The coaching of Larry Brown made both fans and team executives alike puzzled during the 2005-2006 season.

"He got real wacky," one of the executives said of Brown. According to the executive, an agent for one Knicks player told him the player "thought Larry was doing things on purpose to sabotage the team sometimes. Some of the stuff he was doing didn't make any sense."

"Larry did not buy into Isiah's philosophy," the first NBA executive said. "He tried to crush Isiah early on, saying, 'This is a terrible team, the players are no good.'

"Then Isiah turned around, and who knows what he said to Dolan behind closed doors. No owner likes to see his players ripped in the media. The value of a franchise is the asset of your players, and Larry killed them."

The second executive said the way Brown used rookie forwards Channing Frye and David Lee was "strange."

Although Brown always has favored veteran performers, the second executive said, "When they were winning, the young kids had a lot to do with it."