Time To Fire Brown?

Is it just me or does anyone else think it's time to start to consider firing Larry Brown? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Joe Dumars is the guy who is going to make that decision not me, but I'm growing increasing tired of Brown's antics.

There is his perpetual whining. I realize that's not uncommon for a coach, but Brown's post Palace brawl "the sky is falling" attitude is already becoming the stuff of legend. And spoofs. Then, and far more appallingly, there is the rumored move to the New York Knicks.

When some NYC media types starting thinking out loud about the next head coach of the Knicks, they made a logic connection to Brown. Brown is in a continual state of moving on to the next job, is a New York native and is a fan of Knicks' boss Isiah Thomas (some around Detroit may recognize that name). It's not exactly out-of-the-box thinking to put two and two together and envision Brown in Madison Square Garden full-time.

What irritates me is that Brown simply refuses to take the high road. Not only does he not deny the speculation, but he does nothing but reinforce the idea he's ready for the Knicks' job every time he opens his mouth. Here is another story, courtesy of ESPN.com, where Brown does everything but resign.

Why couldn't he offer the usual "no comment" line? Or how about the equal standard "I'm working with a championship team right now. What more could you ask for?". It doesn't say "I'm staying" or "I'm gone", but it does imply "Can we talk about this later?". In fact, "I won't be ready to discuss my future until season's end" would be a fine response.

I'm not asking the guy to say "I love Detroit. I love coaching this team. I love Joe. I love Mr. Davidson." Although, hearing some combination of that would seem appropriate. However, all we hear is how Brown "never thought he would have to coach effort" and how much he loves Isiah.

Maybe I'm just way off base here. Maybe I'm taking a page out of the Bo Schembechler management book, but if I was Joe Dumars, I'd save Larry Brown the effort of loitering at The Palace of Auburn Hills one hour longer. I'd can him right this second.

I generally oppose calling for the firing of someone, especially someone coming off a championship. That kind of nonsense is, well, nonsense. This is a unique situation, though. Brown's carpet-bagger history combined with his post-fight trauma, his inability to say anything good about his current position, all while drooling over the move to MSG make me think his head and heart are not with the Pistons.

In the end, I would prefer a guy who wants to be the coach of the Pistons to have the job. Is that asking too much? I realize that firing a Hall of Fame coach coming of a NBA championship sounds plain crazy. That's because it is. It's also crazy for the same coach to act burdened by his job at the top of the NBA heap.

Brown is clearly unhappy coaching the Pistons. It's gotten so bad, he can no longer disguise his disdain for the situation. Neither can I. If Brown wants out, Dumars should open the door. Right now.