Ewing33BX - there is no such thing as a pre-season "set' rotation.

Allow me turn to one of my associates for a better explanation:

Hyman Roth: "There was this kid I grew up with in Coney Island; he was younger than me. Sorta looked up to me, you know. We played some street ball together, worked our way out of the street. Things were good, he went to Georgia Tech, he made the most of it. During his first years, he ran from Minnesota to Phoenix to Jersey... made a fortune, his father, too.

As much as anyone, I loved him and trusted him. Later on he had an idea to play in The Garden in city out by a port stop-over for GI's on the way to Europe. That kid's name was Stephon Marbury, and the game he invented was "all alone" basketball.

This was a great baller, a man who made the all star team. And there isn't even a plaque, or a signpost or a statue of him in that town! D'Antoni put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn't angry; I knew Stephon, I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen; I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with the business of hitting the open man!"

In other words, if Zach Randolph can learn to share the rock anything is possible.

You heard it here first

Posted by oohah:

Martin, we gotta re-skin this sucker!

I often type my responses in notepad, email, excel, etc... then copy and paste real quick then close the window.

I am suprised your note smooth enough to try such tactics

Posted by PresIke:

Posted by djsunyc:

imho, too much is being made of this.

this is marbury's last year here no matter what. and if he starts problems, he will be sent home. d'alsh ain't f'ing around. so he has to deal with it. i don't think there's any reason to overanalyze at this point. the media has been sh tting on the team for years (deservedly so) so any more fuel they try to throw into a fire ain't gonna do much in terms of how dolan/d'alsh will react to things. marbury's time here is done. the only question is when...

Exactly.

Marbury makes $21 million, making him pretty much untradable.

He said, "I won't accept a penny less."

I think it's really too bad that he has tried to buy back in, BUT IT'S NOT ABOUT HIM, IT'S ABOUT THE KNICKS FUTURE, AND HE AIN'T PART OF IT.

Why not cut him?

Maybe it's punishment for what he did to the organization over the years, especially last season, and how he was given so many opportunities. Maybe they can't honestly let him walk to play for a team competing with us (like Miami) after he has hurt the organization for so long. It's similar to what they did with Isiah. They didn't fire him either, they just moved him, because he's making big bucks and they want something for that. Maybe it's about holding onto all of their assets to see what happens. If the Knicks have some injuries, they may need him to come in, but otherwise they don't see a need to play him when they have other priorities, and only a short time to make much bigger decisions.

D'Antoni gave us his answer:

“I hate it, and I hate it for Steph,” D’Antoni said after the game. “He hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s just that I think going forward, Gallinari, Will Chandler, Duhon, David Lee, just go down through, Nate. We’ve got to know certain things as we go forward. We’re trying to build a team. It’s not this year. It’s a two- or three-year project, and I don’t want to get started next year on the project. I want to get started right now.”

As for Malik getting PT over Steph?

Malik's contract has a better shot at being moved, could be one. Plus he has an elder statesmen mentality, and I can see how D'Antoni wants the younger players to learn from him. He's also a forward, and if Jeffries is healthy, I doubt we see Rose get any burn. The guard rotation is set. With Mardy, he's someone they need to see more of.

This isn't as complicated to figure out as some seem to be making it out to be.

To me, this also has to do with a residual effect of all of the ridiculous contracts a lot of players got in the early 00's.

If Steph was making half his salary, I think they might consider playing him, because someone might be willing to trade for him. But with $21 mil, no team can gut their roster to trade for him.



[Edited by - PresIke on 10-30-2008 11:56 AM]

Pres, your on the right track here.

If marbury wants to play for a team that wants/needs him he can readjust his contract accordingly. He is not a max player anymore, and the knicks do not need him anymore. He is not in their plans one bit. They want to play the young guys.

Malik does not play shooting guard, so he is not getting Marbs minutes.

If Marbury wants every penny, then he will sit, or be used when there are injuries. If he comes to realize he is a 10mil player, he can ask for a buy out for 11 mil and be free to seek employment elsewhwere.

This is his choice. The team owes him nothing but the terms of his contract. If he proves to be a distraction they can send him home with no pay. They won't put up with his crap no longer.

So this is Marbury's decision. He can go play in Italy right now if he wants. Nobody is stopping him.
If he thinks the money is more important, then let him sit and get paid. If he feels that he is still young and should be playing, then he can negotiate a price and Im sure the knicks would be happy to let him walk. But not at full price. Not anymore.

Posted by nysportsfan11:

The Knicks are between a rock and a hard place and Marbury put them there. All this sympathy leaves out one thing...it's HIS fault.

The only players I feel bad for in this situation are the guys that are actually playing. The guys that are out there busting their asses and get a small blurb that the Knicks actually won buried in the middle of another Marbury dissertation from the hacks that cover this team.

Steph doesn't deserve a cookie for being a professional about his situation THIS year. This argument of "he's been a good soldier and hasn't done anything wrong" is bull****. It's like the ******* parent who rewards their kid for doing their homework. You're a gotdamn grown man, nevermind someone's father...you're SUPPOSED to show up to camp in shape. You're SUPPOSED to be a good teammate. You're SUPPOSED to let the coach do HIS job.

If he hadn't been an ******* every other year, he wouldn't be in this situation. His expiring would have been extremely valuable if he was what his career stats say he is. He'd have been somewhere else right now playing 30 minutes per. Instead, he's made a name for himself as a coach killing, locker room enigma with maturity problems...at 31 for goodness sakes.

This is just the chickens coming home to roost. All this coddling is what's wrong with the NBA. The only leverage a coach has is minutes. Had a coach had the balls to use that leverage on Steph years ago, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation now. You think players would have had **** to say to Red about his minutes? Riles? Van Gundy? As long as he gets paid on the 1st and 15th, the Knicks don't owe him ****.

AMEN HALLELUJAH my brotha.

I'm sick of things being about Marbury and Curry. They didn't play. 3 other guys didn't play either. I dont' care about these two. In the last 3 years we've averaged what 26 wins with them? Why are we discussing this like we are taking Patrick Ewing out of the line-up? I sooooooooooooooooooooo want to move on from these jokers.

Posted by Bippity10:

I'm sick of things being about Marbury and Curry. They didn't play. 3 other guys didn't play either. I dont' care about these two. In the last 3 years we've averaged what 26 wins with them? Why are we discussing this like we are taking Patrick Ewing out of the line-up? I sooooooooooooooooooooo want to move on from these jokers.

i bet u there's 13 other guys in the Knicks' lockerroom that agree w/u 1000000% bro.

i much prefer watching Duhon & Mardy playing in the backcourt when we need some defense than putting in Marbs just to appease him & his 2 leftover fans... u don't necessarily need stars in the backcourt to win games in the NBA... we all saw that when we had Childs & Ward leading this team to the Finals... yeah, we don't have an H20, Spree, LJ or Camby, but it's worthwhile to me to let guys like Wilson Chandler, Gallo, Lee, Zach & Jamal get the majority of touches in this offense, either to develop their games or raise their trade value... who knows, maybe kids like Wilson, Gallo & Lee will become our next Spree, H20 or LJ respectively? having Marbury dominate the ball in this offense does not help this franchise in any way, shape or form... i can't believe after 4 years of futility running this offense through Marbs & Curry that people are still questioning why those guys didn't get any playing time in a season opener under a new regime... craziness i tell ya.

how long before Marbs is quoted as saying the Knicks will never win a championship w/Duhon & Mardy running the point? i give him a month.

I don't think anyone cares about Marbury not playing overall. The problem is why even keep him on the active roster.

IMO the coach can do what he wants with the roster is a red herring for MSG paying Steph back most likely for his role in MSG losing the Anucha trial.

Pro franchises that have been faced with similar problems of unwanted star players have kept the player and moreso the obvious media frenzy the players presence will cause away from the team.

ex:
TO being de-activated at mid-season in Philly.
AI being de-activated prior to being traded to Denver.
Artest in Indy with the whole taking a year off to make a rap album then again Artest in Sac this off-season publicly expressing regret over not opting-out which prompted the Houston trade.


IMHO thats an actual show of authority and managements support of a coach.

This is female and has the potential to blow up in Dolan Walsh and MDA's face. It may be a game but its still a work environment with a labor union et al. Dolan should just kick himself for not disciplining Steph back when the insubordination and embarassments were happening then have Walsh shut him down till a trade or buy-out figure is agreed upon.

You are a dead man walking Bip. I AM TRYING TO WARN YOU!

My two cents is that MDA just jumped into controversy the first game coaching here...MDA don't hold a juice card, that will be up to the fans in the seats...This current team as constructed won't win many games...Fans won't show up to watch players with no flair or no sense of play...We like defense in New York and this team doesn't play any...Did I really hear MDA tell his team in pregame don't go for the pump fakes???...Doesn't that mean to lay back on defense????..Am I missing something here???...

I think New York likes it's stars on the court...The Knicks need to win or look like they can win or the Marbury move will backfire...I don't think Dolan will be happy to see the Knicks lose games and have the Garden showered with boos or those Garden seats empty...Even though we are pushing for 2010...It's the first game, where the Knicks won, and the fans are already voicing their opinions during the game...They are the ones with the juice-card...I guess we will see...

I think its a bad move tho...They have to trade Steph and soon or play him...If they play him, he might do well and have to play him more...New York has no loyalty to named Coaches or named General Managers...They will be heartily bood as well in the Garden...The Knicks won but MDA is off to a tough start...