Well, now that ?Larrygate? has just about reached its long overdue denouement, I?m left asking myself and you, the reader, one simple question:  

 How did we allow ourselves to be played like complete dupes throughout this whole comical ordeal?

 For weeks, we were all taken for a Larry Brown magic carpet ride as the 64-year-old Hall of Famer allegedly ?pondered? his future in the Motor City.  We anxiously waited for a resolution, when really, we should have known better because Brown?s Motown exodus was carved out long before he met with Pistons brass on July 13.

 Sure, Brown stressed on numerous occasions that he wanted to coach the Pistons and only the Pistons.    Detroit, according to Brown, was undoubtedly going to be the last coaching stop in what has been a legendary career.  Pistons brass, meanwhile, let it be known that Brown had all the time in the world to get healthy before deciding his coaching fate.  

 But all along, we knew (or at least we should have known) that the Brown-Pistons marriage was doomed to end in divorce at some point, and sooner rather than later.   Just as it did in Philadelphia, and Indiana, etc.

 And wasn?t it just so convenient that a couple of days after Brown was fired/bought out, the Pistons had a news conference scheduled to announce none other than Flip Saunders as the team?s next head coach while Brown and Knicks president Isiah Thomas were in heated contract negotiations in the Hamptons?  

 Things that make you go ?Hm.?

 Well, again, we should have known better.  In fact, shame on us for thinking that Brown?s meeting with the Pistons covered anything other than a contract buyout.  There was just no conceivable way that the Pistons would welcome Brown back as coach after all of the drama the franchise endured last season.  Wins or no wins, there just comes a point where Brown?s flirtations with other NBA suitors begins to rub employers the wrong way, and it obviously did so in the case of Detroit owner Bill Davidson.

 Now as far as who winds up ?winning? in the end, Brown or the Pistons?  Well, you would have to like the Pistons coming out on top, even though Brown was the proverbial missing piece in the franchise?s title run two seasons ago.
 
 Saunders is no Brown, but he?s a more-than-capable replacement who, for arguably the first time in his career, has the horses to lead him to the Promised Land.  There may be no KG on the Pistons? roster, but there is certainly more depth as well as better team chemistry in Detroit ? two setbacks which led to Saunders? dismissal from the T-Wolves last season.  

 Brown, meanwhile, is known for his Midas touch, but he?ll have his work cut out for him should he accept Isiah?s lucrative offer (and again, we think it?s a forgone conclusion that Brown is in the Big Apple next season).  

 Forget that New York was a dismal 33-49 last season, good for last in the Atlantic Division (tied with the Toronto Raptors) and 11th in the Eastern Conference; bad teams can have quick turnarounds, especially with the right coach at the helm.  But you wonder if even Brown can come in and perform his magic with this current Knicks squad.
 
 Thomas, despite constantly retooling the Knicks? roster in the two-plus years he has been on board, still has no room to work with under the salary cap, so Brown pretty much will adopt a roster that is filled with either youngsters trying to carve their niche in the league (last time we checked, Brown was never a believer in developing youth at the expense of winning now) or over-rated, underachieving players with burdensome contracts.

 If Brown indeed pursues his dream, will he learn to be patient with the ever-developing Trevor Ariza, who at only 20 years old figures to be a fixture in the Knicks lineup for the next several seasons?   Or Channing Frye, New York?s first-round draft pick this year and a player who is still very much a project?  Or Mike Sweetney?  Will Brown be able to harness Jamal Crawford and teach him to become more aggressive offensively and less of a 3-point chucker?  

 And then, of course, all eyes will be on how Brown handles point guard Stephon Marbury.  

 It is imperative for the two to co-exist on the court, in much the same way Brown and Allen Iverson did so in Philadelphia for six seasons (though they had their fair share of off-the-court issues), for New York to have any chance of challenging for a playoff birth in the East. There hasn?t been a coach thus far who?s been able to harness Marbury?s talent. Brown will have to be the first to do so if the Knicks are to compete next season.

 And to prevent Brown's dream job from turning into a nightmare.

 Kostas.Bolos@realgm.com