Posted on Sat, Apr. 26, 2008

IN MY OPINION

What can Brown do for you? Win

TOM SORENSEN

Little went right for the Charlotte Bobcats before the recent public relations debacle and nothing has gone right for them since. Owner Bob Johnson's remarks to this newspaper, in which he blamed Charlotte's business community for his failure to sell suites and tickets, alienated a city that has never been crazy about him.

But Johnson just got lucky. He was just offered the opportunity to prove that, darn it, he really does care. The opportunity's name is Larry Brown.

Brown, who is one of the great coaches of all time, resigned Thursday as executive vice president of the Philadelphia 76ers.

This makes him a free agent. Brown played at North Carolina, has many ties to our city and might accept less money to coach here. He'd have to.

A source told me that Michael Jordan decided last week to fire Sam Vincent. Vincent might grow up to be a successful NBA coach but he wasn't last season. A young team and an inexperienced coach turned out to be an unfortunate combination.

He lost his players as early as Nov. 24 in a home game against Boston. Late mistakes undermined a superb effort and Charlotte, which had spent the evening demonstrating that it could play with anybody, lost by a point.

As the season progressed, the Bobcats didn't play as hard for Vincent as they had for Bernie Bickerstaff, who preceded him. Bickerstaff is the most underrated coach this city has ever had.

The Bobcats will play hard for Brown. He is a basketball icon and, unlike some basketball icons, fans will see him every time they attend a home game.

Brown is flawed, of course. He doesn't establish relationships with the teams he coaches. He dates them.

But he's 67. Nobody expects him to stay here long anyway. And even if he eats dinner two hours before tip-off, he will be hungry when the game begins.

Brown's last gig was a legacy-tainting disaster. He coached the New York Knicks for one season, 2005-06. He had no chance to succeed; his employers included Isiah Thomas and James Dolan. But he had to know that before he took the job.

Brown went 23-59. The Knicks were the eighth NBA team he coached and he left the previous seven with a winning record. He won with the Los Angeles Clippers. That's like Steve Spurrier winning football games at Duke.

Brown is a superb teacher. He is not a great communicator. If a player fails to grasp his team-first vision Brown will scream at him on the court and rip him in the newspaper. The players might not like it. But they'll get it.

The Bobcats finally have to get it. Charlotte cares less about them now than it ever has. I wrote last week that Johnson needs to sell the team. I heard from at least 100 readers and only one defended the owner.

But you know what? Despite my criticism, I am an NBA fan. I would love to have a reason to get excited.

Brown is a reason. So hire Larry. Bring professional basketball back to Charlotte.

IN MY OPINION Tom Sorensen