Which one of you is Gregg Logan?

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-spknix0113,0,699348.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines

Knicks' bad D no surprise
Opponents of the 17-18 Knicks are keying in on the club’s lack of defensive intensity

BY GREG LOGAN
STAFF WRITER

January 13, 2005

If only the Knicks could see themselves as others see them, they might begin to understand that few opponents respect their work ethic.

Opposing teams recognize the talent a $103 million payroll buys, but they know the Knicks often rely on their talent to get by and have too many games in which they fail to work up a sweat on defense.

Opponents know they always have a good chance to beat the Knicks as long as they limit Stephon Marbury's penetration to the basket and force jump shooters Allan Houston and Kurt Thomas to take tough shots.

Coach Lenny Wilkens was accurate when he said poor shooting Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden was a major factor in the Knicks' 88-82 loss to New Orleans, whose 4-29 record is the NBA's worst. Marbury and Houston combined to make only 11 of 35 shots. But the real crime was the Knicks' failure to play defense in the first half.

After the game, several Hornets pointed to Jerome Williams as the only Knick exerting much energy on the defensive end. That's not quite true. Kurt Thomas is a dependable defender, and rookie Trevor Ariza brings energy to the task. But for the most part, the Knicks wait to play defense until circumstances leave them no choice.

"You definitely have [poor shooting] nights," Thomas said. "That's why you have to play defense."

The Knicks actually accomplished their goal of holding their opponent under 90 points, but they lost for the first time this season after doing so (8-1). Had they played defense from the start, the Knicks might have held the Hornets to less than 80 points for the second time this season.

"Defense is effort," New Orleans center P.J. Brown said. "It's not the glamour part of the game. It's something you don't get a lot of ink in the papers about, but if you're going to be a playoff team, your defense has got to be on a high level. They're trying to get to the Eastern Conference finals. That means you've got Miami, Indiana and Detroit. They've got to play a little better for sure."

Recent injuries have knocked Jamal Crawford, Tim Thomas, Mike Sweetney and Penny Hardaway out of the lineup, but the Knicks have had almost half a season to become familiar with each other. For the moment, team president Isiah Thomas seems content to ride out the storm and see what he has when the Knicks get healthy. Wilkens' job is safe, and no trades are imminent.

As Marbury said after the loss to New Orleans, the Knicks need to find their identity. "We've got to establish who we're going to be for the remainder of the season at some point," Marbury said.

Left unsaid is the greater fear that the Knicks already have established their identity as a team with no defensive backbone. Their opponents' shooting percentage of 46.6 ranks 29th in the 30-team NBA. Contrast that with Chicago, the Knicks' next opponent in a home-and-home set Saturday and Monday.

At first, the Bulls (14-18) resisted demanding coach Scott Skiles, but going into last night's game against Philadelphia, they entered last night ranked first in the NBA in field goal defense with a 41.4 percentage, had held 19 straight opponents to less than 100 points and had won 10 of their previous 13 games to climb into playoff contention.

If the Knicks don't match the Bulls' defensive intensity, two more losses might send them spiraling down below the .500 level for good this season with a murderous stretch of games coming up at the end of this month and into February. Clearly, the Knicks have reached a crossroads. If they want to be a playoff team, they must decide how hard they're willing to work for it.

Notes & quotes: Former Knick Othella Harrington, who went to the Bulls in the Jamal Crawford trade last summer, is averaging 19.5 points and 7.0 rebounds on 72.0 percent shooting in the past two games as a starter in place of injured forward Antonio Davis.

Good read.