At Home Finale, Knicks Are Forgotten but Not Gone
By HOWARD BECK

Nine months ago, Larry Brown embraced the Knicks' coaching job as the "single greatest honor I could ever have." Five months ago, he stood in front of the Knicks' bench and below the banner of his idol Red Holzman, soaking in a booming ovation in his debut at Madison Square Garden.

There were no ovations last night at the Garden, or any of the buzz and the wild optimism that Brown once inspired. There was no Brown, either.

The Knicks closed out their home schedule with Herb Williams as their coach, with their three highest-paid players in street clothes and with everyone present wondering where it all went so wrong.

"This is the worst," said Spike Lee, the film director and longtime Knicks season-ticket holder who created the team's television campaign this season. "I'm as shocked as everybody else. When the Knicks asked me to do the TV campaign, I was very enthusiastic."

The building was filled with quiet resignation after a season marred by hideous play, countless lineup changes and a public feud between Brown and Stephon Marbury, the star guard. As the Knicks arrived, another circus — Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey — was packing up the tents on West 33rd Street.

Brown spent a fourth day recuperating from a stomach ailment while the Knicks fell, 98-91, to the Charlotte Bobcats. He missed his third straight game but has sent strong signals that — health willing — he intends to work tomorrow's season finale against the Nets.

Brown is scheduled to be re-evaluated today by the team physician, Dr. Lisa Callahan.

"He's feeling much better today," Joe Glass, Brown's longtime agent, said. "He feels like he should be back. Everything else being equal, he should be back by Wednesday."

Glass reiterated that, despite rampant speculation about his client's future, Brown fully intends to coach next season. Knicks officials and players all say the same.

"Do I expect Larry to be back next year?" Williams said. "Of course."

And yet no one would be surprised if they are wrong.

Brown has a history of leaving jobs early, has alienated the majority of his players and would seem to have every reason to want out. But leaving now would be akin to admitting defeat — "and I don't see him doing that," Maurice Taylor said.

"If you know Coach, one thing you know about him is that he's a prideful person," Taylor said. "I don't think his last coaching experience is going to be this season. He's had some problems with people in the locker room, but I think this just gives him that much motivation to kind of right the ship this summer and see what happens next year."

Knicks officials have done nothing to clear up the situation. Brown has not spoken to reporters since early last Thursday evening, hours before he was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Cleveland. Isiah Thomas, the team president, has not granted interviews in nearly two months. The two are expected to address reporters on Thursday when the team conducts its exit interviews.

That is also the day that Marbury has promised to drop a verbal bombshell, presumably regarding Brown. Marbury took the gracious path yesterday. Before the game, he divulged — unsolicited — that he had called Brown to express "my condolences, let him know that my family and I were praying for him."

"Everybody's really worried about him," Marbury said.

Marbury, Steve Francis, Jalen Rose and Quentin Richardson — all key members of the rotation, making a combined $53 million — sat out the home finale because of lingering injuries. But the season was to be defined by Brown, and no one's absence loomed larger. The Knicks were left to wallow in their misery without their Hall of Fame coach, but they said it was O.K.

"His health is way more important than anything else that's going on," Marbury said. "When he gets better, that's when he should come back."

Marbury's tone stood in stark contrast to last month, when he accused Brown of having "insecurities."

"That's not personal, its business," Marbury explained. Their feud could be solved by a trade (of Marbury) or a resignation (by Brown), but Marbury, echoing other players, said, "I think that's he's coming back."

At 22-59, the Knicks were one loss shy of tying the franchise record. Their home record (15-26) is the worst since the 1985-86 team went 15-26. The Knicks can finish no better than 29th in the league and are vying with Portland for last place — and the most chances at the top pick in the draft in June. The Knicks' pick will be conveyed to Chicago as part of their trade for Eddy Curry.

It was not exactly what anyone envisioned after the Knicks hired Brown and traded for Curry.

Lee said there was hope in the Knicks' young core — "Nate Robinson, Channing Frye, David Lee, Eddy Curry's only 23. Jackie Butler. And you look at the other guys, Jamal's played great," he said, referring to Jamal Crawford.

But then, that group and the veterans around them were expected to be good enough to contend for a playoff berth this season. With Brown at the helm and a $125 million payroll, a .500 record seemed more than reasonable.

"I'm not trying to bury Larry Brown, he's recovering now," Lee said. "But he had better players than Lenny Wilkens, he had better players than Don Chaney. He has a better squad than Herb Williams had. So what happened? You can't tell me that the players those teams had were better than this team."

Is David Lee really taking a shot at Brown, I thought they had good karma...

hahahahaahha

Spike hasn't made a good movie in ages and should have a little more respect than he is showing...This really surprised me about Lee & is very disappointing.

i was being facetious btw... guess that was too subtle for ya.

i pay over $1G a year on knicks tickets... compared to our relative salaries, i can say whatever i damn well want to say too.

Message board classic. Spike Lee hasn't done crap in years, but He Got Game was still a very good movie. Goooooo Jesus Shuttlesworth!

Bruce Lee?