http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/07/sports/basketball/07knicks.html

In the Search for Themselves, the Knicks Are Clueless Again

By HOWARD BECK
A glimpse of the Knicks' future was on display yesterday at Madison Square Garden, or perhaps it was a glimpse of the present. Defining with any certainty who the Knicks are or what they will be five minutes from now is futile, and not even Coach Larry Brown seems to have the answers.

Facing a third straight loss to open the season, the Knicks were nearly saved by their rookies. After being handed a modest lead and five minutes to kill against the Golden State Warriors, the Knicks' veterans converted it into an 83-81 loss.

The counterintuitive result of Brown's lineup change - with his most reliable players providing the least reliable play - was just one of many confounding developments as the Knicks fell to 0-3 under Brown.

Jerome James, foul-plagued and unproductive, was inserted into the starting lineup, with poor results. Eddy Curry, who dominated inside early, spent the final 15 minutes on the bench, even as the Knicks struggled to score. Jamal Crawford's role shrank a little further (16 minutes).

And after indicating last week that the rookies would have to wait their turn behind the veterans, Brown inverted the paradigm yesterday. Maurice Taylor was put on the inactive list, and Malik Rose played four minutes. The day belonged to the rookies Channing Frye (12 points, 6 rebounds), David Lee (8 points, 10 rebounds) and Nate Robinson (7 points), as well as the second-year pro Trevor Ariza (11 points, 6 rebounds).

The kids played well, but the Knicks nevertheless left without a victory and without any sense of where they are headed. Roles are changing from game to game, and even from quarter to quarter.

Asked if Brown had used his high-energy rookies to send a message to his veterans, Rose said, "I don't know what he's doing."

That sentiment fairly well summed up the feeling throughout the locker room, where blank stares and carefully worded answers were the order of the day.

"Part of me thinks Larry likes it, people not knowing what he wants or whatever," Rose said. "All I know is I go as hard as I can when I'm out there. Sometimes, things just don't go your way."

It could get worse quickly. The Knicks leave tomorrow for a six-game trip through the Western Conference.

"I'm trying to figure out who can play and who can help us," Brown said, praising the energy of his three rookies, as well as Ariza, Matt Barnes and Antonio Davis. "We've all got to do that. It's got to be infectious for everybody."

The Knicks trailed by 11 points after missing their first eight shots after halftime. Ariza began the comeback with a 20-foot jump shot. Barnes followed with a driving layup, Curry hit a short hook shot and Stephon Marbury scored 9 points over the next three and a half minutes.

Frye hit Lee for an alley-oop dunk to open the fourth quarter, and Lee followed with a layup that put the Knicks ahead, 69-67. They led by 5 points with 8 minutes 29 seconds to play and had a 74-71 edge with 5:46 remaining when Brown sent Rose, Barnes and Davis in to replace Frye, Robinson and Lee.

"I thought they were a little tired," Brown said, "and then I thought down the stretch, I don't want to put the rookies in a tough situation like that."

The Warriors responded with a 12-1 run, while the Knicks missed 12 straight shots. The final score was misleading; the Knicks trailed, 83-75, with 16.1 seconds left. It was that close only because the Warriors missed 17 of 32 free throws.

In the season opener on Wednesday, Frye did not play, and Lee was on the inactive list. By the third game, they were among the most critical players in Brown's rotation. Two days after glibly saying, "I have no clue who to play," Brown called his rotation "kind of an audition."

"I want to find out who's going to grind it out, defend and have a chance to guard people, and then we'll move on," he said.

Curry, the Knicks' signature acquisition of the off-season, scored 8 points against the Warriors' overmatched frontcourt in the first quarter, but finished with only 11 points in 16 minutes. Brown said Curry needed to be in better shape and stay out of foul trouble. (He had four fouls.)

Curry said he was limited by a strain in his left calf, but said, "I think I have enough to be successful out there."

Across the locker room, Crawford tried to hide his disappointment, staying mum when asked if he was disappointed by his brief playing time.

Despite their off-season moves, the Knicks' record is worse than it was after three games a year ago (1-2). They need a victory, but they may need predictability even more.

"I don't know what Coach is going to do," Marbury said of the unsettled rotation.

Asked if consistency would help, Marbury said: "Of course, consistency is always the best teacher. I guess Coach feels differently."

REBOUNDS

Maurice Taylor was placed on the inactive list Sunday to make room for David Lee. With Taylor joining Penny Hardaway and Jackie Butler, the Knicks have $24 million - about 20 percent of the payroll - on the inactive list.

Howard Beck questioning Larry's moves? Maybe he should watch a couple episodes of West Wing and run for president--what does he know about coaching? Larry Brown is Basketball God made man.

[Edited by - Knight on 11-07-2005 12:08 AM]