Coaching the Knicks apparently makes Larry Brown feel young.

After leading the veteran Detroit Pistons to the NBA Championship in 2004 and a trip to the finals last year, the 64 year-old Brown is taking a step back in age and heading up the youthful New York Knicks.

“I’ve coached young guys before,” the Knicks’ coach said in a conference call last week. “You see young players playing on teams that are trying to improve or trying to get to the next level. I’m looking forward to this with this team, because we could be as young as any team in the league.”

Brown will be teaching his brand of basketball to a Knick roster with three rookies [Channing Frye, David Lee and Nate Robinson] still fighting for jobs and two players [Trevor Ariza and Jackie Butler] with one year of professional experience under their belts.

It’s something Brown is excited about.

“Right now, if I had to put a starting five on the court, you might find five young kids out there, based on the way they’ve played in practice and the way they’ve played in exhibition games up to this point,” Brown said. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

The coach feels the 5’9” point guard Robinson has been impressive and could be someone who could help New York in the immediate future.

“He’s been a lot of fun. He’s been well coached. He’s an unbelievable competitor,” Brown said. “I don’t think he’s a point guard right now, and that’s going to take some time but he can defend, he can shoot the ball better than I expected. He’s got some unbelievable athleticism and he’s been a joy to coach.”

Some young veterans, like Eddie Curry, who was acquired by Isiah Thomas just before training camp, will also help the Knicks. Curry, who will turn 23 in the beginning of December, had some concerns over a heart condition, but Brown and the Knicks feel he will be a huge contributor to the franchise this year.

“Getting Curry is going to be a big thing for our franchise,” Brown said. “I don’t know how quickly we’ll see him contributing like he can, but he definitely has a huge upside and he wants to learn.”

Besides the young players, Brown will still have to lean on the veterans of the team. Getting Stephon Marbury in his corner will be the key because the sometimes-moody guard will have to lead Brown’s team on the court.

“Stephon can score,” Brown said. “He’ll do that by accident. He can defend. I think he’d tell you that I just want him to be perfect every night and every practice.”

Maybe not perfection, but Marbury will need to build on being a team leader, which he showed last year. Brown will also need Jamal Crawford and Malik Rose to make larger contributions if the Knicks expect to make the playoffs.

Right now, the coach just feels young teaching his team.

“It’s fun, because with this team it’s kind of like coaching a college team,” he said.

But the trick will be having Brown turn the youthful fun into wins.