Sports

Midtown Massacre


        It's time for us Knicks fans to finally accept the cold-hard truth of what is going on all around the NBA today. After today's apathetic and embarrasing 103-80 matinee loss at MSG, the Knicks are now 11 games under .500 have lost four in a row and destroyed whatever optimism their previous win streak gave us.  Brooklyn a team that a few weeks ago was floundering below expectations w/ a rookie coach who was apparently "clueless" has now won seven of their last eight and as Jason Kidd seems to have learned his role, their beginning to emerge as possible contenders. New York however is listless as poor defensive lapses, no ball movement, and no offense are making last year's 54 win campaign look  like a "fluke." The upper powers of the NBA like the Spurs, Heat, Pacers and Warriors underwent rebuilding programs where they developed their own talent, made good trades and built their way up. James Dolan has no concept of how to run a successful franchise and continues to single-handedly kill  the Knicks with his crazy contract signings, poor trades and lack of stability in the front office or on the court.

       For example, signing Andrea Bargnani a man who has struggled with injuries for most of his career in exchange for two 2nd round picks, one first-round pick, Steve Novak arguably the Knicks' best three-point shooter, Marcus Camby and Quentin Richardson. The Knicks have no draft picks till 2018 and are stuck with a player who plays no defense and are once again buried in financial hell. He also allowed traded the 2nd pick of the NBA draft in 2005(Lamarcus Aldridge) to the Bulls for Eddy Cuury who wound up being a $56 million dollar bench warmer for most of his NYK career. While Jeremy Lin may not be Magic Johnson, Dolan's choice to let him walk is now looking crazy as we see Raymond Felton struggle and the Knicks be unable to break down a defense and just rely on three- point shooting.  There is no accountability for anyone as JR Smith can no-show team meetings, party before playoff games and do drugs and still be allowed to play 30 minutes a game and sign players who seem to be concerned for their checks rather than their performance(aka JR.) He allowed Allan Houston who had chronic knee issues to ink a six-year $100 million dollar deal and pushed Donnie Walsh out the door and totally blew the Melo deal by trading Gallinari, Chandler and others when he could have waited till the off season to sign Melo as a free agent and lose no one.

  The players have quit on Mike Woodson who while he is a good coach has seemingly lost his team completely. The Knicks have lost four straight by an avg. of nearly 17 ppg and have lost at home to the likes of Brooklyn, Boston, San Antonio and others by more than 20 points. His rotations are a mess and his refusal to shake things up or instill discipline is killing us and a change has to be made. Gregg Poppovich, Scott Brooks and even Erik Spoelstra always get their players to perform and are able to do their jobs without front office dysfunction or ownership interference. Dolan refuses to let anyone do something unless he looks good and continually looks to Isaiah Thomas for guidance the former GM and team President that traded for Curry, signed Stephon Marbury to a crazy contract along with Jerome James and embarrased the organization by sexually harassing  Anucha Brown Sanders.
        He always brings back the men who ruined the Knicks from 2001-2010 and has no concept on how to build a contender or championship program.  The time has come for him to look himself in the mirror and though it will never happen due to his ego since he's the NBA Jerry Jones, he must step aside and sell the team. Even David Stern has said Dolan has no clue what he's doing and I urge all NYK knicks fans like myself to take a stand because it's not fair that we must suffer humiliation, losing and hardship because we have no structure as an organization.  Today's performance has been a microcosm of the incompetence that this franchise has had since they made the playoffs 15 straight years from 1985-2000 as they've blown away millions of dollars, angered the fanbase and splintered any form of team unity and structure. Abraham Lincoln once said it best, " A house-divided can not stand."