in retrospect, this is the season we thought it would be when management decided to start over with Uncle Phil. No one, not even The Answer Man, expected to make the playoffs. There was too much transition and far too many new faces to cohere in a matter of weeks... Before the bottom dropped out.
Above all else, Basketball is a team sport and we were caught choosing players as if we were running at West 4th Street and not Madison Square Garden. It was an open audition for players and coaches. No one knew how it would work, or fall apart. To Derek Fishers credit, the rookie head coach has managed to maintain a stoic expression and prevent any major mutiny.
A dozen games until it is finally over, or just restarting, leading into the draft and a few weeks in LasVegas. Incremental improvement would be winning 10-15 more games next season. There will NOT be a quantum leap forward. Too many variables, and we are too far behind our Eastern Conference competition, in quality depth or starters, to leapfrog the league.
Apart from transactions, Five can stay. Calderon. Schved. Galloway. Amundson (because we love the underdog) and Jason Smith. The rest can take a hike. If we are to make the transition from miserable to mediocre, the borderline can take a hike.
We must get much better. We have no choice other than to evaluate our guys with the same critical eye as any rival general manager would evaluate them, to make his franchise better. Last we checked, no one was blowing up Phils mobile phone to acquire Bargnani, Early or Travis Wear.
