Herb Brown convinced Larry won’t leave
PUBLISHED:
February 3, 2005 at 8:01 a.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2021 at 11:49 a.m.
AUBURN HILLS – Larry Brown will finish out his five-year contract with the Pistons.
That’s the opinion of someone very close to him. In fact, it comes straight from a family member.
Older brother Herb Brown does not believe his younger brother is ready to give up coaching after this season.
“I really feel he will fulfill his contract here,” said Brown, an Atlanta assistant coach this season under Larry’s former top assistant, Mike Woodson. “I absolutely believe that. If for some reason he can’t do it healthwise, that’s another story. But I fully expect him to continue coaching. Heck, I expect myself to coach another 10 years.”
A long-term stay by Larry Brown would be a radical shift from the recent speculation about his future. Rumors were running rampant last week that he would leave the Pistons after the season to coach the New York Knicks. He finally squashed that when he stated emphatically on Sunday and Monday that the Pistons would be his last coaching job.
Though the brothers talk two or three times a week, that topic never came up.
“I have not discussed that with him,” Herb said. “I know he loves this place and these players and he made a commitment to Mr. Davidson and Joe Dumars to be here. In this business, everyone speculates.”
The two brothers coached together last season but when Woodson got his first head coaching job, Larry thought it would be best if Herb joined him.
“It’s a better situation for me financially and it’s an opportunity to be on the bench, sitting next to (Woodson),” said Herb, who was the Pistons head coach from 1976-78. “Leaving Detroit and this organization was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. If I could have sat on the bench next to (Larry), I would have stayed. But he felt it would be better for me to be with Woody.
“He didn’t want people to criticize him for nepotism. But the people in Atlanta have been very good and very supportive. I’m happy I made that choice.”
Their mother had a much tougher choice Wednesday. She had to decide which team she should root for with her sons on opposite benches. Ann Alpern is 100 years old and still going strong.
“I just spoke to her,” Herb said. “She’s going to watch the game and she asked me how Larry was.”
Malone rumors have no legs
While the Pistons would like to add another big man, don’t put any stock in those Karl Malone rumors.
Malone would prefer to stay out West if he decides to play this season and would be nothing more than an insurance policy here. The Pistons already have a solid frontcourt rotation in Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess. That would leave little playing time for Malone, unless a bigger lineup was used frequently.
Dumars and Malone have spoken recently, but only on friendly terms. Dumars isn’t trying to recruit Malone to Detroit.
Pistons odds and ends
The game last night completed Detroit’s ninth back-to-back set since the start of the New Year. It doesn’t have another back-to-back until next month, when it plays Phoenix and Seattle on the road March 3-4.
The Pistons lost to the lowly Hawks in their first meeting, a habitual offense during the first three months. Detroit has a 15-8 record against teams under .500, just 11Z2 games better than its record against winning clubs (13-10).
Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton, who combined for 51 points in the 105-96 victory over Washington Tuesday, rank fourth among starting backcourts in scoring. They are averaging 36.7 points per game. The Wizards duo of Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes heads the list at 45.4 points per game, followed by the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Chucky Atkins (40.7) and the Knicks’ Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford (39.1).
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