The Knicks Fix

DW should be careful even in 2010, and if it is not LeBron, he has to
be very careful whom to pay as franchise player.
DW is right man on the job. He has one goal in mind, to find a franchise player.
If you find one you compete every year, you do not have one,
you are the knicks of last 7 years.
I like his methodical approach and he does not make decisions in a hurry,
and is able to withstand the NY pressure. Yes he does mistakes, but you
need luck not to make any one.
I feel finally good about the direction of Knicks, and think that
we still have very watchable and good nucleus players as Duhon, Lee, Robinson, Chandler, Harrington...

Alan, how many years has it been since we've had a winner? 9 years (since 1999)? You have the patience of a saint, my man. Go over to the forum on the Knicks' page on realgm.com, There is real psychological trauma going on over there. I'm telling you, guys are going off the wall and talking crazy stuff.

Check out this piece in the NY Slimes. It has an interview with Dolan where they take lyrics from Dolan's new album and use them for answers to various questions. It is hysterical!

Q. As you’re aware, D’Antoni recently asked Marbury to play when the roster was depleted, and Marbury apparently declined. But Marbury insists that he never refused to play.

A. “If you can’t lie no better than that, you might as well tell the truth.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/sports/basketball/04dribble.html?ref=sports

Alan, good point about LeBron using the 2010 fuss and New York’s obsession as a great big marketing opportunity to expand his brand. He is certainly proving that he doesn’t need to be in the City to get International coverage.

Smart man.

4. Keeping Marbury put D’Antoni in a difficult position and took too much focus off running the team. I have no doubt that Marbury has reason to call D’Antoni a liar. But, whether he is one depends on how you define “liar.” Is “not being totally honest” or “disingenuous” the same as being a liar? The philosophers can answer that one, but D’Antoni is extremely skilled at avoiding outright lies, I think. I love his answers to reporters questions and inferences. For example, D’Antoni’s response to Steph’s accusation that D’Antoni never intended for him to play was “that’s not reallytrue.” D’Antoni is right, that it is not “totally” or “really” true, because circumstances changed and D’Antoni did intend to play him if he had to after the trade. But, D’Antoni knows that he told folks prior to the season that he had no intention of playing Marbury. That doesn’t make him a liar, does it? Just sneaky.

5. Keeping Marbury puts a strain on the relationship between Walsh and D’Antoni as the coach struggles with a problem he was assured would not be a problem. He absolutely did not expect to deal with Marbury during the season and was told by his new players that they preferred Marbury not to be a distraction.

(Apparently reasons 2 & 4 are being held up at blogport security.)

6. Players around the league are fully aware that Knicks management is embarrassing itself and handling this poorly although Marbury brought some of the problems on himself. This is a business and the players know that the NBAPA represents their interests, not team management. Every season players and their reps must deal with management on contract issues. The petty childishness of Knicks management hurts its reputation amongst players. Even former Knick Jamal Crawford admitted as much once he escaped the circus. He told RealGM:
"Honestly, everybody there thought it would be handled before the season started, one way or the other," Crawford told the San Francisco Chronicle. "And now it's continuing to go [on]. It needs to be resolved one way or the other, for sure. It wasn't really a distraction because we were winning, you know what I mean? We've had distractions in the past, so to us, that wasn't like a real distraction. Steph remained professional. He never blew up at the team."

7. The bad press just mounts for the Knicks and overshadows what a few Knicks fans see as progress in achieving cap space for 2010 dreams and a deceptive .500 record which fuels playoff dreams, for the moment. Many Fixer fans, who are among the remaining few to be in denial about the Knicks incompetence, are forced to read more about the episode until the Marbury issue is resolved. Those poor Fixer fans are being forced to waste good emotional energy on a situation they wish would disappear.

8. Walsh’s mandate from Stern was to return the Knicks to some semblance of intelligent management. It is now revealed that Marbury had been confirmed from the team last year (duh) and that this suspension is not disciplinary, which means that Walsh did not need to methodically manufacture a reason to keep Marbury away from the team this season. Some argue there is a method to this madness. It seems more like there is madness in his methodology.

Knicks: lose Marbury: Mate in two. And it didn’t have to be that way.

correction: It is now confirmed that Marbury had been banned from the team last year.

With Rome and the PTI crew similarly spreading a significant portion of the blame where it belongs -- on the laps of Knicks management -- it appears the comment section here is the last bastion of blinding hatred towards Marbury. Too bad, but to the faithful who look for balanced solid discussion about the Knicks: the move toward's NY Post commentary here is only temporary and only happens when certain posters' are pissed because they were wrong about something. Like 2008-2010, this too shall pass.

Oh, apparently part of the above piece was written a couple of days ago when we had a deceptive .500 record. I would have posted earlier but it is really tough to post here sometimes.

Later, enjoy the day.

@PEACEMAN,
MAN UP AND ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTIONS DAWG

DID YOU CALL ALLAN HANH A RACEIST?
AND WHY DID YOU CUSSED HIM OUT BRO?

IM NOT REGULAR HERE. DONT HAVE THE HISTORY.

THATS RIGHT. LEBRON GETS IT.
THATS WHY KNICKS NEED LEBRON
JUST IMAGINNNE LEBRON IS KNICKS UNIFORN
THATS WORTH WAITING AND HOPEING FOR Y'ALL

I am actually more embarrassed over all of the LBJ talk than I am over the Marbury situation! The latter raises questions about the Knicks administration, but the former makes NYK fans and media look pathetic. We've actually had a Newsday columnist (Powell) beseeching us to cheer LeBron's every move so that he might feel the love!

Positioning ourselves for 2110 makes sense, but obsessing over it is beginning to be tiresome. Who really knows what will happen then, or in the meantime? Our focus is on two players: one who is expected to be a former Knick and one who might be a future Knick! We're dealing with a nightmare and trying to grab hold of an elusive dream. If I want to be involved in a gossip blog, I will check and see if Rona Barret is still at it!

I like Alan's perspective and I think Lebron nailed it with his! I'm not asking that we totally drop the subject, but I wish we could get some balance. I commented recently that after Duhon and Lee had a monster game, much of the blogging was about Lee's trade value. Even as a Lee fan, I know that's a consideration. I just want to remember to celebrate the good nights and to support my team as it now stands.

Question for Alan.
How do players on other teams view the Marbury situation. The Knicks players seem to be OK with letting Marbury twist in the wind. If the other players won't hold it against the knicks then they should hold out until Marbury takes a significantly reduced buyout. If we have to pay him anyway why let him play for someone else?

Controversey, Schmontroversy.

Ol Dirty Bastard and D'Antoni don't care about "distractions", "embarrassment" "controversy" or any of the other concerns of the media or fan blogs. If he cared, Ol Dirty Bastard would have waived Marbury before camp. If D'Antoni (or any other coach who has begged off the offer of Marbury's "services") thought it would be better for his team that Marbury play, he would play him.

Walsh cares so little for "distractions" that he actually kept Marbury active, showcased him in the preseason for a possibility of a trade, all the while knowing that there was only the slimmest of chances, any GM would trade for Marbury and his contract. The only way any GM trades for Marbury is to dump 4 stiffs with overvalued 6 year deals in return for a year of hell and the expiring 21 mil. Walsh was never going to make that trade, so he KNEW this all could easily lead to the impasse we have today. Everybody knew it.

Point is, the Ol Dirty Bastard cares nothing for the bleatings of the Bermans and their ilk. Its that simple, that cold, that calculating. Marbury thinks he's a business man because he refuses to give up a million dollars. Nonsense. He hasn't a leg to stand on, he has no leverage to bargain with, he is losing value, the burden is on him to prove that he can play on a team. That is the only question about him; not his conditioning, his strength, his skill level - can he play on your team without exploding and submarining the coach and players. Until he answers that question, by arranging a buyout so he can play for a contender and prove his value, he will never make more than the minimum in the NBA again. Prove that, and come this summer, he may have enough competition for his services, that teams will up their offers to get him, and he can sign for 3 years at a decent rate.

Business is recognizing that you have to get out of a losing position before all is lost. It means biting the bullet, scuttling the team and the contracts, cutting back to the bone, and DECLARING A LOSS in order to retool and move forward. That's what Ol Dirty Bastard is doing, that's what General Motors should have done LOOOOOONG ago, and it is what Marbury should do now. Marbury should sacrifice the 3 million this year (out of how many millions over the life of his contract? anyone?) and continue to be relevant, and therefore viable as a business - just as the Knicks are. If he does not, the Starbury brand will go the way of the Pontiac, and he will cease to be a business any more. Because like GM, Marbury forgot what his business was - offering a product that people can depend on. GM designed its own obsolescent cars and lost millions on investments in banking and other ancillary activities that lost. Hugely. Marbury forgot that in his business, value was calculated by winning, not statistics. Enron's balance sheets (statistics) showed incredible, market slaying profits, even as it made ........ nothing. At the end of the day, there were no profits, no "winning", the central aim of any business.

Stop, Marbury. Cut your losses before they become catastrophic, and terminal. Live to fight another day. Rebuild your brand, rebuild your business. You ARE still one of the best at playing basketball in the league. What you are last at is winning basketball games. Don't become an eight track tape in an i-pod world. You've fooled some of the people some of the time already. The rest aint buying the balance sheet. Show them the product. Play the game to win, don't play the game for money. When you win, the money will come begging. Remember - Walsh, Dumars, Ainge, Kupchak - they can't play the game, all they can do is sign the check. Only you can play the game. You win, they pay. Its that simple.

Nothing says "SKIP ME" like an all caps post from TYRONE W...

"Is “not being totally honest” or “disingenuous” the same as being a liar? The philosophers can answer that one, but D’Antoni is extremely skilled at avoiding outright lies"

238. I have to wonder...

Is spending all your free time typing long-winded, pretentious, pompous posts, about the same boring, irrelevant, Stephon Marbury conspiracy theories and fantasies, on some backwater Knicks blog, where the security system requires you to try 8 times in a row to get them posted...

...the same as being a certifiable 'nutjob'?

The philosophers probably can't answer that one, because they're honestly not interested.... but Live's is extremely skilled in avoiding coming in for his weekly appointments with me.

Live's please...for the love of Lebron...push away from your keyboard and come to my office before it's too late.

Sincerely,

Your Bball savvy friend and therapist, who really reads all your LAPs.

@Willis:
"Point is, the Ol Dirty Bastard cares nothing for the bleatings of the Bermans and their ilk. Its that simple, that cold, that calculating. Marbury thinks he's a business man because he refuses to give up a million dollars. Nonsense. He hasn't a leg to stand on, he has no leverage to bargain with, he is losing value, the burden is on him to prove that he can play on a team. That is the only question about him; not his conditioning, his strength, his skill level - can he play on your team without exploding and submarining the coach and players. Until he answers that question, by arranging a buyout so he can play for a contender and prove his value, he will never make more than the minimum in the NBA again.

Nailed it.

That is simply a brilliant post and a well made point Willis...You are now the forum's official 'Anti-Lives'.

Its so nice to read something on here that is spot on, without any emotional hyperbole, rhetorical fantasy...or Peaceman's drool on it.

Walsh doesn't care...he knew this year was a total bust for the Knicks...he's a cold, calculating, play all the angles type of guy.
Walsh and D'Antoni aren't being 'measured' by what they are doing right now, by the owners who hire them and pay them. There future to earn a living is secure. They are admired and respected by the owners in the league.

No one really expected the Knicks to win much more than last year...so the fact that they are entertaining again, and winning with 6 hard working guys, and got over .500 for a moment, is just a huge bonus.

It is MARBURY who has no leverage and no future...it is Marbury who has completely destroyed his chances of playing ANYWHERE in this league again, beyond perhaps a 1 year min contract given by a desperate team...It is Marbury the selfish arrogant FOOL who doesn't even have an AGENT at the time he needs one the most.

"Freedom has to be 'free'"...LMAO...

...and players in this league, who are proven team and coach killers, and despised by their teammates, only get so many chances to play on a TEAM in a TEAM sport.

Stephon will continue to 'workout All Alone', while Berman massages his massive ego, and hopefully Gallo can teach him how to say 'Pay me my money' in Italian.

Alan, the only point I disagree with is the Knicks relying on the draft based on their recent draft history. We need to bring in a GM to scout players before we start tanking games and saying we are looking to the draft. When the team is fully healthy, they are going to win about 35 games which is not a sure top pick. In that case, so that we don't have a Danillo part deux, we need a real draft savy GM.

@ Willis, after Indiana, can you really say Walsh cares nothing for distractions. I think he cares deeply about building a real "team" and a "winner" which is why IT is no longer heard of, JJ gets no burn, and Zach and Crawford are gone. I doubt he, and he shouldn't, give a crap about what the press think, but I think if he completely didn't care about what the fans think D. Lee would have been gone already.

As for fans going crazy because we won't make the playoffs, this is exactly why IT said you can't rebuild in NY. But you can't please all the people all the team.

@ Peace, you want knowledge, listen to JayZ, Takeover, he has a good line in there: "A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who"

WILLIS,

while your "eight track tape in an i-pod world" analogy is spot on, i think you are doing a disservice to the once illustrious PONTIAC brand to compare it to MARBURY. a fairer comparison would be the ill conceived HUMMER, a product that was an aesthetic and environmental blight on our society from the outset.

the irony of "get in the truck" can not be lost here.

I think the LeBron talk is fun.

I love the direction of the team.

I'm thrilled they are playing this well.

I'm sick of the Marbuy nutguzzler posse trying to keep his name relevant.

The clown is done and needs to just shut up and think about his high school glory days.

@ HawthorneWingo

Dam I remember Wingo ... a fan favorite. :)

@Knick24Life...

Sorry to burst your bubble...but we HAVE a GM...his name is Donnie Walsh...in fact we even have a 'back-up' GM named Thomas...

Unfortunately, Mr. Walsh doesn't CONTROL what injuries a drafted player or ANY player on his team gets...perhaps you might want to console the folks in Portland with that fact as well.

Gallo was, and is, an extremely skilled, tall, and versatile forward who had played at a high level on a pro team, when Walsh drafted him at 6.

He HASN'T had a chance to PLAY yet...because he is INJURED.

Mr. Walsh wasn't the guy who INJURED HIM or KNEW about his mysterious pre-existing injury that he had somehow PLAYED with all his LIFE.

Mr. Walsh doesn't have magical XRay or MRI eyes that can see into the future, when he scouts draft picks.

Meanwhile, our other first round picks, Robinson and Chandler are working out well, and some others, namely Sweetney, Frye, Balkman and Collins are pretty much total busts.

So...perhaps you want to RELAX and let Mr. Walsh, the EXPERT, do his JOB before you throw him under a bus and suggest we need ANOTHER GM to come in and help us find a Dwayne Wade next year hiding at number 9.

David Lee isn't 'gone already' because he is great, young player who costs the team NOTHING

David Lee isn't gone yet...because David Lee + Eddy Curry, doesn't get you Kobe, or Lebron or Dwayne Wade or Chris Paul in return...

It's time for some of you armchair GMs, who have never managed anything in your life, to realize that Donnie Walsh is a lot smarter and more skilled at being an NBA GM than YOU will ever be.

To all the Marbury supporters, perhaps we need to look at this again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWxgbyYrT5A

"Gallo was, and is, an extremely skilled, tall, and versatile forward who had played at a high level on a pro team, when Walsh drafted him at 6."

That was a great preseason game wasn't it. I see why you would make such an intelligent observation. And he played at a high level in Europe huh? A mysterious injury history huh? Does anyone here look into anything themselves or do they just believe Alan blindly. I'll finish this argument once and for all.

In 2006, Danillo missed 1/2 the season due to an injury. This amazing player, in Italy, yes this great passer and shooter averaged 14.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 0.8 assists

In 2006-2007, he averaged 10.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 assists per game in 34 regular season games and 11.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 0.9 assists per game in 8 playoff games.

So, not unlike Jerome James we drafted him based on his promising numbers one year with Milano, in 2007-2008 season, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.3 assists per game in 33 regular season games.

Yup, that Italian League sure is competitive it has produced stars like . . .one second I know what about . . . ok but in the 90's we had . . . .

If Berman could find out about Danillo's propensity to get hurt, why couldn't DW.

Lastly, there is an inherent conflict in having a GM and Team President be the same person. I would explain it to you, but then my post would be longer than Lives (no offense of course).

"It's time for some of you armchair GMs, who have never managed anything in your life, to realize that Donnie Walsh is a lot smarter and more skilled at being an NBA GM than YOU will ever be."

Is this DaJoka? Seriously man this man crush with Walsh has to stop. But ok, you're right, Walsh is twice the man I'll ever be. Happy now . . .

@Willis. Great post. I thought of Randy Moss taking the pay cut to get on a good team. Playing well and then getting a good contract again.

@ Knicks4Life,
With all due respect you're breaking down Gallo's stats as an 18 year old out to prove he's no good, when in truth, none of us know how he's going to turn out. Sure I could see him being a bust, but I could also seeing him be a Tony Kukoc or even a Peja. We just won't know until he gets out there.

Lives is gunning for the next Nobel Peace prize award from Newsday.
Bokonon won it the last time, hands down, no competition.

If Lives wins it the next time, it's either a "posthumous" or a pity award.

Last night's game was a disaster. No contest.
There'll be more of those if this team doesn't get reinforcement.

Rodman9, for my last post on the subject, I agree with you that we can't predict the future on Gallo. But I don't want to draft another injured rookie next year and the point was made that Gallo played a high level in Europe. I'm disputing that fact with his actual numbers. I want the kid to succeed, what kind of Knick fan would I be if I was cheering for our #6 pick to fail? I just find it funny that people say what a great player he is who have never seen him play and who say how outstanding he was in Europe without knowing what his numbers were. At least the people who say he was a bust can do so based on his preseason game and two regular season games. What are they basing the Gallo is the next Dirk on?

Yo…StarburyAssKisser4Life…not sure why you’re posting 2 year old sneaker promotion videos on this blog…does anyone care?

Now…Here’s something you ‘oughta look into yourself”

In the 2006 season you quote, Galinari would have been 17/18 years old.

Dang…just think….when you were 17, you were poppin’ zits, playin’ video games, and bagging groceries…while he was playing pro ball…with grown MEN.

And holy crap! He got hurt! OMFG…we know Stephon Winebury has never, EVER been HURT…we know Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing never got hurt. We know Larry Bird and Larry Johnson really SUCKED as draft picks because they ended up with BAD BACKS.
We know no GOOD player, has never MISSED a half a season, or got hurt in the preseason,…and of COURSE we all know that Donnie Walsh knew Gallo that had secretly bad a back since grade school…and just wanted to screw over the smart Knick fans like you…

….LMAO…done making a fool of yourself? Or

The biggest obstacle between you and posting something intelligent…isn’t your ignorance…it’s your illusion of knowledge.

And here’s something else you missed, Illiterate4Life, I never called him an ‘AMAZING’ player, I called him, skilled, tall and versatile…go get your dictionary…I’ll wait. In the meantime remind me what exactly Channing Frye or Greg Oden accomplished from 17-19…

Yeah…that Italian league is competitive…it has produced, and will continue to produce good players. And the Bronx public middle school you went to, will continue to produce ignorant, mouthy, hilarious bigots…

Thankfully, no one cares when they get injured

Look at past the 7 minute mark of that video. Trust me that was no compliment to Steph. The point was that he is crazy, and it would be crazy of us to keep him on as our leader. I guess you didn't get it and now I feel dumber just responding to you. Jay was right.

Who cares about Oden and Channing Frye? What are you talking about? They weren't even drafted the same year as Danillo? If the comparison is that Oden was hurt and so is the Rooster what does Frye have to do with it? You also can't compare Oden and Danillo also play completely different positions and had completely different injuries. Oden doesn't need his atheticism as much as Danillo to be effective. Just ask Sabonis or Big Z in Cleveland. For all your ranting and constant name switching I used to actually think you had some b-ball acumen. First you say don't look at Danillo's stats because he is only 20 then you dare to compare him to LJ and Larry Bird.

And for the sake of full disclosure I quoted all of Danillo's stats. Can you, or one of your personalities, in all of their infinite wisdom, since you like mocking Lives for not basing his blogs on facts, please name five of those Italian League stars Danillo played against. Thanks, much appreciated.

Look at past the 7 minute mark of that video. Trust me that was no compliment to Steph. The point was that he is crazy, and it would be crazy of us to keep him on as our leader. I guess you didn't get it and now I feel dumber just responding to you. Jay was right.

Who cares about Oden and Channing Frye? What are you talking about? They weren't even drafted the same year as Danillo? If the comparison is that Oden was hurt and so is the Rooster what does Frye have to do with it? You also can't compare Oden and Danillo also play completely different positions and had completely different injuries. Oden doesn't need his atheticism as much as Danillo to be effective. Just ask Sabonis or Big Z in Cleveland. For all your ranting and constant name switching I used to actually think you had some b-ball acumen. First you say don't look at Danillo's stats because he is only 20 then you dare to compare him to LJ and Larry Bird.

And for the sake of full disclosure I quoted all of Danillo's stats. Can you, or one of your personalities, in all of their infinite wisdom, since you like mocking Lives for not basing his blogs on facts, please name five of those Italian League stars Danillo played against. Thanks, much appreciated.

" Look at past the 7 minute mark of that video."

Got any 7 minute videos of Malik Rose or Jerome James talking about their sneakers? Roberson maybe?

No one CARES…let me spell that out more S L O W L Y for you…maybe you’ll catch on this time.

"and now I feel dumber just responding to you."

Well…please don’t respond to this then, so we can keep you at your normal ‘dumbness’....if you get any dumber...your next post will be a puddle of drool and Italian drool statistics and 2 year old drool videos

Who cares about Oden and Channing Frye?

Who cares about Marbury interviews from two friggin years ago? Oh yeah…YOU. LMAO.

"What are you talking about? They weren't even drafted the same year as Danillo?"

Oh…my bad…forgot about that blog RULE that says you can only compare draft picks who get injured, if they were drafted in the same year. You’re right…we need to get you back to normal dumb ASAP!

"You also can't compare Oden and Danillo also play completely different positions and had completely different injuries. Oden doesn't need his atheticism as much as Danillo to be effective. "

Dang! Portland should have played him last year then!

LMAO…you should take this stuff to open mike night at the next NBA comedy def jam.

Yo…genius…tell me again, why is that Jerome James and Curry can’t get on the court at ‘center’, in Mike D’Antoni’s system…but Amare and D. Lee can? Gee...that should keep you busy for 5 minutes.

. "For all your ranting and constant name switching I used to actually think you had some b-ball acumen."

Just to be clear…you can change your name to anything you want when you post…and you wouldn’t have a CLUE what you’re talking about.

There's a reason you aren't an NBA GM, coach or scout...

...and it's not because you're really good at your current job

Come on guys! Let's keep this blog civil.

Damn Knicks4life...who did you tick off now.
I check in on the blog and you going at it with Marbury's Agent.

LOL

Like I said before...we could lose every game from now till 2010.
As long as we get Lebron or Wade or Amare or Joe Johnson
or Bosh. Any of the bigtime free agents will be fine.
I'd pass on Dirk Diggler though.
I don't think he would be able to handle the NY pressure.

Newsflash:

1. Marbury's career with the Knicks is over. No need to watch any more videos of him. You can however, feel free to become a Celtics fan, in anticipation of him soon signing there. Or simply go to Berman's blog if you feel a need to continue to worship him.

2. Our current draft pick, Danilo Gallinari, is INJURED. He hurt his back, and unfortunately came back TOO SOON, before it was HEALED, just like a great shooting guard who once played for us.
So...we don't KNOW how good an NBA player he is...just like we didn't KNOW how good Chandler was last year when he was healthy and sitting on his ass.

Now then, In 2006, Gallinari played for Olimpia Milano in the 2006-2007 Italian League First Division championship, and also in the second level tier European wide cup competition, the ULEB Cup. In his first season in the top Italian division, Gallinari was named as the league's best player under the of age 22,(he was only 18 at the time), averaging 10.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 assists per game in 34 regular season games and 11.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 0.9 assists per game in 8 playoff games. During the season he also won the 2007 Italian All Star Game 3-point shootout contest.

If you have a problem with that Resume for a number 6 draft pick...compared to say Joe Alexander at 8...then you're just an ignorant moron disrespecting Gallo and Donnie Walsh for picking him.

3. The Knicks aren't going to be very good this year, but they will be FAR more entertaining and will be FAR better coached.

Young players like Lee, Duhon, Nate & Chandler will have a chance to grow and develop this year, and then Walsh can decide which ones to keep and extend contracts to.

@ Marbury's Agent - Let's just be honest, you can't be really good at yours either, if you are posting page long responses.

Come on guys! Let's keep this blog civil.

@pverne

When you say 'civil'...do you mean people should stop totally disrespecting Walsh and D'Antoni who have been here a few months and nothing but IMPROVE this team and it's prospects?

Or do you mean that people should stop insinuating that our injured draft pick really sucks, and therefore Walsh sucks, and therefore we need ANOTHER GM, to come in, and make an amazing pick at say....number 9 next year, that will turn out to be the next Lebron?

Or perhaps you mean we shouldn't call the host a racist for quoting whom OTHER people around the league compared Marbury to?

Because I'd be all for that.

But if you mean 'civil' as in we should just allow ignorant fools to spew ignorant BS about our host, GM, coach and injured draft pick...then I'm against it.

On another note not realted to someone that's NOT playing -

Anyone else notice something has gotten Chandler off track?

@Marbury's Agent - I simply mean we can have honest debate without resorting to the kind of name-calling, cheap shot tactic seen on FOX etc. We're starting to slide that way a bit! Just a warning!

The truth of the matter is somewhere in the middle. Have the Knicks handled this badly? Of course they have. At the end of the day, even if Marbury concedes and takes less than what is owed to him the team will only save a few million bucks after throwing away millions upon millions. In this case with an organization trying to change the atmosphere and the bad taste of the Thomas administration you would think that jettisoning such a major symbol of that era would be a no brainer. Having said all that however, who cares? Next year or even later this year when he is gone we won't care. We may be crying about something else. Perhaps how Danilo is a bust or we should keep Lee or whatever but it won't be about Stephon Marbury and I don't know about you, but that's a good thing.

Uh huh. Lot of words typed but still waiting on that reply post about the stars in the Italian League.

Haha!

This blog is deteriorating.

Marbury'sagent sounds more like Walsh's and Hahn's concubine.

I will say though that Willis does make a good point with regards to Marbury's stubborness about the whole situation.

He does indeed appear to have zeroed and fixated in on his current contract money over his long term contract prospects.

The Knicks won't give him the time of day and while he is within his rights to insist on not a penny less than his full years salary before withdrawing from the organization, a more rational forward looking person with acumen enough to gauge his long term business prospects might just attempt to meet Dolan/Walsh/[ ]'antoni half way in a buy out agreement.

That said Walsh and [ ]'antoni used the Sword of Damacles where the scalpel would have sufficed. They were correct to establish their control of the incoming regime early on by limiting him to a back up role and reducing his PT during the preseason. They would have been within their rights and would have avoided the current turmoil had they just sent him home and away from the atmosphere where the team and the organization was intended to go in a different direction.

That didn't happen when it should have. Instead Walsh and [ ]'antoni appeared to have reached an understanding with Marbury at some point early in the regular season whereby Marbury would find his place at the end of the bench in street clothes and play along w/o distraction while getting paid in order to make the early speculation about his benching go away. Marbury performed his end of that deal intially between Marbury and [ ]'antoni. Walsh later indicated that he backed his coach with respect to that understanding thereby giving managements ok on that front.

Later when the team went through a one day trade bonanza, Marbs wasn't ordered to play but was rather asked to play in exchange for something in return- 30-35 mins PT- to which he refused. The coach didn't see that incident as insubordinate.

Later during the game against Detroit the again undermanned Knicks requested that Marbury play. Again the request was not phrased in the form of an order but rather a request in exchange for something in return the starting shooting gaurd slot. Marbury again refused. Following that incident he was fined a days salary and then declared to have been insubordinate. But it would appear that Marbury and the braintrust lametrusted the incidents b/c they treated the exchanges between themselves and Marbury as if they were working under a new understanding that could be modified by providing Marbury something in exchange for just playing. Marbruy refused to get out of his prior early season understanding with [ ]'antoni that was accepted by Walsh. Yet... yet Walsh suspends Marbury for insubordination when the exhanges as reported indicated that the offers to play were phrased as request.

Nice job of dragging Mudbury through the mud. Then again the organization also looked mudsoaked in the process.

Garsh...just what we need around here...a new Marbury apologist spinning the same tire yarn.
Or perhaps Lives/Knicks4Life have chosen a new nom de plume...

Yawn...I'd rather sit thru 7 minutes of a Starbury sneaker ad, then watch another Berman wannabe stammer out his 'version' of "Stephon Potter and the Evil GM of Doom"

Marbury's Agent, it appears that you are starting to run LAPS around those you criticize for being long-winded and boring. Welcome to da basement of da Club bub. LOL. BTW, rest assured that both O&B and Knicks4Life are original characters with quite original perspectives, writing styles and minds. Pay attention to them while you strive for attention and you will learn something and finally have something to say, hopefully.

Willis, thanks for the perspective, but you give the Ol Dirty Bastard a lot more credit than he deserves beginning with the incorrect assumption that he does not care about what other people think or write or say. He may not care about Berman personally, me individually or any of the Fixers who disagree with how he has handled this matter, but he without question is concerned about the public perception of Knicks management and the impact this controversy has on their marketing efforts. If he (and Stern) did not, he would not be so involved in marketing the product himself (with reinforcements from the league office) and if his strategy was always to put the worst product on the floor now for a shot at the lottery and a 2010 dream, then he would never have lied about the organizations two track mission of "win now, win later." If he didn't care, he would have told the truth and said "We're scrapping this year totally to rebuild for the 2010 eclipse" But nice job of trying to make his recent work seem more competent and well executed than it actually is. He cares, he just happens to be careless too.

I absolutely agree, for different reasons, that Marbury should compromise a little and move on. Most people would. I am betting that the NBAPA attorney is frustrated that Marbury has given him very little room to make something happen. A Two million dollar impasse should be easy to pass through. But sometimes the client has a different, more emotionally driven, objective than the rep (See James Dolan, too) . I may not agree with Marbury's perspective and objectives, but he is the one receiving $21.9 million (perhaps minus about $500,000) to sit on the bench and now at home with the likely hood that he will make more than the MLE somewhere on this planet during the next two years. The truth is that Marbury is on a different planet already (your point I guess) and my point is that Knicks management's strategy got them stuck in outer space with him.

Marbury's Agent - Ease up man. Look I'm with ya, I like walsh and I've been supportive of him on everything he's done. Am I happy about the Starbury fiasco? Hell No. But this is the man who finally brought us a plan out of the hole. And although his plan requires a lot of time and a lot of patience, I don't see LeBron going any where else, especially since we have enough money to buy him is own scottie pippen.. hell, he can choose.

Which is the real reason why it doesn't matter how this team is. If we get ourselves under the cap, we can manage to re-tool our team ala the Celtics - one fell swoop.

Even if you don't like the plan, ya gotta admire the guy for having the balls to try it.