Stephon Marbury should find a way to work things out with Larry Brown. So says a player who knows all about dealing with the demanding coach.
Allen Iverson had some rocky times playing under Brown in Philadelphia but also won an MVP award while leading the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001. So he thinks things eventually can go more smoothly for Marbury than they have this year in New York.
"I know it's tough on Stephon because it's his first year having Coach, and Coach demands so much out of his point guards," Iverson said. "He wants his point guard to play the right way, and Steph is aggressive. He's used to playing a certain style and it might not be the way the coach wants him to play.
"But I just feel like as long as he sticks in there and they work together, then some positive can happen because he's a great coach and Stephon's a great basketball player."
Brown and Marbury feuded in the media last month, and Brown has been unhappy with Marbury's game all the way back to when he coached the U.S. team — which also included Iverson — in the 2004 Olympics. There is often little reason to believe they can ever forge a strong working relationship.
But, then again, Brown and Iverson clashed at times in Philadelphia, and now it is easy to see the respect between them . . .
Ex-Ute Keith Van Horn of the Dallas Mavericks had season-ending surgery last week, so the Mavs are hoping to receive a medical exception from the NBA to sign a 16th player to their roster. That new player may be 14-year veteran forward Shawn Kemp.
"It's becoming more and more gloomy," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about his team's recent injuries. "It was sunny, but now it's partly cloudy and it's going to start raining soon if we don't get that (medical) exception." . . .
In a span of 50 days, Seattle SuperSonics power forward Chris Wilcox has gone from an underachieving example of why players should not leave college early to one of the top free agents on the market this summer, according to the Tacoma News-Tribune. Wilcox will be a restricted free agent, however, so the Sonics will have the ability to match any offer he receives.
Wilcox is averaging 14.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and one assist per game in his 22 games with the Sonics. During the 2003-04 season Kenyon Martin was posting similar numbers — 16.7 points, 9.5 rebounds — for the New Jersey Nets, which prompted the Denver Nuggets to sign him to a long-term contract that could earn Martin $92 million over seven seasons.
Wilcox was a backup to Elton Brand with the Clippers before being traded to the Sonics.
"When I was with the Clippers, my confidence kind of went down because I wasn't playing," Wilcox told the News-Tribune. "But now that I am playing, my confidence level has gone back up. Guys believe in me." . . .
When Jason Kidd recorded his seventh triple-double of the season Thursday night, he took sole possession atop the league this season. And he realizes how impressive it would be to finish ahead of the player he was tied with.
LeBron James has six triple-doubles this season, and Kidd knows the Cleveland superstar will have plenty more in the future.
"I've always said that he has the game to average a triple-double in this league," Kidd said. "I mean he is that explosive and talented. He has the all-around game, and as he gets older he will I think have that opportunity present itself and I hope he does it.' . . .
Sometime after the Sacramento Kings' season ends, there will be a decision on Rick Adelman's future with the team.
Unless it already has been made.
Adelman seemed to hint that could be the case earlier this week, saying he may not need to wait for co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof to tell him if they want him back or not.
"Everybody's asking the Maloofs what they're going to do. Well, maybe I've already decided what I'm going to do," Adelman said. "Nobody is talking about that. I'm not saying I have, but maybe I've already decided."
Adelman has led the Kings to the playoffs in each of his seven seasons in Sacramento, and he is Sacramento's career leader in victories. But even with all of that success, there is no guarantee he will return — or even if he wants to. . . .
They have played without two of their top big men for most of the season and they start the shortest backcourt in the NBA.
So it shouldn't take long to figure out what is one of the Charlotte Bobcats' biggest weaknesses.
"I think the element that we're missing this year, I know we would have won more games, is rebounding," coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "We've been in situations where possession was important, and I know we've got guys that are capable of rebounding."
The Bobcats are in the bottom five in the league in both rebounds and defensive rebounds per game, but some of that is understandable. Emeka Okafor, averaging a team-high 10 boards, played only 26 games, and injuries limited rookie forward Sean May to 23.
The frontcourt isn't getting much help from the starting guards, 5-foot-10 Brevin Knight and 6-1 rookie Raymond Felton.
Still, Bickerstaff has seen progress from his second-year team. The Knight-Felton pairing has performed well, and Gerald Wallace has moved from the small forward to the power forward position because of the injuries and has delivered his best season.
"The positive is that we found out a lot about some other guys," said Bickerstaff, also the general manager. "The fact that Brevin and Raymond playing together, the fact that Gerald down on the blocks. We've also put some guys into some areas where they've been exposed, and we've asked them to do some things that's not innate to them. But we understand that.
"We've got a core. It has to get better, and it gets better by playing."
With a 21-55 record heading into the weekend, the Bobcats already have surpassed the 18 wins from their first season. And Bickerstaff isn't the only one seeing reason for optimism.
"I'm not disappointed with our team this season or the guys we've got on the team," Felton said. "We've got a bunch of warriors. We've got guys who can get it done. We're fighting a couple of injuries. I'm good with this team. We're going to be all right once we get everybody healthy."