I'm not a diabetic, but the Kool-Aid was a bit sour for me tha last game. Marbury has played well in both of the 2 games. Sweetney played Awesome the last game, and I loved JYD's hustle. Dice's status wasn't clear when we traded him.

I don't think anyone expected him to become as decent as he is now, and clearly we didn't want to keep Ward, or Eisley. Well maybe it would've been decent if Ward would've retired with us, but I would've rathered had Marbury. Rasheed is a nice sound player, but I'd rather have Dampier. I like this team alot, and if we don't get things right this year, then during the draft (or by trade) we now have a GM who is focused on the Knicks needs. We will get that good athletic center and this team will improve this season.

Bottom line is, none of the Knick players were on an EA Sports game cover so we aren't facing any jinxs. Things will be okay this year, and for next year as well. Just don't expect any Championships during those times.

Man I am not ready to touch the kool aid - I agree with a lot of what you say Playa. But th direction of the team is with Marbury for now. Who knows, maybe he will get traded and Crawford will be our pointguard if Isiah can get a big man for Marbury + someone else. But what legit big is out there? We couldnt get Shaq. Someone like Kobe or T-Mac wont win us a championship unless we have a big man in the post. I dont think Sheed was our guy. He fits perfectly on Detroit anyway and he wouldnt have meshed as well here.

Interesting moves have been made but this team has a long way to go.

Posted by playa2:

The team is better with Marbury, but the big picture isn't. The Knicks will never win a championship with Marbury because they will never be able to add a superstar. Marbury is an all-star, but no superstar by any means. He is just 27 years old and now on his fourth team. He is known to pout in the locker room and wears out his welcome every where he goes. The Knicks should have kept Dice and Ward. The trade they should have made is the one involving Rashed Wallace. They should have got Wallace and kept Ward and Dice to free cap space. The big picture is freeing up cap space to get a superstar. Ex. Kobe Bryant. Penny Hardaway is making 14 million being a sixth or seventh man off the bench. Signing Vin Baker is just showing how sad the franchise has become. If anyone thinks Vin Baker is going to still be a productive NBA player then you are just as drunk as he is. If Isiah Thomas is looking to fill some empty seats and be a fifth to eigth seed in the playoffs every year he has suceeded, but if he is trying to win a NBA championship he has failed. Ok I got that out of my system . GO NY

its like you never left. We never will free up cap space. We have to hope the cap just goes away during the next CBA.

OTher thing is being strong spenders in the proposed development league. Then we can grab all kinds of freaks and work them good.

I don't disagree with you, and you may rememeber my take that this is an entertainment business run by a corperation. If Mark Cuban ran it it would be a personal quest instead of cashflow generater. Not that Mark is stupid and wants to lose money, but he is creative.

Our problems go way back to pre-Layden, and in a way still continue to some degree. I posted somewhere today that with Isiah, Dolan opened up the checkbook and made the team more viable. It is better.

Is the blueprint in place for a championship run the next 2-3 years? Not yet. Those pieces are not yet identifieable to most fans. The desire is always there, but the commitment to forgo profits over substanceis always an issue with whom ever owns the garden.

ITs not right, but its how it is.

I dig what the Mavs do and find it interesting. I am not anti-Net, so I think the reconstruction in the face of a move in a few years makes for an interesting situation form both a player developement perspective, and a busness model an interesting thing to follow.

So from a fans point of view, I find it sad that unless we either get lucky with some more divine intervention (more Azira's), the Nets will likely win a championship before the Knicks.

The Knicks won't win a crown with TT, Nazr, Vin, Penny, Mooch and shandon as players. Obviously a lot of things have to happen in time to replace ONE HALF of the team.

Its a work in progress.

Nice to have you back playa.

With that said, I understand your argument along with the others that say we are going the wrong route, I have to disagree, however.

Isiah is basically doing the same thing Cuban has done in Dallas. He is using Dolan's money as an advantage to stockpile as much talent as he can. Isiah knows that he has to surround Marbury with a talented bunch of teammates if we are going to win a title, so he is getting players to win now, but he is also getting talent to use as trade bait later on. People don't see it right now, but the Tim/Nazr trade will be important to us because Nazr has a good shot of putting up decent numbers this season. If he does that, we will be in a much better shape to land a good bigman in the offseason. As for adding a superstar, go tell the Detroit Pistons that. We don't need to add a superstar to pair up with Stephon (although getting one wouldn't hurt). If we draft wisely and makes some smart trades with the big expiring contracts we will have for next season, then I really do think that we can put a championship team together.

Look at the job Isiah has done so far, the Knicks were once the epitome of old and untalented overpaid players. Now, however, we have gotten a lot younger and we have a number of assets. Isiah is wisely replacing the overpaid veterans with younger and cheaper players who actually have trade value. One of the reasons why I want Isiah to buy out Shandon and replace him with a guy like Eddie Robinson is because it is a low risk high reward situation. Doing something like that might even give you another asset to work with later on. After getting so many assets, you can do a trade like the Heat did in trading for a superstar in Shaq (not saying we will trade for the most dominant Center in the game, but you get the point). Isiah is going the right way.



[Edited by - s3231 on 11/08/2004 15:00:22]

I am not one of those fickle half-azz fans who punks out after a loss or two. I am a real fan who stick with his team. That said, I am glad as hell that we have a SUPERSTAR in Starbury and are still moving in the right direction. We have a management team worthy of fans' patience and support, unlike the previous regime (that some around here actually defended prior to being shot down by the rational thinkers ).

I guess I am one of those true (orange &) blue Knicks fans who swigs the Kool-aid by the gallon- and I'd have it no other way.

GO KNICKS!!!!!

Posted by Nalod:

The Knicks won't win a crown with TT, Nazr, Vin, Penny, Mooch and shandon as players.

I could live with TT and Penny coming off the bench (for much less money), but the rest just gotta go.