The Knicks Fix

the team has clearly quit, lay down like dogs. david lee looked bewildered and mortified in the fourth, he was clearly embarrassed to be on the floor. even dolan won't stand for much more of this, and there is no reason to think that the situation will improve. as the saying goes, you can't fire the players, so isiah will be gone soon enough. i suppose they will finish the year with herb as coach, then bring in a new management team (colangelo or walsh would be nice) in the off season.

i gave my son and his friend the tickets tonight. i felt terrible for them having to witness the disgrace known as the knicks. i sold my mavs tix to another friend, and i'm feeling bad for him. i paid 9k for my seats, and now i am stuck with these worthless tickets. if it was a car, the state attorney general would get me my money back. sure, there is no guarantee that they will win, but shouldn't i have at least felt assured that they would conduct themselves as professionals and play hard? this is the second time at home, and fourth game this year that they have done this, i feel this is a betrayal of the basic premise of sports: play hard.

i want my money back, are there any lawyers out there who think i have a legitimate case?

The New line up has to be:

C............Randolph
PF..........Lee
SF..........Richardson
SG.........Crawford
PG.........Jones

This is the only combo that works together and has the best Chemistry and has the best mix of Offense and Defense.......
Zeke see this and stick to it no matter how much Curry and Marbury might whine about it......The problem is that Zeke starts Curry / Randolph / Richardson / Crawford / Marbury and then we start off slow and get behind then he tries to bring the line up I mentioned above to bring them out from being so far behind in which they have but they use so much energy doing so they cant hold it and fade off.....If Zeke has any intelligent in which I know he does he will start using and stick with it until it shows it doesn't work but something has to be done with the starters and he has to admit the Curry / Randolph experiment doesn't work and that all it was an experiment

Dolan smiling? Smiling? This pisses me off man. I want to beat this fat piece of crap with a baseball bat. He destroyed this franchise!

Hi Alan,
Let me introduce myself. I have been reading your blog for the last 6 months or so but have yet to post a comment.
I have been a Knicks fan since the time I was 6 years old, which was 23 years ago. I grew up in the days of Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, and John Starks. The days when I was proud to say that these guys were representing my great city in the sport that is closest to my heart.
But now? Now, I am so repulsed, and heart broken and ANGRY that these people are wearing the jersey that means so much to me.
And I dont just mean LITERALLY wearing the jersey. This goes out to Thomas and Dolan as equally as it does to Marbury and Curry.
How Alan, how can I possibly be happy to be a Knicks fan when these phonies are my lead representatives?
Forget the generic comments you've been feeding us from the so called coach president. Let's be realistic. We all know this is a joke of a franchise. How can this be happening?
For the love of God will someone please make things right?!?!
The way Allan Houston was treated. The way P-Ewing has not even been reached out to for at least SOME involvement in this organisation.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! There MUST be more to this story! What are we not being told?!
I feel really sorry for you Alan. I know all too well what it's like to be working for an organisation that represents a product that you simply have no respect for.
And much like the Knicks, I am just about ready to turn my back forever and look in another direction.
Please help me keep the faith.
H22

To all the "fixers" and who care about the Knick franchise:

--The Knicks have the fifth worst record in the league.
--The Knicks have the worst defense in the league.
--The Knicks have a management team/Isiah/Dolan who clearly do not care about the fans.
--After 30 years as a Knick fan this is the worst that I can ever remember it when you combine a poor team, with a team that is poorly constructed, with a management team that just doesn't care.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am dialing down my passion. If Dolan doesn't care, and Isiah doesn't care and all they want to do is make excuses, then I will stop reading about them, will stop rooting for them and will stop reading about the NBA.

I'm long time season ticket holder, and I've had it.

JAMES DOLAN IS A PIECE OF SH*T!
LIVING OFF HIS DADDY'S MONEY-I KNOW CHARLES DOLAN IS REAL PROUD OF HIS SON'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

running a proud franchise into the ground.

I KNOW DAVID STERN REGRETS APPROVING THE OWNERSHIP SALE TO THE DOLANS.

I MIGHT HAVE TO PUT MY KNICK'S JERSEY IN THE CLOSET UNTIL SOME CHANGES ARE MADE HERE!

LOSING BY 28..WE ARE A JOKE.NO PRIDE!

HOW CAN YOU SMILE AFTER LOSING LIKE THAT...PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT THE OWNER OF THE CLIPPERS WAS THE WORST NBA OWNER...BUT I THINK DOLAN HAS GOT HIM TRUMPED

JAMES DOLAN IS A PIECE OF SH*T!
LIVING OFF HIS DADDY'S MONEY-I KNOW CHARLES DOLAN IS REAL PROUD OF HIS SON'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

running a proud franchise into the ground.

I KNOW DAVID STERN REGRETS APPROVING THE OWNERSHIP SALE TO THE DOLANS.

I MIGHT HAVE TO PUT MY KNICK'S JERSEY IN THE CLOSET UNTIL SOME CHANGES ARE MADE HERE!

LOSING BY 28..WE ARE A JOKE.NO PRIDE!

HOW CAN YOU SMILE AFTER LOSING LIKE THAT...PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT THE OWNER OF THE CLIPPERS WAS THE WORST NBA OWNER...BUT I THINK DOLAN HAS GOT HIM TRUMPED

There is absolutely no accountability on this team. The towels on their heads looks really stupid. Like their way on hiding themselves. I know there are some good players on this team that don't get paid 10-20 Mill a year and give a crap about losing. When your leaders have towels on their heads it shows the leadership on this team in gone. Ask Isiah would Dumars would have put a towel on his head when there great Piston team were being embarrassed at the Palace?

Ishah has to really hold players accountable. If he has all this support from Dolan. Force buy outs and except Curry, Marbury where mistakes. I know if the Knicks subtracted 30% of the trash on this team they would be somewhat respectable again. I don't think all of what Ishah has done has been horrible. Addition by subtraction. This goes for whoever takes over this team too.

Isiah has lost the team. The team has so many internal cliques. Its not about placing blame on 1 player. The team quits on him in so many games. They are totally confused out there

I believe that Isiah is really screaming in side right now. He hates losing and is feeling realy embarrassed. He doesn't want to demoralize his players publicly like Brown did. So he has to suck it up. I really believe there is a move coming that no one is going to see coming. But he can't say in the media yet. This is just my gut feeling.

We must lead the league in blowout losses

Bobby got it damn right that lineup wa the only reason we won two of the games this season and give little nate more of a chance he played only in the 2nd half and still managed to b the leading scorer david lee looked back to himself in the last three games but he isnt lebron james and cant be the only player non the team with effort jamal has his on again off again streak and the fans well we aare living in a world of heartbreak getting beat in back to back with the sixers??? FIRE ISAIAH and as much as i feel bad for marbury and my condolences are with him and his family its like he brings bad energy to the team he has got to go soon and what was that display by jared jefferies what planet is he on?

I wish there was something the comissioner could do.

The franchise is hopeless as long as Dolan is in charge.

I'm so sick of Isiah and his excuses and his way of spinning things.

So uhm, the garden should chant "fire Dolan"? Maybe daddy Dolan would get the message..

At this point, the question becomes: Which is our bigger problem? The fact that Isiah is running the team? Or that Dolan is running the franchise? Frankly, I have less faith in Dolan than I do in Isiah. At least we know Isiah knows basketball. He's not doing a very good job of translating that into a winning team, either as GM or coach. But Dolan knows nothing. Also, if Isiah makes decision based on his ego, and to support trades he's made, Dolan also is driven by ego. I worry that the more he hears calls for Isiah to be fired, the less inclined he'll be to bring in a new team to run the Knicks.

I don't see how this could be a bigger mess. All summer I assumed Isiah had another big trade up his sleeve, but that he was playing it safe, not rushing into anything, looking for the best deal, etc. I"m concerned now that he doesn't want to keep trading because it would be some kind of admission that the current roster isn't working. He can't possibly be trying to prove that the current roster is good enough to win . . . could he? He's got to realize at this point that changes have to be made . . . doesn't he?

I'm gonna give Isiah another contract extension and believe he's doing a good job. Look at the Eastern Conference. We're in the same boat as most teams and a lot of teams in the league wish they were in our position.

TRANE:
* Like you've posted, Dolan knows nothing about basketball and hence, he hired a b.ball guy in Isiah. From a basketball standpoint, the problem is Isiah. He is mostly, if not solely, accountable for this mess. NYK is the laughingstock of the league and late-night shows. I can go on and on but been there, done that...

* From a business perspective, a 3% growth in the value of the franchise is not shabby. Unfortunately as the article has implied or stated, this is all that Dolan cares about.

ODDS & ENDS:

* As fans, not really sure that we or anyone could do. Would season ticket holders be willing to boycott games? A few maybe.

* Firing Zeke would mean rewarding him with approx. $ 24.0 mil. (not sure about the figure) for the balance of his contract;

* I was gonna suggest "make and force" Zeke to quit by relentless booing and heckling. Even that may not work as the Garden staff are becoming more & more creative in managing that side of the business. They've shortened Zeke's pre-game intro. to reduce the amount of time fans can boo him. Now, they are resorting to playing loud music to drown out the booing during dead-ball. f only these types of creativity can be translated onto the floor, onto the players.

* Buy-out (somewhere in between the $$$) seems to be the logical choice but JDolan is content with his franchise's value creation so that won't work either;

* Zeke must give these clowns that he has assembled concrete and measureable goals. Example: mandate that ECurry must grab at least 10 rebounds a game or he sits or reduce his PT;

* Require that ball must be passed around 4 or 5 times first before taking a shot (with exceptions of course). This would promote better ball movement/spacing and better offensive rhythm.

* 4 and half years of trial and error. What a disaster.
Truly, Isiah is such a "genius."

Looking at the boxscores and the Knicks players, the name JOHN STARKS keeps coming to mind.

Too many "John Starks" in this team..... meaning either it's feast or famine. If ECurry, Crawfish, Zach, Marbury, N8, and most of the gang are not scoring, they don't contribute anything else. JStarks at least played some D when he was in the flow of the game. These clowns are worthless when they are misfiring their shots.

As Clyde stated last night, the team has a good upside on offense. They need to work on their D or lack thereof. Man, at least do the basics: contest shots, box-out, help out and rotate, etc...

November 1 Hahn

40 wins

That's my prediction on the eve of the Knicks season opener. 40-42. 9th seed in the East.

I've wavered between thinking this season, with the way the offseason has gone, is destined for a total disaster, or that the intense scrutiny will only make them stronger.

Mak – you’re right – 3% growth isn’t shabby, especially at that level. And yet . . . it’s important that we don’t confuse the inflated value with any benefit that either Dolan or Isiah brought to the business. The Knicks remain the worst business in the NBA, losing the most money of any team. If anything, think about what that 3% number could be if the team weren’t a laughing stock. My Manhattan apartment’s value increased more than 3% last year. Not because I’m a genius. Only because I own real estate in Manhattan. For the most part, that’s also why the value of the Knicks increased. Value and revenue will never be the Knicks problem. Of course, most NBA owners have this arcane notion that they want their teams run as viable businesses. They’re not happy when the President/GM reports over $40 million in operating losses, as Isiah did this year.

I’m grateful to “Anonymous” for that quotation from Alan. At the start of the season, very few of us were smart enough to suggest the possibility of “total disaster.” Good work, Alan. I thought they’d at least improve upon last year. So far, at least, they’re worse. Even assuming they can improve from the current disaster . . . that team is why the lottery was invented.

If Dolan weren’t too afraid to be interviewed (sorry, I forgot, this is all the Media’s fault) . . . in any event, the question I’d like to ask Dolan is: How bad do things have to get for Isiah to be fired? What exactly would it be based on? Has Dolan given him a certain time-period to turn things around? Half a season? The whole season?

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PLAN HERE?

There has to be SOMETHING that constitutes sufficiently unsatisfactory job-performance to warrant firing. (Either that, or Isiah must have more on Dolan than Stephon has on Isiah.) If so, what is it? Obviously, in most organizations, Isiah would be long gone by now. I’m not saying that’s necessarily fair or right. Just true.

To be generous, I’ll assume Dolan has thought this through, and has in mind certain benchmarks that his GM and coach must meet to be retained . . . or certain levels of failure that would get him fired. If so, what are they?

How bad do things have to get before Dolan does something? What, in Dolan's eyes, is TOO bad . . . SO bad he just can't stand it anymore?

Alan backed 40-42 and NOT the total disaster. New York Knicks are a total disaster.

That’s right. Just like Alan hypothesized. As I said, thanks for pointing that out.

Here it is. Trade Eddie Curry for Pau Gasol. Get Rid of Isiah Thomas, Let Herb Finish the season even though I dont think he is a good head coach. Try to trade Marbury or Buy him out. I would make a push to trade him to Sacramento for Bibby. My Staring five would be at Center Pau Gasol, Power forward Zach randolph, Small forward Renaldo Balkman, Shooting guard QR, point guard Mike Bibby. I would do what I can to get rid of two people and that is Isiah Thomas and Marbury. Im sorry that he lost his father this past week. But he got to go. He has so much more potential in him but he does not want to play hard. Isiah does not know how to run a team get him out.........Just letting out some steam

I’m not saying that Marbury isn’t a problem, but so is buying him out. One of this team’s problems all along has been asset management. (The only contract Isiah was able to parlay into a good deal was Stevie’s. Jalen’s went down the drain, Taylor’s.) This time next year, Marbury’s contract will be one of the most valuable in the NBA. It’s not as though the Knicks have been stockpiling trade assets. If Dolan buys him out this year, the bank is empty next year for the kind of big trade that we desperately need. And the few good, young players Isiah has drafted will have to be sacrificed. I’m not saying I know what the answer is. I don’t think it makes sense to tell Stephon to just go home, either. All I know is that a savvy GM would be able to parlay that contract in a possible big trade. I’d hate to see it go down the drain. And all we can do is hope that by then, we'll have a savvy GM.

Dolan is the root of all the problems with the Knicks. Fans go and chant Fire Isiah every game, which is fine, but the real guy you should be chanting at is James Dolan. If you're not going to boycott games, at least attend and chant "Dolan Sucks", "Fire Dolan", or "Sell the Knicks." Something, anything. The fat bearded man getting a kick out of destroying the Knicks cannot be let off the hook by the Garden crowd any longer. Let the owner have it! Start the revolution!!!

Dolan is the root of all the problems with the Knicks. Fans go and chant Fire Isiah every game, which is fine, but the real guy you should be chanting at is James Dolan. If you're not going to boycott games, at least attend and chant "Dolan Sucks", "Fire Dolan", or "Sell the Knicks." Something, anything. The fat bearded man getting a kick out of destroying the Knicks cannot be let off the hook by the Garden crowd any longer. Let the owner have it! Start the revolution!!!

TRANE:
A $ 42.0 mil. EBIT loss is alarming for any corporation regardless of its size, to me anyway. I guess JDolan is immune to SOx (Sarbanes-Oxley) with his free wheeling and avoidance manuevers of his fiduciary responsibilities.

I searched on-line but did not see break-out details of the Dolan empire. And it's not worth my time to request for a 10K or a 10Q from Cablevision or the SEC.

If you have a link, kindly post. Just wondering how big MSG is or specifically NYK, in relation to the total empire, top line sales and EBIT.

To recap - Dolan does not care if the team turns a profit. He does not care if the fan base is screaming for changes. Even though he said that Isiah had to win with this group after Brown was canned, Isiah has not, yet is rewarded with extensions and statements of job security. Isiah can trot out a poorly assembled team with no cohesion or strategy that plays carelessly and without passion, can reward lazy, selfish and uncaring players who quit on the team over guys that at least try, and can blatently lie to the public after each loss, and there are NO consequences. So Dolan does not care about profits, the wishes of the fans,or wins and losses. This is at the top of the organization. And people wonder why the players don't seem to care? What is the point? Caring gets you nothing in Dolan world. This is such a weird and bizzaro state of affairs that I really don't know what to say.

Maybe boycotts will help, but so much revenue is generated by corporate accounts that any action would take a long while to really bite. If this is the foreseeable future though, I can see the team slowly slip towards irrelevance like the Sixers and Celtics (until this year) - once proud franchises that the fans just stopped caring about. This should not happen!

Mak -- I'll have to look later. I found it by Googling something like "Knicks value" or Knicks losses"

As I understand, Dolan has stated that the MSG/Knicks/Rangers division represents about 3% of the CableVision empire. No typo. THREE PERCENT.

I also seem to remember in the pie chart breaking out the value of the Knicks, MSG - the physical building - was rated at about 31% of the total value of the franchise. (This part is fuzzy, but in the $200 million neighborhood?) Remember, revenues are extremely high, as well -- because you can charge a LOT more for a seat and a beer in NYC than you can in Portland. And Knicks fans are good fans. So the business brings in a lot of money. The problem is - with Dolan and Isiah running it - they're also losing money hand over first (whatever the hell that means). Hence: $42.2 million in operating losses. Most in the NBA.

If you can't find the article, let me know. It's from Forbes.

Here's how bad it has gotten - Malik Rose has asked to be deactivated so that he can work out rather than play in games in hopes that some team will want to trade for him.

You ever hear the theory that a team needs to know how to win before it can win?? Well look at the players who Thomas has brought in and you can understand why this team doesn't know how to win:
Marbury - 0 playoff wins
Crawford and Curry - played on miserable Bulls' teams
Randolph - terrible Portland teams
Tim Thomas, Steve Francis, Jerome James, Nazr Mohammad - none of them are winning players.
Malik Rose and Penny Hardaway - those were the only winning players he has brought in and neither played.

As long as that building stays full, the status will stay as is.

TRANE:
I read the Forbes article.

I was hoping to easily find Cablevision's Annual Report or 10K without much effort. It'll provide more detailed info. Thanks anyway.

One the biggest reasons for Curry is not a starter is the fact that he can't set the tempo of the game in favor of the Knicks. Knicks need guys who could shut down defensively on any given night and run up a huge lead from the start of the game. That's the formula to beating the Knicks. So if the Knicks used reverse Psychology they may win some games. Curry has to ride the bench for that to happen. Would not hurt if Steph tried to lead the way. Curry can't set tempo defensively. In Chicago they use to call him lazy Eddie. The fan should start getting on individual players not just Zeke and Steph. Since the staff wont do it.

a billion dollar corporation with a million dollar asset doesn't care what people in the cheap seats chant.... There is a reason that teams in SA, Utah and Sacemento contend and are in the payoffs every year.

Fan support, showing patience and understanding of how long takes to build something that will last. Typical is the treatment of Frye and Ariza, Two kids that fans were ready to replace after their second years here. In this environment there is a reason the top FA's don't look to NY. Now they can get their money ANY where. NY no longer has the recruiting edge over other towns for media coverage and chance for endorsements. Most players say why bother. While the fans think they are setting a standard they are only setting an environment that will soon affect all NY sports teams.

This ain't the 70's and Clyde and Reed and Patrick are NOT coming back, get over it.. and give these guys a chance.. chanting 'you suck' to a team of mostly 20 year olds is NOT the answer