Here's the article. THough i would amend it to read: Disappointing is the only way to describe Greg Anthony's career.

By Greg Anthony
ESPN Insider
Disappointing is the only way to describe the Knicks and their season
thus far. I'm not saying they should compete for a title, but they
should be improved after a sign of promise last season. Where did it go
wrong? Who should take the blame – there is plenty to go around – and
can they save their season?

Let's start with off the court first. General manager Isiah Thomas came
in and made a big splash with trades that brought some marquee value to
the franchise. The biggest splash was the trade for point guard Stephon
Marbury. The Brooklyn native is as talented a point guard as there is
in the league, but he has a history of not getting it done in the win
column. Although he's only one of two players in NBA history with
career averages of 20 points per game and eight assists (Oscar
Robertson being the other), he hasn't been a consistent winner.

When he was brought to the Knicks, the feeling was that with the
guidance of Isiah and the addition of Lenny Wilkens as coach the
learning curve for Marbury would be expedited. They felt they could
teach him how to take his teammates to the level where he plays. Both
Lenny and Isiah have won championships and were similar in terms of
their talent, so the transition would be easy, right?

Wrong!

As great as Lenny Wilkens' career has been (and it is Hall of Fame
credentialed through and through), his best coaching is behind him. I'm
not here to criticize Lenny Wilkens, but he has grown out of touch with
the game today. Looking at how his final years in Toronto and New York
ended, he was not the right choice for the job in the first place.

Wilkens has forgotten more basketball than I'll ever know, but that
doesn't change the fact that his time had passed. It's hard to let go,
but the proof is in the pudding. The Knicks' greatest need was and is
to have somebody who can push the players and challenge the team. That
takes tremendous energy and perseverance because you just can't tell
guys what is expected. You have to demand it every day!

A coach can't be willing to allow mediocrity to show it's ugly head;
once it does, he's not likely going to be around for long. This game is
all about challenging your players and in some cases teaching those who
don't believe that they need to be taught.

That leads to the next and biggest problem I see with this team:
leadership. This team doesn't have good leadership on the floor. A
leader sets the tone with his play, effort, will and purpose. The
Knicks have players who just play – and that's not good enough. They
have players who are talented enough to be leaders, but talent alone
doesn't do it. A leader has to impose his will on his teammates. He has
to raise their level of fight. It's not good enough to just put up
numbers. You need to make your team play with purpose, and that purpose
is winning.



Greg Anthony, an NBA analyst for ESPN and former player, is a regular
contributor to Insider.

Gregg is right.....Marburry at times looks very disinterested. He is very non-chalant on the court, especially on the defensive end....I have taken the time to analyse the way that he guards the opposite PG, like TT they both make the same mistake. Defense is not played with the hands below the knees. I can't believe that as long as those two been in the league, none of their coaches have tried to correct that deficiency.....If you really watch Marb, he hardly ever uses his hands when he defends.....A defensive minded coach would correct that in a heart bead....Marb stands too far when guarding his man. A defender is supposed to be as close as possible to their man to minimize the effectiveness of the passer, and to eliminate pick & roll.

Last but not least, Marb is at his best when he is aggressive from start to end, but it appears that in some games, he just cruises around and hope to turn it on at the end....That is a no go. He still has a lot to learn, but being exposed to so many coaches will not do it....He needs one person to learn from, and that person has to be able to constantly preach for him to have his hands above his waist when on the defensive end....