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Blink And You Missed It: The Relevant Portion Of The Knicks Season Is Over

Even for the James Dolan/Isiah Thomas Knicks five games is mighty quick to flush your entire season down the toilet. I'd been holding off on writing about them because I wasn't quite sure what to make of them after an impressive win against Denver and then the brutal losses to the two Florida clubs. Turns out there's nothing new to write about since the season's already in the gutter.

That's what happened today, though, when Stephon Marbury fled Phoenix and the team on the heels of reports that the team was looking to reduce his role with the team and/or eliminate him from the roster entirely. At first it seemed like Marbury left the team with no warning or explanation, something about Thomas saying he had no idea where Marbury was gave that impression, but the Post is now reporting that Marbury says he got the OK from Thomas before splitting.

I don't think Marbury is right to bolt the team just because they want him to come off the bench. Clearly that's selfish BS. I do think that a Marbury-less Knick squad, however, has about as much chance to go to the playoffs as the Washington Generals. Who's going to run the point? Mardy Collins? The loathsome little gnat named Nate? Those dogs just ain't gonna hunt. I suppose you could try Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson in the backcourt with Renaldo Balkman starting at the three. You could also try ramming your head into a brick wall repeatedly. Both will leave you worse for the wear.

Moreover, this latest fracas is indicative of the complete mess that Dolan has made of the organization. To get rid of Marbury, and you have to now that he's skipped out on the team, you're going to have to buy out what's left of his contract. He's untradeable, because of his contract and because of his me-first attitude. Well, that's not quite true. You might be able to dump him for awful contracts, Larry Hughes come on down!, but nothing that's going to help this team win. That leaves Dolan to spend Anucha Browne Sanders money which when you think about it is a fair penalty for that dip to have to pay.

You could have trade him this offseason, though, when he'll have just one year to go on his deal. Maybe they can patch things up enough for him to come back and play until then but, as I've said already, I think you have to get rid of a player who walks out on the team. What I don't get is why they waited until now to do something about him.

There's something so surprising about Marbury's issues playing defense and running the offense? These problems are nothing new, except to Thomas, I guess. And I guess Thomas also forgot that Marbury sabotaged Larry Brown and that he balked at Thomas when things went badly to start last season.  Knowing all of this, why didn't the Knicks go out and try to improve the point guard position instead of flirting with Allan Houston and drafting their umpteenth forward who can't score? Because they're idiots, always have been and always will be idiots.

The Knicks are in Phoenix tonight and the Suns may well put up 200 against the Marbury and Zach Randolph-less 'Bockers. Good times never end at the Garden.

The Greatest

I was watching PTI at the gym this afternoon and in the first four stories Wilbon and Kornheiser called something the greatest of all time. First up were the Patriots, who Tony said would go 19-0 and were the best football team of all time. Then came Devin Hester, the greatest kick returner of all time. Finally, after a brief respite during a college football discussion that flirted with calling South Florida the greatest something or other of all time, up came the Colorado Rockies who are on the greatest hot streak of all time.

Cris Collinsworth did the same thing during halftime of last night's Sunday Night football game when he referred to New England as the best team he's ever seen. There's been scuttlebutt here and there that Tom Brady is having the greatest season of any quarterback ever, during last year's NCAA Tournament we heard that Greg Oden was the best Freshman to ever play college basketball. Unless it was Kevin Durant.

Elsewhere there are articles proclaiming Brett Favre, Joe Torre, the USC football program, Roger Federer, San Diego State kicker Parker Douglass, Floyd Mayweather, motocross racer Ricky Carmichael , high school running back Jerandon Bussey and Roger Clemens the Greatest ______ of All Time. Appalachian State's win over Michigan was called the greatest upset of all time until that USC football program was defeated by a Stanford team that ASU would probably handle with ease.

What's all the fuss about the greatest of all time? I think it has more to do with us than with anything these teams or players do in their chosen fields. We're obsessed with thinking that we are witnessing the absolute height of human achievement rather than just admitting that every era has its standouts, that its impossible to truly compare sports performances from one era against another except in the mind's eye. Sure, statisticians can create formulas that put things on an equal playing field but can anyone say with any degree of real certainty what would happen if Clemens took on Babe Ruth or if Tim Duncan's Spurs played the Knicks of Reed and Frazier?

I'd love to see both matchups but until someone harnesses 1.21 gigawatts it's going to remain a fantasy. These mythical titles seem to exist just to start the next debate - If the Patriots are the greatest team of all time and the Colts beat them does that make the Colts the greatest team of all time? - and in that next debate no one is going to be more inclined to temper their remarks.

I'm not saying any and all of these people are being mislabeled, except for the San Diego State kicker thing which is just hyperbole out of control. I'm just saying that our need to feel like we live in interesting and amazing times trumps any and all perspective about the length and variety of history.

They called World War I the "war to end all wars" and as you'll note by the ongoing muck of Iraq that was more than a little premature. The generation that won World War II, the "greatest generation," went on to get us into Vietnam, presided over Jim Crow and helped create divides in this country that are still being fought over. And those are things that actually matter. Wouldn't it be both easier and more accurate to say that huge things and magnificent individuals exist in every era and just celebrate them that way instead of resorting to hyperbole that only serves to make us feel better about ourselves?

Who's #7 On The Knicks?

If you tune into tonight's preseason game between the Knicks and Maccabi Tel Aviv you might experience a bit of deja vu. With a twist. The 6'6" shooting guard will look familiar and the sweet shooting stroke will tickle both the twine and the far reaches of your memory bank yet you'll find yourself saying "I don't remember any Knick player wearing number 7 recently."

That's cause there isn't one but that player you recognize is none other than Allan Houston, author of one of the most memorable Knick moments in history and attempter of a comeback I don't think anyone saw coming. Sure, Houston's been talking about it for a while but the last place I thought he'd end up is back with the Dolan carnival. If he can still go it will be as a long-range shooter off the bench, the perfect complement to a good team looking for a weapon.

These Knicks do have backcourt needs but they begin at the point, not at the two. If Houston does make the team he'd take the spot of rookie Demetris Nichols, a sharpshooter, and he wasn't the best defensive player during his prime. Those skills probably haven't improved with time off and I'd rather see the Knicks get younger than older after years spent flailing about with old, expensive players.

Houston won't cost much and doesn't have a guaranteed contract so that's not the big complaint about the signing. I think James Dolan and Isiah cooked this up as a way to deflect some attention from their recent courtroom farce. Bring back a beloved veteran of better days, let the media attention flow to coverage of his comeback and try to foster some goodwill in a town that thinks the whole organization has gone to pot under their watch.

Oh yeah, the reason he's not wearing number 20 is because Jared Jeffries hasn't been given cement boots and a toss from a boat in the Hudson yet and the NBA, in its infinite wisdom, has a rule that says players can't switch numbers without notice given to the league before training camp begins. Because there's so much call for Jared Jeffries jerseys around the country.

They Can Find $36 Million For Jared Jeffries But...

Why in the world is James Dolan allowing this Isiah Thomas trial to keep moving forward? If you owned a business that was getting dragged through the mud on a daily basis in front of your customer base what would it be worth to you to make it stop? Take into account that said company was part of a larger consortium that is fanatical about its public image and said customer base was being insulted by the people they pay good money to watch play and/or coach. To me it would be worth quite a bit to make it stop, if not for the $10 million asking price then for something close to it that made the whole thing go away. Alas, I'm not James Dolan and we're sure to get more charming missives like the one that Stephon Marbury sent to someone who worked for Anucha Browne Sanders.

"No one likes that black bitch," Marbury told a Sanders underling, according to the Nov. 28, 2005 note. "F - - - that black bitch. She thinks she runs the Knicks. She don't run s- - -. I sell the tickets around here, not her. I put people in seats. This is my team."

And that actually came on a good day for the Knicks defense team. Team President Steve Mills testified that Sanders resigned from her job before the Knicks fired her, making a retaliation charge quite tough to prove, and outlined several ways that she was deficient in her job duties. That basically means that the Knicks were more than willing to keep paying for someone to do a mediocre job, that's their defense actually, and Mills said that when Sanders finally told him about Thomas' improper advances he spoke to Isiah about it. That was in December 2005, just before the Knicks and Sanders parted ways.

I'm not a legal analyst nor am I knowledgeable about the inner workings of the Knick organization but this whole deal needs to go away posthaste. It's clear that this woman, however bad she may have been at her job, was subjected to a difficult working enviornment above and beyond what most reasonable people would accept. Settle this and move onto to the season which actually holds some promise of a positive outcome.

Sam Bowie Out For The Season

 

Sorry, does that say Sam Bowie? It should say Greg Oden out for the season and that, of course, is much, much worse news for current Portland Trail Blazer fans. The members of that group that have been around a while can probably remember Bowie and Bill Walton, even, so they should take aside the younger ones and try to offer some comfort and reassurance in these cruel times. Making the news even worse is that Oden underwent micro fracture surgery today and that's hardly a cure-all.

"Greg had an arthroscopy and a micro fracture surgery today," said team physician Dr. Don Roberts, who preformed the surgery. "He was found to have articular cartilage damage in his right knee. The area of injury was not large and we were able to treat it with micro fracture, which stimulates the growth of cartilage. There are things about this that are positive for Greg. First of all he is young. The area where the damage was is small and the rest of his knee looked normal. All those are good signs for a complete recovery from micro fracture surgery."

Micro fracture surgery has a very mixed history of success among NBA players. Jason Kidd had it and has returned to the same excellent level of play as before, so did John Stockton. The operation hasn't helped Chris Webber return to his previous form, though, and Allan Houston and Penny Hardaway are making last-ditch comeback efforts this season because they never sufficiently healed from having the surgery.

The best hope for the Blazers is that Oden follows the path of Amare Stoudemire. He missed the 2005-06 season after having the operation but returned this year with 20 points and nine-plus rebounds per game. If that's the case it will merely delay the start of Oden's career and shouldn't have a terrible impact on his production. But Oden had problems with his wrist and back before hitting the pro game and there were pre-draft questions about the long-term health of his knees. Taking that into account you can understand why Blazer fans with a sense of history might be wondering if they haven't made the Bowie mistake all over again by passing on Kevin Durant. It's much too soon to say that, of course, but the dark clouds in the Pacific Northwest have little to do with the weather this afternoon.

Stephon Marbury, Smooth Operator

You just knew that when Stephon Marbury stepped into the witness box something good was going to happen. He spent the summer giving wonderful interviews, blogging up a storm and selling his shoes from coast to coast. There was no way his testimony in the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment case was going to be a dour affair. And indeed it was not, although the questioning had more to do with Marbury's sexual habits than anything that Thomas may or may not have done to Anucha Browne Sanders. Her attorneys asked Marbury about an assignation with a Knicks intern in a truck.

Hunched in the hot seat in a stylish tan checked jacket, Marbury 'fessed up to crassly luring the college student into his vehicle outside a strip club, calling out, "Are you going to get in the truck?"

He said she answered, "Yes."

"It really wasn't a conversation," said the cocky team captain, admitting he knew the woman was an intern but denying he was aware she was drunk.

They proceeded to have sex in the parked car and follow-up questions hinted at an ongoing relationship between the two before the judge stepped in to remind the lawyers that Marbury wasn't a defendant in the case at hand. The only reason it went that far is because Browne Sanders discussed the incident in her own testimony saying that the intern told her she "wouldn't have gotten into the truck but felt like she had to" because Marbury was doing the asking. The intern also said that the sex was consenual, though, and Sanders' account of the incident featured different details than Marbury's.

The intern, who still works for the Knicks, was dating Marbury's cousin at the time of the strip club soiree. Said cousin was at the heart of the poor relationship between Marbury and Sanders because she fired him as a Knick employee after he falsified timecards and sexually harassed another colleague. Sanders claims she told the team about the incident with Marbury but they failed to do anything about it, something she says illustrates the atmosphere of harassment inside the organization.

Perhaps they didn't investigate it because it seems like two adults having sex in a parked car. I'm not saying that the girl might have felt Marbury was powerful or that he acted like a true gentleman but nothing in the account from yesterday raises much of an eyebrow. She was probably drunk, he probably acted like a cad and that goes on each and every day in bars and at parties all across the country. What that has to do with the Knicks as an organization is beyond me? It wasn't a Knicks team party at the Mt. Vernon strip club, after all, and are we really supposed to be shocked to find out that NBA players treat women like disposable objects?

Isiah On Trial

The Isiah Thomas trial tipped off in Manhattan yesterday with testimony from his accuser. Anucha Browne Sanders is accusing the Knick majordomo of sexual harassment and she was quite willing to share the comments that Thomas made to make her uncomfortable. First and foremost she seems to have a problem with being referred to as "Bitch" at the start of every sentance.

"Bitch, I don't give a f--k about the sponsors ..." Browne Sanders testified Thomas told her. "I don't give a f--k about ticket sales."

She also said Thomas rebuffed her March 2004 request that he sign renewal-request letters sent out to past season ticket holders with a pointed shot at loyal Knick fans.

"Bitch, I don't give a f--k about these white people," Browne Sanders said Thomas told her.

As a white season ticket holder I feel I should weigh in on that last comment by Browne Sanders. It doesn't have any place in this court proceeding. Other than calling her a bitch it doesn't have any place in a sexual harassment case. It's just there to make Thomas look bad to the jury, like he's some kind of loose cannon that will say anything that comes to mind without regard to appropriateness. Beyond that, I don't know why this would come as a shock to anyone who has watched the Knicks play since Thomas was hired by the Dolans. Anyone who signs Jerome James and Jared Jeffries, trades for Stevie Francis and drafts Nate Robinson clearly doesn't give a fuck about ticket sales or the white people who buy said tickets. You don't need Anucha Browne Sanders to tell you that, you just need a program and the slightest knowledge of basketball to know that Thomas isn't interested in making any friends inside Madison Square Garden.

Getting back to the courtroom, Browne Sanders testified that Isiah told her he loved her after playing a game of Horse. He realized that their relationship was like the one in the film "Love and Basketball." I'm not a huge fan of the film, although Omar Epps and sports films remain a winning combination, but I think there's a chance that it wasn't the romantic relationship that Thomas was referencing when he made that comment. If you've seen the movie you're probably familiar with the scene when the USC coach tells Monica that she's starting and she asks him why he's always being so mean to her. "You think I'd go hoarse for a player with no potential? When I ignore you... then you worry," is his response. If Thomas is going to employ a defense using the movie I think that's the direction he should go.

The Next Stage Of Donaghy-Induced Pain

Now that Tim Donaghy has pled guilty to two felonies and his conspirators have done the same to one apiece the NBA can breath its first sigh of relief. He didn't implicate anyone else, which is a good reason for a sigh, and there won't be a long trial hanging over their upcoming season. Before they breathe too deeply, though, they should take a look at the indictment and realize that there's still something mighty rotten in the state of Stern.

The document, helpfully posted by The Smoking Gun, spells out the details of the plot. Donaghy took cash for providing recommendations on NBA games and would receive money for each correct pick. The recommendations would be based on his knowledge of which refereeing crew was working each game and "the interactions between certain referees and certain players and team personnel." That means he could sit there and look at a game and based on the officials make a pick about which team would benefit from the assignment.

That's not good. The Association can honestly stick to their claim of Donaghy being a isolated rogue because he didn't name any other names. What they can't do, however, is continue to refer to their officials as an impartial, unassailable group that isn't prone to the same human frailties as the rest of us. If just knowing who was working each game was enough for Donaghy's scheme to work so well that he got a raise from $2,000 to $5,000 per correct pick, that means that the NBA refs aren't doing their jobs as you'd like. It means that they hold grudges, target particular players and/or coaches and call games with such predictablity that the actual on-court action is merely window dressing for the officials. Any accusation about refs being assigned to postseason games so that the outcome will be assured extra credence from now on. A player who picks up two quick fouls won't be guilty of being overeager, he'll be guilty of something long in the past that is influencing the way he's viewed by the refs. The unwritten rules that helped superstars and hindered rookies were one thing but this is far more damaging to the appearance of propriety.

With the actual Donaghy part of the proceedings out of the way, I hope that the league takes what they've learned to conduct a total audit of the officiating process. This gives them a lot of leeway to take action, change their evaluation process and improve what was already a reviled group. From bad can come good but they've got to treat it seriously and not just focus on the actions of a rogue cowboy and move on like nothing else is wrong.

Old Is The New Young

It started last week when the Celtics continued their plan to dominate NBA Live 2001. They called Reggie Miller to see if he wanted to run with K.G., Jesus Shuttlesworth and Paul Pierce next season in a lineup that would threaten to run roughshod over the Eastern Conference as well as force the cast of Wild Hogs out of a potential sequel.

Then the Heat signed Penny Hardaway, who spent last season defending his herb garden from aphids as opposed to defending the hoop from penetrating 2-guards. Pat Riley has never shied away from veteran players but Hardaway hasn't been an effective player at any point in this century. Maybe Riley's goal is to make a bid for the Nobel Peace Prize by reuniting Penny and Shaq more than a decade after their break-up decimated the Orlando Magic.

With those two Eastern contenders making vintage moves the defending champs didn't want to get caught flat-footed. They will be caught weak-kneed if they follow through on their interest in former Knick Allan Houston though. The sweet-shooter was forced from the game by those balky joints two years ago but has said that he's feeling better and wants to give it another go in the Association. Watching Houston's career wind down was painful. The silky moves were gone, replaced by a stiff player who couldn't get open to bury the threes that made him a rich man. I don't doubt his knees are feeling better, with rest they'd have to be, but can he really be a difference-maker on a Cavs team that has greater needs than a backup shooting guard?

While the East plays old guard roulette, all the Western teams has been content to replenish their rosters with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant or holding steady by not trading away Amare Stoudemire and Kobe Bryant. All of them but the Mavericks, that is. They just signed Eddie Jones, apparently not old enough to satisfy Riles anymore, which means that it is unlikely that they will sign Miller, even if Tim Cowlishaw thinks they should. His colleague Tim McMahon does him one better and says that they should add Karl Malone instead and even uses the plethora of Hispanic woman in the Metroplex as part of the package. It's not a bad idea for a team short on toughness, nor is yet another graying comeback aspirant Charles Oakley.

If you are going to sign a player on the wrong side of the hill it should be one who would bring you intangible qualities as opposed to ones that would push them beyond their current athletic abilities. Miller and Houston could each offer a lot of advice and know-how to teams but I'm not sure how much Ray Allen or LeBron James need that. Their shooting ability is undeniable, I have my doubts about their ability to get said shots off though. The Hardaway move is a total mindbender. Any clod off the street could have given the Knicks what Penny did in his last two years, injured or not, and the Heat have deep needs that he simply won't come close to filling. At least Oakley and Malone would do a ton of dirty work and keep other teams honest in their attempt to win the ring that's eluded them.

If You See The Moose Coming, You Best Get Running

Not since the Zapruder film has a video done more to explain a tragic situation and make me feel like a fool at the same time. I was convinced Oswald acted alone and I was sure that the Moose was guilty. So very wrong...Let the Moose loose! (Shakedown Sports)

Finally someone in Boston pays some attention to Brian Scalabrine. (Epic Carnival)

Is someone at work calling you Herban and you don't know what it means? It's not a compliment. (Loser With Socks)

No pitcher deserves the infamy of giving up #756 more than Jose Canseco. (The Extrapolater)

I wonder what problem the venerable Southern Christian Leadership Conference could have with honoring Michael Vick? (Nation of Islam Sports Blog)

Can we make August 7th Butch Hobson Day? (One More Dying Quail)

Erik Morales was a helluva fighter. Good to see he's getting out of the game before his brain gets scrambled. (Rumors and Rants)

Only 88 days until Michigan destroys the Spartans. (The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes)

The world needs fantasy track. (Shot to Nothing)

Matt Vasgersian will be paying for drinks in St. Louis for the near future. (Awful Announcing)