Posted by JUNKMEIN:

Okay, I attended my first Knicks game at the Garden on Wednesday evening and I thought i'd give my take on what went down and the ultimate reason that I feel Isiah may have made one strategic error that he may not return from.

1) San Antonio could have beaten us by 60 points if they had wanted too. Lots and lots of folks can hate on Parker all they want but in the end he's top 5 in the league at the point and number one when it comes to speed.

2) For all of you folks that don't like Marbury out there don't sweat it. I have never spoken badly about Marbury as i've generally felt like he has been misunderstood. His talent is undeniable and in the right situation he would have given Parker a lot more to handle. However, live at the game I saw things off the game court that to me were just troubling. For instance, all of us have issues with our work situation. Nevertheless, we still have to be professional about how we deal with our business and our coworkers. This guy mopes off the court like he's a teenager or something. When you get to the bench and the coach comes over to talk to you and you turn your head away....what kinda nonsense is that. Marbury came off to me like a spoiled rotten athelete that has been allowed to get everything he wants whever he's been....like the stereotypical petulant athelete. You could clearly see that hardly anyone was talking to him on the bench and this whole attitude carried over on the court. Immaturity seems to be his issue...and at 29 years old if you make Isiah have to choose between you and Larry Brown you can rest assured he won't be choosing you. He'll be gone as soon as the first opportunity to get something decent for him presents itself (Marbury for Artest and filler (ehhh, probably not ).

3) Contrary to popular opinion Jamal is a talent with a good attitude. He's also very coachable as he was always open and receptive to LB. Jerome James is not nearly as bad as others make him out to be. He is what he is...which is a high priced backup/psuedo defensive presence. Oh btw, MoT can play. All of these guys are a victim of the item in # 4).

4) Isiah's Big Error. Larry Brown. Now for the most part Brown has always had veteran led teams with the occasional younger player thrown in (ala T. Prince) and Indiana and Philly both represent this. Even more critical is that both of the teams had players that excelled in the half court game. However, the Knicks are full of super young players and a bunch of castoffs from other teams that are not far along in the half court game. The players they have that are capable of playing a halfcourt game hit the bench as soon as they make a good play (i.e. Q- 3 pointer then head fake and dunk...30 sec later on the bench; J. Butler - hits the floor in the 4th quarter). Which touches on the major sticking point in this situation. In order for the Knicks to win in the immediate future they have to run a controlled break. I'm not talking about the Princeton offense that they've been trying to run with all of the backdoor cuts and such....you've gotta have the players (great passers) to do that and they don't. They should be running an organized fastbreak (ala Phoenix) that takes advantage of the horses they have on the bench. Ariza,Lee, Frye, Robinson, Butler, James, MoT and god forbid....Marbury...can all run. Let them run.

Isiah brought in Larry Brown who has turned around every team he's been associated with and he'll eventually turn the Knicks around. One could argue that a Westphal/Herb tandem could have been better for the collection of players than LB. Has Isiah made questionable trades...sure (although the MoT trade doesn't bother me that much). Has Isiah made good trades....Absolutely as the Curry trade had to be done. This team was setup to be developed (it's not ready for primetime and to hit the ground running yet). LB will get what he wants (which is the whole idea behind getting so called "players that play the right way"). So, Marbury will be taking a trip soon. One thing that could resolve the issue is LB's bladder and how long he can bare it. I can assure you that the ass whuppin he's taking this year ain't helping the situation.

It's amazing what you can see when you're seeing the game live. The ultimate question however is will Isiah be around see the team win.....when it happens. I suspect he will.

[Edited by - junkmein on 12-23-2005 12:04 PM]

Posted by Rich:

I agree with most of what's been said. Larry needs to chuck his system and adapt to the talent he has.

Posted by Rich:

I agree with most of what's been said. Larry needs to chuck his system and adapt to the talent he has.

Posted by Rich:

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by Rich:

I agree with most of what's been said. Larry needs to chuck his system and adapt to the talent he has.

no, fans need to be patient.. period

My patience is tempered by Isiah's decision to possibly give up two lottery picks for Curry. I don't mind rebuilding, but not at the cost of giving up picks at the top of the draft(s) for a player that no other team wanted at the price paid.

thats fine if you dont have patience(like most NYK fans). but just because that is so, it doesnt mean LB should throw out his system. you can dwell all you want on the curry trade, but its a done deal, time to move on. there have been many bad deals in the knicks history(or every team franchise for that matter), what sense does it make to harp on it.

Posted by martin:

Posted by crzymdups:

yes, but Jackson was far more diplomatic and he is just as overrated as Brown is. Brown is all "my way or the highway" and most guys are gonna choose the highway.

I also don't buy that Brown's motives with this team are completely on the level. I think he is trying to make certain guys look bad to get them out of here and get his guys in. I don't think he's trying to make them better. What coach in the history of the NBA has played 12 guys a night? Where the hell is the rotation Brown promised like a week ago? This is madness. And I do respect Brown enough to think there's a method to it, but I think the his intended result isn't a better team, I think it's full control over the roster. Whether that means Isiah is here or not. He's an egotistic monster. Fire him.

Brown is an Egomanic, no doubt, but he also gets results. Brown has played 12 guys a night cause he has rookies who foul a lot, 2 centers who foul a lot, a creaky PF who can't keep up, a PF in a SF body in Rose, guards who can't keep in front of their men consistantly and so bigs have to recover and foul, injured guys, and out of shape guys. Did I leave anything out? Oh, and Brown is also unique in a different way: In recent memory he has been the only coach to take a team to the Championship without a designated Superstar or 2 on the team. Is he trying to weed out his team and find the true players from the pretenders? Sure, why not? We should thank him. Try to understand the genius, not hate him.

Posted by crzymdups:

Also, I absolutely believe that most of the guys are struggling because they don't know their roles.

Can you tell me who will play what minutes for the next game? Will David Lee play 7 minutes? 12 minutes? 19? or 0? Who knows? Will Malik play 30? or 2? Will Q go 1-10 in 30 minutes or 3-3 in 9 minutes? Will we post up Jerome James or pretend he's not on the floor? Will AD play 35 minutes? Will Crawford play in the first quarter? Will Nate play at all? Will Marbury be shooting or distributing?

Define the roles. You are being paid $10 million dollars. We don't have a draft pick. The goal is to make progress, not throw up your hands and blame Isiah for giving you flawed players.

Larry Brown is a joke.