Chat with Marc Stein
Welcome to The Show! On Monday, ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein will drop by to talk NBA Playoffs. Send your questions now and join Marc in The Show, Monday at noon ET!
Chesapeake, VA: Why has everyone blamed Larry Brown for the Knicks downward spiral when we should be blaming the GM who constantly trades for either talented and under-achieving players or formerly talented overpriced players? The owner is just as much to blame for allowing these geniuses to make the trades and paying people the money they're paying them. All Larry asked was for players to play defense and pass the ball... I could've sworn that's what basketball was based on. The problems were already there before LB got there.
Scott Dallas Tx: Marc, have you heard anything about Dirk's ankle??
John Louisville: Why am I reading that the Spurs have never come back in a series during he Duncan era? They've won 3 titles in the Duncan era! He's the last player that should be associated with choking.
Dave (San Antonio): I can't be objective so give me your unbiased opinion, did Dallas really deserve the endless parade to the free throw line in the 4th quarter, or were the refs being a little too generous with their calls?
Justin (Miami): Marc, we all know where you have stood in regard to your opinions of the Miami Heat this season. My question is, has your opinion of this team changed after watching them play this weekend? In other words, can they beat Detroit?
Eric (NJ): What are the chances that the NETS pull a SUNS and come back to beat the Heat?
Detroit, MI: Guaran-sheed....Motivator or Tired Act?
Art (Detroit): I have never seen anywhere how players get paid once they finish the regular season and continue into the playoffs. Are the salaries prorated? Do they get anything extra for making the playoffs and if so how is it decided?
kj (kent, oh): i'm sorry, i don't believe you and bucher have eaten anywhere nearly enough crow for your patently boring "common wisdom" prediction of LBJ and co. falling in the first round. not only were you wrong, i haven't read anything, like say a column, about how wrong you were
Marc Stein: Can't speak for Buch, but I'm pretty sure I've noted how wrong I was in every playoff chat since he started shredding the Wiz. Which is the best I can do when I'm covering the West playoffs. Can't pay LBJ a higher compliment than pointing out that he won his first playoff series and that Jordan needed (if memory serves) four trips to the playoffs to finally win one. Since mid-March, he has exceeded even unreasonable expectations.
Rob(Baltimore): Are the Suns are in trouble? I think that Elton Brand has to be the most underrated player in the league.
Jordan (Phoenix, AZ): There are rumors of an injury bothering Steve Nash. You know anything about that?
Marc Stein: It's the same back/hamstring stuff Nash always has. In other words, that's not his problem. Nash's problem is that the Clips are running two long defenders at him every game and basically double-teaming a point guard, which you pretty much never see. Phoenix overcame it in Game 3; now we'll see if the Suns pay for failing to do so in Game 4. You have to give the Clips serious credit for last night's efforts because they used smaller (for them) lineups that seemingly favored Phoenix.
Ed: Ill make my preference known. I prefer the Kings hire Stan Van Gundy instead of Larry Brown. What are the chances of Stan coaching in Sacramento? What is his stance on his precious family time?
Brian (pa): Getting to the essence of the Larry Brown/Knicks saga... Didn't he HAVE to make everyone miserbale? Didn't he HAVE to have them lose a ton of games, it was the only way for things to CHANGE.. what good would coaching this team to 35 wins have done?
Marc Stein: Huh? So you think it was a good idea for Larry to alienate a bunch of players with hard-to-trade contracts? He was supposed to take a 33-win team to 41-41 or thereabouts. In other words, he was supposed to do what Phil Jackson did with the Lakers. Was that unreasonable? Does Phil have more to work with, in the West, than Larry had with the Knicks?
Marc Stein: Thanks for checking in. We'll do it again next week.
Welcome to The Show! On Monday, ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein will drop by to talk NBA Playoffs. Send your questions now and join Marc in The Show, Monday at noon ET!
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Marc Stein: Hello, all. Busy Monday in Big D with a big Game 4 looming and -- surprise -- some Larry Brown controversy. To the questions . . . Chesapeake, VA: Why has everyone blamed Larry Brown for the Knicks downward spiral when we should be blaming the GM who constantly trades for either talented and under-achieving players or formerly talented overpriced players? The owner is just as much to blame for allowing these geniuses to make the trades and paying people the money they're paying them. All Larry asked was for players to play defense and pass the ball... I could've sworn that's what basketball was based on. The problems were already there before LB got there.
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Marc Stein: No one absolves the owner (Dolan) or the GM (Isiah) from blame. They indeed made plenty of mistakes before Larry got there. But Larry did nothing but complain about the team -- publicly and privately -- once he joined them. And he knew what kind of team he was consenting to coach. Larry is supposed to be just like Phil Jackson . . . worth 10 extra wins just because he's Larry Brown. The Knicks won 10 FEWER games with Larry. He made everyone so miserable in the organization that there's no way they can bring him back. Unless there's a way to trade seven or eight of these guys, which everyone knows is impossible. Scott Dallas Tx: Marc, have you heard anything about Dirk's ankle??
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Marc Stein: I've heard that Dirk wasn't kidding when he said it's "up there" on his long list of ankle sprains. But Dirk is also fond of saying that he's rolled his ankle "a hundred thousand times" already. He knows how to play through this injury. He won't be 100 percent, but he's not going anywhere. Especially after having to sit out the rest of the series when these teams last met in the playoffs. John Louisville: Why am I reading that the Spurs have never come back in a series during he Duncan era? They've won 3 titles in the Duncan era! He's the last player that should be associated with choking.
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Marc Stein: Because it's a fact. Who said anything about choking? It's merely a fact that a Duncan/Pop team has never come back from a 2-1 deficit. Seems like a reasonable thing to bring up at 2-1 down. Dave (San Antonio): I can't be objective so give me your unbiased opinion, did Dallas really deserve the endless parade to the free throw line in the 4th quarter, or were the refs being a little too generous with their calls?
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Marc Stein: There were a few questionable calls. But I was sitting right at midcourt and remember thinking the same thing about a few calls San Antonio got. I remember Josh Howard getting called for a foul on what looked like a clean swat of a Manu shot on the play right before Nowitzki drove on Duncan. The Mavs have been the more aggressive team in this series. They're going to the rim with more conviction. Pop would tell you so. The Spurs, incidentally, lost Game 3 as much with their stunningly sluggish first half -- not what I was expecting after three days of rest -- as with what happened in the fourth. Justin (Miami): Marc, we all know where you have stood in regard to your opinions of the Miami Heat this season. My question is, has your opinion of this team changed after watching them play this weekend? In other words, can they beat Detroit?
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Marc Stein: Not ready to say they can topple the Pistons because they beat the Nets in three straight. But definitely impressed with how they've responded to Game 1. At 2-1 up, based on Miami has approached the whole season, no one would have been surprised if they came out flat in Game 4, figuring that the job -- regaining HC advantage -- was done. But they've been a different team ever since the Wade-Payton tiff in Chicago.
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Marc Stein: A lot of folks saw that animated discussion as a sign of real doom. Not me. I think you'll recall that even I, foremost among the nation's many Heat Skeptics, saw that as the first sign of fight from this group all season. They've played with passion ever since, which means they're going to bring confidence into the Detroit series that they didn't have a week. Which means we should be able to count on a good series . . . good news for anyone worried that the later rounds of the playoffs won't live up to these killer early rounds. Eric (NJ): What are the chances that the NETS pull a SUNS and come back to beat the Heat?
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Marc Stein: Not good. Detroit, MI: Guaran-sheed....Motivator or Tired Act?
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Marc Stein: I don't think anything 'Sheed says to the media makes a great deal of difference motivation to his teammates. His guarantees generally aren't the boldest anyway. It would worth dissecting more if he came out said: "We're finishing off the Cavs in five and doing the same to Miami." Art (Detroit): I have never seen anywhere how players get paid once they finish the regular season and continue into the playoffs. Are the salaries prorated? Do they get anything extra for making the playoffs and if so how is it decided?
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Marc Stein: It's all playoff shares in the playoffs. Salaries are paid out by the end of the regular season. Playoff teams get a chunk of money based on how far they go in the playoffs and divvy it up when they're eliminated . . . or crowned champions. kj (kent, oh): i'm sorry, i don't believe you and bucher have eaten anywhere nearly enough crow for your patently boring "common wisdom" prediction of LBJ and co. falling in the first round. not only were you wrong, i haven't read anything, like say a column, about how wrong you were
Marc Stein: Can't speak for Buch, but I'm pretty sure I've noted how wrong I was in every playoff chat since he started shredding the Wiz. Which is the best I can do when I'm covering the West playoffs. Can't pay LBJ a higher compliment than pointing out that he won his first playoff series and that Jordan needed (if memory serves) four trips to the playoffs to finally win one. Since mid-March, he has exceeded even unreasonable expectations.
Rob(Baltimore): Are the Suns are in trouble? I think that Elton Brand has to be the most underrated player in the league.
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Marc Stein: Uh . . . Phoenix has been in trouble since Game 2 of the Laker series. They will be in trouble for the rest of the season. But I still see them squeaking past the Clips in six, even though -- as covered here last week --L.A. has so much more to work with. Jordan (Phoenix, AZ): There are rumors of an injury bothering Steve Nash. You know anything about that?
Marc Stein: It's the same back/hamstring stuff Nash always has. In other words, that's not his problem. Nash's problem is that the Clips are running two long defenders at him every game and basically double-teaming a point guard, which you pretty much never see. Phoenix overcame it in Game 3; now we'll see if the Suns pay for failing to do so in Game 4. You have to give the Clips serious credit for last night's efforts because they used smaller (for them) lineups that seemingly favored Phoenix.
Ed: Ill make my preference known. I prefer the Kings hire Stan Van Gundy instead of Larry Brown. What are the chances of Stan coaching in Sacramento? What is his stance on his precious family time?
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Marc Stein: Couldn't agree more. I hope the Kings, for their sake, don't rush out and throw a ton of money at Larry after the NY debacle. I'm guessing Stan would have some interest -- I believe the Van Gundys have some Northern California roots as well --but I don't know that Miami would let Stan coach elsewhere. He's still under contract with the Heat. Brian (pa): Getting to the essence of the Larry Brown/Knicks saga... Didn't he HAVE to make everyone miserbale? Didn't he HAVE to have them lose a ton of games, it was the only way for things to CHANGE.. what good would coaching this team to 35 wins have done?
Marc Stein: Huh? So you think it was a good idea for Larry to alienate a bunch of players with hard-to-trade contracts? He was supposed to take a 33-win team to 41-41 or thereabouts. In other words, he was supposed to do what Phil Jackson did with the Lakers. Was that unreasonable? Does Phil have more to work with, in the West, than Larry had with the Knicks?
Marc Stein: Thanks for checking in. We'll do it again next week.
