SAS & BT (djsunyc paraphrasing)

- lb doesn't want steph, francis, jalen, jerome, and possibly eddy back next year. eddy has actually gotten BIGGER towards the end of the season.

- knicks are actually contemplating telling steph to just stay home until they trade him (like the bulls did with tim thomas). that would happen b/c of conduct detrimental to the team. SAS doesn't think he deserves that b/c they're gonna have to show us that lb, isiah, mills, dolan are all together in this and as of right now, isiah hasn't come out and definitively said anything bad about steph. they don't think it will happen but if it does, they need to make sure that brown is committed to this team. they can't lose both.

- if lb leaves, then isiah's days are numbered.

- what makes it frustrating, 23 wins should constitute a rebuilding season. there aren't more answers for next season, there's more questions...that makes this season a waste. there was no progress and there's been regression. this has been nothing short of a disaster. comapred to these circumstances, a rebuilding year with progress is an improvement. if this team won 30 games and shown progress with no friction, you can say this team is pointing in the right direction but you can't say that.

- the roster has got more and more cluttered as the year went on. dolan is gonna spend money, you hope it was spent in the right direction, but with francis, jalen, and jerome, it has not.

- jerome plays ok in a game, then you see the guards looking at him, laughing, and not passing the ball, then something else is going on here than simple stuff on the court that needs to be addressed before you can even talk about on court play. in the miami game, and cleveland, i've seen him do a couple of good things in a couple of minutes only to watch the guards smirk at him, and look in a different direction to move the ball, even when lb is screaming at them to dump it into the post. everybody on the bench loves jerome.

- when you see stuff like nate not shooting after lb screamed at him, like marbury in orlando, and then see what james was talking about, then there's a bigger problem. and that gets shaky to talk about.

- malik is a consumate professional and works his butt off. he's got heart and respects the game. they would love to sit down and talk to him and get his views on this team. that's the guy you want to talk to b/c he knows what's going on.

- (caller says the eddy deal may go down as one of the worst in nba history. the bulls had no leverage in the deal. even the atlanta got lottery protection in the joe johnson and for isiah not to protect this pick somehow, it's just not competant.) eddy curry and jerome james made isiah look very bad and isiah made himself look bad in making those expirings into jalen and francis. at the end of the day, without those two expirings, it was actually looking decent...until those two guys came in. at the end of the day, you want to give a coach everything he wants, you sometimes have to say no. i would not have let those contracts parlay into francis...maybe rose, but not francis.

- what's the knock on krstic? he's a little bit soft, prototypical euro, good shooter, good passer...and he averages more rebounds than curry. and he gives up 90 lbs. what does that say about eddy curry? he doesn't like to rebound and that's the problem when he was in chicago and you would think lb would be able to fix it.

- when you are on the court, you can not look over the leadership from the guard position. vince, kidd - they get it done. it's real easy for other guys to step up. it helps your game - it brings a little more out of you. but when you're with a bunch of scrubs that can't get it done, it has a similar negative effect. and now krstic has played hard and earned some plays run through him. frank doesn't have to do anything b/c he has players on the court that do it. lb doesn't have that.

***********************************************************

more detailed recap courtesy of a psycho:

-SAS: finally over! BT, I should buy you flowers...end season last night...catastrophe in every sense of the word

- SAS: looked ove rroster and what it comes down to: Marbs, Francis, Curry and Jalen need to go

- SAS: Curry has been garbage, lollygags, looks like he got bigger; like he's been sitting around eating twinkies and steak sandwisches; Curry has looked awful and pathetic

- Knicks are stuck because they gave up an unprotected first rounder this yr and a swap next yr.

- SAS: we have every reason to believe that the Knicks will be bad next year; SAS haad no problem with the pick this year because he thought the team would be much better

- SAS: It will be comical what LB says to these guys

- SAS: LB wants changes DESPERATELY and in major ways; LB wants to send Marbs, Steve and Jalen FAR AWAY from team and not to come back until they are traded, like Tim Thomas

- Banishing Steph is embarassing esp in his hometown, SAS asks, does Steph deserve that? Normally banished players are cancers, poisonous to the team-conduct detrimental to the team

- SAS: LB is ready to send Steph away...but doesnt think Steph may deserve that...Steph's a headcase, towel on head, takes bad shots and doesnt pass

- BT: doesnt see Steph and day to day interaction; doesnt know if banishing Steph is the right move neither does SAS

- HOWEVER, conduct detrimental to the team carries more weight than his career 20 & 8 numbers

- Banishing Marbury would have to reflect the collective interest/opinion of top management

- Zeke never took side of LB or agree with LB's opinion of Steph

- BT: Zeke can't can't coment b/c he brought Marbury here

- If Marbs is banished, Zeke needs to ensure that the team is committed to LB

- SAS: Zeke knows if LB walks away, ZEKE IS FINISHED; if LB walks away, Zeke is left with an unbelievable mess to fix up

Montage of sound bytes
- Zeke introducing LB as head coach
- LB ecstatic about coaching Knicks
- Marbs says getting LB is a no-brainer and guarantees playoffs
- Zeke saying he's satisfied where they are at trade deadline
- LB talking about being relentless with the team and demanding they play right
- Clip of Jalen's 5 sec violation vs Clips
- LB speaking about Marbury and being a team player and making teammates around him better; "You're the best guard in the NBA and your team is 17-45 and its all the coach's fault"
- Gus Johnson: Hawks pound Knicks, "knicks going from bad to worse"
- Clip of Marbury turning the ball over and then an offensive foul called on Steph
- Gus, "and the knicks lose 10 in a row...the ship has sunk."

- BT's primary point: NY CAN'T REBUILD is the most common thought but winning23 games should constitute rebuilding

- YET, after this season there has been more questions than answers- little to no progress except for Jamal and the rooks

- Outside of JC and the rooks, the entire team regressed

- SAS: question is if talented parts can co-exist, cohesion amongst selves and with LB; are Zeke and LB on same page?

- BT: in rebuilding, the roster is usually thinned out and now its more cluttered than ever; Dolan spends money but JJ, Jalen and Francis were not worth the money and problems

- SAS: something else is going on that is far more corrosive

- Jerome James doesn't like Steph; most guys on the team love JJ (BT sees it during live games right near Knicks bench)

- BT would LOVE to get Malik Rose off the record to find out what happened; Malik is a great professional not a great player

- Eddy Curry disappointing; clearly he does not like rebounding

Crawford sound byte:

JC: "know both of those guys; hear both sides and don't want to take sides; see them every day; team is aware that the whole city knows about the LB and Steph debacle; crazy how it got out"
JC: "this much talent, a great coach, blew a great opportunity if the team is not back together"

[Edited by - djsunyc on 04-20-2006 12:50 PM]

No new information:

Brown has to be smoking it then, you can't tell your GM that yeah, I am signing off on Francis, Jalen and Curry but now I don't want him (issues that he had in Philly with King).

Brown devalued Marbury's value and believes that there could be a market to just dump the guy.

Not sure how much is this true about Thomas days being number if Brown goes or stays. Thomas was willing to resigned during the season but Dolan and Brown both didn't want him to go. Also I don't know how much does SAS is involved in Dolan's circle.

SAS' Knick information other than Brown's stuff isn't as good as his Philly information. I feel for the guy because he has lost some of that investigated/gossip touch because of his success. The Post has been doing a better job as really breaking stories.

Posted by Andrew:

lb doesn't want steph, francis, jalen, jerome, and possibly eddy back next year. eddy has actually gotten BIGGER towards the end of the season.

Neither do I. Add Mo Taylor to that list too.

agreed. And I'd replace the "possibly" with a "definitely" for Eddy if he isn't in top shape very soon. He's gotta work his ass off to show me that he's worth keeping.

I agree with everything Stephen A's said here.

Pretty drastic changes have got to be in store becuse this was a drastically bad season and the direction of this franchise right now is alarmingly bad.

I'd sign off on the sitting Steph out until he's traded idea. There's a point where you decide not to continue throwing good money after bad, right? I don't believe enough in his potential positive contributions to next year's team to warrant risking all the bad stuff that could come from it.

As far as "lb doesn't want steph, francis, jalen, jerome, and possibly eddy back" I'd be okay with those, with the exception of course of Jerome. Besides my peculiar affinity for the guy, he was also talked up by Ray Allen after JJ left Seattle - Ray said the guy has game and can help a club. Steph I already referenced. Francis and JRose I would LOVE gone. Eddy, for the first time this year, I'm ready to say let it go. Guys's got chronic disappointer written ALL OVER his massive self.

I say get rid of most of those guys - steph, francis, jalen, and Jerome if possible.

Give Eddy Curry one chance to show he's serious - he should work hard in the off season, maybe go to Pete Newell's "Big Man Camp", show up in great shape, show some passion for the game, and improve steadily over the first half of next season. Otherwise, he should be outta here.

Really, we need a bunch of team-oriented guys who will listen to their coach, and we need a coach who can earn the players respect and loyalty. We're not doing to good in either area.

I'd agree on letting a guy stay home if he's a negative influence in the locker room.


[Edited by - BASKETBALLJONES on 04-20-2006 14:45]

Posted by TMS:

LB has the respect & loyalty of every other player on this team other than the malcontent primadonna crew... get rid of them & you'll see a team that's going to gel & play hard for their coach, i can almost guarantee it.

That sounds real confident there.

i think if they get rid of steph, jalen and james, curry will be better with very few negative influences. it would also benifit nate.