Back in the layden era we fanciful daily thought of trade solutions to ease our pain.

Laydens firing was an unexpected rush, and the rash of trades that followed was XTC for the frustrated fan. It bought hope and expectations of a bright future.

But at the same time, we all knew this current squad was not perfect and would be just a few games over .500 at best. We are just week removed from that scenario, but this is the time the Knick brass would panic (in the past) and give away the future to ensure a reasonable profitable playoff run in the present.

I doubt there is a trade that can substantially make us better for this season unless we gave up a significant future asset.

Thus, stroking the trade vein to vent out frustration is not likely a good solution. Better moves await when we have some contracts that can be moved.

What can be better? Allan has only played 17 GAMES! He has had to accelerate his time table due to Crawfords injury. He is doing what most of us expectd. He has good games,and some not so good games. Last nite the team only played 7 players. If that cold shooting, Allan does not play that much. His mobility is improving. But to indict his career and write him off after just 17 games is a little rash. Patience!

Lenny. Lenny was hired by Isiah to run a system. If the system does not work, that is one thing. I don't think if Lenny was fired, they would also change out the Assistants. If there is a failure with coaching, then it also trickles down to the assistants, and up to Isiah. Lennys failure is an organizational failure. I would not change it this season. You can make it worse! Nodody likes to think about that!

KT. In our minds there are some players we can get but they might be able to run and jump, but not do the things the KT CAN DO. Thus, you give up some things for another. Sweets must get well and step up. Vin Baker must do the same. Our biggest improvement can be internal.

Marbs is the greatest! The dude is our leader, but still not quite the mature leader we desire. Its a work in progress.

Craw. we lost with him, and lost without him. We win with him, and win without him. We are losing, so we really miss him. But a rotation of our guards with no Cooch will be nice.

Ariza. Rizy! Our biggest suprise this year.

Nazr/Vin. One has exceeded, one has disappointed. Production is then what we expected.

Penny. Somehow fan exuberance elevated this guy. Pennys true colors have shown again. He exhausts his welcome where ever he goes and lives in denial. He is a problem now. No soup for Penny.

JYD. Exceeded our expectations.

TT. Its all been said before. A big failure.

Coochie. What is Moochies real name? Does his birth certificate say "MOOCHIE"?

Sweets. IN a way we had big expectations for him, so we might say he has also been a dissapointment because he had yet to procure starters minutes. His gets foul prone and his play has not been able to dispell KT. Still early in the season, but thus far whether it be injury, fouls, chemistry, whatever, he is not playing up to our expected levels.

Isiah. He has been more patient than I would have thought. He is write to call the team out and lable them a .500 team. It might motivate them, and it chills the fans out a bit. Its the truth also.
If he has a game plan, he is going to play it thru, not panic. Good for Isiah.

What is the common thread with the above? We have situations that can be turned around organically, not thru the trade wires! Giving Vets playing time is the best way to work out the bugs. I too want the young ones to take over the team, but it does not work that fast.

I will continue to support the team and watch them. I want to see how they will react, how they progress, and how they fail.

The team is challenged. If Sweets, Allan, Craw, Ariza can all worth thru their demons and improve, it will be fun ride. The wins will come, but the actions must happen.

Why will I watch? I want to see Allans lateral improvement, Sweets foot movement, TT's fundamentals, Craws shot selection, who Isiah/lenny will give minutes to, Rizy'sand Marbs leadership qualities in certain situations.

IF you don't think any of the above is possible, and your looking for just stats and a win, then your missing the true essance of follwing a team. We are all fans, and support comes in many forms. Frustration trades are nice short term buzz's, but often don't come to fruition.




[Edited by - nalod on 01/12/2005 09:15:18]

great post. However, I still believe that Lenny must be fired. He used to be a great coach, used to be, but not anymore. Isiah has yet to pull the trigger on Lenny because he is reluctant to agree to pay the contract that he has given him. However, if he doesn't fire Lenny as soon as this week, he will risk his job also. The media in N.Y. can turn against him, and that will force the owner to have to do something. We still have a chance at accomplishing some great things this season, but not with Lenny as our head coach...I don't care how many trades that we make, until we have a coach that will not be affraid to pull the plugg on some players, we will continue to lose. The Kings at one point had the best team in the league, they even had the best bench, but if Adelman didn't know how to use his players, he would have had a disaster on his hands....

Lenny has to go...., I hope that he and Isiah can work out a deal.

great post nalod. thx.

Playa, don't know what to say... you're sad.

I agree about that the media does not run, jump or shoot, but the media can create enough buzz to discourage the fan base. As you all know, if the fans stop going to the games, the revenue will be very low, and if that is the case, that big payroll that we have will definitely hurt the pocket of our owner......enough to get a GM out of a job.

The media does not run, jump or shoot. Isiah is savvy enough to handle the media.

Lenny will and should be replaced, its just a question of when to do it. With all the termoil last year, doing it again is fun, but not productive.

Lets look at it this way, Chaney was only given one full season. He took over in December of 2001 in that turmoil. Had only the 02-03 season, and I think he did real well given that roster. They just misssed the playoffs and the team chemistry was very good. In 03-04, he was fired about 34 games into the season. Lots of turmoil with new GM and half his team traded away, and only given a month to work with Steph.

I agreed with Chaney having to go, but the timing was bad, and of course Isiah made a public mess. No big deal, but ridding lenny after not even half the season is a little rash. He must be given at least one full season! Or he should not been hired at all!

Kurt and Nazr cancell eachother out, they both have similar game, but Nazr is younger and the upside is better for him. Having both of them on the court together will not help, none of the two is a good passer or scorer that can command a double team to open the court for our slashers/shooters. We are trying to build a young team, so moving Kurt right now is ideal. Again, I don't care who we move as a player or who we bring in, until we can have a coach that will make sound decisions during the game, it will not mean a thing. If I were the in Lenny's shoes, I would have made a lineup change since after the first ten games. hurting guys ego would not have been my concern, but winning games would. TT and Kurt would not have my starters by now.

good post nalod, I love this team, but when I see a lackluster effort, it upsets me.. I understand as a professional you can't play great everynight, but there is no excuse not to play hard... I am somewhat quoting John andreise....

I dont see this season as a loss.

Dont fire Lenny until its over - you dont get rid of this guy until you have a marquee coach to replace him with, and the talent on the floor to win.

So what if we have another bad season? Maybe we get another good draft pick, and this offseason we will have some real chips to trade with more expiring deals.

Sure TT has been a disaster - maybe he picks up his play and we can dump him + expiring contracts in the offseason.

Sweets - I dont know why people on this board thought he was gonna be 20 and 10 everynight this year. He is basically a rookie since he got almost no burn last year.

Crawford - he isnt the next Jordan but he can score, he will get a little better with age but I see him and marbury being a lot like H20 and Spree - you dont need both players - they should trade onf of them for something they need. Since H20 isnt that healthy we need them for now but in the future one has got to go.

Nazr - keep him if you can, he would be great next to Webber ;-)

KT - if he can be shipped out for a more athletic, shot blocker/rebounder - defensive type 4 then you do it. At lease he is consistent and we know what to expect.

H20 - the jury is still out.

JYD - cheerleader, spark off the bench, starter??? He has the type of NY Hustle that you should keep - why he was considered just a throw in is beyond me - the guy can play.

Marbury - he isnt the savior but he is awesome.

We need more young players, we need more impact players.

Lenny - Keep him for the rest of the season, if no offseason moves can be made to bring in a quality impact player or at least some youth who have huge upside then why change the coach? Lenny is a good teacher, thats what he was brought here to do - not to win, but to get Marbury on the right track. It appears he has done that so why are people calling for his head? This roster has been flawed ever since Ewing left. You cannot fill the hole that one of the greatest centers ever to play the game leave on your team in a matter of years. Look at the Bulls - MJ gone and they are still in termoil. It is going to take a while for the Knicks to recover from losing the big fella - as far as i'm concerned if we had a 5 like him the rest of the roster would be fine.

Nalod will allways get my respect as a poster because he isn't biased. With hate for Zeke or Marbury or Lenny. And he is able to put things in perspective. We can all say the knicks suck and Marbury is a loser and Lenny sucks as a coach and Zeke is a bad GM and disscount all the true reasons for the break downs. If Houston never got hurt last season and was still the deadly dependable 20pt sharp shooter we would definatly be better than a 500 team. And alot of the problems would somehow vanish.

61.6million dollars combining for 30pts 9.8rebs 5assist per game. Once that is fixed as well it would be a whole new ball game. But its going to take time.