The Knicks Fix

Think anyone in the Denver media is trying to get shelf-life out of the Knicks-Nuggets brawl? The Nuggets organization pulled off a textbook PR move by bringing in A.I. to quickly change the subject. The brawl is already old news everywhere else in the NBA.

Here in New York, the Knicks need the Giants to resurrenct their tabloid-pleasing dysfunction -- Mara's kid decking someone on the stock market floor is a start -- so people can go back to talking about their mess than the mess at the Garden. Can't the Yankees go sign someone to a ridiculous amount of money? Someone's gotta be on the verge of doing something dubious enough to get the Knicks off the back pages for a little while.

But as long as Isiah keeps churning out sound bytes, the Knicks will always be more of a story off the court than they are on it.

He was asked this morning how reaction has been "on the street" the last few days, as if Isiah has to hoof it through the holiday crowds in mid-town Manhattan to get home each night. As if he's doing like Duke Snider walking through a Brooklyn neighborhood with his bat over his shoulder and the glove hanging off the knob.

Isiah lives in Westchester. He's not "on the street" that often. But, relevant or not, the question was asked. And Isiah used it to shoot back.

"I've had a lot of nice things said to me," he said. "Nobody's had the courage to come to me and say things like what you guys have written and said. But that's OK."

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With just two guards in the lineup, the Knicks will have some odd combinations on the court, such as when Renaldo Balkman played a little two-guard in Monday's win over the Jazz. David Lee, too, found himself far away from the paint a few times, I asked him if he needed a GPS to find his way back. "Yeah," he said, "exactly."

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Quentin Richardson wasn't at the shoot-around, so it's doubtful he'll be in the lineup tonight against the Bobcats. Steve Francis worked out with the team, but it's doubtful he'll be in tonight, too. But Jerome James is back after his one-game suspension for leaving the bench area. So the Knicks will have more centers -- three -- than guards available.