Knicks still hot for Francis
posted: Wednesday, February 15, 2006

NEW YORK -- Just in time for the All-Star break, Larry Brown got a reprieve from his misery.

The most dysfunctional team in the Eastern Conference (we were ready to call them the worst team in the league, except they beat the Raptors at the same time the Bobcats were losing to the Nets, keeping New York in 29th place) finally snapped its 10-game losing streak Wednesday night on a late jumper by Jamal Crawford that gave New York a 98-96 victory over Toronto.

Never did a team need a boost as badly as Brown and the Knicks, who have become the local laughingstock in a town with no shortage of underachieving pro teams.

The Mets haven't won a World Series since 1986, the Rangers haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1994 and the Jets haven't won a Super Bowl since 1969. The Knicks' title drought stretches back to 1973, and the newest crop of players wearing orange and blue are finding it's no fun living in a fishbowl when things are going sour.

But the way Brown sees things, comparisons to any local team except the Yankees are invalid. In his mind, the Bronx Bombers have set the standard -- despite their lack of a World Series title since 2000 -- that every other local team should be judged by.

And when he looks at his roster, he feels any comparison to the Yankees is unfair.

"I think we have the resources and the potential to be a contender all the time, and that's what we're hoping to get to. But we've got eight guys 25 and younger, and of your veteran guys, if you look at the veteran guys on the Yankees and on championship teams, you're looking at some of the biggest stars in their sport. I look at our team, we've got a lot of young players that are going to get better, that are assets that are improving, but when you put them all together, it's a lot different. I don't see the Yankees bringing in rookies and playing Bubba Crosby. You look out on the court now and you see Channing [Frye] and David Lee and Nate [Robinson] and Jackie Butler and Qyntel Woods and Eddy Curry at 22, you see them all out there, and they're not out there with [Derek] Jeter and [Alex] Rodriguez and [Jason] Giambi and people like that."

Brown spoke at length with more than a half-dozen writers who descended upon the team's suburban practice facility on Wednesday morning to get a reading on whether this ship is merely listing badly or is ready to sink. Brown's players are clamoring for him to stop berating them through the media, and he is on them to earn some praise by doing something, anything, praiseworthy.

The victory over Toronto gave the Knicks 15 wins and sent them into the All-Star break on a positive note. But by the time the team reconvenes early next week, the roster could look different if Isiah Thomas is able to pull off a trade or two.

The Knicks remain hot for Steve Francis, who shot 3-for-15 in Orlando's loss to Miami on Wednesday, and there are some in the organization who believe a late run at the eighth and final playoff spot in the East is not such an absurd notion. New York would have to finish 26-4 to end the season with a .500 record, but .500 might not be necessary to make the postseason.

"Maybe it will be an opportunity to start over, to start fresh," Brown said of the coming All-Star weekend break.

There's no doubt the Knicks need a fresh start, a new beginning. The big question in the week ahead is whether it will include Francis.

if the knicks really do want francis and want to pair him up with steph (why, i have no idea), then they better do their due dilligence b/c this is not a small move. it's a major shakeup for a desperate team. not only for the players we may be shipping out, but also for the players here. in fact, even if it's not francis, but anybody else, they need to remain patient before making the move.

here's one positive, REGARDLESS of who the player is, and REGARDLESS of whether it's a good move or not, AT LEAST there's two people involved in the decision process - milli and vanilli. before, it was a total autonomy and whatever milli did, it was accepted as the right move. now there's a vanilli to counter it. so regardless of the outcome of a move, at least two heads are making the decisions.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 02-16-2006 10:08 AM]