The Knicks Fix

I’ve hit a bit of a wall right now. Call it blogger’s block. Or maybe things haven’t been interesting enough to write. OK, if you saw the Spurs game Saturday, you know I'm lying. I get post-practice wind-sprints for being lazy. I blame the road. Go ahead and kill me for it.

I came home from the trip on Sunday and spent whatever time that was left in the day with my son. We watched Cars. Awesome movie. Tractor-tipping seems like fun. Now I've got reason to look forward to the Oklahoma City trip.

So you want my take on Isiah vs. Bruce? I honestly believe Isiah Thomas’ outburst at Bruce Bowen was calculated and intentional more than anything else. Honestly, he was waiting for Bowen to do his notorious step forward under a shooter. It happened right in front of him and, while everyone else was watching the ball leave Jamal Crawford’s hands -- check the rotation, always check the rotation -- Thomas was looking at Bowen’s feet.

It’s kind of a desperate move, but you have to admire a guy who is willing to make himself look like a lunatic just to fire up his team. It’s not like Steve Francis was that angry with Bowen. Crawford didn’t even notice it. Stuff happens when a guy is D-ing you up the way Bowen D's up. Stuff also happens if you don't like the way a guy D's you up like Bowen D's up.

"That wouldn't happen in the park," Thomas said to us this morning.

That's an accountability issue he needs to take up with the NBA, not Bowen.

But while I can understand his desperation right now, I think Thomas needs to check himself a little bit here. He does have an image as one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all-time, and an NBA champion and a Hall of Famer, to protect.

Quite frankly, I’m a bit surprised he even stayed with the Knicks after Jim Dolan’s “significant progress” edict from last summer. What legend would want that hanging over his head, especially knowing that this season would take some major steps for this team to show “significant progress”? To hell with that. Thomas might have been better off walking away once Dolan said that. No one should work under that kind of threat.

I guess walking away would make him a quitter in his mind and maybe in the minds of some others. But in my mind, it would make him better off in the long run to get out before he is thrown out. His stature in this game was once too great to allow himself to get to this point now.

By the way, Tim Duncan’s disdain for Thomas’ actions on Saturday speaks greater volumes than I ever could about the situation.

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Francis could be back in the lineup tonight. He went through the entire shoot-around, which seemed to involve more work than usual after a day off on Sunday, and Thomas said he wants to see how the ankle responds before the game tonight. If the ankle swells up, Francis will be out for a fourth straight game.

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After what Yao Ming did to Shaq and the Heat yesterday, maybe Eddy Curry shouldn’t feel so bad. But it’s not like Curry has got it easy any time soon. He’s got Shaq in Miami on Friday and then Yao comes to New York for another go-round. The big boy has to start learning from these beatings. Those guys put in a lot of work to get to where they are. Curry's footwork needs some serious offseason training. And Curry's overall game needs Patrick Ewing's assistance. Curry is the one guy on this roster who could be someone to carry this team every night. He's just not there yet.

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I’m looking forward to tonight’s game because I’ve only seen LeBron James play live once – against the Nets, which is a far cry from seeing him at the Garden. I’m also looking forward to see how Quentin Richardson D’s him up. I might even try Renaldo Balkman on him. But in short spurts.

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I gotta give props to Tom Rock for his Jets game story in the paper today. Might be the best gamer I’ve read in a long time. The material certainly helped, but T-Rock is a heck of a writer, man. Woo!

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After this morning’s shoot-around I’m headed right into Manhattan to hang out before the game. It’s too far to drive back to my house and then head back to the Garden for the game. So I’ll get some work done there and maybe go for a walk with the MP3 in. Jay-Z’s got my attention.

Give the drummer some
I already gave the summer some
It’s the winter’s turn
Hovie Hov is the coldest
I’m just getting better with time
I’m like Opus…One
Young, no two alike like a snowflake
Ok, Show Me What You Got baby . . .

I’m out like stonewashed jeans.