NEW YORK — Let's connect the polka dots.

No sooner does Larry Brown resign his vacuous vice president's job — or whatever the title was — with the 76ers, than the 32-50 Bobcats fire coach Sam Vincent.

Hey, I'm no Agatha Christie — I'm not even Julie Christie — but I'm not mystified in the least.

Clearly, Michael Jordan has orchestrated Next Town's return to Carolina. Either that or the ABA Cougars are coming out of hibernation.

Charlotte was the city where Brown began his Hall of Fame coaching career and it appears it'll provide the climax.

Face it, deep down Next Town Brown has a lot of groupie in him when it comes to Air Freshener. I dare say he would probably work for nothing (a "slight" poetic licensed exaggeration) to hang around Jordan on a regular basis.

I visualize Dean Smith as Brown's behind-the-bench consultant for home games, a la Tex Winter holding down Jackson.

If my conclusion-jumping is off target, the Grizzlies' presidency and coaching jobs are there for the scoop should Brown want them.

Again, he was never in Bulls GM John Paxson's interviewing equation which has expanded beyond Rick Carlisle.

In fact, sources say Paxson is scheduled to meet with Mark Jackson in Los Angeles some time this week, though the original point god made it clear, all negotiating details being near equal, his goal is to coach the Knicks.

A report that Jackson met last week with Donnie Walsh in Phoenix is true.

It is categorically untrue that Jeff Van Gundy turned down an opportunity to be interviewed for the vacant position since he was never asked and was never a consideration except in the mind of a Knicks beat writer.

It's equally untrue Walsh reached out (supposedly too late) to Scott Skiles.

When agent Keith Glass called repeatedly to get an interview for his client to no avail, he focused attention on real suitors for Skiles' services, the Bucks, who signed him for four years, and the Grizzlies who very much still have a president (Chris Wallace) and a coach (Marc Iavaroni) and precious few replacement options.

According to an inflexible memo sent out by Billy Hunter the Players Association plans to crack down on agents (like Glass) who represent players and coaches; the union forbids doing both, but has overlooked the conflict of interest for 20 years or more.

Those days are over, warned Hunter. An agent who represents players and coaches said he plans to make a choice in the coming weeks rather than face a stiff fine.

A Philly friend swears Walsh, as a favor to Brown, met with John Calipari shortly before he signed an extension with Memphis.

Evidently their (unconfirmed) meeting offered no hope of him returning to the NBA in New York.

Not that we should feel bad for Calipari. Someone close to him disclosed his rather rewarding Memphis contract includes a $10 million annuity payable should he stay 10 years.

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LA GAZZETTA dello Sport claims Mike D'Antoni could wind up in Toronto with former Suns exec Bryan Colangelo should Phoenix make him the designated scapegoat for its playoff failures and if Sam Mitchell is fired by the Raptors.

Both men have two years left at $4 million per year on their deals. This isn't a major concern or complication. Once alleged imperfections start to leak out in the local media, time is about to expire.

D'Antoni's purported defects include a failure to make adjustments from game to game, much less while in the heat of battle, but that's where we'll start.

For instance, going into the Suns' Game 4 blowout victory, Shaquille O'Neal had not done anything behind the pick to challenge Tony Parker and the Suns hadn't trapped him coming off the screens.

Said a member of the Spurs, "We keep waiting to adjust to something but . . . "

When I visited Phoenix for Shaq's first game, I heard several stories about management's dissatisfaction with D'Antoni's attention to detail and his failure to set rules, boundaries and limitations.

Suns insiders compared D'Antoni to Paul Westphal in terms of not being a disciplinarian (specifically regarding Amare Stoudemire), recalling how he allowed pet Charles Barkley to do as he pleased.

Last week D'Antoni's easygoing style was being underlined by team sources to the local media as a detriment.

And that was before the Suns lost convincingly at home in Game 3 in large part due to Parker's 41 points and 12 assists.

Why did D'Antoni start Steve Nash on Parker rather than hide his defensive shortcomings on Bruce Bowen?

By the time he switched the assignment to Boris Diaw and then Grant Hill, Parker already had made 6-for-7 from the floor and handed out four assists.

My standard stance that this problem wouldn't exist had Shawn Marion not been traded for Shaq was ridiculed by someone connected to San Antonio.

"Your Matrix argument is mute," the source said. 'We won eight of 11 games when Marion was complaining about his $18 million salary, nightly double-doubles and 40 minutes a night playing alongside Nash.

"The Shaq move was still a good move. I just think they needed a first-round series against someone else. That confidence would have been good for them given their lack of time together.

"They're missing a perimeter threat to give Steve more room to operate. That's the key. We used to be very concerned with their three-point shooting, but we can offer more interior help without a pure shooter there."

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UPON DEPORTING Isiah Thomas, Walsh covertly mentioned D'Antoni and Mike Dunleavy as possible candidates should the Suns and Clippers set them free.

Dunleavy has three years and $17 million remaining on his arrangement. Considering he and owner Donald Sterling have patched up their relationship and Elton Brand is on record as wanting to re-up, I don't see him going anywhere.

Peter Vecsey covers the NBA for the New York Post.