There are no proposed trades that will transform this franchise into a consistent winner because the organization itself is dysfunctional and driven by one mans ego. Veteran players are signed for the money and younger players are malnourished and poisoned by a lack of trust and a support system based on suspicion and turnover.

Certainly, proposing trades and transactions is a convenient means to ignore the reality of institutionalized losing. Unfortunately, we have no say in the matter. Zero. Dolan sets the agenda, signs the checks and pulls the strings. Phil Jackson is a disinterested figurehead who would have been foolish to turn down the tens of millions for lending his name. His heart is elsewhere. There is no direction.

There will be no playoff run this year or next. The league has much more passionate and intelligent men running NBA franchises and innovation has passed New York by and lapped it twice. New Yorker Donnie Walsh, with his imperfections, was as good as it gets. He only lasted five minutes.

Melo will play his version of playground basketball forever. He will not change and that is a shame. His shadow, for all its statistical highlights, causes others to step back and watch, and not play defense, the hallmark of the franchise at its best.

The owner is not enlightened. Nor is he going to change. The owner is less intelligent than most of the posters at UK who declare loyalty and plea for sanity and direction. Dolan is far behind the curve of executive leadership. His media police, message monitoring and arena gestapo are not a good look. I miss Charles Oakley, Marcus Camby, Cazzie Russell, Butch Komives, Dave Stallworth and Butch Beard.

What reason is there to watch redundant, corporate, robotic, losing basketball?

Please, give me one reason to watch.

misterearl wrote:As a Knicks follower since 1967, I have witnessed the erosion of an entertaining and galvanizing brand into something unrecognizable, something disorganized and without purpose, other than selling merchandise and expensive seats.

There are no proposed trades that will transform this franchise into a consistent winner because the organization itself is dysfunctional and driven by one mans ego. Veteran players are signed for the money and younger players are malnourished and poisoned by a lack of trust and a support system based on suspicion and turnover.

Certainly, proposing trades and transactions is a convenient means to ignore the reality of institutionalized losing. Unfortunately, we have no say in the matter. Zero. Dolan sets the agenda, signs the checks and pulls the strings. Phil Jackson is a disinterested figurehead who would have been foolish to turn down the tens of millions for lending his name. His heart is elsewhere. There is no direction.

There will be no playoff run this year or next. The league has much more passionate and intelligent men running NBA franchises and innovation has passed New York by and lapped it twice. New Yorker Donnie Walsh, with his imperfections, was as good as it gets. He only lasted five minutes.

Melo will play his version of playground basketball forever. He will not change and that is a shame. His shadow, for all its statistical highlights, causes others to step back and watch, and not play defense, the hallmark of the franchise at its best.

The owner is not enlightened. Nor is he going to change. The owner is less intelligent than most of the posters at UK who declare loyalty and plea for sanity and direction. Dolan is far behind the curve of executive leadership. His media police, message monitoring and arena gestapo are not a good look. I miss Charles Oakley, Marcus Camby, Cazzie Russell, Butch Komives, Dave Stallworth and Butch Beard.

What reason is there to watch redundant, corporate, robotic, losing basketball?

Please, give me one reason to watch.

Why do you need a reason to watch? If you don't want to, don't- spend your time doing something more rewarding

My main reason for watching is to see if we lose. I'm excited about the draft and I do enjoy following how we're doing in the lottery stakes. Also I watch to se eKP and Willys development, and I'm hoping we see more of Plumlee, Kuz, and KOQ

misterearl wrote:As a Knicks follower since 1967, I have witnessed the erosion of an entertaining and galvanizing brand into something unrecognizable, something disorganized and without purpose, other than selling merchandise and expensive seats.

There are no proposed trades that will transform this franchise into a consistent winner because the organization itself is dysfunctional and driven by one mans ego. Veteran players are signed for the money and younger players are malnourished and poisoned by a lack of trust and a support system based on suspicion and turnover.

Certainly, proposing trades and transactions is a convenient means to ignore the reality of institutionalized losing. Unfortunately, we have no say in the matter. Zero. Dolan sets the agenda, signs the checks and pulls the strings. Phil Jackson is a disinterested figurehead who would have been foolish to turn down the tens of millions for lending his name. His heart is elsewhere. There is no direction.

There will be no playoff run this year or next. The league has much more passionate and intelligent men running NBA franchises and innovation has passed New York by and lapped it twice. New Yorker Donnie Walsh, with his imperfections, was as good as it gets. He only lasted five minutes.

Melo will play his version of playground basketball forever. He will not change and that is a shame. His shadow, for all its statistical highlights, causes others to step back and watch, and not play defense, the hallmark of the franchise at its best.

The owner is not enlightened. Nor is he going to change. The owner is less intelligent than most of the posters at UK who declare loyalty and plea for sanity and direction. Dolan is far behind the curve of executive leadership. His media police, message monitoring and arena gestapo are not a good look. I miss Charles Oakley, Marcus Camby, Cazzie Russell, Butch Komives, Dave Stallworth and Butch Beard.

What reason is there to watch redundant, corporate, robotic, losing basketball?

Please, give me one reason to watch.

misterearl wrote:fwk00 - I appreciate your careful analysis. The expertise of posters like you is what makes the pain somewhat bearable. As Knicks supporters, win or lose, there are some things that cloud my hope for the future. My issue is there is no way of telling whether Dolan has "stepped aside" as you describe it. None of us have access to the chain of command and power. We can only guess from afar. The press is excluded from the dialogue. Players are monitored like children. Via his heavy handed dealing with the media, and keeping Phil away from interviews and media accessibility, the Knicks front office operation is less transparent than most. That stinks and leaves us all to guess the corporate mission.

Dolan's thumbprint is all over the operation. That is not a good thing. Lastly, Dolan is no more vested in winning than any other owner. Very soon, uncle Phil's contract will expire and the search will begin again. We push the rock up the hill to have it roll back on our weary shoulders.

I think this team has a better future than that. This summer is pivotal in that they must add to this young core. This draft has so much talent and they MUST hit on these picks!!!

fwk00 wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

misterearl wrote:As a Knicks follower since 1967, I have witnessed the erosion of an entertaining and galvanizing brand into something unrecognizable, something disorganized and without purpose, other than selling merchandise and expensive seats.

There are no proposed trades that will transform this franchise into a consistent winner because the organization itself is dysfunctional and driven by one mans ego. Veteran players are signed for the money and younger players are malnourished and poisoned by a lack of trust and a support system based on suspicion and turnover.

Certainly, proposing trades and transactions is a convenient means to ignore the reality of institutionalized losing. Unfortunately, we have no say in the matter. Zero. Dolan sets the agenda, signs the checks and pulls the strings. Phil Jackson is a disinterested figurehead who would have been foolish to turn down the tens of millions for lending his name. His heart is elsewhere. There is no direction.

There will be no playoff run this year or next. The league has much more passionate and intelligent men running NBA franchises and innovation has passed New York by and lapped it twice. New Yorker Donnie Walsh, with his imperfections, was as good as it gets. He only lasted five minutes.

Melo will play his version of playground basketball forever. He will not change and that is a shame. His shadow, for all its statistical highlights, causes others to step back and watch, and not play defense, the hallmark of the franchise at its best.

The owner is not enlightened. Nor is he going to change. The owner is less intelligent than most of the posters at UK who declare loyalty and plea for sanity and direction. Dolan is far behind the curve of executive leadership. His media police, message monitoring and arena gestapo are not a good look. I miss Charles Oakley, Marcus Camby, Cazzie Russell, Butch Komives, Dave Stallworth and Butch Beard.

What reason is there to watch redundant, corporate, robotic, losing basketball?

Please, give me one reason to watch.

Why do you need a reason to watch? If you don't want to, don't- spend your time doing something more rewarding

My main reason for watching is to see if we lose. I'm excited about the draft and I do enjoy following how we're doing in the lottery stakes. Also I watch to see KP and Willys development, and I'm hoping we see more of Plumlee, Kuz, and KOQ

Earl, there is NO reason to watch if you're interested in basketball. Many of your arguments are spot on but let me disagree on a few.

For a long time I blamed Dolan as the only common denominator over the years but I'm developing a different theory since Jax was brought on board. The long and short of it is that I think the NBA as a sport has decided that since the Yankees and Giants and even the Rangers are such perpetual powerhouses that in one sport at least a New York team will be artificially handicapped. Ever since the Pat Riley Knicks, the CBA has built-in provisions that favor teams in subtle ways such as tax differences, difficulty of trading, not setting a grace period in which top five draft picking teams must not repeat access to top draft picks for 3-5 years and so on.

That's what's made the game unrecognizable and team building so difficult. The very concept of tanking is institutionalized in the NBA as is the idea that refereeing can be biased toward the team the refs think are playing "better" or more "aggressive" basketball. So the playing field is not flat, the salary caps are not relative to tax advantages, and the CBA is instrumented to punish cities who have no problem being competitive in any other sport.

To Dolan's credit, he's stepped aside and let's Jax call the shots (such as they can be called). We know from the days of Larry Brown who informed us that righting a ship such as the Knicks would take five years (and Brown inherited less of a mess than Jax did). We are but in year two of a Jax team and we see glimpses and intuit better days in much of what he *can* control.

But, yes, Dolan as a public face of ownership is not exciting. He's not fan but he's vested in winning. And he's not a student and it shows. Nothing here is incriminating - he's not a Mark Cuban or Steve Ballmer and so on. He is an easy target for the fan's frustration.

Anyone with a brain knows that Phil gambled on bringing together Rose, Noah, and Courtney to complement Melo. These are all NBA talents when they play like they are paid to. Only the players can control their conditioning, the energy they bring to the game and their professional obligations.

Melo is bat-sh@t crazy to be standing around after all these years saying, "No, not this group either." What players will work for Melo? Maybe Phil can pull them out of his large intestine to satisfy Melo.

And after the last Cleveland train-wreck of a game there is zero reason not to tank. Making the playoffs - doable as that is would ultimately be an embarrassment.

Like smackeddog I used to watch my teams who were down and out develop the next generation but in the NBA, the multi-million dollar snowflakes will give you a bad name unless their names are on the card no matter how much they deserve to be benched in Westchester. So, no there is no reason to watch anymore.

Have include roster link for 2015 and 2014. Please highlight which player you consider a solid NBA player today or then? Ahh the memories. STAT with his bum knees. Bags O donuts. Samuel, Jose. The list has CHIP written all over it!

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/2016.html]
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/2015.html

I'll wait for your mic dropping response.

holfresh wrote:

misterearl wrote:As a Knicks follower since 1967, I have witnessed the erosion of an entertaining and galvanizing brand into something unrecognizable, something disorganized and without purpose, other than selling merchandise and expensive seats.

There are no proposed trades that will transform this franchise into a consistent winner because the organization itself is dysfunctional and driven by one mans ego. Veteran players are signed for the money and younger players are malnourished and poisoned by a lack of trust and a support system based on suspicion and turnover.

Certainly, proposing trades and transactions is a convenient means to ignore the reality of institutionalized losing. Unfortunately, we have no say in the matter. Zero. Dolan sets the agenda, signs the checks and pulls the strings. Phil Jackson is a disinterested figurehead who would have been foolish to turn down the tens of millions for lending his name. His heart is elsewhere. There is no direction.

There will be no playoff run this year or next. The league has much more passionate and intelligent men running NBA franchises and innovation has passed New York by and lapped it twice. New Yorker Donnie Walsh, with his imperfections, was as good as it gets. He only lasted five minutes.

Melo will play his version of playground basketball forever. He will not change and that is a shame. His shadow, for all its statistical highlights, causes others to step back and watch, and not play defense, the hallmark of the franchise at its best.

The owner is not enlightened. Nor is he going to change. The owner is less intelligent than most of the posters at UK who declare loyalty and plea for sanity and direction. Dolan is far behind the curve of executive leadership. His media police, message monitoring and arena gestapo are not a good look. I miss Charles Oakley, Marcus Camby, Cazzie Russell, Butch Komives, Dave Stallworth and Butch Beard.

What reason is there to watch redundant, corporate, robotic, losing basketball?

Please, give me one reason to watch.

Just because you can sing doesn't mean you can dance, Answerman...Phil can't dance...Dolan gave you what you wanted, he gave you "Uncle Phil" and you rejoiced...Now you are trying to hang this on Dolan...A lot of blame goes in his direction, sure, but the current dysfunction is about Phil, firstly...Phil can't relate to today's players and can't recruit...Can't build either..He doesn't want to talk to the media..He is a recluse(Not in the job description)...Old dude who just want to do things his way, and hey, he probably earned it too...Just not here, maybe in LA or Chicago..It's not a good scene...It toxic...I'm sure he wants to collect on his two remaining years...Can't blame him, Dolan likes bling and was easy to con..Phil is bling, he and his friends(Fisher, Rambis, Horny, etc) rolled Dolan for some real cash...Phil's problem is that he is always trying to get rid of players and not trying to acquire players...Phil ends up on the losing end of all trades..Sad to watch..

This organization needs a complete overhaul..We need people in here that can relate to today's players...It's a slow process that Dolan thinks can be fixed with one big fat starphuck...Didn't work again..The organization needs a new front man...The Oak thing, along with Phil's tweets, will have lasting repercussions...People and Players won't forget...We have no choice but to look to the draft...Hopefully we can get something for Melo in the off season...We need to regroup and start again..Phil just probably missed his stop, asleep on the cross town bus, as we speak...

I could care less about Phil relating to today's players. Just keep drafting well and building an actual team. He's off to a good start with KP and Willy. We've even got some decent role players already. Now Phil has to BUILD UP THE CORE with a legit PG, SG and SF for the future. People need to get off this Phil bashing and wake the F up. Phil has a chance to remake this team over the next 2 years with very important Picks and bringing in some players that fit the Team Ball we want to play.

Screw the overhaul of the organization crap. Just get smart in the Draft and Free Agency. Get rid of SELFISH players and fill this roster up with 2 WAY players that know how to play team ball. TEAM BALL!!! That's what Phil is about in case you forgot cuz you're spending so much time feeding into the MEDIA TRIPE.

93BUICK wrote:Mr Earl this thread title could have been any moment since 2000 we obviously don't get it.

Yup

misterearl wrote:Please, give me one reason to watch.

Ted Turner.

While Ted Turner did give us James Bond movie marathons and probably changed the landscape of how local networks and pro baseball teams operate in tandem, he was the definition of an idiot meddling owner.

While Dolan is an imbecile, Turner was worse. Got nailed for tampering. Tried to manage his own team until MLB stopped him.

At some point, Turner got too old or too tired to be a douchebag owner anymore, and let baseball people do baseball jobs. The Braves got much better much faster after that.

Ted Turner, the third phase of his Braves ownership, is a sliver of hope for any team with a lousy owner.

It's a small consolation, but maybe Dolan will stick to his crappy band and hire a guy like Sam Presti and be bored of the Knicks and let a trained and experienced NBA GM do his job and get out of the guys way.

Maybe Dolan needs baby steps. I don't think Jackson is a good hire, I think he was a mediocre hire, but for a matter of consolation, at least Dolan is bracing himself to get out of the way. I never think you can fix stupid, I do think stupid can get too old and tired to be bothered and the damage can be mitigated. As much as I hate the Patriots, have to give Robert Kraft credit, he got a solid football guy in Belichick ( a douchebag, but a brilliant douchebag) and just got out of his way.

holfresh wrote:

misterearl wrote:As a Knicks follower since 1967, I have witnessed the erosion of an entertaining and galvanizing brand into something unrecognizable, something disorganized and without purpose, other than selling merchandise and expensive seats.

There are no proposed trades that will transform this franchise into a consistent winner because the organization itself is dysfunctional and driven by one mans ego. Veteran players are signed for the money and younger players are malnourished and poisoned by a lack of trust and a support system based on suspicion and turnover.

Certainly, proposing trades and transactions is a convenient means to ignore the reality of institutionalized losing. Unfortunately, we have no say in the matter. Zero. Dolan sets the agenda, signs the checks and pulls the strings. Phil Jackson is a disinterested figurehead who would have been foolish to turn down the tens of millions for lending his name. His heart is elsewhere. There is no direction.

There will be no playoff run this year or next. The league has much more passionate and intelligent men running NBA franchises and innovation has passed New York by and lapped it twice. New Yorker Donnie Walsh, with his imperfections, was as good as it gets. He only lasted five minutes.

Melo will play his version of playground basketball forever. He will not change and that is a shame. His shadow, for all its statistical highlights, causes others to step back and watch, and not play defense, the hallmark of the franchise at its best.

The owner is not enlightened. Nor is he going to change. The owner is less intelligent than most of the posters at UK who declare loyalty and plea for sanity and direction. Dolan is far behind the curve of executive leadership. His media police, message monitoring and arena gestapo are not a good look. I miss Charles Oakley, Marcus Camby, Cazzie Russell, Butch Komives, Dave Stallworth and Butch Beard.

What reason is there to watch redundant, corporate, robotic, losing basketball?

Please, give me one reason to watch.

Just because you can sing doesn't mean you can dance, Answerman...Phil can't dance...Dolan gave you what you wanted, he gave you "Uncle Phil" and you rejoiced...Now you are trying to hang this on Dolan...A lot of blame goes in his direction, sure, but the current dysfunction is about Phil, firstly...Phil can't relate to today's players and can't recruit...Can't build either..He doesn't want to talk to the media..He is a recluse(Not in the job description)...Old dude who just want to do things his way, and hey, he probably earned it too...Just not here, maybe in LA or Chicago..It's not a good scene...It toxic...I'm sure he wants to collect on his two remaining years...Can't blame him, Dolan likes bling and was easy to con..Phil is bling, he and his friends(Fisher, Rambis, Horny, etc) rolled Dolan for some real cash...Phil's problem is that he is always trying to get rid of players and not trying to acquire players...Phil ends up on the losing end of all trades..Sad to watch..

This organization needs a complete overhaul..We need people in here that can relate to today's players...It's a slow process that Dolan thinks can be fixed with one big fat starphuck...Didn't work again..The organization needs a new front man...The Oak thing, along with Phil's tweets, will have lasting repercussions...People and Players won't forget...We have no choice but to look to the draft...Hopefully we can get something for Melo in the off season...We need to regroup and start again..Phil just probably missed his stop, asleep on the cross town bus, as we speak...

holfresh - what I really wanted was Bill Bradley to become part owner with a majority stake.

Players, as you are so correct in stating, are a fraternity. The Oak ejection sends a clear message to his brothers in the cloth, the ones who wear the uniforms.

misterearl wrote:As a Knicks follower since 1967, I have witnessed the erosion of an entertaining and galvanizing brand into something unrecognizable, something disorganized and without purpose, other than selling merchandise and expensive seats.

There are no proposed trades that will transform this franchise into a consistent winner because the organization itself is dysfunctional and driven by one mans ego. Veteran players are signed for the money and younger players are malnourished and poisoned by a lack of trust and a support system based on suspicion and turnover.

Certainly, proposing trades and transactions is a convenient means to ignore the reality of institutionalized losing. Unfortunately, we have no say in the matter. Zero. Dolan sets the agenda, signs the checks and pulls the strings. Phil Jackson is a disinterested figurehead who would have been foolish to turn down the tens of millions for lending his name. His heart is elsewhere. There is no direction.

There will be no playoff run this year or next. The league has much more passionate and intelligent men running NBA franchises and innovation has passed New York by and lapped it twice. New Yorker Donnie Walsh, with his imperfections, was as good as it gets. He only lasted five minutes.

Melo will play his version of playground basketball forever. He will not change and that is a shame. His shadow, for all its statistical highlights, causes others to step back and watch, and not play defense, the hallmark of the franchise at its best.

The owner is not enlightened. Nor is he going to change. The owner is less intelligent than most of the posters at UK who declare loyalty and plea for sanity and direction. Dolan is far behind the curve of executive leadership. His media police, message monitoring and arena gestapo are not a good look. I miss Charles Oakley, Marcus Camby, Cazzie Russell, Butch Komives, Dave Stallworth and Butch Beard.

What reason is there to watch redundant, corporate, robotic, losing basketball?

Please, give me one reason to watch.

This team has good young talent and every draft pick moving forward. But if you are looking for reasons not to watch, just don't. You don't need to waste anymore time and effort trying to convince others this is a bad situation. Some chose to be positive, and others don't. If you don't want to watch, just don't. No one is being delusional about anything really.