Team raised prices 11 percent on average, some sections getting a 20% increase.

No price increase for last two years. Dolan knew mass revolt would happen if he raised prices, so he had to make the team relevent NOW!

Isiah is a star and the team promotes the GM as if he was still playing. "Isiah gonna do this, Isiah gonna do that" is what is heard so many times on the fan posts.

Dolan wanted Marbury cuz he is local star with "cred" and commands loyalty. Brand Loyalty as Cablevision CEO has said before. Prices could not be raised unless they had a real star, and Allans was fading fast.

The Knicks raised prices on fans, not the Media. I, a fan am bashing them BEFORE the media can. Don't question if I am a REAL fan. I know my hoop, and this is my opinion. There is no right or wrong here, so everybody is right.

Whats my point, if fans keep fueling the financial sham this team will never be championship quality. Its an entertainment company and what is going on is more patchwork then real team construction.

The Lakers Star Phuched at a very high level, but they did not have to pay top dollar for Payton and Malone, but you can see the big names are not always the path. I love the Spurs, risk taking, good trades, cap room flex, and play a great team game. Other than Duncan, they are a not stars, but "the sum of the parts are greater than the individual pieces". We are the reverse, lets put big names out there and fill the seats. This is how we supported Ewing, and this is how this team is being constructed. We all talk about sheed as if he is the final ingrediant, but we don't know. he has foot problems and at his age past his prime.

Are we on the right path from last year? Im not sure, we got better names, but they have yet prove anything.

The short term must be addressed with bonding and creating chemistry and core unit. I hope that this collection of players, all whome have much to prove as they have alot of unfulfilled potential and labels of being underachievers and over paid can pull it together in the high pressure environment we call MSG, in the city with more media than anywhere on the planet.

Other wise its Dolan putting together more names to sell tix = Star Phuching!

A history of Star Phuching:

The knicks tried to lure Wilt Chamberlan out of retirement at age 42, about 4 years after he retired. They gave up a ton to land a coked out Spencer Haywood. They traded for Bob Mcadoo. They sucked together. But they were big names. Overpaid for Marvin Webster, whom played injured on a off for years (think Camby with no offense or jumping ability). The list goes on and on. X-man, Kiki, Charles Smith, strickland, Derek Harper, Doc Rivers, Maurice Cheeks, and of course Rolando Blackmon.....all big names, big salaries, all past their prime, all traded using prospects or draft picks to prop up Ewing. Got lucky with misfits Starks and Mason (I loved them by the way). Took on Larry Johnson and 84mil contract with bad back and undersized (I loved him too).

We took a risk with Spree (we were desparate, no prospects) but could not create chemistry with two great shooting guards and playing Spree out of postition. Either h20 or Spree should have been traded at opportune times. Star phuching don't allow that.

All big names, all nice guys that we rooted for, but most past prime, all bought in for the quick buzz to sell the tickets. All for the Cablevision way of things: Star Phuching. (defined as selling a false hope using name brands unable to deliver the ultimate quest: a championship)

Stop the Star Phuching! I hope Isiah is just doing this one more time and will continue to use youth, and eventually good draft picking to move this franchise forward legitamatly.

great post nalod !

I don't know what the market was for Dice. He looked great those first few games. Camby had little value and was over paid. We also got Frank and Devers no2, which was Lampe.

IN fact, Frank and Lampe may prove more valuable than NENE. Who knows, will take 5 years to know the answer. the dice trade could have been brilliant. I admired Laydog for taking that risk. Denver passed on Amare Twice that draft.

I say chance with spree because he could have continued to be a problem. Nobody had ever hit their coach before! We took a chance resigning him to a big contract, not with mills and starks.

I've got news for you boys. The only way those tix will stop going up, is if people stop buying them.

This thread lost all credibility when you gave the spurs props as if they built a winner out of malik rose, steve kerr... the spurs got lucky, it had nothing to do with great planning!!! They got DUNCAN!!! END OF STORY!!! please with all the bS!!!

We could not put a supporting cast togethter with Ewing to win a ring. Robinson was a shell of his former self last year.

What does luck have to do with it. Getting the no. 1 pick was a fluke cuz robinson was out all year, and they moved up in the lotto.

So that pick was not expected to ever be that high. Could you imagine if they traded it a year or so before to try to add a mid level player for a first round pick, and then it turned into tim Duncan. That goodness ewing never went down a full year and we lost a overall no. 1. But it would have been so knick like to have done so.

No way, your history is clouded. The knicks could have taken the bulls out at least in two years. The Knicks had good teams, but never developed any players of note other than the misfit starks and Mason. I outlined it all yesterday. Those teams had flaws and had a little patience been applied (no star phuching) we could have been better. Rod Strickland for MO Cheeks? We had the PG right in our hands! Over and over we keep that team artificially high by mortgaging the future. we did it for a long time and could have done much better. Sorry, Im not buying that line. We had the Rockets finished, we had the bulls two times on the ropes. IT was our time and we did not have enough fire power to finish the job.

And Don Nelson was right when he was here, it was time to rebuild but the star phuchers would not let it happen. Don't cloud your history with fond memories of falling short. yes it was fun, yes we came close, but it did not yield the result. I challenge the team to not just be fun to watch, but commit to excellence and be better, much better.

Posted by crzymdups:

Of course the Knicks always go for stars, it's because fans like us are always screaming for change, the NY media is always screaming for change. It would take balls of British steel to rebuild in this market.

The thing that irks me is bringing up Strickland. Everyone knew he was going to be great, but Jackson was established and a former all-star and rook of the year. It's similar to the situation developing between Frank Will and Marbury. Who do you think they're going to trade this summer? I'll give you a hint, it ain't Mark Jackson. Give Isiah credit that he doesn't seem to be going for names. Marbury isn't a 'name'. Gary Payton is a 'name', a shell. Marbury has at least five good years left to lead a team. If they can add someone who can develop to be a legit post threat watch what happens...

very good post, and not only that, I hate to say it and I know people in here are going to go nuts, but Ewing was a great Allstar player but he was not on the level of Jordan, Hakeem, Bird or Magic, Ewing was a very good player but I don't care how many years Nalod thinks the knicks needed, we didn't have enough to beat jordan and the bulls, the closest we came went up in smoke with charles smith getting blocked over and over again. My memory is good, I remember Ewing and his first game in the league, I can even tell you how ewing scored his first NBA points and against whom. It was a put back dunk VS malone and the sixers, so I remember well Nalod.... The knicks traded Strickland because he was playing behind another fantastic young player and really strickland was becomming a problem on that team, that is the truth, and that was strickland in his early years, as time went on he matured but that was then....

and yea Don nelson wanted to rebuild, but he went about it the wrong way, by trying to reduce the role of the teams best player in his prime, good goind Nelson, I wonder how many rings the genius won since then....

Nalod: sometimes you don't get a millions chances to be great to achieve something great, the missed finger roll, the charles smith incident were 2 crucial chances, the knicks did try to build around ewing, they had gerald Wilkens, Darell Walker at one time, then they drafted mark Jackson and let him develop actually the knicks traded for Henderson a PG from seattle and the knicks benched him in favor of the rookie mark Jackson, then the knicks traded Bill cartwright for a much younger oakley, so the knicks did try to rebuild around Ewing, you have given no proof of them trying to do so, and I have just given you a lot of proof that they did try, it was just a combination of bad timing and the knicks not being good enough to capatilize on those opportunities...