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djsunyc
Posts: 44929
Alba Posts: 42
Joined: 1/16/2004
Member: #536
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February 21, 2006 -- HOUSTON — The thing about Thursday's 3 p.m. trade deadline, whether the Knicks acquire Stevie Disenfranchised (looking more and more as if it's going to happen, according to someone on the Magic payroll), Theo Ratliff, Theo Huxtable, Ruben Patterson, Rube Walker, Kenyon Martin, Dwane Martin, Earl Watson, Earl Scheib or any combination thereof, is it really going to make a difference?
You're right; none of the above or all of it figure to re-establish Madison Square Garden as the Mecca of Basketball in our dreams or lifetime. At the same time, Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown are no doubt thinking it's impossible that changes can make their team any worse, so why not keep rotating the tires?
You'd feel that way, too, I submit, if your outfit was going downhill faster than Bode Miller. Then again, who isn't?
"That'll teach him to sober up," Vinyard Baker said this past weekend before undergoing a two-step signing process with my Paper Clips: try out and dry out.
"Things are going so bad for the Knicks," notes column contributor Sy Preston, "the Garden's looking to move in an attempt to get away from them."
Evidently, I have greatly overestimated Thomas' instincts and insight for assembling a harmonious team. Anybody can recruit notarized talent. Forming chemistry and camaraderie by importing players who recognize their roles and willingly accept them takes savoir faire.
It's no fluke Thomas' Pistons won two championships because Joe Dumars didn't compete for touches and points with Isiah, Bill Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson, bustin' out only when needed, and instead concentrated on making it as hard as possible for Michael Jordan and other great scoring guards to get off.
It's no accident the team became unbeatable when Adrian Dantley, who fought time-sharing with Dennis Rodman, was traded for Mark Aguirre.
It's no mystery why Detroit's Bad Boys were notorious for their disturbing and distracting demonic defense; Rodman, Laimbeer and John Salley enjoyed rebounding and roughin' up opponents, not necessarily in that order.
The acquisition of Francis for Jamal Crawford, Trevor Ariza, and Penny Hardaway's expiring contract — at least one more team, Denver or Portland, maybe both, as well as several other players must be involved essentially to even up the salaries — indisputably violates that building code.
While I've always admired Francis' uncanny ball-handling, elevation and airborne contortions, I wouldn't want to play with him or anybody like him. As any baller can attest, courts are saturated with similar megalomaniacs who are capable of winning it for both sides if they're out there long enough. And while they're pounding the rock silly and hesitating when they finally stop — trying to decide whether to pass or shoot — teammates stand around getting angrier and more frustrated by the moment.
Prior to the East's two-point All-Star victory, Shaquille O'Neal volunteered an assessment of Stevie Disenfranchised to the Orlando Sentinel. He said Magic center Dwight Howard "won't develop or reach his potential quickly as long as Francis has the ball in his hands."
So, I ask you, if it's questionable Howard can mature with Francis as a facilitator, what makes Thomas and Brown think Eddy Curry's growth won't be irrevocably stunted waiting in the paint (I predict a league record for 3-second whistles and locker-room confrontations) for Francis and Stephon Marbury to give it up?
On the other hand, Thomas and Francis appear to make a perfect team. Both come with more than their share of monogrammed baggage and both have been known to take off to eyeball the Super Bowl.
"You know what," ventured a West Coast team official, "getting Francis is such a screwy move it might actually work."
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2/21/2006 10:04 AM
