"Everybody was saying, Cleveland vs. New York, it's going to be a blowout, let's see LeBron put on a show," said Crawford, who rang up a season-high 37 points with four assists. "We ruined the plans."

After James tied the score at 94 after laying in an inbounds lob with 29 seconds left, the Knicks, as they so often do in crunch time, put the ball in Crawford's hands. Crawford is the only Knick who truly wants the ball in crunch time and he's one guy with whom Brown has slowly fallen in love. Brown revealed Crawford is playing as hurt as anyone with knee tendinitis.

"He's the most improved player I've ever coached," Brown said. "He's as good a kid as I've ever been around. He does things for the team to a fault. You get enough guys (like that), the people will be cheering for us." That was a veiled reference to several fans cheering James' big fourth quarter. But it was Crawford who stole the show. After dribbling down the clock, Crawford faked out Larry Hughes with dipsy-do move at the top of the key, cutting to the right and hitting a falling-down rainbow from 10 feet to break the tie.

"Believe me, you guys watch games and have been to practices, you know who cares and who doesn't care," Brown said. "I don't get caught up in disrespect. I'm more concerned about disrespecting the game and disrespecting teammates. The bottom line is I have to do better. I understand that. We're going to have people representing this team that everybody can be proud of. I can guarantee you that. I know that's going to happen."

"First of all, you never want to be regarded as the worst team -- we want to show appreciation to our fans who've been just amazing, really sticking with us and supporting us through everything. Secondly, we must show our young guys, Channing (Frye), David (Lee) and Nate (Robinson) how important it is to do things the right way. We don't want to give them the wrong idea that this is okay. Third, by putting things together now we're building something not just for the rest of the season but also for next year and the future." "Right now, everybody's giving up the good shot for a great shot," added Crawford. "Guys don't really care who scores or who gets the credit. Everybody is on the same page. It's clicking right now and we just want to keep it going."

"And with our Hall of Fame coach and the talent we have here that's admittedly a little hard to grasp. We all feel we should be in the upper echelon of the NBA. We're perplexed that we're not."


"That's one of the things (Coach) Larry (Brown) is on me about," smiles Frye. "To always have something new up my sleeve. He says 'the guys defending you know you can do this. Now what can you do to surprise them and get around them next time?'" "This year I learned that it's much tougher to win in the pros," Frye turns serious. "And that team chemistry is everything. On paper, we have CRAZY talent. But the games are played on the hardwood."

One of the ingredients that might be missing is on-court leadership, according to Frye. "You've got to be consistent, be a hard worker, come in first and leave last," he says. "When I say consistent, I mean many things, including defending hard for 24 seconds on each possession, not for 19 or 20. That's what Detroit does, that's what's good about San Antonio. They play to their players' strengths, do the same things consistently. That's what WE were doing during that six-game winning streak. We were consistent in the things we were doing, and consistent in our energy. You've got to do what you do well, and do it in a cohesive, consistent manner." "Still, you've got to be a gym rat, do the right things, take on more responsibility, every single day," says Frye. "As a rookie, you can only lead by example. Next year, I expect to be more vocal -- I think all of us should be."

"I want to be known as a hard worker, a good teammate and, on the court at least, an animal," he says. Now THAT'S versatility. And that's Channing Frye.

Jamal Crawford: The losing is tough to deal with honestly. I would be lying if I said it wasn't. You know, it's tough because guys are competitive and we're professionals. We're playing a game that we love but it's embarrassing sometimes to lose and walk down the street and everybody's like what's going on with you guys. It's amazing how many people in New York watch the Knicks and we just want to make them proud. So hopefully we can deal with this losing and get back to our winning ways. It's such a bright future and if we just get everybody healthy and more importantly, we have the best coach out there. You know, we have a guy who's won at every level in Coach Brown and he's just teaching us every day. He never gives up on us and he wants us to be better players and better men. He's teaching us about life and so I think there's so much to offer with our team and it'll translate in wins sooner or later. On playing the right way: When he (Coach Brown) says that, it's not just pass the ball. It's being there for a teammate on defense and being a good teammate. When the veterans were making their run, the young guys had to be on the bench cheering which goes with playing the right way. Anybody can be the leading scorer any night. We don't care who the leading scorer is. We just want to win. We're a deep team like I've always said. That's probably our greatest strength. We just have to continue to do that and keep moving forward.

"Believe me, you guys watch games and have been to practices, you know who cares and who doesn't care," Brown said. "I don't get caught up in disrespect. I'm more concerned about disrespecting the game and disrespecting teammates. The bottom line is I have to do better. I understand that. We're going to have people representing this team that everybody can be proud of. I can guarantee you that. I know that's going to happen."

"Coach Brown's thing is, he should never have to coach effort," Snow said last night before the Cavs faced the Knicks at the Garden. "Guys should try hard. He should never have to coach that. That's one thing I know he believes in. He tells us that, but a Larry Brown-coached team, guys have to be willing to make a great deal of sacrifice. If you don't have that, it's not going to go very well."

"When I played for Larry Brown . . . he and Allen [Iverson] had their differences, but it was never about on the court. I think that's the major difference here," Snow said. "It was never about whether guys would play hard. Is he a demanding coach? Yeah. Is he tough? Yeah. But if you listen to him, you have to be willing to make sacrifices in your game, especially when you have a team as talented as they have. Guys have to make it work. They're so talented, but everybody can't get the ball as much as they're used to." Jamal Crawford, one of the good guys who has sacrificed and attempted to give Brown whatever he's asked all season, scored a season-high 37 points, including a 17-foot fadeaway from right of the foul line with 6.4 seconds to go that proved to be the game-winner in a 96-94 decision over the Cavaliers last night at Madison Square Garden.

Yet they showed something they didn't 24 hours earlier in Washington, whenthe internal finger-pointing became public.

"Some heart and pride," said Crawford, who's become a poster child for everything Brown wants from his players but clearly isn't getting, according to some of them.

A guy who's bought into Brown's program, saying, "I'd be crazy not to listen to a guy that's a Hall of Famer and who's seen everything."

That hasn't exactly been the team party line during what is now a 20-54 season, hence Wednesday's locker-room unburdening. But Crawford, initially unhappy opening night when he lost his starting job, has mouthed it consistently ever since, even as he almost departed at the Feb. 23 trade deadline.

"At the end of the day, we're all in this together," he said. Some teammates may disagree, but he's on board.

Does not sould like all the players "DON"T" get it.

If we can get Pee Wee Nate on the bandwagon, it would be great. If not, he on the next boat.

Posted by Bippity10:

"A guy who's bought into Brown's program, saying, "I'd be crazy not to listen to a guy that's a Hall of Famer and who's seen everything."

The guys that beleive this will magically show the most improvement over the next few years, while the rest of the guys will be the same players they've been for years, giving themselves nicknames and bragging about how good they are. Not adding one new thing to their games.

I agree with that.

Brown should play the guys that deserve to play. He hasn't done that. If some guys have given up and are not bringing the effort...then why are they playing still? Brown needs to stop complaining and put his foot down. Whenever he decides to do that then the Knicks can deal with the ones that are not down with the program.....Period!.....but that should have been done from day one.

From the beginning of that article, you would think these guys won 50 games...