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Hiring Larry Brown was an excellent addition. He'll be worth five to seven wins alone, especially after all those close games the Knicks lost last year. Initially, Larry will be respected, then the players will grow tired of him saying that they've got to play defense. But eventually they'll yield to him because he just won't give up on it. Undoubtedly he will want to make some roster moves because he always does.... Stephon Marbury's relationship with Brown is going to be similar to the one Brown had in Philadelphia with Allen Iverson. There will be good days and bad days. At this point in his career Marbury should be willing to listen to a Hall of Fame coach, and I think Marbury can be unselfish to the degree that Iverson was under Brown. His game is very similar to that of Iverson, though he isn't as quick as Iverson. Like Iverson, Brown can start Marbury at the point and shift him to shooting guard, so long as Marbury is confident he'll get the ball back -- and he will in Larry's swing-the-ball offense.... Marbury will have to get used to hearing Brown call out almost every play -- he's one of the most controlling coaches in the league. He'll let Marbury and the others shoot some threes because he can't completely ignore a strength, but he's not going to like it.... Jamal Crawford could be Larry's biggest problem on this roster -- an immature player whose worst issue is shot selection. He's not a traditional point guard. Crawford will hear a lot more preaching from his coach than Marbury will, because Brown will view Marbury as the better player.... Brown will also need to stay on top of free-agent signee Jerome James. I give Isiah Thomas a lot of credit for pulling the trigger on some risky personnel moves, but this one I don't really get. I've never met an unmotivated guy who, if you suddenly give him millions of dollars, has epiphany and says, "I've been dogging it for years, but now it's all going to change. Now I'm going to play hard!".... Quentin Richardson is a swing man who is better suited to shooting guard, which would enable them to bring Crawford off the bench as the third guard. Richardson can physically dominate other shooting guards. But I didn't think they should have traded Kurt Thomas for him. Thomas was by far their best big man, and they'll miss his toughness, scoring and consistently hard play.... Malik Rose is a hard worker, but he's smaller and not as good of a scorer as Thomas.... Isiah Thomas had a very good draft. Channing Frye was mislabeled as not being a tough kid, but that's because he played for a perimeter-oriented team. He has offensive skills, he can block shots and he has a big body.... Point guard Nate Robinson is going to be a longterm NBA player with the same mental characteristics as Earl Boykins, outstanding speed and strength, and a heart as big as TriBeca.... Now we get to the big question: How is it going to work out between Isiah and Larry? If they get through the year without a major problem it will be a miraculous thing. Everyone knows how frustrated Brown was in Detroit that he didn't have more input, because he considers himself a hands-on personnel guy. Isiah's ego is much larger than his physical size. You look at the Knicks' assistant coaching staff. Half of it is working for Larry, the other half for Isiah, including Isiah's pal Mark Aguirre. One day there will be some breakdown in communication that will trigger suspicion or paranoia in Brown, that he's not being involved in some kind of major decision, and I can just imagine him saying, "Is he not involving me because he's getting all his information from Aguirre?" Brown is a phenomenal person, but he's also a manipulative person, and if he doesn't get his way then he's going to pick up his ball and go home.

thanks for formatting.

THis was SIs take on the knicks. They have us 9th in the east. 7-8-9 is a tough call so I won't bash them for not having us in the playoffs.

There is no real way to determine how this team will do since even larry does not know many things yet. Run with our bad defense? Etc.

Our power rating should be on the low side and I do supsect they will not start strong as thy still need to learn. Im ok with it, and suggest we refrain from a quick fix like Jaelen Rose or others who take min away from our UTE!