Knicks Need to Re-Organize Entire Organization
From James Dolan on down, the New York Knicks have become the joke organization all throughout the NBA. After LeBron James dropped 50 on them at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks' record stood at 18-43, an even 30 games behind the Atlantic Division leading Boston Celtics.
The most amazing stat at this point in the season is that there are four other teams in the league with less wins than our beloved Knickerbockers.
But ask anyone wearing blue and orange at the Garden and they would rather change places with any of those weaker clubs. The Knicks are playing with no emotion for a coach that may as well be a lame duck. If Isiah Thomas returns in 2008-09, the 'World's Most Famous Arena' may be torn down brick by brick by the angered fan base.
Dolan, the Cablevision mogul who uses the Garden as a playpen, has played cat and mouse all season long and remained silent even when spotted at home games. Even he cannot deny that change is needed in the worst way. The problem is that Dolan should be the first to go.
The building is run like a military dictatorship, complete with gag orders and clandescent spies accused of following around the media. The Knicks PR staff should not only be commended for the difficulty that their job has become, but also be given a fat raise and bonus.
It is hard to put a date on when things started to go wrong here. Instead of taking a wild guess, the most mentioned is November 12, when the Knicks were on a flight to Phoenix. Thomas informed point guard Stephon Marbury that he was relegated to the second unit and it blew up from there. An AWOL player, a team vote, a coach ignoring the vote, and so on. The wheels were already loose, and all came off before Thanksgiving.
Marbury, who has been out since having left ankle surgery on January 11, has been a lightning rod for controversy for what seems to be an eternity. The latest Steph saga had him finally attending a home game after what has been reported as a ban from doing so by Thomas. If anyone knows for sure, they aren't saying. Regardless, the 31 year-old Brooklyn native made a cameo and more clouded information was the result.
When asked why he has not been around by reporters, Marbury replied, "No comment to that." That was pursuant to Thomas telling people at the morning shootaround, "When you talk to Stephon, you can ask him all the questions you need to ask him. He'll be there."
The old 'hurry up and wait' concept used once again by the KGB (Knicks Gone Bad). Never a straight answer, never an effort for four quarters.
With one year and $21.9 million left on his deal, Marbury's future with the team is in serious doubt. Expiring contracts - especially ones that large - are usually gobbled up in a trade in the NBA. But Marbury has not proved that he can be of assistance to practically anyone. What type of team would be willing to take on an albatross such as Marbury? There are two likely solutions to this problem: one is the Knicks buying out the last year of his contract or keeping him around and letting the deal expire and die of natural causes.
Either way, it will be a chapter in the tragedy that is the Knicks finally closed.