NBA Conference Finals dimmed by a Brown out

Even though the Detroit Pistons won last night to even their Eastern Conference Finals series with the Miami Heat at 2-2, the man standing in a $1,500 suit coaching them has become a bigger distraction than anybody wearing red on the court. Larry Brown somehow decided that now, in the middle of the playoffs, is the right time to meet with the Cleveland Cavaliers about their vacant General Manager position.

Sure, Brown can't leave until the Pistons are eliminated (more likely) or win the NBA Title (less likely since Brown met with the Cavs). But the fact that the Pistons are run by a disloyal coach is classless on Brown's part.

I'm not saying that Detroit should fire Brown, because the one scenario worse than Brown meeting with the Cavs now is having Gar Heard coach the team. But I am saying that maybe NBA commissioner David Stern should look into a breach of contract on the part of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Brown. Or at a bare minimum, make it so other teams can't approach active coaches about jobs until their season is over.

Brown's lucky that the Pistons players are some of the headiest, classiest and most devoted players in the league, because half of the NBA would have quit on Brown by now. That he would even get on that plane to Ohio should send a message that Brown, no matter how good a coach he is, is not loyal and not faithful to his employer.

It's not even that he's trying to leave two years into a five-year deal, or that he came to Detroit halfway through a contract in Philadelphia, but that he's entertaining jobs while his current club is fighting for their playoff lives. That's disgusting on Brown's part.

Never mind the fact that Brown's going to probably fail as the Cavaliers GM. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has owned that club for three months, but he already managed to fire a winning coach (Paul Silas), a solid GM (John Paxson), and torpedo a season that saw a playoff-bound club in February lose nine of ten and miss the playoffs by a tiebreaker.

And I'm not even mentioning the fact that Gilbert hired one of the best coaches in the NBA, and directed him not to coach. Brown has never been a GM alone; when he was team president in Philly, he also drew up the X's and O's on the sideline. He's famously fickle, not just with his own job, but with players, lacking almost any semblance of patience, the key ingredient for a levelheaded NBA front-office man.

Sure, Larry Brown's presence might allow the Cavs to keep LeBron James. But with all these moves that Gilbert has made to seemingly appease LeBron, he's essentially given a 22-year-old control of the franchise, and made him feel more important than he actually is.

We'll know how Larry Brown the GM will look in about a week's time, because the Heat are going to win the Eastern Finals. If they don't win Game Six, they'll knock out Detroit back on South Beach in Game Seven.

The Heat took advantage of the distraction by stunning the Pistons at Auburn Hills in game three. As they head back to Miami for tomorrow's Game Five, I expect Shaq, who is getting progressively closer to full strength, to dominate at home. Game Six in Detroit is a toss-up, but there's all the reason in the world to expect that Miami, with home court advantage, will win two of these next three games.

With Shaq down low and Wade playing outrageously well, especially at home, the Eastern finals are Miami's to lose, not Detroit's to win. Larry Brown's wandering eyes have caused the Pistons to surrender that luxury.

Out west, the Phoenix Suns have a chance, with a win tonight, to put some pressure on the San Antonio Spurs in their Western Conference Finals. Even though Phoenix is down 3-1, and no team in NBA history has ever rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to win, the Suns can shift all the pressure back onto San Antonio if they win tonight.

And with the game in Phoenix and a healthy Joe Johnson, I think they will.

First, let me say that Amare Stoudemire's block of Tim Duncan's dunk was easily the play of the postseason. Not only was it a block, but also it was off a dunk attempt. Add the fact that the play saved Phoenix's season and was on the best forward in the NBA, and you have an incredible play by an incredibly talented young athlete.

On the next play, Stoudemire dove out of bounds to get an offensive rebound that sealed the Suns win. Just amazing.

Now I don't think that Phoenix will win this series. But if they do in fact pull out a win at home tonight, then they have a shot. Fact is, had Joe Johnson been healthy for the first two games in Phoenix, they probably win one of those games and this series is all even.

In a series that is even game-to-game, home court and Johnson are the difference-makers for me. I think Phoenix wins tonight, and then loses at San Antonio to close down a wonderful season for them, as the NBA cringes at the thought of yet another low-rated Spurs team in the Finals.

And if the Suns do lose one of the next three games, at least they have a loyal coach in Mike D'Antoni. Imagine if someone without a history like Brown — say, his counterpart on the Miami bench, Stan Van Gundy — compromised his team's season so he could take a GM job in Memphis. He'd be fired before he could even get the chance to bail on his signed contract.

Larry Brown might not incur any wrath from flirting with Cleveland, but it's a sad way for him to end his short run in Detroit. World Championship or not.