(Long Island, NY) The other day, the New York Knicks closed shop for the year with a big family hug. All parties involved put a positive spin on a 23-59 season in which there was never one minute of consistency.
Head Coach Larry Brown not only proclaimed himself ready to not only honor the remaining four years of his contract, but he hopes to remain with the Knicks in some capacity afterwards. Isiah Thomas calmly stated that he does not regret any of the moves that he made and would do them all over again. And the ultimate malcontent, Stephon Marbury, actually said that this was the best year of his life. When asked by reporters any questions regarding Larry Brown, he almost jokingly kept giving the ‘no comment’ standard answer.
This team is beyond repair. And for the main participants of the disaster to put on false happy faces is only compounding the problem. These three men, along with everyone else associated with the Knicks, should be angry and looking for solutions instead of giving us a crooked smile and saying things are going to get better.
How do you fix this? Excellent question. I don’t have a definite answer. But one thing is for certain. Either Larry Brown or Stephon Marbury must leave town. And Isiah should be the first one out, but Jim Dolan has some fascination with him. Fine, Cablevision Crony. Let Mr. Thomas stick around long enough to get rid of Marbury. If he is slick enough to peddle him and not take on even more of an albatross contract, he will have earned the right to stay.
And Larry Brown cannot get a free pass. His coaching this season was as bad as his previous stops were good. Training camp was utterly useless with the way he had a revolving door of lineups at the beginning of the season. As confused as we were as fans and spectators on what he was trying to accomplish, how do you think his team felt? They didn’t know if they were coming or going from one game to the next.
What positives do we take out of the horror show better known as the Knicks 2005-06 season? You have to think long and hard, but there were a few bright spots. The play of the three rookies, Channing Frye, David Lee, and Nate Robinson, were encouraging. Jamaal Crawford also established himself as an offensive threat, possibly making him better trade bait. And Jackie Butler gave us the indication that he can be an affordable and serviceable second string center.
But that’s where the positives end and the negatives start. What started off as a season we were anticipating quickly turned to one we hoped would end as soon as possible. By the tone of the press conferences on getaway day, we should strap in and expect many more long seasons.
