The Knicks Fix

Knick fans want to believe the glass is half-full.
The media insists it's half-empty.
Isiah Thomas blames Larry Brown for drinking half of the glass.
James Dolan is willing to pay the glass to be completely full, therefore eliminating any doubt. But it only brings on more controversy when the glass is overflowing and other glasses have no interest in taking on some of the excess.

Send in your own version of the above and the funniest and most poignant will get to post his or her (or its) mid-season analysis of the Knicks (at the 41-game mark) right here on this blog. Be sure to include your name and email address so you can be reached by the proper authorities and have your computer searched and privacy invaded.

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I know you Knicks fans love it when the H8rs in the New York media accentuate the negative - hey, God made light switches so ugly people could have sex - but before we start planning the parade route as the Knicks come home from the five-game West Coast swing with a 2-3 record, let's look ahead to what's coming before the all-star break.

They have a great opportunity to put a few more wins together with Philly and Charlotte this week. The Knicks also owe one to Mr. 39-points Tru Warier (phonetic spelling makes it look tough) and the Sac-Kings on MLK day at the Garden. The Wiz the following Wednesday is a reasonable W.

However . . .

From there until the All-Star break (Feb. 16-18), the Knicks have a schedule tougher than a Jeb Bush presidential campaign tour with Tom DeLay as the opening act:

Jan. 19 at the Nets -- This game could be a great battle
Jan. 20 vs Indiana -- A tough opponent to face in a back-to-back
Jan. 22 at Miami -- Shaq Daddy plans on being back by then
Jan. 24 vs Suns -- Get out the SPF 100
Jan. 26 vs Miami -- Shaq twice in the same week for Big Eddy
Jan. 28 at Milwaukee -- Winnable afternoon road game
Jan. 30 vs Lakers -- Big Chief Triangle against the 2-3 zone, plus: who guards Kobe?
Jan. 31 at Charlotte -- Back-to-back off Laker game, gotta watch for a letdown
Feb. 3 at Orlando -- Vying for the top spot in the East vs. vying for .500 record
Feb. 6 vs Clippers -- Owe them one after the awful performance in LA
Feb. 10-14 -- Three-game Western swing vs Utah, Lakers and Golden State: 1-2 would be a "good" trip

Coach Norman Dale has something to say:
If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the scoreboard says. At the end of the game, in my book, we're gonna be winners!

And if Michael Jordan spent more time as a kid playing baseball he would have been a janitor.

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Quentin Richardson's back looked pretty healthy each time he jumped off the bench to cheer on his team in the latter stages of the blowout win Friday night in Seattle. It was a wise move to rest him for the last game of the road trip, especially with four days off until the next game. Now he'll have two days of practice -- some coaches might have opted to use the break for a mini-camp, but Isiah Thomas decided to make it a time to rest -- for Thomas to decide whether Q is healthy enough to step back into his spot at starting small forward.

With Q-Rich and N8-the-Gr8 each back for Wednesday's game against LB's Sixers at the Garden (I'll give you 18 million reasons why he won't be in attendance), the rotation is suddenly jammed up again. Isiah's got to know he's going to have at least one player grumbling about his playing time. The challenge is to make sure the right players are grumbling.

If Stephon Marbury has shown anything since the Brawlgame -- other than a determination to defend and a lot more aggressiveness in his offense -- it is that he plays better when he plays more. Take him out of his rhythm and his passion level plummets like the ratings will for CBS's new ill-fated reality show, "Armed & Famous."

As if watching the Jets get blown out wasn't enough, we had to be pummeled today with promos about this sure-fire disaster . . . Can't they just have Wee Man show up at my house and punch me in the crotch and just get it over with?

OK, back to the point. Focus.

The return of N8, a.k.a. The Spontaneous One, will tempt Thomas to want to plug him in for some energy off the bench, but if he does, don't do it at Marbury's expense.

Isiah has said he prefers having David Lee off the bench because it allows him the versatility of subbing Lee in for any of the three front-court players. But starting Double-D Lee at the power forward spot, where he does his best work, seems to make more sense and doesn't change the philosophy of using him in various positions. Consider if Thomas wanted to sub out Richardson a the '3', he could send Channing Frye into the game and move Lee to the '3'. If he wanted to go small, he could send in Jared Jeffries for Eddy Curry and slide Lee to the '5'. It's really not that complicated.

It's so easy, a Caveman could do it.

I know it seems like the Knicks have had several lineup shuffles as a result of the various injuries and suspensions, but they've actually only used eight different starting lineups so far this season. They're nowhere near the pace of last season's NBA-record 42 starting lineups.

Here's the breakdown:
Marbury, Francis, Richardson, Frye, Curry -- 11 games (4-7)
Marbury, Crawford, Richardson, Frye, Curry -- 4 games (1-3)
Marbury, Crawford, Richardson, Lee, Curry -- 2 games (1-1)
Marbury, Francis, Balkman, Lee, Curry -- 1 game (0-1 and Aw man, crazy.)
Marbury, Francis, Richardson, Lee, Curry -- 5 games (2-3)
Marbury, Crawford, Jeffries, Frye, Curry -- 6 games (2-4)
Marbury, Crawford, Richardson, Jeffries, Curry -- 2 (1-1)
Marbury, Crawford, Lee, Frye, Curry -- 4 games (3-1)

The most successful lineup was the last one, which was used right after the brawl. When Jeffries came back from his suspension, Thomas pushed him right back into the lineup and moved Lee back to the bench. Was it a mistake? The record shows that the Knicks were 4-1 with that lineup and 3-3 with the Marbury, Crawford, Jeffries, Frye, Curry set. Sure, it's only one player and Lee continued to get a lot of minutes off the bench, but, as Bill Parcells has famously said, "You are what your record says you are."

And as this blog often says, "LeBron James is overrated."

Now with almost a full roster of players (other than the estranged Steve Francis, who is still rehabbing his knee in Houston), Isiah has to put some serious consideration into his rotation. You can't play a 12-man game. You can't really go with 10. Thomas has to find his eight and stick with that eight.

Richardson, if he can return to form without another flare up of his back spasms (that is an "if" bigger than Zach Randolph's skull cap), will factor in because of his long-range shooting that stretches the defense and opens up the middle more for Curry. It also will create more space for Marbury to drive to the basket. Richardson's presence on the left side of the court also allows Curry to post-up on the left block so he can make some of his moves to the middle, where it is easier to see the double-team as well as his passing options, including Jamal Crawford waving frantically for the ball because, you know, he's always open.

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I need to amend my New Year's resolutions for one Knicks player. This is what I meant to write:

Steve Francis - Go to Houston, take some time off and rehabilitate your knee so you can get yourself back to full strength in time for the playoff push.

Now I can say I called it before anyone else. Sweet.