Dolan Hopes for 'Better' From His Pricey Knicks
By HOWARD BECK

CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 8 - James L. Dolan is poised to spend about $190 million on players, luxury taxes and his new marquee coach. In return, Dolan is not anticipating a championship, a playoff appearance or even a break-even record from the Knicks.

It is an odd bit of calculus - low expectations divined from four months of wild spending and furious roster turnover - but then, the Knicks' math has always been different from the rest of the league's. They make, and spend, more money than any other N.B.A. team, and they keep selling out games even while turning in mediocre performances. Somehow, the model works.

Dolan, the chairman of Cablevision, says he hopes for better this season. But despite the additions of the Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown (for $10 million a year) and center Eddy Curry ($60 million over six years), and an infusion of youth, Dolan declined to raise the bar for the new season.

"I think we're going to be better," Dolan said Saturday. "I just don't put that into a numerical expression or make a prediction about the playoffs, because it's the beginning of the season, and I think we've got to focus on winning the first game, as well as the last game."

For his first sit-down with reporters since January, Dolan chose an appropriate time - training camp, when optimism is at its high point - and an apt location, the Low Country. The term refers to South Carolina's coastal areas, but it could just as easily refer to the Knicks' sustained residency in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference. They have not won a playoff game since 2001, and they had only 33 victories last season.

Isiah Thomas, the team president, has done just about everything possible to change the Knicks' fortunes over the past five months. He hired Brown. He traded for forward Quentin Richardson, guard Nate Robinson and Curry. He drafted two big men, Channing Frye and David Lee, and signed a veteran center, Jerome James, to a $30 million contract.

For all of that work, the Knicks are still not a lock to make the playoffs this season, or even to finish with a .500 record. That might explain why everyone from Thomas to Brown to Dolan treats expectations with the same circumspection as they treated Curry's medical charts.

For his part, Dolan said the new-look Knicks would be exciting, young and athletic. He expects good entertainment, if not necessarily many more victories.

"It's not just about making the playoffs," Dolan said. "It's about being a great team during that 82 games and putting a great product on the floor. That should ultimately end up, we would hope, in making the playoffs. But I'm not going to guarantee it."

The Knicks' payroll has ballooned to about $120 million for the coming season from $84 million in 2003. They will pay about $60 million in luxury tax penalties. Dolan said the Knicks were still paying for past mistakes, which he referred to as "legacy stuff."

"I would like to be paying less," he said. "I'd love to be able to go back in time and look at some of the things that we did that didn't work out for us, and say 'Oh well,' and change that, but I can't change that. What I can do is support the group to make the team better. Put the best product on the floor, keep working on it, use the resources wisely and not waste them."

Regarding Thomas, who has been criticized for inflating the payroll without improving the winning percentage, Dolan had nothing but praise.

"As far as I can tell, he's done a spectacular job," Dolan said. (His enthusiasm was later eclipsed by Stephon Marbury's, who said, "I think Isiah's a genius.")

It is the presence of Curry, who went through his first full practice Saturday, that provides the most hope. He is easily the Knicks' best center since Patrick Ewing was in his prime, and at 22, he is among the most promising big men in the league. The Knicks acquired Curry when the Chicago Bulls decided he was a health risk. Dolan said Curry's heart issues did not cause him to flinch when Thomas suggested the trade. Team doctors cleared Curry on Friday.

"I really am confident about what our doctors have come through with," Dolan said. "So I doubt that I'm going to have any thoughts in the back of my head about that. I sit there and I worry about the injuries, etc. But mostly, I worry about who's getting the rebound."

REBOUNDS

Channing Frye sat out Saturday night's practice with a sore right foot. The team said he was day to day.

I can't stand him.

Posted by BRIGGS:

Posted by Rich:

I can't stand him.

LOL he really has no clue about basketball. He's just some lucky guy whose daddy built an empire and he got the toys, oh yeah before ganging up and booting daddy the hll out after the fact!

Maybe he knows nothing about basketball but he found a very smart GM who got a very smart coach and a nice young core of players.

I am glad that he's willing to put up the money to try and still make this team great. He's not like the Clippers owner. Dolan may be many things, but he's not cheap with his teams. His day will come. He'll eventually have a more fiscally responsible team and a winner. On that day he'll have the last laugh.

Posted by nixluva:

I am glad that he's willing to put up the money to try and still make this team great. He's not like the Clippers owner. Dolan may be many things, but he's not cheap with his teams. His day will come. He'll eventually have a more fiscally responsible team and a winner. On that day he'll have the last laugh.

Knick fans haven't had any laughs in a long time. While it would be great if Dolan finally backs his ass into a winning team, that will never excuse the utter incompetence that has characterized his leadership at MSG, which has negatively affected both the Knicks and Rangers.

Thank goodness for Steve Mills

Posted by Nalod:

Most were happy with the quick fix back in the day. If your happy these days, you should be happy with dolan. HE hired Isiah, he made Larry happen, he made curry happen, he allowed the financial ability to trade for more picks and take on salary.

In less than two years we increased our payroll %50! Went from crazy to insane.

Sather was a genious before he got here.

Dolan had a bad spell with the Ewing debacle. And he found a way to correct his mistake.

We shure as hell blew it up, but not a 5 year play, but a more expensive version.

Be happy you have an owner who was willing to spend what it too to keep an interesting product on the floor. And wants a new arena.

And is obviously worried about the nets.

I never support quick fixes. I'm a Yankee fan, but I would prefer to root for a team of homegrown talent than a collection of All-Star free agents from other teams because I get the most enjoyment from watching prospects develop into major leaguers, like Jeter, Mariano, Petttitte, Posada, and now Cano an Wang.

As with the Rangers, the pressure Dolan applied on Layden for quick fix solutions, like McDyess, proved untenable, and eventually rebuilding became necessary even to be mediocre.

I am encouraged by the recent Knick moves, but until and unless they bear fruit, I will withhold the accolades for Dolan.

Actually, Sather reputation as a "genius" flows from the late '70s and early '80s. In order to keep the best hockey prospects from signing with the NHL, the WHL permitted it's wealthier owners like Edmonton's Peter Pocklington to sign as many top players as possible. That enabled Sather to sign Gretsky, Messier, Fuhr, Coffey, Kurri, Anderson, Lowe etc. People who follow hockey know that Sather was awful once that retired or became too expensive to keep.

Again, give me an owner that spends less but spends it with a coherent plan any time.

Posted by PhilinLA:

It seems a little like Dolan might have learned from some mistakes. The Knicks got a lot younger this summer, and the Rangers didn't add any big ticket FA's during their re-birth.

Phil, he had no choice. The cap has constrained what moves he could make. The only thing he may have learned is that a charismatic GM helps the franchise more than an uncommunicative one.

[Edited by - Rich on 10-09-2005 1:23 PM]

I'm still a fan.

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