Carmelo Anthony was in Greece two summers ago with Larry Brown and Stephon Marbury, which is why the Nuggets' forward says he was "shocked" when he first heard that Brown and Marbury would be reunited in New York. Anthony, however, isn't surprised that the two already have clashed.

Anthony had his own run-ins with Brown during the 2004 Olympics and vividly remembers how much Marbury struggled to adjust to Brown's demands.

"That was the same situation over (in Athens)," said Anthony, who scored a game-high 25 points in the Nuggets' 95-86 win yesterday. "Stephon is a scorer. I think Larry Brown knew that about him but Larry Brown wanted him to be the point guard. Stephon likes to shoot, he likes to put the ball in the basket. That's what he's been doing since he was in the eighth grade. You can't take that away from him."

When first asked yesterday about Brown coaching Marbury again, Anthony tilted his head back and started laughing.

"After all that we went through over at the Olympics I was shocked," he said.