The New York Knicks Search Party

When Larry Brown was coaching this team and they were losing game after game the criticism was that "the game had passed him by".

Now, with Isiah, walking the same walk down lonely road, he is accused of "losing the team."

We should all be so lucky. By NBA rules you can't lose a team without taking back something of equal cost (more or less). That simple fact and the dross talent pool that Isiah started with is why I cannot condemn Isiah as so many others do.

In art there are many different ways to affect a medium. You can add or subtract material (usually the case). But thirdly, you can transform the existing stuff. Isiah's job as GM is the additive/subtractive process - a GM cannot transform players - that's the coach's job.

The Knicks coach cannot transform what he has without some help from his GM. many of the Knick players are dormant stars awaiting players who complement and supplement their own strengths. These players don't have to be superstars, they just need to do the little things that spark creative play.

By not making moves, the Knicks remain stagnant. Even seemingly lateral moves can help.

With no further ado, today's rumination on resurrecting the Knicks.

Chandler Wilson and Fred Jones for Pietrus and Hudson.

Knicks get a viable SF candidate. The Knicks buyout the injured Hudson's contract saving SF some cash. Knicks open up a roster spot.

GS gets a decent prospect in Chandler Wilson.

GS needs a PG candidate and gets the expiring Jones in return.

Added bonus (Knicks); Pietrus tells Freddie Weis back-in-the-jour jokes and ignites a Jerry Lewis appreciation revival in NY.

Added bonus; (GS) inexpensive, talented replacement parts that don't break the bank!

Don't Bother Sticking a Fork in Them

Put the fork on EBay, it will provide more entertainment than the Knicks.

It is hard to believe that nothing is happening in terms of personnel changes. say what you will about this not being a good time to trade, it is hard to imagine a better time.

Today's suggested trade;

Rose and Crawford for Stojakovic and Armstrong. New Orleans primarily gets contract flexibility.

Knicks take on Peja's contract obligations and get a young shot blocker in Armstrong.

Bulls Beat Knicks

Loss #21. Lineup change #5867. The season is becoming an incomprehensible journey into mediocrity.

I often think about just ending this blog except for the morbid inertia of fascination in recording the demise of the Knicks. Not since CBS owned the Yankees has a NY franchise been dragged through the dirt like this.

Dante's Inferno will be supplemented by a sequel after this Knicks season.

Chemistry Lab Experiment #2865

Alright, so I'm a hopeless tinkerer.

How about a Seattle trade? Szczerbiak and Ridnour to NY for Rose, Richardson, and Jones. Jones provides immediate financial relief. Rose and Richardson provide veteran leadership and good citizenship in a young locker room. Seattle loses Wally and Luke's albatross contract.

Knicks get a home boy SF who may help gel the offense and Ridnour tries to salvage a career in NY. Knicks open up a spot on roster.

Neither team loses key personnel. Seattle saves some long and short term cash.

Does Ridnour, Crawford, Szczerbiak, Lee, Randolph get it done better?

Fix the Problem

On another forum, thebizneverloses suggests these knick alternatives:

Scenario 1 - Playoffs or Bust
1. Trade Curry and Lee for a big man that complements (and maybe even compliments) Z-Bo. Let's say JO. Or, trade youthful assets for Ron Artest, and live with the Curry/ZBo fiasco
Short-term impact - team wins enough to just miss the playoffs and gets 10th pick overall. It will be too late to make a move, even in the East.
Long-term impact - probably same thing for the next couple seasons, presuming JO stays. Maybe with Artest and a follow-up deal that sends Curry somewhere for someone that can play next to JO, Isiah can dream about the playoffs next year, which won't happen with Marbury around anyway.
Likelihood - slim. Can't see Isiah making that mistake this late in the season, and I can't see Lee being shipped out

Scenario 2 - Rebuild by default
2. Ride this out, hope to get a top-3 pick
Short-term impact - Major infighting. Curry will lash out. Marbury might. Crawford and Z-Bo will play like they did last night - selfishly shooting all night in a losing cause, but getting away with it for lack of other options. 25-35 win season.
Long-term impact - If it's a top 3 pick, the team at least gets a new signature player. Ideally a point. If the Knicks pick in the middle of the lottery, there's Jared Blayless or Chase Budinger to look at in the backcourt, which will probably lack the same cachet, but will still help.
Likelihood - high. The path of least resistance at this point seems to lead here, especially with Isiah and Dolan's high threshold for turmoil.

Scenario 3 - Full rebuild
3. Trade as many assets as possible for more picks (i.e. trade Z-Bo or Curry and Nate to Sacto for their bad contracts and their draft pick. Or target Chicago with a similar deal)
Short-term impact - I honestly can't see the Knicks winning any less games this way. Probably headed for the same 25-35 wins
Long-term impact - Another losing season or two following this one, but at least a few chances to land a blue-chip prospect or two to show for it
Likelihood - low

Scenario 4 - "Rebuild on the fly" Redux
4. Panic trade of our pick this summer along with the necessary contracts and youths for a presumptive savior. Maybe Tracy McGrady, maybe Jason Kidd or (shudder) Vince Carter.
Short-term impact - tough to say, but likely outside chance of the playoffs next year, but still unlikely unless Marbury is replaced and the Curry/ZBo pairing is broken up
Long-term impact - contend for the playoffs for a year or two, then team slides into the late-Layden era morass of aging veterans and few long-term assets
Likelihood -medium

May I suggest a fifth alternative and that is;

Just Fix the Problem

I'm not assuming the draft will give us a pick we want or that that pick will actually pan out. And I don't care if we make the playoffs or not. I just want a balanced team to develop here without wishing for magic solutions.

We aren't going to sign a superstar free-agent anytime soon so we'll have to develop somebody we have or can acquire. I'm okay with that.

So what's the problem? It's not , Zach AND Curry. It is Curry! Ship this guy out! I believe Jerome James will play more effectively than Curry ever will. Why?

Because running the offense through Curry is a waste of time. Curry's stats will look good but we won't win. And asking Curry to play 'D' is like asking James Dolan to think - ain't happenin'.

Job #1; Move Curry. Job#2; Acquire Andre Miller.

Curry Must Go

For the twentieth time this year, please hoops-god, get Curry the hell out of town. For some reason Isiah thinks he "will need him". Bad idea.

Lose this guy. Yes, it will be a massive loss - not of Curry - but what Curry cost us initially.

Are there takers? Sure. Dealing from weakness is never fun but both Miami and Memphis need change as much as New York does. And poisoned as the Knicks are by former Chicago players, Chicago too needs change.

Curry would be a perfect fit in Memphis. Memphis is losing money so fast and is so over-extended that any relief would be welcome there. Memphis has multiple bad contracts who might fit in NY. Curry and Rose for Gasol comes to mind giving Memphis a better liquidity of assets. Is Gasol worth it? Probably not, he's a soft center but on the flip side, so is Curry. Maybe the team chemistry change will help both players.

What about Miami where empty seats blind cameras game after excruciating game? Maybe Marbury would like to close out his career in a warm, sunny place?

And Chicago? Ben Wallace can't do worse here than he's done there. He kinda looks like a Knick from the nineties. That's a clse enough fit for me.

My point is. a.) Get rid of Curry and b.) Get rid of everybody else too.

Quite frankly, I'm ill from this mix.

Magic Beat Knicks

Loss #20. The season is over.

Andre Miller Rumors

The most promising rumors on the fringes of the internet involve the Knicks and 76ers discussing an Andre Miller exchange.

Knicks fans who are encouraging a wholesale meltdown of the Knicks for a scratch ticket for the coming NBA draft are having a fit. They are deathly afraid Miller will make the Knicks just good enough to miss the lottery.

There's another contingent who believe that a mythical meltdown of the team in search of cap space. The idea being that Lebron James or some available superstar-quality player will decide to sign with the Knicks. Proponents of such fantasies play right into the hands of superstar agents who routinely sucker the Knicks and Knicks fans into the imaginary bidding war that benfits only the client.

In years when the Knicks did contend for the likes of Grant Hill, Juwann Howard, and others we wound up with Allan Houston who never delivered anything like a ring to the Garden and the others who we pursued likewise delivered nothing to the teams who eventually signed them.

The building of a championship NBA team is no trivial matter and there are no silver bullets. And while unused cap space can occasionally grease the gears of a trade, there is nothing particularly sensible about the world's most valuable NBA franchise behaving like a team from Hicksville.

All of which brings us back to a Knicks/76ers trade. Generally speaking, teams in the same division don't usually trade with one another because they're in contention. Yet neither of these teams is playing so well as to preclude each other this year. And, in fact, if both teams use a working premise that any trade needs to improve the other, both may transcend expectations this year.

Philly fans openly welcome the trade of Miller (usually with Evans) to the Knicks hoping for at least Randolph in exchange.

I have long advocated the trading of Crawford and Balkman straight up for Miller and a Philly pick.

I'm coming to define myself as a win now fan. quite frankly I'm sick of losing and sick of rebuilding schemes - fast, slow, cap-wise or draft-wise. And I don't want foot-soldiers fired - Dolan's the guy who isn't going away no matter who coaches, GMs, or whatever.

I believe Miller can help here in subtle and important ways. He's not a savior but a missing cog.

And I believe the Knicks can help Philly.

As usual, there's a contender for Andre Miller's services, Cleveland. Cleveland was an over-achieving team last year thanks to good-luck and a Lebron James inertia. They resemble a Scott Layden Knicks team with a lone superstar.

Armed with awful contracts and players of no use to anyone, they will try to entice Philly as well. Let's hope they fail.

Lakers beat the Knicks

Loss #19. Oh, well.

Bobcats Beat Knicks

Loss #18. To say this was disappointing would be to understate the issue. This certainly is another game that belonged in the win column.

Once the holidays pass, there simply have to be some team adjustments. The Knicks must shop and acquire a point guard who will stabilize and provide consistency to what goes on on the court.

The acid and malicious NY media continue to gnaw at Isiah, the Knicks, and every comment, criticism, and quip is transformed into a perverse antithesis of the actual event.

The garden is slowly being turned into a torture chamber for the players and coaches who are all trying to turn this season around. This is not to say that fair criticism isn't necessary or welcome but for months the desire of the media to bring down Dolan, Isiah, Marbury and anyone else who wanders into their site is a New York Sportswriters bloodsport.

It is hard to imagine who would ever want to take on replacement status should it come.

What is being done to the Knicks in the NY media is wholly unethical reporting practice - no question. From planting stories in the other team's locker room to incite animus before a contest (Indiana) to intentionally bearing false witness to conversational exchanges, heads should be rolling in the news ranks as well as with the Knicks.

On Isiah Thomas

I have been mad about the Larry Brown firing forever but I am not in favor of all of the nasty anti-Isiah stuff going on with some fans, some NY sportswriters, and many national talk celebrities who have no skin in the game.

I happen to think Isiah is the real deal. I believe he's innocent in the Anucha Brown case and I think he's done an admirable job as GM and coach.

Many criticize his stoic demeanor on the bench during games. But to my way of thinking the coach needs to make noise during practice. Games are about execution, not yelling or theatrics.

If Isiah is flawed as a coach, I happen to think he is too attached to his players - it flaws his substitutions and sense of real-time situations. If a player is stinking it up, he may stick with that player far too long. He seems to be correcting that flaw as we speak.

He is also accused of assembling this team. He did and he did as good a job as could be expected. No GM wins them all. Isiah has transformed a talentless roster into a talented roster. But it is clearly a work in progress that has been interrupted by Dolan who tied Isiah's hands last summer during the Larry Brown fiasco. He's managing as best he can regardless of what the haters claim.

He's asked for a two week moratorium on the hate rhetoric and the cynics have attributed all kinds of evil motives to his request.

I think the request is an act of decency. It is Christmas season. Changes may be coming but rather than disrupt the holidays, he's asked for some calm.

The haters will rant and rave over all of this but there is no basketball messiah in the draft and rebuilding from scratch makes no sense. Now is the time, Isiah is the Coach, and we have to see them through to winning basketball.

Knicks Beat Cavs

Win #8. A blowout and the most stress-relieving game in years. The Cavs came in hoping to embarrass the Knicks further and Isiah opened a can of WHOOP_ASS in the garden tonight.

Can it become any clearer that Curry is expendable?

Pacers Beat Knicks

Loss #17. Just shoot me. This is excruciating.

The last professional sport I find watchable is making me ill. I started this blog thinking this would be a good year for the Knicks. Two dozen games into the season I am psychically getting ill.

I love the Knicks - not these Knicks - but the idea of a Knicks team that can play. My God, who are these guys?

I try, very hard, to be positive - to find some light or reason to believe that this is an anomaly.

Everything Dolan touches turns to garbage. GODFREY DANIELS! Who put the water in my glass?

Boycott This!

I'm not boycotting anything. It's a silly idea.

The New York media is more interested in their seasonal pound of flesh than helping clarify the issues that need to be resolved for the Knicks to succeed.

1.) Yes. D'oh-lan is as clueless as they come. He wants his employees to kiss his ass and that eliminates Van Gundy, Larry Brown, and the gutsiest of basketball minds from the soup. It sucks. But it also sucks when the media inflames tensions between D'oh-lan and someone who is trying to operate within the constraints of Jimmytown.

2.) Isiah isn't the problem. See Issue #1.

3.) Marbury isn't solely a problem. He can be an asset. He's had too many years of experts tinkering with his game. He's not the point guard we need - there's no question of this. BUT, BUT... he can close out his career as an Earl Monroe-type 2 guard.

Garnett was right. Marbury has changed. He has subsumed his game for others over and over. Isiah should just let this guy go nuts for two years as an unpredictable, aggressive scorer from the two. No more experimentation. Marbury is too old and too good to keep wishing somebody else's game on.

Cut this guy some slack. Let him enjoy the game again and I think we'll see some fire.

3.) We're playing to win now. Get over the boycott bullshit and the lottery wet dreams. Now is the time. Job 1 is to make the playoffs. Job 2 is to have righted the team enough to be competitive there.

4. (to be competitive)) Get Philly on the phone and get Andre Miller in here at any cost.

Philly has a nice young PG in Lou Williams. Andre is expendable and I'm not talking about dumping trash on Philly. Make a deal that works for them. Crawford and Balkman for Andre. This is fair trade. Crawford can immediately team with Iguodala and Balkman spells relief for both.

Andre should not be allowed to get away one more time, this would just go down as a basketball sin.

5.) (to be competitive) Assuming we right the PG situation, the Artest situation should also be resolved asap.

I don't happen to believe the trade rumors about Artest. He is playing well in Sacto and I doubt he will be moved. But, again, if there is any veracity to the idea that he is being moved then New York needs to make a serious offer soon.

MRose, Chandler and our #1 sounds fair to me. Chandler is a very nice, young talent, Rose an inexpensive, short contract, and our #1 sure to burn us three years from now. But we have to do what's necessary to win.

6.) Get serious about winning it all. Okay, if somebody wasn't in shape at the beginning of the season now's the time. The goal remains the playoffs, the goal remains winning it all. There is no rebuild, no lottery savior, no f'n bailout scheme. This team is getting paid to win.

Period.

Nets Bookends; Knicks Beat Nets

Win #7. A relief and a big game from Eddie Curry. Our last win? The Nets.

I'm praying they've turned a corner

Stop with the Social Working Already

Today NY newspapers are reporting on the New York Knicks welfare state.

It appears Curry is psyched out by Randolph's presence and now, NOW!, Isiah realized Curry plays defense like George Bush reads so we're adjusting to a zone defense...

What are these guys... three years old. You know what.., if you get to the NBA you damned well better know how to adjust and want to win.

Larry Brown said it best, "You can't teach motivation." No you can't SIT CURRY'S ASS AT THE END OF THE BENCH TILL HE'S TRADED.

NO Zones. NO cutesy... "Let me introduce you to Mr. Randolph" nonsense. This is devolving into a river of bullshit.

Here's my solution...

Curry and MRose for Jason Kidd... straight up... Change Jerseys at half-time. Good for both teams. Nobody has to exchange real estate.

With the extra roster spot, the Knicks sign Stephane Lasme... an under-sized but hungry and tenacious rebounder.

I could live with Kidd, Marbury, Chandler, Randolph and Lee bringing the ball up.

Chicago Bulls Beat Knicks

Loss #16. Brutal. Jeffries slowly showing some life. A Chandler sighting.

McGrady?

McGrady is on the block and IMO this would be a nice acquisition assuming we give up what we want to give up and not youth.

McGrady is on the downside of his career and is no longer in the superstar category. Nor will he help our defense. but what he is good for is moving some of our bottlenecks out. And Houston could get some nice, playoff push talent back. A win-win trade.

Here's my Christmas wish trade.

Crawford, Rose, James, and Jeffries for McGrady, James and Snyder. We gain a roster spot, McGrady at the two or three. James gives us another PG candidate (maybe more 'D') , Snyder gets one more chance to show something or be cut outright.

Crawford and Rose go to a contender, Jeffries and James can a chance play on a winner. They are no worse than Snyder and James.

Just thinking aloud.

Ruminations on the Knicks

The same themes come back to haunt these Knicks.

The biggest obstacle we face is whether or not Dolan is restricting trades. If he is it is cruel and all too usual for the fans.

Second, if we can trade then Isiah's opinions need to be shelved. HE IS WAY TOO CLOSE TO THE PROBLEM PLAYERS! I'm sick of repeating this point.

Curry and Crawford need to go because they are movable and are not fulfilling their obligations here.

If Curry isn't moved he cannot play with Randolph. Keep them separate with Curry getting the shorter minutes. Better yet, put him on the inactive squad and have Rose work him into shape.

We cannot afford the lottery scenario. If we get a shitty pick we are screwed for another ten years. We have to build from what we have. It's doable and must be the solution.

Dec 15 is two days away. how to build the team out?

Some thoughts:

Crawford for Nesterovic


Curry to Washington for Etan Thomas and a first-rounder.


OR

Curry and Crawford for Brand,Knight, and a pick

Just move them.

Sonics -Gasp- Beat Knicks

Loss #15

I MISS LARRY BROWN!

New York Sportwriters Hire a Masseur

Yep. They are trying to get this guy to give Dolan a facial:


Dude Knocked Out By Slap - Watch more free videos

Shake-up at MSG?

Now that John McCain's political career is in the toilet he is being given serious consideration as the new Knicks V-P in charge of Public Relations.



McCain's experience in blowing smoke up people's asses makes such a hire a distinct possibility.

Somebody has to ask

Are the Knicks just another bunch of aliens messing with our sports franchise? Don't aliens get sick of these kinds of practical jokes?



The Knicks are planning to give away a "Shaq's Greatest hits" cd at every game they get blown out by at least fifty points. See details here.

Mavs Beat Knicks

No contest, Loss #14. Knicks fans are numb.

Does It Matter?

Lots of fans are up in arms because Dolan keeps giving Isiah votes of confidence, some very recently.

The bottom line is that no matter who pulls the strings the NBA's trade restrictions make any change cosmetic at best.

Fans should note that Larry Brown was fired for the very same record and discord that the current team demonstrates TWO YEARS LATER! IMO, the sacking of Larry Brown is one of sports all time low events. If Isiah had petitioned Dolan that he could do better then we now see he can't. And that's just information, not a slam.

Two Words: John Riek

Next year, Riek has three options: he can try and qualify for college, turn pro (he wouldn't be subjected to the age-limit rule because he'll be 19 when the season starts) or he could return to Winchendon for another postgrad year.

76ers Beat Knicks - Twice

Loss #12 and 13. Embarrassing and inexcusable. This should have been an easy win. This trajectory of losing and inconsistent play is wringing out all of the wiggle room in our schedule to make the playoffs.

The time for change is now or this team is doomed this year not for the lottery but for a mid-level pick of no consequence and a team of Misfit Toys.

Curry is a tradable commodity and expendable.

Knicks Beat Nets

Win #6. Without Marbury or Curry!

Punking the Knicks

Two recent articles have blown the cover off the media treatment of the Knicks.

The first is an innocent enough flash bio of a Knicks fan who tore off his Knicks jersey in Boston during the Celtics blowout.

The key thoughts;

Barnes drove up to Boston on Wednesday night with his nephew Larry Betro to celebrate Betro's 24th birthday. The pair had $300 seats - four rows behind the basket and not far from Craig Sager, a TNT sideline reporter.

With the Knicks trailing big in the first quarter, Barnes made a bet with Sager that if his team went down by 50 points he would give up his coveted jersey.

Word of the bet spread through the crowd with lightning speed. By the time the fourth quarter came around and the Knicks were losing by 40, the fans were in a frenzy.

"Throw it! Throw it!" they yelled.

And when Boston's lead reached 50 points with three minutes left in the game, Barnes did just that. The game stopped. The fans erupted.

"The whole crowd was behind it," he said. "I had to protect my honor."

The event was not spontaneous as TNT led the television audience to believe - but contrived - the by-product of Sager, the crowd and a frustrated fan given an opportunity for national exposure.

The second is a New York Observer article called Life in Knicks Hell that documents the festering media relationship with the Knicks organization.

Of note is Isola's quote,

After the Nov. 24 win against the Bulls, Mr. Isola sat in the stands with me at the Garden while the Knicks basketball court was in the process of being converted into a hockey rink.

“It’s really sad now,” he said. “There are very few nights where you can feel a buzz in the arena. The thrill is gone.”

He spoke about a colleague, Johnny Ludden, who recently stopped reporting on the Spurs. “He was covering the Spurs for nine years and when he left, ha-ha, they threw him a going-away party,” Mr. Isola said. “I leave the Garden sometimes and think, ‘Should I look under my car before I turn the ignition?’”

“You can get stale on the beat,” he continued. “I shouldn’t be doing it anymore after 12 years. If everything was status quo and if everything was great, I probably would be the wrong guy to have on it. But now I’m the right guy to have on it because they’re trying to screw me over, and by trying to screw me over, it kind of lights a fire in you a little bit. It makes you more motivated to find stuff out and expose what’s going on here.”

I told him it sounded as if he was sticking around out of spite.

“Absolutely,” he said.

“They thought it would be the opposite—they thought they’d beat me down and run me off. I thank them for it.”

Isola is no longer objective about his role. He's honest about it and that's fine. There are more writers sick of the organization with good and bad reason. But Isola should move on to some other beat for his own mental health.

And at the end of the day, the media's professional requirement is to remain objective. That's profoundly questionable and often absent in Knicks reporting.

The NBA needs to regulate media access to ensure there is no Knicks hell and the media is obligated to assign people who report the news and aren't instead advocating the demonization of players or the organization.

I will state what is being unsaid elsewhere. Was Don Maybury's heart attack a by-product of the manufactured animus toward Marbury and the Knicks that the NY media has honed to a fine art?

Respect can only be earned in a workplace that is not at war with the media. Stern needs to hold a peace summit and the large media outlets need to look in the mirror and ask themselves WTF they're doing.

Suns Beat Knicks

Loss #11. Not unexpected but I was hoping for a surprise.

Disgraceful

When I was a kid, America watched three network channels and the choices for kids often sucked. And so, on any given variety show an aging, circa vaudeville comedian would do a bit.

The bit was usually a sequence of unfunny (to me) one-liners. Take my wife, somebody! PLEASE!

I'm having such flashbacks because an Ann Coulter appearance is being televised on C-Span and her entire unfunny shtick is a series of (read from a page) one-liners.

Take a liberal! Somebody, PLEASE...

To say she's pathetic is to insult people who are pathetic.

It kind of puts the Knicks in a much brighter perspective.