The Knicks Fix

We already know about Jamal Crawford. We already know about Steve Francis. And now we learn after the morning shoot-around that the Knicks made the trip here to Boston without Nate Robinson, who was overcome by a stomach flu.

James Dolan has already ordered Isiah Thomas to handle the dual role of team president and coach. Why not add a third responsibility: backup point guard?

How bad could it be? Thomas turns 46 in April, but he looks to still be in good shape (much better than his former backcourt mate, Joe Dumars). Couldn't he give him a little something off the bench?

"I could give you 10 really good . . . (pause) . . . seconds," Thomas said.

So it's been 13 years since he played in an NBA game. The Knicks are playing the Boston Celtics. Not the Phoenix Suns.

More than one Knick thought it was a great idea. "That," one said, "would be the funniest story of the year!"

Major blow to the Knicks playoff hopes. Crawford is not only the second-leading scorer on the team and the coolest player they have in crunch time -- he goes out with a big three-pointer off a broken play with 20 seconds left in Monday's win over Miami -- he is the best at getting Eddy Curry the ball. Those electrifying drive-and-lob alley-oops between Crawford and Curry -- which beat the Lakers in LA a few weeks ago -- could make the Garden roar and even had road arenas buzzing.

The Knicks could not afford to lose four players -- Curry, Stephon Marbury, David Lee and Crawford. Right now, Lee is out with an ankle sprain and now the news about Crawford's mysterious stress fracture.

It leaves a lot of questions:

* - Stephon Marbury has to pick up the scoring load, like he did in the fourth quarter against Miami. But on a balky knee, can he physically sustain it?

* - Does Steve Francis gut through the pain in his knee and give Isiah Thomas whatever minutes he can give him?

* - Can Isiah get more out of Nate Robinson other than overly-dramatic swan dives into the first row and poor shot selection?

* - Can Quentin Richardson handle the 2-spot on a regular basis? More importantly, can Jared Jeffries give them anything at the 3?

* - When he does return to the lineup, would Isiah consider starting Lee -- finally -- at the 3?

I was loitering in the Knicks locker room before Monday's win over the Miami Heat and decided to take a seat next to one of the underrated personalities on the team, Kelvin Cato. You want truth? You want perspective? You want to see a menacing scowl turn into an entertaining smile? Gotta go to Cato.

I was throwing out the opinion that the Heat, even without Dwyane Wade, are a lock to make the playoffs because of the veterans on that team. My words, "I wouldn't want to play them in the first round."

Cato's reply: "I wouldn't want to play us."

He's got a point. It's still going to take some serious fortune -- something like a weak foul call on Andrew Bogut in the final second of a game or a 39-8 disparity in free throws --for the Knicks to overcome both the Nets and either Miami or Orlando for the final playoff spot in the East. But it's hard not to believe if the Knicks did somehow get in, they'd be like that fearless mid-major no one wants to play in the NCAA Tournament. They have an inside game, they have guards who can score and they get to the foul line. In a seven-game series, they could be hard to put away.

Of course their inability to defend and, more importantly, string together wins, would be their downfall. It could also be the reason why they don't make the playoffs at all. But if they did . . .

* * * *

* - The next four games: Boston, Golden State, Atlanta and Seattle. If the Knicks are going to elbow they're way into the Top 8, this is the stretch. After that, it gets tougher -- Wiz, Raps, Hornets, Raps, Mavs -- and, more importantly, it gets later and later in the season.

* - The Knicks are in good shape with the tiebreakers so far. They own season-series wins over Miami and Orlando. But they need to win their final two games with the Nets to even the season series at 2.

* - Anyone else think the Rangers' recent fade from the NHL playoff race puts added pressure on Isiah Thomas and the Knicks to get in and ensure James Dolan of at least two nights of playoff revenue this April?

* - Donald Trump was a few seats down from Dolan at the game and I couldn't help but think of those two trademark words Isiah Thomas will probably not hear when the season is over.

While you're at the job working 9 to 5
The Beastie Boys at The Garden cold kickin' it live

Doubt that's ever going to change to "Beastie Boys at The Barclays Center cold kickin' it live."

But I'm not hating. I'm just following up on yesterday's hastily-written blog on the Nets move to Brooklyn and James Dolan's seemingly apathetic reaction. No matter what the score or the record, the Nets have been and continue to be no threat to his team just like the Barclays Center won't be a threat to his Garden. Dolan probably wouldn't even flinch if Brooklynite Spike Lee changed affiliations. But Spike's a loyalist. And he knows courtside at Barclays won't have the same cache.

(Just waiting for Spike to pull out the David Lee jersey by the way. He's always supported the heart-and-soul players on the Knicks. This would be fitting because they share the same surname. So soon enough he'll be showing Double-D Lee some love, right?)

Back to Dolan . . . JD's sure shot is to get a new arena, himself. Across 8th Ave. at the old Post Office building. MSG V will have everything Barclays Center has and more: a Manhattan address. So that's why Dolan, as a member of the NBA's Advisroy Finance Committee (kind of ironic he's on this committee, no?), voted in favor of the Nets' planned move into the Knicks' backyard. This while he was spending millions to fight Woody Johnson's proposed West Side Stadium.

Dolan says he was against the West Side Stadium because it included public money and is in support of Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn plan because it will be financed privately. But while Dolan made a big deal about distrupting the quality of life on the West Side in the lobbying against the Jets, he has pretty much ignored how Ratner's plan will be a major distruption of those residents near the Atlantic Yards.

The Barclays Center will be a premeir venue, there's little doubt. It'll be brand new and the plans call for state-of-the-art everything. The Nets are a premeir NBA franchise and even as Jason Kidd gets old they'll likely still be an elite team when the move to BK takes place in 2009.

But they'll never have a Manhattan address and without that, you're always No. 2. Even if the team that plays in the No. 1 venue continues to play like No. 2.

James Dolan spent over $8 million lobbying to stop the Jets from building the West Side stadium for a host of reasons, none more important than the fact that the new stadium would pose a threat to Madison Square Garden as Manhattan's largest concert and event venue. There's nothing Dolan and his money can do to stop new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets, but what about the Nets move into Brooklyn?

Dolan's apparent disinterest in what's happening in Brooklyn -- which broke ground last month and is expected to be completed for the 2009-10 season -- suggests the Garden chairman has no confidence in the project and no fear with the result of it. There are still many skeptics who don't believe the arena will ever get completed because it has been met with great resistance from the residents of the area -- mostly Knicks fans, no doubt -- who will be disturbed by the construction. With the support of Mayor Bloomberg, Nets owner Bruce Ratner is going forward anyway.

Barclays Arena, as it will be named, will be a superior venue to the antiquated Garden, which turns 40 next year. The team that will play in it, the Nets, already have been the superior NBA team in the area for almost a decade. So why not the same amount of contention with Ratner on his plan to move into one of the five boroughs -- traditionally Knick Country -- and infringe on not only the Knicks fan base but the Garden's business?

“Very sad. It’s a sad day in basketball. The type of player he was, he was always a clutch player. No one really listened when Bird said he was the best player that he ever played with. Those of us who played against Dennis Johnson understood exactly what Bird was saying when he was always complimenting DJ. We used to call him 'Soul Man'. He could defend, he could rebound, he always made clutch shots, he always made big steals. He’s just a good guy. All our battles with him he always had a kind word for us. Always had words of encouragement. He and Vinnie Johnson played together in Seattle and I got to know him well through Vinnie."

Bird steals the ball! Over to DJ!

"It was a great play. It was a great read and reaction by Dennis because when Bird stole the basketball he was almost out of bounds. He had his toes raised. Dennis read it made a cut and layed it up. Those two had great chemistry.”

One more time . . .

Steve Francis is back in body but where is he in mind? Now that the trade deadline is over and he's still an Knick -- I still don't see a buyout before the season ends -- what is he going to give you off the bench? If it's what we saw Wednesday in Philly, Isiah Thomas might be better off going to Mardy Collins, who might be an offensive liability but at least gives you a determined effort on defense (and attempts to get over the top of screens).

Thomas needs to show no loyalty to Francis at this point. He didn't buy him out and didn't (or wasn't able to) trade him. Francis owes the Knicks more energy than what he brought in Philly. The Knicks started off great in that game and when Francis and the bench came in, the competitive spirit flatlined. You can look at the absence of David Lee as a reason, but a veteran like Francis needs to take more of a leadership role. If he'd rather go through the motions and goof-off with his buddy Nate Robinson, then Thomas has no reason to play him. Not on a team that is desperate for wins as they try to race for a playoff spot.

Francis overdribbles (it's long been a knock against him) and when he drives too often gets himself into trouble with no outlet. It disrupts the offense and kills any flow the Knicks may have developed. He's not a very good defender and with the balky knee probably is even worse than usual. But he can be a useful player when he's under control and plays the role Thomas needs him to play behind Stephon Marbury.

Thomas had words with Francis during the game in Philly, but carefully said it wasn't just Francis he was mad at.

“It wasn’t necessarily directed at him, but it was directed at that whole second unit and the way they came in the game," Thomas said. "What didn’t happen and the position it put us in. I was upset with that whole second unit and the way they responded to the situation.”

The second unit put the Knicks into a hole that was too deep to climb out of. And instead of their usual mid-game run blowing open the game, all it did was get them back into it, at least within five. It wasn't nearly enough, especially with Kyle Korver knocking down everything he threw up.

Side note: How about knocking Korver down a few times to get him out of his rhythm? You got six fouls! Sure, he's a good free throw shooter, but punishing a shooter is one way to get him out of a hot streak.

Vince Carter as a Knick? It's suspicious that the Nets would be willing to move Carter across the river to their division rivals. Get past the initial excitement about it -- and get over the fact that it's not going to happen -- and look at it from a distance. The Knicks are on the Nets' heels in the standings and both teams are outside the playoffs looking in. When you have a high-profile player like Carter, you don't deal him to your rival unless you know something your rival doesn't.

Rod Thorn would love to sandbag the Knicks with Carter, who did not make the Nets better since his arrival in New Jersey. In fact, you could argue that they got worse. Put Carter on the Knicks, have him dominate the ball on a team with Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry? Then take away popular Jamal Crawford -- rumored in the failed deal -- from the team and you lose the one guy who looked for Curry on the post.

What I know is Isiah Thomas has always loved Carter and tried before to get him from Toronto. Glen Grunwald also knows Carter well from the Toronto days.

But aside from the initial excitement of adding a superstar, how would he make the Knicks better other than at the box office? How would he shore up their greatest weakness -- defense -- as they push for the playoffs? Thomas' only focus should be on interior defense. His needs aren't in the backcourt, his needs are at power forward. I was watching the Knicks-Sixers game last night thinking how Sam Dalembert would be a good fit next to Curry. Blocks shots, rebounds, athletic and doesn't need the ball. If he could hit the occasional 15 footer, he'd be perfect. The Sixers are rebuilding, so no way they will part with Dalembert. But that's the mold the Knicks should be looking for when they consider players to sign with the mid-level exception (yikes) in the offseason.

The word is that Thomas won't make any deals before today's 3 p.m. deadline because he wants to leave the team alone to grow together, experience this playoff push and come back next year experienced. That's fine. But some time between now and the start of next season, he needs to find an athletic PF to improve the interior D.

* * * *

Had to share this: Cablevision spares no expense on its sports facilities. A beautiful large-screen plasma HD TV was installed n the lobby of t the MSG Training Center in Greenburgh. But you can't appreciate the picture. Why? The reception is terrible. Go figure.

Dwight Howard ambled out for the pregame shoot-around and was all smiles. He was fresh from a great performance at the all-star game in Vegas, but everyone seemed only interested in asking about his dunk. You know, the one with the sticker? If you haven't seen it yet, check it out http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5saBDOE6Sc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbenchrenaldo%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F

Howard said he actually put the sticker up higher than the 12'6" that he announced on the placard after the dunk. He said when he practiced, he hit 12'6" on the backboard, but in the contest he got up much higher, according to the tape measure.

It was an impressive dunk, but my suggestion was that he would have scored big points if on his next attempt he scraped the sticker off the backboard.

But anyway . . . word is runner-up Nate Robinson actually had the potential contest-clincher. But the Garden brass wouldn't allow it. Get this, apparently N8 the Gr8 planned to do a Vegas-themed dunk, with him jumping over a Playboy bunny working at a blackjack table. He practiced it on Friday at nearby Western High School. MSG Network cameras caught the dunk -- which was successful in practice. MSG officials were said to be concerned about N8's safety. (Do you think perhaps they were also concerned about the buxom blackjack dealer's safety, too? The Garden has had enough lawsuits for one era.)

It would have been a show-stopper, no doubt. Even stingy Michael Jordan -- whom TNT commentator Kenny Smith dubbed "the Russian judge" -- would have to give that one a 10.

Word is, Michael loves the blackjack table.

The David Lee Lovefest has gotten so out of hand, a producer from NBC at practice yesterday stopped Eddy Curry for an interview. "Excuse me, David?"

"David?" Curry replied. "I'm not David."

We've all had our takes on the David Lee phenomenon; Bloggers, beat writers (sometimes one in the same), columnists and even some of you self-proclaimed authorities on racism. Earlier in the season I thought Lee should be the starting power forward. I was wrong. After watching almost three-quarters of a season, I now believe Isiah Thomas is correct. Lee is right where he belongs. At least right now.

His success comes from hustle and energy, but let's not start comparing him to Dennis Rodman (At least not until Lee shows up in a miniskirt and eye-liner and turns his shaggy brown curls into a multicolor perm). For Lee to be an effective starting power forward, he needs to add two more elements to his game: low-post defense and a consistent 15-foot jumper. An extra 10-to-15 pounds of muscle wouldn't hurt, either. The NBA season wears on you, especially when you play in the paint.

If Lee did add these things, he'd be an all-star. He's already starting to get the teen-mag popularity among young fans, which might earn him enough votes to contend next year. Wouldn't that be nice to have in your pocket come contract renegotiation time?

Last weekend in Vegas, especially after he won MVP in the Rookie Challenge game, Lee was often asked why he isn't starting for the Knicks. You can tell it's an issue with him, though he always shows class when he discusses the situation. He calls it Thomas' decision and leaves it at that. Lee would prefer to start.

There are probably some GMs out there who would love to get their hands on him before the deadline and toss him right into their starting lineup.

But right now, where his game is, Lee fits best as the Knicks' sixth man. Does that mean Jerome James or Channing Frye fit better at the starting power forward spot? No. Not at all. But why force Lee into that role when he is having success coming off the bench?

I haven't agreed with everything Isiah has done this season. In fact, I was dumbfounded when he opted to go with Malik Rose and Jared Jeffries as his first subs off the bench in Golden State. Lee didn't get into the game until 10 minutes in. Very strange, unless he was trying to showcase Rose.

There are so many little rumors floating around it's impossible to believe any of them. Thomas says he plans on doing nothing before Thursday's deadline. After seeing the results of the previous three trade deadlines, I'd say that's a good idea.

So Ken Berger never made it to Vegas. Or so he says . . .

. . . nice shirt, Ken.

The actuall all-star game was awful. Guys no longer play hard like in the old days, when the big stars took this stuff seriously. Now it's an up-and-down circus of lob-passes to no one, Ole defenses against driving dunks and selfish play. The West seemed to pass more and that's why they blew out the East. It also shows the difference between the two conferences. In the East, there will be more than one sub-.500 team in the playoffs.

You say parity, I say pathetic. Let's call the whole thing off (and just let the West teams play for the title).

But the weekend wasn't a total loss for Knicks fans, who once again didn't have an all-star to cheer for in the game.

You had David Lee winning the Rookie Challenge MVP . . .

. . . and Nate Robinson became a prop in Gerald Green's bid for the Slam Dunk title:

But Nate did show good sportsmanship in stepping in for Green's brilliant dunk, in which he combined Nate's winning leap-over-a-little-guy dunk along with Dee Brown's classic cover-your-eyes dunk. N8 the Gr8 also showed some incredible ups as he tried to defend his title.

Practice resumes today at 2 p.m. at the MSG Training Center in Greenburgh. There are three days to go before the NBA trade deadline. Let me know what you think the Knicks need -- be reasonable, obviously they need Kobe Bryant, but they ain't gettin' him -- and should go for before Thursday.

Just got the email from the NBA about the Hall of Fame finalists.

Chris Mullin and Adrian Dantley were the only players among the 15 finalists. Bernard King misses for a second straight year.

Good for Mullin, who I got to meet Wednesday night in Oakland. Dantley, as we discussed in the previous blog about the Hall of Fame, was also well-deserved.

The Knicks weren't totally shut out. Richie Guerin, one of the most unheralded Knick greats, was nominated from the Veteran's Screening committee.

“We need to get away from each other. We love each other, but it’s time to get a couple of days away and come back ready for the stretch run.” -- Jamal Crawford

I think what Jamal said works for us here at the Knicks blog, as well. I'm taking a much-needed, well-deserved break. I've taken enough guff from the swine.

In fact, I offered to go and just blog about the whole NBA all-star game in Vegas thing in a sort of Hunter S. Thompson delirium everyone should experience at least once in their lives. I even had a lawyer to go with me to advise me.

Shockingly, Newsday declined. I guess asking for a $10,000 cash advance was a bit suspicious.

Swine!

But if you're looking for all-star stuff -- and a much-needed, well-deserved break from my idiotic ramblings -- you can follow Ken Berger's frolicking through the Vegas minefield this weekend on his NBA blog here: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/nba/blog/.

Ken will be there for Bernard King's Hall of Fame announcement -- we're pullin' for ya BK! -- and David Lee's performance in the Rookie Challenge game. There's also N8 the Gr8 defending his Slam Dunk title. I've seen Nate work with Lee on a few potential dunks, so look for D-Lee to be involved in whatever Little Man N8 has in store. Ken might also cover Sunday's all-star game, but we'll see if he even makes it that far. My guess is he'll be trying to win back his expense account by Sunday morning.

Eyes on the prize, Ken. Don't let a bad roll stop you. You can eat when you get home.

I read Mark Kriegel's book, Pistol, during this trip and, while I'm not one of those people who is all about book clubs and whatnot, I highly recommend checking it out. Pete Maravich was only a myth to me, because I grew up during the Bird-Magic era and never got to see him play.

Kriegel does a great job making it more than just a basketball story for basketball fans. He tells a great story about a tragic career (I call it tragic because he seemed to never enjoy his success and the fruits of his tireless labor of love for the game) and also a moving account of a relationship between a father and son. It might bring you to tears. I know it made me emotional just recalling the times my late father and I spent on the hoop outside of our house. And those drives home after games when he was relentless with his criticism.

My favorite part of the book was when Maravich was icing down after a game during the NIT at the Garden. Maravich was talking with Bill Bradley when Walt Frazier came by.

"I have something for you when you get to the NBA," Clyde said to Pistol. "Defense."

You gotta love Clyde.

* * * *

Is tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors a trap game? The Knicks are coming off a thrilling in over Kobe Bryant and the Lakers last night at Staples Center and feeling pretty good about themselves after matching last season's total of 23 wins. The all-star break awaits and everyone's mind could be on that and not on the Warriors, who don't have Jason Richardson and now won't have Baron Davis.

The Knicks can ill-afford to throw away any games at this point of the season. If they plan to be in the playoff hunt on the other side of the break, they'll need to beat the teams they're supposed to beat. And the Warriors, who are going with mostly reserves and have lost two straight, are a team they should beat.

It's not like I've never been to LA -- actually, I have a great story about a friend of mine literally running over Tara Reid at Sunset Strip night club. But never mind that . . .

Tthis was my first Knicks-Lakers game in LA. To my right, Denzel Washington in a Yankees hat. Down a few seats from him is Tobey Maguire (from the Spiderman movies) with the guy from that Entourage show. Then there's Spike Lee decked out in Knicks garb, with Ashton Kutcher chowing down on fast food (and with a goofy-looking hat).

No Jack, though. I was hoping to see Jack.

"Do you think God knew what he was doing when he created woman?"

Only Jack could deliver a line like that.

But I wasn't star-struck as much as I was before the game in the hallway outside the Knicks locker room. I saw this tall, bald man strolling toward me. He just seemed to get taller and taller as he approached. His expression never changed.

Kareem.

Now that was cool.

What was also cool was the rainbow over Hollywood while driving to the game on the 405.

What was also cool was shooting hoops at Pauley Pavillion after Knicks practice on Monday. I got in a dunk - a weak one, but a dunk. The old legs can still get some lift. How many sportswriters do you know who can dunk?

Take that Mr. NBAtv.

Another thing I did was take a stroll over to Venice Beach to the basketball courts. You know, where they filmed some of the scenes in White Men Can't Jump. I think Mr. NBAtv and I could have won us some money.

"Hey man, what's the score? Yo Chump, I'm talking to you!"

"My name ain't 'Chump.' It's Billy Hoyle."

See you in Oakland.

On Friday the Basketball Hall of Fame will announce the its Hall of Fame class for 2007. The first timers are Chris Mullin and Phil Jackson (as a coach). But it is the holdovers from past snubs that makes for an interesting list to debate. There's Adrian Dantley Dennis Johnson and Maurice Cheeks.

And then there's Bernard King. His gaudy career numbers -- 22.5 points per game and 19,655 career points -- are only eclipsed by Dantley, who played in 81 more games (basically a season) than King. Dantley averaged 24.3 points per game throughout his career and recorded 23,177 career points.

So if you had to choose one or the other, whom would you choose?

The argument for BK to be in the Hall is based on the fact that throughout his injury-plagued career, he was one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA. Before Michael Jordan arrived, King was the definition of the unstoppable one-man show on what was a mediocre team. He won an NBA scoring crown in 1984-85, had back-to-back 50 point performances and then later in his career made an inspirational comeback from a career-threatening knee injury to re-establish himself as one of the game's top scorers (of course he did this after he went to the Bullets).

What works against him is that he never led the Knicks to any real playoff glory other than the first-round upset over Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons in 1984. He did his thing during the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era and at a time in the NBA when the small forward position was the prime spot. The 1980s was an era of high-scoring swingmen like Bird, Dantley, Dominique Wilkins and Mark Aguirre. Where does King rank among them?

* - King is 31st on the NBA all-time scoring list, which is incredible considering he only played in 874 games.
* - His career average of 22.5 points per game is 23rd on the NBA all-time list
* - He is one of only 19 players in NBA history to score 60 or more points in a game
* - He had eight games in which he scored 50 or more points

I think King's career is an inspiring one just based on the fact that he persevered through the knee injuries. His lack of games hurts him in comparison to others as far as longevity goes, but his numbers are right up there with the best.

What do you think?

If you're a Knicks fan, that one stung last night. To blow a 10-point lead with five minutes left in regulation to then lose in overtime? The charter to Los Angeles must not have been a comfortable one for the Knicks.

And then they woke up this morning to rain in Southern California.

I told you, we bring the doom-and-gloom. Blizzards in Charlotte. Tornados in Orlando. Precipitation in SoCal.

Still waiting on the locusts. Maybe in Oakland.

The Knicks know they can only blame themselves for the bad loss. "We hurt ourselves," Jamal Crawford said of the nine turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime.

But the game might have been over sooner than that if the Jazz could hit free throws. They hit just 15 of 27 in the game (55.6 percent). Andrei Kirilenko missed three of his four attempts. Deron Williams made just one of his three. Paul Millsap was just 4 of 8.

The foul differential was fairly equal in the game -- the Knicks were called for 25 and the Jazz 23 -- but the Knicks had a serious problem with the officiating crew of Ron Garrestson, Phil Robinson and Leon Wood. There was the phantom Eddy Curry elbow called by Garretson, who hung a technical foul on Curry in the first half. There was the tech on David Lee -- arguably justified -- called by Wood, who didn't like the hand gesture Lee gave him. Wood decided Lee was not fouled by Mehmet Okur on his fourth-quarter dunk. Instead of a three-point play for the Knicks, it wound up a gift point for the Jazz. These things matter in hindsight when regulation ends in a tie.

Lee took the hit for his untimely explosion -- Isiah Thomas is lucky he wasn't hit with a tech after he jumped up and down on the court in protest of the call -- and chalked it up to "a heat-of-the-moment thing."

"That's the way life is on the road in the NBA," Lee said. "I should have done a better job handling my emotions. I apologize for that."

Another point of frustration was the no-call on Jamal Crawford's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer of regulation. Crawford ripped off his headband and scowled at the officials.

It's one game and the Knicks have no reason to make too much noise about it. The way I've seen it this season, they regularly get the benefit of calls. Curry has started to gain the respect of the officials, who, aside from last night, are calling less offensive fouls against him. The Knicks go to the line with the most frequency of any team in the NBA, which is a sign of their determination to get to the basket and a sign of the officials recognizing it.

But if they start getting demonstrative when calls don't go their way, that can change quickly.

I don't have any gay friends. I don't really know too many gay men -- I mean, I may know a few gay men, but there could be some that are gay and I don't know that they're gay.

And, quite frankly, I don't care.

The same goes for pro athletes. Sure, it makes for sordid locker room humor and your typical tabloid rumoring. But I'll tell you what: If Michael Jordan came out and said he was gay in the midst of his prime, you think people would suddenly stop wanting to see him play? You think Jerry Krause would cut him from the Bulls and no NBA team would dare touch him? You think Big Chief Triangle would change his offense?

If teammates refused to accept a gay player, wouldn't that make a mockery of the "Diversity" programs these major leagues have? Wouldn't it make hypocrites out of those who celebrate Jackie Robinson's breakthrough and the appearance of Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith in the Super Bowl? These three men didn't do their thing just because they were black, they did it because they were good.

Eddy Curry said it best: "If one of my teammates came out and said that, I'd be supportive of him because those are my teammates. Those are the guys I went to war with night in and night out. Regardless of what he does off the court, we battle together."

Still, we won't know the truth until it happens.

John Amaechi's coming-out media party sparks the conversation, but what does it really say when it comes to how NBA players would tolerate a gay teammate? He came out after his career ended. I understand he probably kept it to himself out of fear (or maybe he didn't fully accept it yet), but we won't really know how a gay athlete will be accepted in major pro sports until one emerges. Up to now, only women -- LPGA, WTA and WNBA -- have had the courage to be who they are in the public eye. For men, I can only imagine how scary it can be to live the lie.

But when it does happen, once audiences, players and, of course, the media get over the expected uproar, innuendo and pontificating (uh, like I'm doing here), once the game starts the only thing that will matter again is the final score. And if the dude can help your team win.

He's queer. You cheer. Get over it.

But maybe we'll only accept a homosexual male athlete if he's flamboyant and entertaining, like Dennis Rodman. Like tthose dudes from the "Queer Eye" show, which you know you watched. You know you were curious.

Maybe a few of you became metrosexual. Look around the diamond-studded, fashion-savvy NBA and tell me the league isn't loaded with metros. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

From South Park:

Skeeter: Just because a guy cares about how he looks and is in touch with his feminine side doesn't mean he's gay anymore.

Stuart: Yeah. Metrosexual means you're straight, but you appreciate the gay culture.

Randy: It's super-fabulous. Would you like some shirazz?

Eddy Curry is aware he owes a great deal of his success this season to Isiah Thomas, so there is little surprise he would come out and say he wants Thomas back as the coach next season. Two newspapers quote Curry saying if Thomas is fired by owner James Dolan at the end of the season, "I'll be trying to get out of here."

Knowing my luck -- and awful judgment about when to leave a scrum -- this had to have happened seconds after I walked away from Curry and headed over to Stephon Marbury, who also suggested the Knicks would be better off with Thomas at the helm next season.

"Next season, it's going to be so much easier to pick up where we leave off from this year," Marbury said. "We'll be able to run our own games by ourselves. Training camp will be easier because we'll have the same system in place. We won't have to learn a new system."

The Knicks are still six games under .500 and 2.5 games behind Miami for the final playoff spot in the East. Evident progress -- Dolan's demand for this season no matter what Curry or Marbury say -- is still up for debate.

With that in mind, Marbury doesn't think Dolan should come out now and proclaim Thomas' job as safe. "He should stick to what he said and what he believes in," Marbury said, "and that is to make his assessment at the end of the season."

But while Thomas the executive draws plenty of criticism, Thomas the coach has done a good job in breaking down and building back up. It started with Marbury, who handed the ball over to Curry and transformed himself into a traditional point guard who runs the offense, thinks pass-first and plays defense.

Marbury is the example on a team that went from misfit to malleable.

"The way we've grown this year, we've refocused all that negative energy into positive energy," Marbury said. "Everyone is getting along. No bull---. You don't have the coach trying to poison one player so that he won't like the other player. It's a lot easier to go out and play. Last year you had guys like, 'He ain't passing the ball.' Selfish [stuff]. We don't have that now. Everyone just wants to win."

I owe everyone an apology.
For the past few weeks I've been wondering if anyone other than a few friends (and the Madison Square Garden PR machine) has ever read this blog. I hadn't seen a comment posted in over a week and they come few and far between. So I went exploring on the blog edit page where we post these things and discovered among the real junk postings from automated spam -- yo, you should read this stuff . . . it would make Howard Stern blush -- were some comments from actual people.

I'm still figuring this thing out so my bad everyone. I've tried to move all of your comments out of that folder and into the comments folder, where they should be published now right there ---------------------------------------------------------->

So to Cicero and Miami Knicks Fan, I hear you about Scott Layden's era, which started the demise. The Ed Tapscott debacle in drafting Frederic Weiss (think Nate Robinson got the idea to jump over Spud Webb after seeing Vince Carter scale Frederic the Great?) in itself set this franchise back five years. But I do think Thomas needs to be judged not just on his performance as a coach, but as president. I'll give you his draft work, but you can't convince me that his past two mid-level exception signings have turned a profit on the court. And trades? Seriously, even Steve Francis knows his move from Orlando to New York was suspect. And look what you gave up: a promising prospect in Trevor Ariza, who would have made drafting Renaldo Balkman unnecessary and, therefore, Marcus Williams could be here instead as a good backup point guard.

This is what I'll give Isiah: he has pushed Eddy into expecting more out of himself, he has convinced Marbury to embrace the role as the traditional PG and it has resulted in Marbury's best year as a Knick, he has the team in unity where it was in shambles last season and he's excellent at creating an Us vs. The World mentality.

But are you comfortable with him as the trade deadline approaches?

To Chuck D, Patrick Ewing had a turnaround jumper that rose up over double-teams. He could also do pick-and-pop stuff. Curry is easier to double- and triple-team because he is stationary on the post and relies on backing down. It's slower, more methodical and easier to react to.

To Sam, thanks.

And, for joe@hotmail.com, I don't know why comments need to be "approved." I've never been told I had to approve or not approve comments. I just thought they popped up there. I'll keep an eye on the junk folder more often now.

So keep 'em coming in. I might even try to answer a few.

From now until April should be a wild playoff push.

You know things are getting weird at the Garden when the sophisticated New York crowd starts doing The Wave. But go on and have fun Knicks fans. It's been a while.

And it'll be a while before the Knicks are back home again to enjoy the home-court advantage they'll undoubtedly need in order to get themselves into the playoff race as we approach the final stretch of the season. The Knicks won't play at the Garden again until Feb. 20 against the Orlando Magic -- two weeks from last night's win over the Clippers. We embark on a three-game, six-night road trip to the West on Friday with stops in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Oakland before the all-star break Feb. 16-18.

The Knick bandwagon just blew it's whistle.

All aboard!

"We have some pretty tough challenges coming up, but I think we are up for it," Eddy Curry said of the upcoming trip. "This is a perfect time for us to go out there. We are playing pretty good basketball. I think we are up for the challenge."

* * * * *

Quick fly-on-the-locker-room-wall stuff that didn't make the paper:

While the media scrum was adoring David Lee's black eye, which came from a Tim Thomas elbow, Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson were cracking on him.

"Nate, what's worse, the black eye or how he got it?" Richardson said with a chuckle.

"Gettin' dunked on!" Robinson replied.

Yes, the shiner was the added insult of Thomas' powerful jam over Lee in the first quarter. Somehow, we figure, that story will change as the years go by.

Rarely do we like to acknowledge the work of a rival newspaper, but because we're based on Long Island and the Newark Star-Ledger is in New Jersey, it's geographically acceptable to give a shout-out to fellow Knicks beat writer Dave Waldstein for a timely piece in today's paper. Waldo, as we call him, quoted veteran Malik Rose saying the Knicks get way too high after wins and it impairs their ability to be consistent.

"I've said it all season," Rose is quoted by Waldstein. "We'll get a win and all of the sudden we think we've arrived. We get a taste of what it could be like. But with winning streaks and good teams that put their work in daily, they get a win and nothing changes. It's still 0-0. They get another win, it's still 0-0. They go on a 20-0 run, the score is 0-0. Stay focused at the task at hand.

"It takes concentration; perseverance and concentration," Rose continued. "We've got to stay focused on the game plan, what you do offensively and defensively. It just takes great deal of concentration and focus to put together win streaks."

Amen to that. I can recall several times recently walking out of a Knicks locker room post-win and feeling like they were way too giddy for a January win. An example was Saturday in Orlando, the Knicks acted as if they just moved into first place in the Atlantic Division. They're still a long ways from a playoff berth.

Stephon Marbury even touched on it recently, when he said the win-loss-win-loss trend is "not healthy" because of the extreme highs and extreme lows the team goes through.

I'm not saying you can't enjoy wins -- it's the only way to survive an 82-game season -- but you have to question the mindset of a team that is so short-sighted. Maybe it suggests that they don't believe they will make the playoffs, so they're blowing out their emotions every good feeling they get. Maybe it's just all that pent-up frustration from last season releasing. Maybe it's the sign of a young team that doesn't quite understand winning.

Isiah Thomas even talks about the need to "put our heads down and run the race" and see where they wind up in the end. There are four games left before the all-star break and then it's a sprint to the playoffs.

If Thomas' team acquires anything by the trade deadline, perhaps Even Keel would be the best fit. Otherwise, these small victories will be all the season produces.

And we're trying to raise the bar here, right?

If we don't take action now
We settle for nothing later
Settle for nothing now
And we'll settle for nothing later
-Rage Against the Machine

Jerome James started tonight against the Orlando Magic alongside Eddy Curry to form the biggest frontcourt the Knicks have seen since the ill-fated Hubie Brown experiment put Patrick Ewing and Bill Cartwright in the paint at the same time.

It was a surprise to everyone, but when you think about it, Isiah Thomas took a pretty good gamble against the right team. Despite being a relatively young and athletic team, the Magic do not run as much as they should. They are also have a pretty tall front court. But, most importantly, James had six fouls to use in defending Dwight Howard early on. Big Jerome could use his body to wear down Howard and save Curry from early foul trouble.

And, as we've pointed out here in the blog and in newsprint, the Knicks' interior defense has been very poor this season. The move sent Channing Frye to the bench and it allowed him to play with the second unit, where he got more looks at the basket and even a few post-ups. Frye finished with 18 points.

So the move worked for one game. But will Isiah stick with it? Sounds like he might.

"I just thought we needed a little bit more interior defense. . . and I thought he could give Eddy a little bit more support in the back line," Thomas said. "It is something that I would like to continue doing, because Jerome brings a defensive presence to the game and it allows Eddy to kind of roam and challenge some shots a little bit more."

* * * *

Had to share this: During the second half, Kelvin Cato from the Knick bench was playfully jawing with Howard, telling the young center that Curry was "too much for you to handle!" Howard couldn't disagree. But when Cato then added, "I taught him all that stuff" Howard turned away. The look on the face of Malik Rose, who was sitting next to Cato on the bench, was priceless.

* * * *

I got the Colts in a blowout. Peyton already got over the hurdle he needed to get over. Big game for the Dancing Manning.

Left Charlotte in the biggest snow storm in three years. Came to Orlando to meet a tornado watch that lasted through the night.

I'm wondering if locusts are waiting for me when I touch down in New York on Sunday.

As much as I tried to make a case for Eddy Curry on the all-star team, I guess I'm not surprised. In fact, in a recent post I made reference to the Isiah Factor working against Curry. If you watched as the reserves were announced on TNT last night, you heard Magic Johnson, Isiah's friend, even admit that the coaches might have been less inclined to vote for Curry because of Thomas.

The Knicks losing record is one thing. But the Knicks reputation was the clincher. And, as Magic said, the snub was "the coaches saying to Isiah, 'Hey, that was my boy that you fired last year."'

Once again, it's all Larry Brown's fault. Thanks for the built-in excuse, Magic.

When this season ends -- the Knicks need three wins to match Brown's total of 23 last season, so they're almost assured of achieving that -- I hope no one is blinded by this notion that Thomas should be judged on this season vs. last season. "Evident progress" should include his entire body of work as the franchise's leader, not just it's coach.

Ask yourself this, even you who claim this criticism is all racially-motivated (as accurate as Emeka Okafor from the foul line): If Thomas had been running the Yankees or Mets the past four years, would he even still have a job right now? Ask Brian Cashman about media criticism and pressure. Ask Omar Minaya about the racial bias in the media.

I think it shows how far the Knicks franchise has fallen in New York. There is not nearly enough outrage about how much the bar has been lowered. When 50 wins was once the water mark, 30 wins would suggest "evident progress."

Steve Francis is on the trip and though he didn't play last night in Charlotte, it's hard not to wonder when he'll finally be activated. It's more of an issue now with Stephon Marbury playing through pain in his knee that clearly slowed him down against Raymond Felton and the Bobcats.

The workload of minutes has taken its toll on Marbury. Isiah Thomas has tried to use Nate Robinson as a backup point guard but let's be honest: Nate Robinson is not really a point guard. He's a streetballer; an athletically-gifted player who has the ability to get hot from the perimeter. But run an offense? Play shut-down defense? That's not in his scouting report.

Keep an eye on Francis. I was watching him working out in the pregame shootaround last night and he looked good. It's been almost four weeks since he left the team for his rehab stint in Houston. The Knicks need someone who can come off the bench and spell Marbury without a significant drop-off. Thomas is learning that he can't rely on Robinson to fill that kind of role.

Francis might love to make his return against the Magic in Orlando, where his career took a sudden turn after he was traded away from the Rockets. The Knicks could use the help.

I've been watching the local news since 7 a.m. Outside my window is about two inches of snow. Barely enough to close school in New York.

Here? They're already calling for assistance from FEMA.

About 130 U.S. Airways flights have already been cancelled at the Charlotte airport. Guess what airline I'm flying to Orlando today?

The Knicks are practicing at 11 a.m. in Orlando. I know of at least four sports writers who won't be there. We'll be helping the poor locals here try to dig out from under the biggest snowstorm in three years.

Anyone have a tablespoon?