Jonathan Bender’s return to the NBA after three years of rehabbing his knees has been the feel-good story of the season for the Knicks. But it needs to stop.

Bender should not be playing ahead of Eddy Curry, Nate Robinson, Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill. If Mike D’Antoni is committed to playing an eight-man rotation, Bender should return to the bench and the coach should give Curry or Robinson a chance. If that doesn’t work out, Douglas or Hill gets a chance.

Bender’s presence on the floor gives the Knicks a long range shooter who can spread the floor. But after a quick start - 20 points in his first two games - Bender is 1-for-7 with four points and five turnovers in his last three games, including two Knicks’ losses. In fact, Larry Hughes shot 1-for-6 off the bench in Sunday's loss 95-88 loss to the Spurs while Robinson and Curry sat.

At this stage of Bender’s comeback does anyone really believe that the veteran forward can contribute more than either Curry or Robinson?

D’Antoni admitted that Bender’s first two games surprised the coaching staff before adding, “I think he is back in that rut which we thought he would go through. We just have to battle through it and stay with him.”

Why does Bender get the benefit of the doubt but not Curry and Robinson? The 10 minutes D’Antoni is setting aside each night for Bender would be better spent on his two high-profile bench warmers. This isn’t about improving Curry’s trade value, which would be nice. And this isn’t about throwing Robinson a bone after 12 games spent in the head coach’s doghouse.

This is about giving the Knicks the best chance to win. And right now, Bender isn’t a best option. Curry and Robinson are.

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There had to be reason why the Knicks were so willing to make Robinson available to the media the day after Robinson’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, criticized D’Antoni and told reporters that he asked the Knicks to trade his client.

Robinson owes the organization and the media relations staff a thank you. By making himself available to say that he wants to remain a Knick, ‘Lil Him probably avoided being fined by the NBA, which was investigating whether to penalize Robinson for demanding a trade.

If the league determined that Robinson instructed Goodwin to speak on his behalf, Robinson could have been fined as much as $25,000 which is the penalty Stephen Jackson received last September for publicly demanding a trade

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D’Antoni admitted that Bender’s first two games surprised the coaching staff before adding, “I think he is back in that rut which we thought he would go through. We just have to battle through it and stay with him.”

Why does Bender get the benefit of the doubt but not Curry and Robinson?

more BS from MDA's lips... he's so disingenuous sometimes, it annoys the crap outta me... he gives a scrap heap recycling project minutes over his #8 lottery pick & the player we desperately need to unload this offseason & he justifies it by saying we just have to battle through his struggles and stay with him? come on. who the hell is stupid enough to buy this stuff? how bad has Bender looked the past couple games? everytime he puts the ball on the floor he looks like he's about to topple over any minute cuz he's got 2 shot knees... he's a turn over waiting to happen... all he can do is shoot the ball when he's left wide open beyond the arc at this point... when u have him & a no offense playing Fishlips on the floor at the same time it's like playing 3 on 5... neither one is scaring anyone to have the ball passed to them... & Duhon is not exactly a scoring threat either on most nights... it puts so much more pressure on guys like D Lee, Harrington, Gallo, Hughes & Chandler when they're on the floor w/those guys to produce, & when they have an off night like Hughes & Chandler had last night, it means we only have 3 guys on the team that are really giving you much of anything on the offense.

i got no problem w/having Bender on the team but when he's seeing minutes over Curry who we really should be showcasing, or Jordan Hill, who really needs to be seeing minutes, i have a big problem w/it... this needs to stop... MDA needs to stop coaching this team with his own stupid personal agendas & start thinking about what's better for the longterm future of the franchise! dumping Curry or developing Jordan Hill should take precedence over getting Jonathan Bender some playing time.

There is no excuse to give Bender minutes right now. Next season is a different story. I would really like to see a Harrington/Hughes for McGrady swap to open up some minutes for Douglas/Nate.

The team sucks. The East sucks. It's not an accomplishment to win 32 games and make the playoffs. Curry looked ok out there a couple of games. The team just can't make an entry pass which isn't Eddys fault. He was really fighting during the Boston game.

If you are going to play Jefferies 30 minutes a night you need to get minutes for Hill period. Jefferies on certain occasions really makes a nice contribution, but it's way overstated. Mike Breen!

There is a huges disconnect btw coach and general manager. I liken this situation to Marbury. Handle it before the season. Don't resign Nate. Mike didn't have a problem last year when the kid was dropping 20 nightly.

I would counter that such superficial player comparisons are for people who only view athletes as trading cards. If you were to dig a bit deeper and compare the reasons for Bender's retirement - to the reasons for Eddy Curry's sidetracks - you might discover two entirely different personalities/ mindsets/ comebacks - and basketball players.

You are correct about one thing... Jonathan Bender is no Eddy Curry.

Rather than regurgitate the past about where he was selected or how he played with the Pacers as a kid fresh out of high school... I would offer that his post-Katrina maturity as a man makes JBender a much more intriguing prospect at 28 years old. These are not simply stats on a sheet or second hand reports from a bitter beat writer, these are people with individual stories. Forget everything you think you know about basketball - Jonathan Bender, as a person, makes the Knicks better.

You remember the courage demonstrated by the Louisiana-born Willis Reed as he walked through the tunnel for game seven?

Imagine the courage it required for the Picayune, Mississippian Bender to play yesterday without wearing knee support.

VDesai wrote:its surprising that he'd be more ready to play than Jordan Hill at this point

he's not... this has nothing to do w/readiness to play... MDA has his guys he wants to play & that's it... Toney Douglas is ready to play now too & so is Nate but neither of them are seeing any playing time.

Nate's been disappointing as hell. With Duhon's poor play, he had an opening to run this team. You know he has the skills to do it, he just chooses not to. Pretty sad that we've seen him figure it out here at times, but we'll never see him put it all together long term.

misterearl wrote:Briggs - you comparison of Bender as "The black Skita" is both superficial and lacking of moral fibre. In addition, for you to add that Bender has never touched the surface of being as good as Eddy Curry calls your source materials into serious doubt.

I would counter that such superficial player comparisons are for people who only view athletes as trading cards. If you were to dig a bit deeper and compare the reasons for Bender's retirement - to the reasons for Eddy Curry's sidetracks - you might discover two entirely different personalities/ mindsets/ comebacks - and basketball players.

You are correct about one thing... Jonathan Bender is no Eddy Curry.

Rather than regurgitate the past about where he was selected or how he played with the Pacers as a kid fresh out of high school... I would offer that his post-Katrina maturity as a man makes JBender a much more intriguing prospect at 28 years old. These are not simply stats on a sheet or second hand reports from a bitter beat writer, these are people with individual stories. Forget everything you think you know about basketball - Jonathan Bender, as a person, makes the Knicks better.

You remember the courage demonstrated by the Louisiana-born Willis Reed as he walked through the tunnel for game seven?

Imagine the courage it required for the Picayune, Mississippian Bender to play yesterday without wearing knee support.

Sounds like a promising book. Now play the youth that we have acquired in the past draft--let them go it's their chance.
Johnathon Bender should prove he can play again starting in Europe or the D league. Bender never avg 20-7 or 17-4-4 he's a small forward who is awkwardly too tall for his own game--that is why he has only put up role player #s his whole career--the only reason he is here is called ego because D walsh and IT picked him 5th.

misterearl wrote:"he's a small forward who is awkwardly too tall for his own game"

Briggs - I'm having a difficult time following your reasoning on this. This Jonathan Bender episode is not about his career with the pacers. It is about Walsh picking up an experienced player that he monitored since he started his comeback regimen. That predates this Summer when Bender was offered the opportunity of training camp. Walsh has years of familiarity with and D'Antoni now has the option to play him at 28 years old. Provided his legs hold up, evidently it is not a question of his skill set.

Forget about assuming levels of ego. They ALL have massive egos. That is one of the traits I have found to be a constant among pro athletes, coaches and executives.

Bender is here because he is a seven footer who knows how to play basketball.

Do you still insist that Bender owns a lesser quality basketball skill set than Eddy Curry?

Monitored him where? D Walsh was pretty open about not making the decisions in the draft for goodness sakes. I missed where Bender was playing--Europe? or a YMCA by himself in Indiana? I think the team should play it's rookie C/PF and combo guard. We're 11-19 this year--BEHIND the W-L record of last year--time to see what Jordan Hill and Douglas have in consistent expanded roles--egos not withstanding.