The Knicks Fix

At what point do you remind your players that the NBA gives you six fouls, which means you can use five of them in any way you like.

Such as when Wilson Chandler clobbered Elton Brand in the second quarter just to make sure the points would be earned from the foul line.

For a second straight game, the Knicks failed to record a blocked shot. Not a one. Zach Randolph played 29:51 and put up 19 shots, but while everyone from Brand to guard Andre Miller were getting to the rim (64 of the Sixers' 116 points came in the paint), Z-Bo somehow came away with just one foul.

David Lee, who had a second-straight double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds), at least had three. But they weren't of the no-layup-rule variety.

Ninety-six minutes and not one block. Not one finger on the ball. Nothing.

And don't mention 6-11 Eddy Curry being buried on the bench. Eddy averaged 0.49 blocks per game last season. Not exactly Mark Eaton.

But the Knicks just don't have a shot-blocker right now and if they don't tighten up and, more importantly, toughen up, inside, teams will quickly make note that they can drive the lane all night without a single stop sign.

But Malik Rose says you don't have to have a shot-blocker to be a good defensive team.

“Of course it would be great if we did, but you don’t need to, no," he said. "That’s why they made the charge circle and that’s why God gave us all two feet and the will to move them. We’ve just got to do a better job of staying in front of people, helping when someone does get beat and then helping the helper. It’s all effort.”

Say what you want about Stephon Marbury being inactive in a game the Knicks struggled to find offense -- they collectively shot 32 for 98 (32.7 percent) and missed 21 of 28 from three-point range -- but that debate is meaningless for this game without a semblance of defense.

Stephon Marbury is on the inactive list for tonight's game against the 76ers. Mike D'Antoni said before the game that he spoke with Marbury earlier in the day at the team hotel and the decision was made then.

"Either he has a big part of the pie or none and [Wednesday] night was none," D'Antoni said. "And he felt it was tough just sitting there like that. So if we were going to go for that decision, then we decided that it would be probably better that he doesn’t dress. Otherwise, it’s hard for him to sit there. I understood that."

Marbury will join Jerome James and injured Jared Jeffries on the inactive list. Anthony Roberson will dress.

Marbury emphasized several times that it was a "coach's decision," but otherwise kept any emotions he may have about it in check.

“I’m not frusturated at all," he said. "I have no control over it. If it was raining outside, I can't get mad if it’s raining. I’ve got to go get an umbrella and then walk in the rain. I have no control over the situation. The coach makes the decision on who plays and who’s not going to play and obviously, right now he feels like I’m not one of the guys that’s going to be playing."

When asked if he felt he had played his last game as a Knick, Marbury replied, “I didn’t go that far. I’m not there. I’m not in that place.”

D'Antoni said Marbury will still be part of the team. The Knicks will not buy out Marbury's $21.9 million contract for the full amount and trading that contract at this point is very difficult because the Knicks are not willing to add anything but an expiring deal and can not take on a one-for-two trade because they don't have any extra roster spots.

"I want to stress, he’s been great," D'Antoni said. "He did everything we asked, he came ready. So it’s really just two things collided and I just couldn’t make this fit . . . I want to be respectful to him and everything, he’s been in the league a long time. This is the best thing I can come up with.”

Stephon Marbury is on the inactive list for tonight's game against the 76ers. More to come...

Dare I go a little Marianne Faithful on you, Fixers? This haunting song rang in my ears as I walked to the Knicks shoot-around among the revelers preparing for the Phillies parade at the Wachovia Sports Complex.

Burn the towns,
Burn the backstreet bars,
Burn your boardwalk basement trade.
Feel the flame,
Feel the curve of the sword,
Your living flesh reeks of compromise, babe.
And in the face of barbarian hordes
An honest defeat is your only reward.
The love that you would not defend with your life
You cannot befriend always tears in your eyes.
Ma ni dem, gone with the wind,
Ma ni dem in search of a new king....

Now that we're done stringing up the new coach for saying something most of us also said when that rabble-rousing group of Starburians tried to crash the opening-night Party for the New Era at the Garden, can we put the torches and pitchforks away?

Ah, not yet. Perhaps more outrage tonight if Stephon does not enter the game against the Sixers.

Mike D'Antoni gave no promises. He also explained why:

"I don’t think it’s fair to Steph to play him just five minutes and then take him out," D'Antoni said. "It’s either he gets a big piece of the pie or – it’s somewhat disrespectful to say, ‘Yeah, go ahead and make one turnover and I’m taking you out.’ I’m not going to do that to him. There’s either a nice role for him where he’s comfortabl to perform like he has, or there isn’t that role. And right now, how we’re set up, I just don’t think there’s that role where I can say, ‘Hey this is your role.’ I don’t know what the role is for a guy who has been an all-star and has been around the league, I’m not just going to say, ‘I don’t know where you’ll fit in, but I’m going to throw you out there, but don’t get too comfortable because I’m going to take you out’ . . . I don’t want to get into that.

"But guys like Gallo I can throw out for four minutes. Guys like Mardy I can throw out for four minutes and take them out. But I want to make sure that it’s Nate, Duhon and Crawford, who have the bulk of the minutes and are really comfortable with their roles. That’s where it kind of led to this. I was stewing with it all preseason, what am I going to do, because I’m not going to mess those three guys up right now. Now, they’re going to have to perform and play well and everything; that’s why I said the door is never closed. But those are my thoughts."

I asked him if there is the chance his rotation might eventually be compromised by the potential to have to "showcase" a player like him or Eddy Curry to teams that might be interested in a trade.

"That really screws you up . . . that’s tough," he said. "I know that’s how it should be talked about and it’s kind of the business, but you know what, a lot of fans come in and they want to watch the Knicks play . . . You know, I’m sensitive to that . . . In the back of my mind, I want to win every game, go deep in the playoffs and win a championship. So it’s tough to play games, it’s tough to play the political games."

But he may have to.

* *

* - As we reported today, an initial inquiry with the Golden State Warriors regading disgruntled Al Harrington did not result in anything substantial or even promising. The Warriors really have no interest in Eddy Curry, though that would be the best contract match for the Knicks. Obviously with Monta Ellis out for a bulk of the season, the Warriors could take a flier on Marbury's expiring contract, but the Knicks don't have the roster space to handle a one-for-two trade, unless they made a complicated three-team deal.

But Curry may play tonight, especially with Elton Brand to contend with. D'Antoni said Curry looked good this morning and came early to the shoot-around to get extra work in. I'll keep attendance records on the scouts at the game.

* - Danilo Gallinari could get more minutes tonight if the game allows it.

So the way I hear it, Mike D'Antoni was on the team bus when a team official informed him that the Phillies championship parade was taking place tomorrow.

"Are you f---ing kidding me?" D'Antoni replied.

Uh oh. If the Philadelphia Inquirer finds out about this, Phillies fans are gonna be furious, man.

Anyway, to discuss this and other things Knicks, longtime and loyal Fixer Brandon Tierney has invited us onto his show on ESPN Radio tonight after the Rangers game. BT (that handsome devil pictured to the left) always brings the energy and passion to Knick-related discussions and he promotes the Fix regularly on his show. That's why we gotsta reciprocate, Fixers.

Reciprocate!

'course the Fix gets no love on SNY, tho....hmmm.

Welcome to your first tabloid firestorm, Coach. It only took one game.

Mike D'Antoni today admitted he did hear the chant of "We Want Steph!" from a section of the sellout crowd at the Garden in the second half of Wednesday's season-opening win over the Miami Heat. But while television replays showed D'Antoni yelling, "Are you [bleeping] kidding me?" toward the crowd, what is unclear is if he was directing his anger at the chanting fans -- who were calling for benched guard Stephon Marbury -- or the referees.

“I just thought they didn’t quite get it, but they’re great fans and they’re into it," D'Antoni said. "It’s almost like on draft night, no matter who you draft they’re going to boo because there’s somebody the fans like and somebody they don’t . . . You’ll hear it from the people that don’t and that’s OK. It’s no big deal.”

Remember last season Isiah Thomas was caught in the crosshairs when he jawed with fans near the Knicks bench and scolded them for not supporting the team.

This situation was a little bit different.

D'Antoni left Marbury on the bench for the entire game, which was an intriguing subplot that eventually engulfed what was an entertaining debut win for the new coach. Some fans started a chant of "We Want Steph!" from a small section of the upper bowl that, after a few attempts, was drowned out by loud boos from the majority of the rest of the sellout crowd.

By today's practice, however, the win became the afterthought and D'Antoni's curious rebuke was the main topic of discussion and debate. It even overshadowed whether or not Stephon will play Friday in Philadelphia.

The moment in question came with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter and, it should be noted, after a foul was called on Mardy Collins. The Knicks were leading at the time, 93-77, but a 23-point lead was already starting to slip away.

A reporter present here said there was also video evidence that D'Antoni added, "What a bunch of [expletives]."

[Bloghost note: From my vantange point at the Garden (front row, baseline by visitor's bench), I saw with my own eyes D'Antoni's first comment and wondered if it was at the chanting fans or at the foul called by the referees. I was not prepared to take a leap with it and planned to ask about it at today's practice. I did not see D'Antoni say the second comment, but loyal Fixer Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN Radio was dispatched to the training center after Max Kellerman's producer, Robin Lundberg, spotted while watching the game.]

After he spoke with us immediately following practice, D'Antoni actually came back a short while later to re-address the issue, which wasn't settled after he finished his first post-practice address. He said his words were not directed at the crowd.

"There's no way I would do that to the fans," he said.

“If y’all are going to read my lips during the game there is a lot of stuff I’ll be saying that, probably I’ll have to be like a football coach," he added while he covered his mouth with a piece of paper. "We’ll do that for now on, if that’s news.

"I’m really happy the way the team responded and the crowd was fantastic last night. I thought it was a great opening night. That should be the story . . . There will be times when I lose it. And that’s from adrenaline and wanting to win so much. There was no way I had any animosity toward anybody. I thought the fans were great last night. But it’s not always going to be great and not always going to be fun and roses, but I’m really not going to get into, well, you might have said something and I read your lips and I overheard somebody say . . . You know guys, we just played a really good game and I’m really happy with the fans. The atmosphere was great and they can expect more of the same. And we’re going to go into the Garden and hope it’s rocking and I know they’ll support the team and we’ll support them and go forward."

Now to see who blinks first.

Mike D'Antoni made the first bold move, by going with the decision to exclude Stephon Marbury from his rotation, which ballooned to 10 players. Too many by his own admission, which means by Friday's game against the Sixers, the rotation may be 8 or 9 at best.

Marbury handled it calmly and said all the right things afterward. But this was just one of 82. If this keeps up, history shows it will boil over.

The plan, of course, was to have removed Marbury from the situation well before any of this became an issue. There was talk of waiving him a week before training camp opened, but Donnie Walsh just doesn't believe in buyouts. But he also doesn't believe in telling his head coach who to play. So the end result is what we saw in the season opening win over the Heat: Marbury with a humbling DNP-CD.

Stephon is smart enough to know that making this a contentious issue in the media doesn't help his situation one bit. Why give the team any reason to suspend him and, therefore, dock his pay? He wants all of the $21.9 million owed to him and Walsh believes it is the team's responsibility to pay all of the money.

"This is a business and I understand the decision if that's the way they want to go," Stephon said after the game, "I have no problem with it."

D'Antoni made it clear that Marbury "has done nothing wrong" and that it is just a matter of the direction this team is headed, with D'Antoni steering the ship. It's not Marbury's team anymore. That era is over. Officially over. Marbury may have the most talent and, statistically, be the most accomplished player on the team, but what has already been proven here is that the Knicks can lose with Marbury and Eddy Curry, to that matter.

So if the Knicks are going to lose, D'Antoni seems to prefer to lose with young players such as Nate Robinson, Wilson Chandler, Mardy Collins and, yes, Danilo Gallinari. Those players off the bench fit into his plan. What does using Marbury for 13 minutes (basically the minutes Collins and Gallinari combined for in the game) really get you?

No, this is about the future. Marbury, though he is still here now, is the past. No disrespect, just it is what it is.

“We’ve got to know certain things as we go forward," D'Antoni said. "We’re trying to build a team, and this is not this year, it’s a two-to-three year project. I don’t want to get started next year, I want to get started right now . . . We need to build a team and know that’s who we are . . . right or wrong."

It helped D'Antoni that Jamal Crawford got off to a red hot start and put up 29 points. If Crawford falters, it opens the door for D'Antoni to become desperate for scoring, which Marbury can provide. But the fear is in relying on Marbury too much to the point that you get to mid-season and he's suddenly 90 percent of your offense. D'Antoni clearly doesn't want to find himself in that situation, so he faced the inevitable in Game 1 instead of waiting for it in Game 41.

* *

* - Gallinari said he was a little nervous before the game, but once D'Antoni called his name he got excited. He looked shaky out there and he admitted that he knew his first shot, which bricked off the side rim, had no chance of going in. But what about the second one, a corner three-point attempt? "I thought was in," he said, "because it came out real nice from my hand.” Expect more minutes for him in Philadelphia on Friday.

* - The fact that Eddy Curry opted not to come out and sit the bench for the second half -- team officials said he was icing a sore right knee -- is disappointing behavior from a guy who, at the very least, is usually a good teammate.

* - Speaking of Marbury and his non-role with this team right now, the Miami Heat have some serious issues at the point guard position. Daequan Cook shot the ball well but he didn't enter the game until late. Rookie Mario Chalmers looked lost on defense several times (he once literally walked away from Crawford to allow him a wide-open look from three) and clearly has some growing to do. Marcus Banks did very little and Shaun Livingston showed he is miles away from getting back to the level he was at with the Clippers after recovering from a major knee surgery. Would they be interested in Marbury?

One of our all-time favorite lyricists, the Abstract, the legendary Q-Tip, is delivering the pyrotechnics for tonight's season opener at the Garden. A new version of the "Go NY Go" song from the 1990s -- decent chant, but that song was too wack to play in the car -- that I heard him rehearse earlier this afternoon on the Garden floor with the KCDs.

Trust me, Fixers. You're gonna want to download this one when it's available after the game on nyknicks.com.

Be sure to hang here during the game and check Hot Rod Boone's live blog. I'll jump back after the game once I get off the train.

Enjoy!

Evening ladies and gents. (Hot) Rod Boone here live and in living color here at the World's Most Famous Arena. So here we are, about to start a new era of New York Knickerbockers basketball. Can you feel the excitement? Catch it.

It's the Knicks vs. Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat. We'll see the debut of the guy taken No. 2 overall in June's draft, Michael Beasley. Rookie Mario Chalmers could get his first career (duh! he is a first-year player and this is the season opener) start at the point.

Wade's supposedly completely healthy and looked pretty good in the Olympics. Heard somewhere that he is eager to start the season at a place such as the Garden, so he might drop 30-plus tonight.

Will Chris Duhon prove D'Antoni's faith in him and get it done at PG? Will Danilo Gallinari make his Knicks debut? Will Stephon Marbury play significant minutes? Will Eddy Curry get off the bench? Who will hear the first boos of the season?

In a few hours, we'll have all the answers to those questions. Should be an interesting matchup. Be back to get the live blog chat cranked up in a sec. So getcha popcorn ready.

End of first quarter: Knicks 28, Heat 27.
Leading scorers: Knicks -- Crawford 13; Heat -- Wade 8
What's happening: Exciting start and Jamal Crawford, who looked lost in the preseason, is on fire. Nice energy level from the Knicks, but the Heat are matching it. Danilo Gallinari got some burn and missed both of his shots from the floor. Something to keep an eye on is rebounding. It has been a problem so far, and with the Knicks' lack of height for those in Mike D'Antoni's "circle" it's going to continue to be.

Halftime: Knicks 60, Heat 45.
Leading scorers: Knicks -- Crawford 17; Heat -- Wade 12.
What's happening: After falling behind 40-39, the Knicks ended the half on a 21-5 run to take a 15-point halftime advantage. Tell you what, the up tempo style has the fans buzzing. So does the play of Quentin Richardson. Q-Rich is being aggressive and is knocking down his shots. He's 4-for-6 and has 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. Zach Randolph, never one to pass up an open shot, is 4-for-9 from the floor and has 12 points.

End of third quarter: Knicks 91, Heat 75.
Leading scorers: Knicks -- Crawford 23; Heat -- Udonis Haslem 19.
What's happening: Can't believe I'm about to type this next sentence, but the Knicks are blowing out the Heat. Really blowing them out. Everything the Knicks are trying is working. They are moving the ball well, hitting open shots and playing unselfish ball. They are feeding off the crowd. This is about as good a start as D'Antoni could've asked for. Stephon Marbury hasn't pulled off his warmups and come into the game yet. The crowd chanted "We want Steph!" Doesn't look like he will get in. Bears watching.

Final: Knicks 120, Heat 115.
Leading scorers: Knicks -- Crawford 29; Heat -- Wade 26.
Final thoughts: Leave it to the Knicks to let the Heat back into it and scare the fans. Miami got within three points with less than a minute left, but the Knicks did just enough to hold on. If nothing else, the Knicks, as Crawford pointed out to the crowd after the pregame introductions, wanted to show the fans who've stuck with them through the last few dismal years that this is a new year and a new team. The Heat certainly aren't the Lakers and its roster is loaded with youthful players surrounding Wade. But winning the season/home opener and giving the fans something to cheer about is a step in the right direction -- even if it turned out to be much harder than it had to for a group that has to learn how to close out wins.

Your beloved bloghost will be around later to give his take on tonight's game, so come on back and check out what the King Fixer has to say.