I think we all have given up!

Well that was fun.

Was able to go to the Knicks vs. Celtics game on Monday, MLK Jr. day.  For a few years now I have gone to celebrate a great man’s birthday at the Garden.  While there was actual effort put forth by the Knicks they still came up way short.  Why can’t Nate start at the 1?  He is our only real point guard aside from Mardy Collins, and he has been one of the few highlights of the team this year.  Fred Jones started at the 2 and Crawford the 1.  Was Rondo too much for Nate to handle or something???  It makes no sense.  I will not be able to say this enough, but I hate Jared Jeffries.  He is a waste of space.  He threw a few passes to no one in-particular, missed an easy layup, and just kind of stood there most of the time.  After one errant pass to Eddy Curry, who was wide open under the basket, Jeffries just stood there looking at Curry like it was his fault.  Then Jeffries stuck his hand out for a “My Bad” high five, and Curry just ran right by it, and rightfully so.  No one on Boston paid any attention to him on offense so why should Curry?  There was also a Jerome James sighting.  He came in with just over a minute left to play, and looked fantastic let me tell you.  It is a sad state when the most heads up play for the Knicks was when Richardson goated Pierce into double technical fouls twice.  Richardson traded verbal pleasantries with Paul Pierce, and both were tossed.  By far the best play of the game for a Knick!

WTF?

Just read on ESPN.com that many GM’s around the league are mad at Isiah Thomas for nixing deals that his assistant, Glen Grunwald, has put together.  Why you ask?  Because he does not want to part with Crawford or Lee.  Now, I love David Lee.  What he lacks in talent he makes up for in effort.  Crawford, I like right now.  He is supremely streaky as we all know.  Right now he is on fire, but in a week…?  One deal I read was Crawford and Malik Rose and/or Jerome James to the New Jersey Nets for Vince Carter.  Hello???  Tell me why not?  Call it Crawford and Jerome “I love the mid-level exception” James.  You get Carter for 4 more years, which is a lot, but a team option after 2010/11.  James has 2 years left, and a player option for the 3rd year.  Crawford has a player option in 2009/10, good for that year and the next.  Basically it is a nice 2 for 1, and we take on some more contract, but we get a legit player back.  Carter is not Air Canada, but he is averaging 21, 5, 4 this year down from the 25, 6, 4, from the previous year.  Still if he can give the Knicks an average of 18, 5, 4 for a few years in there, why not take it.  He also plays defense which is now a novelty to the Knicks.  There is no way we can win with what we have, but take some baby steps, and bring in some big names with game, and the people will be interested.  Isiah thinks by trading Lee or Crawford he will be hated?  Listen to the crowd, we already hate you.

Where To Start???

 I guess I can start by stating “I hate Jarred Jeffries.” I am a slow fat white boy, but I bet if you paid me $5.8 Million this year I could score more than 2.6 PPG. I am an old school Knicks fan.  I liked my offense slow and my defense punishing.  Remember when in 1994 when the Garden offered free individual pizzas to everyone in attendance if the Knicks held the opponent to under 80???  They had to stop the promotion after a few weeks because no one scored 80.  Now we have to fight to hold a team under 100.  And do not be fooled by 3 in a row.  Miami sucks, but they love to play us.  Could be the spark to bring them out of the cellar, and throw us in there.  After that, I will have the privilege to see Boston on Martin Luther King Jr. day in the Garden.  That should be a real treat.  Clearly the fans at these games, prior to a torrid winning streak, have voice their opinion of “Fire Isiah,” but that is just the first damn step.  I so wanted Kiki Vandeweghe to be our GM, even though he thought K-Mart was a solid pick up.  Now that I think about it maybe he knew he was headed to New Jersey anyway. Conspiracy??? Nah, who would ever think they would end up in Jersey?  What needs to happen is that SOB Dolan (SOB – Son of Boss) needs his daddy to step in and clean house.  Ride out the terrible contracts, or trade them if anyone is dumb enough to take them, and pick old scrubs whose contracts are running out, like Juwan Howard.  Granted we will have to give up a younger player and it will seem pretty unfabulous , but something like… Balkman and Richardson to Toronto for Kapono and Dixon.  Nothing to write home about, except Dixon is a free agent after this season, so that is $2 mil gone.  Kapono makes less that Richardson, so there is some more wiggle room, and we dump another terrible signing in Richardson.  He had Nashitis, which greatly improves your play.   Overall this is going to be a huge disaster unless baby steps like that are taken.  No reasonable trade is going to fix this, but a bunch of boring little ones can stop the flooding.

What would Isiah Thomas have to do to be fired?

Putting the current winning streak aside for a moment…What would Isiah Thomas have to do to be fired?Let’s review, shall we.1) The Knicks — a once proud franchise in a town where coaches and managers are fired for mediocrity, let alone utter failure — are one of the doormats, laughing stocks, etc…of the entire league.2) Isiah is the general manager and we still have by far the highest payroll in the NBA3) He cost the organization $11.5 million in a settlement surrounding his sexual harassment of a Madison Square Garden employee4)  Fans have made the position clear by taking the step of producing a giant pink slip (30 feet tall) in the hopes of getting management to listen to the people who actually pay all of these salaries (the fans)So, what would he have to do to get shitcanned?If the Knicks were 0-36 instead of 11-25, would he be fired? For some reason, I don’t think so.Perhaps he “has something” on the Dolans?Please help me figure out what is going on here.Rory 

Curry for Hoiberg (trade rumor update)

The NBA executives we’ve spoken to are nearly unanimous in their belief that Pau Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies is the most likely high-profile player to be dealt before next month’s NBA trading deadline. They cautioned, however, that the unsettled situation surrounding the New York Knicks could change the league’s entire landscape in the next five weeks.

Seems the fans at Madison Square Garden aren’t the only ones chanting “Fire Isiah.” Executives from a handful of teams around the NBA are voicing similar sentiments following nearly a month of all talk and no action emanating from Manhattan.

ESPN.COM’S TRADE MACHINE

It’s your turn to be GM. Propose a deal using ESPN.com’s Trade Machine

Sources told ESPN.com that the New York Knicks have been one of the more active teams in trade discussions around the NBA. But team president and head coach Isiah Thomas has quashed numerous proposals put together by his top assistant, Glen Grunwald, mainly because of Thomas’ reluctance to part with the two players other teams ask for the most, Jamal Crawford and David Lee.

One proposed deal would have sent Crawford and a cap filler (Malik Rose and/or Jerome James) to the New Jersey Nets for Vince Carter. Another would have sent Crawford and others to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a package built around Larry Hughes. A third deal, which was squashed by the Bucks, would have sent Zach Randolph to Milwaukee.

The feeling around the NBA, from discussions with front office executives, agents, scouts and coaches, is that the uncertainty surrounding Thomas’ job status — along with possible resistance from ownership — is keeping the Knicks from pulling the trigger on any trades. But should owner James Dolan decide to fire Thomas and make Grunwald the new (and most likely temporary) architect of the roster, the breakup of the team would commence almost immediately, and there would then be a ripple effect that would impact other trade discussions around the league.

we need him

I BELIEVE AGAIN, BUT…

Is it me, or did we have a six-game winning streak last year (or two years ago) when we thought we were healed?

3-game winning streak

We look like a playoff team.  Hoiberg gets us over the hump.

Rumored Eddy Curry trade

Curry for Fred Hoiberg straight up.  I personally love it.