The Knicks Fix

what am i still doing in the league?

Cue Herb 'Interim' Williams, and give him the remainder of the season. And let him pick his own assistants this time.

The sooner, the better. Zeke has probably lost the team in the name of placating Marbury. Bad move.

What a disgrace. When your head coach/GM only acts in order to save his own job, it's time to let him go.

Say what you will about his past job performance, but when it becomes so blatantly obvious that the only reason a move is made is to save his own ass, he's gotta go.

What's more important in the long run, that one game or the morale of your entire team?

Its no fun being a Knick fan right now. We came in with excitement about our new team, and now find ourselvs hiding underneath paper bags, and in some cases avoiding public contact all together.

This mockery of MSG, starting at the top with Jimmy Dolan then trickeling down through our coaches and making way to even affect our players. We hired bad personalities and bad personell. We are stuck with a mediocre product which doesnt live up to its own standard of mediocrity, and still we see comments about "championship" from our so-called leaders.

Focus on one thing at a time....Getting rid of dead weight, mentally challenged individuals, and rich daddy's boys that have no idea about proper business management and off-court conduct.

Get these fools outta here....I still wouldnt want george bush running the knicks...at least we're not in as bad shape as our country.

Alan:

Are you serious? The team voted no, and Coach let him play anyway? This is sick and very destructive!

Does this team have a chaplain or any spiritual leadership to help them through the sins of the summer and now all this team dysfunction?

They have deep, internal chemistry issues and Isiah / Steph may both be gone soon, unless something incredible happens in their clubhouse?

Somebody with spiritual character and team leadership skills from the inside or outside needs to step up and help this team deal with it's many and complex issues and divisions!

I am praying for God's grace to fall on my NY Knicks!

Phil Elberfeld

OMG Isiah. OMG. Isiah thats ridiculous

PLEASE PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY..........CHARLES,JAMES DOLAN. DONT LET ISIAH MAKE ANY MORE MOVES LET THE NEXT GM OR COACH DEAL WITH HIM. AFTER WATCHING THE CLIPPER GAME I REALIZED THIS TEAM IS TALENTED BUT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO PLAY THEIR ROLES FOR THIS COACH. I WANTED TO GO THROUGH THE TV WATCHING JEFFRIES SHOOT A 15 FOOTER, WATCHING Q SHOOT 3 POINTER AFTER 3 POINTER, HEY Q.............YOUR ELBOW IS HURTING REMEMBER.

Cue Van Gundy. Enter: Stage Right.

If that is true, it is all over for Zeke, I'll fire him, anybody have his cell?

Grunwald can do the GM thing for a bit. Van Gundy can evoke misty memories of a past when the knicks mattered and put in place his system which is tailor made for our bigs and un-trustworthy backcourt and althletic 3 and 4 men.

Thats funny, I came here to post that same story. Its horrible. I feel like I'm already ready to give up on this season. All the promise they showed and expectations I had for them this season depended on them being a real team, playing together, and caring about each other. I thought they would rally behind that us against the world mentality that the trial could have brought about.

But its a lost cause. Its time to see that. Yeah they have talent, so we don't need to blow things up. But I've turned the tide and agree that both Zeke and Marbury need to go. Its obvious they do not have the best interests of the team at heart.

Its a sad sad day.

this is crazy. i had a similar incident in high school where the coach had the team captains take a vote on if a kid should play in the next game. we voted no and not only did he not play, the coach kicked him off the team because the vote was so lopsided. this was from an underpaid high school soccer coach who kicked of a starter. isiah is letting his neighbor and family friendship get in the way of the success of a franchise. what a joke.

ZEEKE PROPTS TO U IN DRAFTING PLAYERS, I THINK A JOB AT A COLLEGE AWAITS YOU....BUT SIGNING FREE AGENTS IS NOT YOUR THING MY MAN. WHY WOULD YOU SIGN JEROME JAMES COMING OFF HIS BEST SEASON AND BENCH HIM AFTER U TRADED FOR EASY EDDY, WHY NOT PUT EDDY AT THE 4 AND LET JAMES BE A 7 FOOTER ROAMING THE MIDDLE.....WHY WAS CATO ON THE BENCH,BEFORE HE GOT TO NY I WATCHED HIM MAN THE MIDLE.............WHY DID U GET RID OF TIM THOMAS AGAIN...OH YEAH FOR E CITY, SO WHEN THE BULLS WAIVED HIM WHY DID U NOT GO GET HIM........AND WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN C SPOON, MO TAYLOR, SHANDON ANDERSON.. AND YOUR BELOVED JEFFRIES.

I have a new name for this team, unfortunately, but it fits:

SICKNICKS or SICKKNICKS?

What does Dr. Jack Ramsey or any Doctor say they need?

1. Spiritual Team Building to try and get over the sickness?

2. Get rid of Steph, the cancer, to get better now?

3. Keep Isiah for awhile after Steph is gone?

4. Get rid of Steph and Isiah together, now?

All tough choices?

Alan Hahn can you do the Knicks fans a favor and call this in to WFAN NY or 1050ESPN on the Stephen A. Smith show, seriously we are tired of the circus show Knicks

Did Isiah call for a vote? Did the captain bring it to him? I just Marbury to go away soon. I wanted his salary off the cap but I'll take what we can get.

Isaiah Thomas must go!!!!! If the Knicks stand a chance of being a viable contender in the NBA, a coach with a very questionable reputation and poor decision making skills should be shown the door. Morale is low, as a whole - the team is suffering and the
fans are sick and tired of Isaiah (no-class) Thomas.

As a fan for many years, it is a disgrace the way MSG and the league has allowed the NY Knicks to now be synonymous with the word dysfunctional. As a city, New York has a reputation that teeters at times between exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. Right now the powers that be are allowing the reputation and name of the NY Knicks to be dragged through the mud. For what? Isaiah Thomas......he's not worth it.

Where's the pride that used to go hand in hand with playing the game of basketball while wearing a NY Knick jersey?

Maybe it tells nate "it took you two years to listen to anything I had to say so I'll give Marbury some time to blow up and adjust just like I gave you some time to get a clue"?

Maybe he tells nate "learn how to play well enough to replace him"

Maybe he tells the team. "give me 5 players who try on defense and I wont have to play Marbury"

or

"guess what kids, we are here to win not to make people happy"

actually, let's change the team name to "Snickers"

not because they satisfy, but it's because what the rest of the leage is doing whenever the Knicks are brought up.

Doesn't this point to the continued mismanagement that has been the calling card of this franchise for the past four years? You can draw your own conclusions but at this point isn't it obvious that Isiah Thomas has been out of his league?

I agree Isiah is an exceptional talent evaluator however that does not overshadow the other glaring weaknesses he brings to both of the positions he currently holds.

Worse yet Dolan has no clue, just no clue. Dolan signs off on every move so he is to blame even more so. In my opinion he must go as well or hire a basketball person and he can step aside and hand over control to that individual, No I changed my opinion he MUST simply be relieved.

As far as Marbury is concerned, isn’t this a team? Even the best players need to understand the concept of team, if they do not understand this they can never truly hope to accomplish a common goal. He has got to go as well…

At the start of the game Starbury sat but the team was incohesive and offense struggled with 6 turnovers in like 5 minutes with very poor ball movement. Had Nate and Craw played well I think Marbury would be sitting the entire game but they didn’t so IT had to put him back in. They played much better and were up after that. Then in the second half you saw what happened. There are no simple answers.

I love all people and races...but.....

the knicks are SNICKERS because theres alot of chocolate on the outside, but its really nutty inside.

I go pretty far back with the Knicks, I still remember arguing with friends about whether Jerry Lucas could contain Wilt the Stilt but I gotta say this has got to be the lowest point this team has ever reached. On the bright side I've gotten through most of the stages of grief; denial, anger, depression... I'm entering acceptance. I mean the heck with it, you can't claim they're boring. I was never a big fan of the Jerry Springer show but the Mockerybockers are amazing. The reality is, short of an impossible boycott or some kind of other activist initiative there ain't nothing a fan can do. Unless the Dolan's sell, this team is screwed. Might as well enjoy the fall because with the Dolan's in charge we'll never have to worry about hitting bottom.

When your bigs miss 17 point blank shots in a row there is very little you can do as a coach..

Dude,
It's reports like this that make me hate the press and convince me that you definitely have an agenda against Isiah. How can you report an unsubstantiated story as truth just to get a rise out of the readers. Where did this "report" come from? No answer from you. Then you throw gasoline on this unsubstantiated story just to watch the sparks fly. Get off your ass, find out who on the Knicks is actually responsible for this so-called "report" and let us know. That's what real reporters do. I've not seen this anywhere. I went to Johnny Ludden's Yahoo site and there is NOTHING on this. You suck.

Isiah has to go. This is absolutely insane. I was watching the game on the Los Angeles Clipper feed and the broadcasters were making fun of the disarray the Knicks are in. Yes, folks. It's gotten that bad. The Clippers are laughing at us!!

MJ, check out: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=jy-marbury111507&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

for story Alan repeated. Apparently it was posted 2 hours ago.

I guess I was wrong about the Celtics, I apologize to all the teammates on this blog. I hate them but seeng Nets getting blown out almost made up for Knicks losing to Clippers

Phil Jackson said he misses riding his bike to work and might go back to NYC. He said Isiah is reason for not taking job.

Jarred Jeffries should concentrate as hard on playing ball as he does on the 7 pieces of gum he is constantly chewing like a stuck pig.

Stephon needs to be traded. Get Artest and figure out if it's Nate Crawford Jones or Q playing point. You notice I didn't mention Mardy.

I wanted to throw my set out the window when the Knicks missed 17 shots after going up by 9

After reading that report, I think I'm going to vomit.

1) Forgetting everything else, how could you have such little foresight to not consider the possibility that the team would vote NO? Isiah obviously wasn't prepared to sit Marbury, and by asking the team what they thought, he was taking an ENORMOUS gamble with all of their psyches/respect for him as a leader. He has no concept of tactical maneuvering. What a complete joke. I'm not even going to get into everything else that is wrong with this situation.

2) I'm a recent college grad, and this was my first opportunity to buy season tickets. Since I'm of limited means right now, I only bought the micro package. But the way things are going I think I'm going to get stuck with the extra second ticket I own to most every game because none of my friends want to spend any money seeing this "wacky" team. I feel like I'm getting screwed left and right by the entire organization's incompetence.

It's funny how the post on this blog today don't reflect anything I thought we'd be posting about this year. Someone is stealing our good year from us. Is it Zeke, Marbury or both?

I'm starting to understand what it's like to be a Cleveland sports fan.

guys this team is not team. I watched the game last night.. they are basketball illiterates....

how about that nice inbounds play by randolph with 15 seconds left in the 1st half?/ They do not even know the rules!!!!'

they are a terrible passing team, the bigs are so slow, curry is so passive, jeffries has zero offensive skills, they are a train wreck and embarrassing....

why don't writers write about there pathetic play instead of the marbury nonsense????????????

Isiah is a joke! He just lost the entire team for a guy who has NEVER won anything! He is a beaten man.....Marbury should have never been allowed to play last night...end of story! And he should have been suspended for the rest of this trip and ONLY allowed to return when/If the team voted him back....He aint about winning, he's about Steph!

Isiah is a joke! He just lost the entire team for a guy who has NEVER won anything! He is a beaten man.....Marbury should have never been allowed to play last night...end of story! And he should have been suspended for the rest of this trip and ONLY allowed to return when/If the team voted him back....He aint about winning, he's about Steph!

Can Isiah work out a trade while he's in Sacremento?

I posted this in the last thread, but I don't think anybody's going to read it now that this ridiculous news has broke:

To all those who want to trade Marbury for a bunch of contracts, I ask you this: why?

Sure, Marbury is a cancer in the locker room, but if all you're getting in return is a bunch of stiffs with even longer contracts than he has, how does this make sense? Is it really better to deal him for someone who is just as incompetent on the court (probably even more so, if we're dealing with the likes of Kenny Thomas) just because this new guy won't be a huge jerk?

Then you're stuck with another horrible contract(s), extending our horrible cap situation into infinity, and for what? To save this obviously doomed season?

Let's get real here. It's not like Marbury's poisoning a championship caliber club. You're not saving your title aspirations by dealing him. Just stick it out, throw his pouting, no-good loser behind on the bench and free up some cap space of our own for once.

The only thing this move might accomplish is to get this team into the playoffs this year (which is a HUUUUUGE if), only to be swept in the first round, thereby saving Isiah's job.

It's obvious why Isiah would want to do this, but why should the Knicks as an organization?

I agree with Hudson, though I note that even with Marbury's contract off the books we ain't getting under the salary cap by enough to sign a star. Hold on to Marbury till the end of the year (or buy him out) then trade him only if you can get real assets. Enough short term thinking. This team probably won't make the playoffs and even if it does, so what? They're not going anywhere and the chemistry is so bad they're not going to "learn how to win". What they should do, is hire some producers and a film crew and turn this into a reality show. They'd have programming for MSG and make some serious cash especially while the corporations try to screw the writers. Move over Gene Simmons, Survivor you've been voted off the island! We're going for the ratings baby!

I agree with Huduson as well.
Even if we don't make the playoffs, oh well.
Remember we'll finally have our first round pick next year.
Derrick Rose would look fantastic in orange and blue.
Then we might have some progress and a leader at PG.

But no more short term nonsense. We haven't gotten better in 5 years with that strategy. It's time to change course and start anew.

I agree, but using Nate Robinson as an example of what is right with the Knicks is stupid. Nate has no right to beef. This clown midget is all about himself too. Remember the attempted fancy dunk in the close game last year? That was a great team player.
This midget belongs in the circus not the NBA. Only a tool like Isiah would play this clown. No wonder that the Knicks started to play better once he was suspended last year. If they dumped this dwarf and left Marburry alone, they would be a lot better.
Nate is the only NBA player who has a lower shooting percentage in the NBA dunk contest then he has in a regular game. ANd he only shoots about 35% in the regular games.

not hawthorne wingo -

You're right, that move alone would not get us under the cap, but we have to start somewhere. Wouldn't it be nice to have some cap room eventually?

Let's face it, if you constantly need to make changes/trades, it's because you're deficient. And you're not going to trade your deficiency for an improvement in 99 out of 100 cases (excluding collusion between ex-teammates...cough....boston....cough, and anyone else dumping their problems on the Knicks).

That means you have to build primarily through the draft and free agency. Enough of this endless swapping of spare parts.

I've been Isiah's staunchest defender but this news devastates me.

Send Zeke out the door on his ass with Marbury. I'm finished with him and the franchise.

"I wagered on you, and you wagered on crackhead!" --Mario Van Peebles, New Jack City

Across the Hudson,

Don't misunderstand me, ONLY if you can get real assets would I dump Marbury's contract. The same goes for JJames, Malik and even Crawford (though I'll note that Crawford doesn't seem like a head case and could be useful on a team that had a real point guard and other players who can defend). I think the knicks should try to get under the cap but it ain't gonna happen soon and you need to deal with the media's crap that NY won't accept rebuilding. I say crap because any city would support a team that was made up of high energy scrappy pups who don't have great success but come to play as a team every night. Right now the Mockerybockers got the worst of all worlds. I totally agree with trying to get rid of the spare parts but I'd be open to trades and extending salary cap hell if it got us REAL players.

It's good to see the players are holding "Curly" accountable, even if "Moe" isn't.

I see where you're coming from wingo, and I agree with you.

But what sort of assets are out there? From everything I'm reading it seems like the only trades we can make would be for the bad contract pu pu platter.

So the entire team decides Marbury should sit, and the coach goes against their wishes? And this after the coach asks their opinion? Interesting management strategy.

Bottom line is that Isiah went to Marbury, Crawford and Curry and told all of them the same thing which is to straighten their butts out or sit. Of these three only Marbury exploded and walked out. As far as Im concerned IT did exactly what he was supposed to do and demanded that they play the game right. This was a ploy to light some fire under their butts. It got a little messy but you saw them play D and hustling last night. This is progress. Shooting was awful but it will improve. This incident will result in better team play down the road I'm sure of it. There is plenty of season left.

Hudson,

I don't think there's anything out there right now. Perhaps as we get closer to the deadline someone will be desperate for a back up center and be willing to give us picks plus someone we can either buy out or has a one year contract or has a longer contract but actually has some potential. My guess is if our strategy was followed the only one who would get traded is M. Rose to a contender who needs a few extra minutes of def in the front court. I'd take a 2nd round pick and no additional contracts in that kind of a scenario. None the less, I agree, I think we should consider sitting tight and looking towards the draft.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling! The Knicks get their best player back who's not been with the team or practiced and they still had a shot to win. As far as Stephan is concerned Zeke made himself clear, he would play if he did what he was told to do. Zeke handled Stephan the way he thought it should be done, not the way the press thought it should be done. It's not like he's had any support from them so why listen to them now. I think he made the best of a bad situation. Chemistry takes more than a few weeks to build.

Chemistry won't be built if the coach ignores the wishes of the team regarding the message the team wanted to send to Marbury.

Ewing
Oakley
Mason
Starks
Ward
Vangundy
Riley
LARRY J
Houston
Kurt Thomas

---------------------------

Marbury
Isiah Thomas

GIVE ME A BREAK!!

PEOPLE

stp worrying about players er free agents, besides lebron and kobe and d wade everyone is on the same playing field. only four players from the 04 draft resigned, remember all the hype about this years rookie class, well they are a bust, durant is going to be a 6-10 three point shooter, shooting over 20 times a game,do u really think odem will ever recover from this surgery to be dominant, dont think so............so what does this mean for the knicks, well.....the same teams that were in the lottery last year will be there, except for the celtics of course. so if memphis is on the clock do u think they would pass on d rose...no, so players lawry, d staudemire becomes expendable, a lot of good players not enough teams,look at spurs giving up scola, wizards giving up juan carlos, houston cutting a very young and improved jackie buttler...............so with this system,there will always be young good players available

Isiah "I think I am above the law" Thomas strikes again.

Alan,

Why even post this?

Why not write about the game last night. Why not write about how Knicks went through the worst drought of the decade, found themselved down 16 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quater and came back and evened the score. That they need to learn to finish games. That the refs should have called a carry and an offensive foul on Mobley. That the Knicks played GREAT defense and held a team that scores 102 points per game to under 85.

Why not mention the return of Zach and his monster night on the board. Why not talk about how the Eddie Curry is responding to Isiah warning by grabbing 12 rebounds. Why not talk about Marbury's one on one defense on Cassel and Mobley. Why not talk about Marbury setting up th eoffense and the Bigs missing 17 shots. Why not say that even though they lost the game, they'll be fine as long as they continue to play defense. Better yet, instead if "they" why not say "WE".

I'll tell you why not...because you are turning into Frank Isola and think that we will flock your blog more and you will increase traffic on this blog.

Your fan base is not the same as Isola, Berman and the rest, Y

Your base was that of fans who care about BASKETBALL.

All I want to hear is what to have to say about the game. Unless of course you yourself did the research and it's your work that you are reporting.

Speaking for myself, I don't want to see you reporting other writers nonsense reports. I don't want to see you speculate on other writers's unfounded reports.

Stick to your fanbase. We were here in the midddle of the summer talking kitchen sinks and summer league and trade speculation. We will definitively visit your blog if you just talk about basketball and stop commenting, speculating and lowering the standards of your own site.

NY fan is the most knowledable fan in basketball. You should feel priviliged to discuss basketball and host us.

Sincerely,
Fixer

Hey Fixer/Director,

How about you just kick his ash! You people are a bunch of dopes who talk like you are somebody. When at the end of the day you are a no-body!

Alan, thanks for the blog, it gives me something to do as I WASTE time at work. You, however get PAID to write, and I should have been a writer.

In regards to reporting the game. Give me a f-in break! what crack you smoke? The NEW YORK KNICKS, where most of us born and raised are a SIDE SHOW and not a TEAM!!

So write on writer!

Marbury is the best PG in the NBA.

It shall be well.

The report doesn't really say Isiah told the players to vote for whether Marbury should play or not, so the players decision to vote as well as the outcome of it is not going to affect who he thinks is going to give him the best chance to win.

It's gotta be the shoes.

Isn't there room for discussing what happens to this team off the court as well as on it? Doesn't what happens off the court affect what happens on it?

I for one don't read every single columnist on Earth, so I was glad to see this post today because I haven't seen this particular story in any of the other major news outlets.

You can read game summaries in a million places, but this sort of information is more blog-specific.

If you want to talk about the game then talk about it. Nobody is stopping you.

What's wrong with you idiots.Who else is going to play the point, Mardy Collins?, Nate?, Fred Jones?, Jamaal? Unbelivable, I used to think that New York sports fans were the most intelligent in the world(we do know our sports, well at least I do). What are you going to do, run everything thru Curry and watch brick after brick and if he gets fouled it's a turnover cause he can't shoot. We will win with Steph, mark my words.

move over Britney
move over Paris

Yukbury and Zeke are taking over as the new tabloid queens.
What an F*ing mess

Still a lot of basketball left so let's not give up on Zeke & company yet.

As a bonafide member of the anti-Zeke movement, it really pained me to keyboard that however, we need to stay positive. There's still time to turn things around.

move over Britney
move over Paris

Yukbury and Zeke are taking over as the new tabloid queens.
What an F*ing mess

Still a lot of basketball left so let's not give up on Zeke & company yet.

As a bonafide member of the anti-Zeke movement, it really pained me to keyboard that however, we need to stay positive. There's still time to turn things around.

@Director

Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?

Get your head out of the sand.

A once proud franchise destroyed by a Piston. Whose idea was Thomas in the first place?

It's time for the media to turn up the heat to push Thomas out. I find their reporting and commentary to weak to help us right this ship. Why do I say it's the job of the media to step up? Because of the idiot fans who keep showing up to MSG, shelling out big bucks for tickets and merchandise. You'll continue to receive the same crappy product until you start boycotting it. Besides, who in their right mind would waste their time and money on such an awful product and ownership?

J.A. Adande is right:
The Knicks lost with Marbury, just like they lost their previous game without Marbury.
The Knicks didn't gain anything by playing him. They just lost a little bit of the minimal amount of credibility they have left.

It eats at me that the franchise that I have followed religiously for so many years has become so inept and the laughing stock of the league.

Larry(Dolan), Moe(Thomas, and Curly need to go.

I don't usually read Frank Isola. But he is right here.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks/2007/11/how_the_oncemighty_knicks_have.html

The Knicks have moved from the laughing stock of the NBA to the laughing stock of all sports. It is time for someone, somewhere, to take control of this franchise from Dolan/Thomas/Marbury.

people....Steph and Isiah will make up...just like they always do. Steph and the team will resolve their differences, and steph will do anything possible to keep his spot on this team. The team WILL make a push later this month. Mark my words we win 40+ games this year. Marbury will be more agressive getting to the basket and dumping the ball off. All shall be fine. Don't give up so early in teh season.
LET'S GO KNICKS!!!!! we are counting on these players to bring RESPECT back to knicks basketball.

i cut mardy collins.he dodged itmr.thomas is aclass person or in street talk .he is a stand up guy.his character about do what i say not what i do does not apply in the professional envirnment.i think mr.marbury should go back to coney island and ride the cyclone and come back to reality GROW UP AND STOP BITING THE HAND THAT COVERS YOU.I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT GROWING UP IN THE CONEY ISLAND PROJECTS.I GREW UP IN THEFORT GREENE PROJECTS NEAR THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD.YOU ARE ENJOYING THE SPOILS OF THE PREVIOUS SWEAT.you do not know what is was to be drinking thunderbird on the steps of p.s.67 elementary school GET YOUR LIFE TOGETHER TOO MUCH WAS SCARIFICE FOR YOU TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY.MR.THOMAS YOU ARE THE COACH FOR A TEAM NOT A CADDY FOR A SPOILED BRAT.LET MARBURY GO TO ITALY MAYBE THE POPE CAN REACH HIM

KFFL

At this point, it's not just about wins and losses; it's about respect for the franchise. If you really care about the Knicks, you should be appalled with the mismanagement of a very proud franchise.

A person familiar with the details of the sexual harassment lawsuit against Thomas and the Garden said yesterday that Marbury's deposition testimony - which has not been made public - did not contain any particularly damaging information about Thomas.

Hey Santi Klaus,
You mean besides everything we already know? The info. that's come out has been damaging to Thomas and Dolan only if you think they still have reputations to protect. This franchise was once reasonably well run (sure as hell not perfect but not a complete circus), since Dolan took over it's been a travesty. I hope Stern uses the Sexual harassment finding to force control out of Dolan's hands. Lord knows Dolan would fight with every lawyer he could muster but maybe the battle would result in enough of a fan (and more importantly corp.) boycott that we'd actually see the Dolan's accountants notice. If that doesn't happen at least I hope they turn the whole damn thing into a reality show. Boy, I can't wait for the books to come out on this season. Alan, you got a title figured out yet or what?

I picked the Knicks to win the East and the Celtics to have turmoil after 5 games. D'oh!

Director -- You have every right to expect Alan to answer a lot of those questions. The one’s about the game. And he did. In the paper. Check it out.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-sbkgame155461810nov15,0,274919.story

But this question though: Why not say that even though they lost the game, they'll be fine as long as they continue to play defense.

My hunch is he didn’t write that because it’s way too speculative and could very easily not be true. I want someone who’s going to write about what’s going on both on and off court. In an objective way. I’m not looking for a cheerleader.

You don’t actually believe Alan would write negative things about the Knicks as a way of increasing readership? I don’t know Frank’s writing well enough to speak to whether or not he would do that. But Alan certainly wouldn’t. He just calls it the way he sees it. Sometimes it’s not pretty. Lately, most of the time it hasn’t been pretty. They won’t be fine if they only play defense as long as they still make two critical turnovers simply trying to inbound the ball late in the 4th quarter. I think it was Zach and Jones, both gave the ball back to the Clippers on bone-head moves. Two possessions. In a close game. Could have been the difference in the game right there. Defense is critical, no doubt about it. But “they’ll be fine” with more defense is a bit of a stretch. That’s one among many, many problems.

Hudson – Not Wingo . . . I agree that Marbury should only be traded for a talented player who complements the roster as it currently stands. That’s the one thing Isiah – with all his “eye for talent” – has never done: bring in the right player to match the rest of the roster. As I’ve said: He brings in the athletes he likes, but not the players we need. Certainly, if you subtract the off-court stuff, I don’t think there’s a player in the NBA whose skills complement our front line better than Artest. Then it becomes a question of whether you’re willing to gamble on him. I am. Zeke gambled twice. I think we’ll look back and say he lost on Marbury, but won on Zach. Artest is a good example of the kind of player we need. But he’s not the only one out there.

Also: Don’t discount the value of trades. And don’t put too much stock in free agency. We got Zach in a trade. And that’s working out pretty well for us. It’s hard to imagine how this team – with this coach, but especially this owner – will ever get enough cap room to make any noise in the free agent market. And then, it’s only the luck of the draw IF you get cap room and IF the player you need is available . . . and IF you can sign him. You gotta give Zeke credit for good drafts. Trades are another matter, although he’s done okay with a few. But as long as Dolan will keep writing the checks, no reason not to look for trades that will increase the talent pool, even if it means another bad contract or two. I think it would be worth the trade-off.

lets be patient, its still ear