Nailon to provide 10 and 10 and Andre 15, 5 and 5.  That would be great for Philly fans, but more like a dream than a possible reality.

And yes, I agree with you about the Pistons managment.  I thought it was very lame of them to have Rick Carlisle work so hard with that team and then get shoved out the door.  Still, Larry came in and got them the ring with Rasheed Wallace.  I'd say that Carlisle could have gotten them the ring too, with Rasheed on the team.

My mind jumps around a lot -- how does it do it?  Who knows.

My struggle with your posts is that you seem to put Brown and Cheeks together -- and Brown IS one of the best coaches in the NBA.  Cheeks hasn't proven anything yet!  

As for the Sixers winning the Atlantic -- the Atlantic is the worst in basketball -- however, I'm not sure that I see the Sixers as that much better than the Nets (if the Nets are healthy) and you can't count out the Knicks with Brown coaching them.  The Knicks have some talent -- they just can't seem to put the talent together (okay, does anyone else wonder how Brown and Marbury are going to exist together?).

As for Portland -- they had a 27-55 record last year.  Would you call that a success?  He also had a .500 record -- I'd hardly call that successful, would you?  He only had one decent year and that was with a squad with quite a bit of talent -- something you say shouldn't be too hard (to coach talent).  

I like Cheeks but I haven't been real impressed as a coach.  I don't really think he is even average in the X's and O's department and the one area that I thought he would excel at (reaching players, getting players to realize their potential and getting players to play together), he didn't fare all that well.  Granted, Portland was definately the extreme in these areas but I think Cheeks has a lot to prove in Philly.   It should be interesting to see how he manages to soothe AI and Webber at the same time.

[rickortreat]

The one thing they have in common is that Cheeks was an assistant under Brown before he left for Portland, and was on the Sixers list when Brown left for Detroit.

Brown has assistants all over the NBA, proteges who learned under him and have gone on to become decent head coaches themselves, tracing a lineage back to Dean Smith.

I don't equate the two at all, and can only hope that Cheeks turns out to be a decent coach himself.  I didn't see much of Portland while he was there, only heard the stories about the players and the drugs.  To hear Cheeks tell it, they were a decent bunch of guys, and was fine with them, but I think you'd have to spend a lot of time with Cheeks to get him to say something bad about anybody.

That weasel Charley Rosen just wrote an article on the Atlantic, calling it a division of patsies.  He rates the Celtics first, Nets second and Sixers third, with NY and Toronto bringing up the rear.

Celtics lost Antoine so that knocks them down a peg, and the Nets have an injury issue with Kidd.  Rosen ripped the Sixers, and basically said that AI and Webber wouldn't get along, Dalembert can't play, yadda, yadda. But he's a hack sportswriter wannabe, who seems to enjoy criticizing players.  

It IS a weak division, and out of all of them, I think the Sixers have the best talent.  Unlike the others here, I don't place much stock in soothing the ego's of the players.  Webber has something to proove and AI wants a ring.  AI finally has a team with sufficient talent that they should be able to do something.  I have said it takes 2-3 stars to get somewhere, and if Webber is one and Iverson is another, between Iggy and Nailon we should have enough to take the division.  No great shakes, but beggers can't be choosers.

The x's and o's, I don't know about either. But I have to belive Cheeks will be better than O'brien who played a college defense that can't work in the NBA.  

Cheeks was here when Brown implimented that defense that got the Sixers to the finals, so I'm pretty sure he knows it, and can sell the team on it.  This team can score alot better than that one. If they can play defense half as well they should be a decent team.  

Brown will get more out of the Knicks if anyone can, but I don't think there's enough talent there.  And, it usually takes him a year or two to get things the way he wants them.

So just to reiterate Cheeks, AI and Webber all have a vested interest in working together to become a good team.  Dalembert wants to prove that he's worth the money, Nailon wants to find a home, Iggy is going to be a star, Korver should be better...  Let's put it this way:  best team the Sixers have had since Brown bailed on the team.  

[Derek Bodner]

okay, does anyone else wonder how Brown and Marbury are going to exist together?

Or, better yet, QRich?  Or even better yet, Crawford?  Or, even better yet, Curry?

What does Larry Brown hate the most from his guards?  Quick 3 pt'ers with time left on the shotclock.  If I had to pick the 3 worst players in the league at this it would be:
1) Antoine Walker
2) Jamal Crawford
3) Quentin Richardson

What does Larry require from his big man?  Rebounding and team defense.  who's the worst starting C in the league with regards to rebounding?  Eddy Curry.

And that's exactly why the knicks won't succeed this year.  It will take Larry a year to get his players before he starts winning.  This year will most likely be like the Sixers his first year when he took over.

[Guest_Randy]

You are forgetting that the Knicks also signed Jerome James -- he and Curry should really push each other -- unfortunately, it's probably pushing each other in the Krispee Kreme line.

[Lurker]

Larry Brown's favorite players this year:

1. Allan Houston - he is already kissin' up.
2. Malik Rose - he already knows the system
3. Who ever he covets by the trade deadline.
 

[westkoast]

3. Who ever he covets by the trade deadline.

 :rofl:  

[Derek Bodner]

It's true too.

I see him eventually demoting Crawford and QRich to the bench, starting Houston and Ariza and starting AD over Curry.  2 of those 3 demoted "ny superstars" will then be traded for aging role players.

[Guest_Randy]

I really thought his first trade was to get rid of NY's GM!