It's quite possible that no other team is looking forward to starting the new NBA season more then Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks. The sexual harassment trial and the fallout from it has worn Isiah Thomas down to the point where he hardly smiles anymore and gives short vague answers in response to the media's questions. The team has had a year together under Isiah’s system but has had to readjust again this year due to the addition of Zach Randolph. Many question how the tandem of Eddy Curry and Randolph is going to work. Both are considered low post players who are explosive offensively but neither passes the ball well and both are very bad on the defensive side of the ball. It's up to Isiah to figure out how to get the most out of both of them. Several media members are predicting Isiah won't last the season and the Knicks will miss the playoffs once again. Only Sports Illustrated has the Knicks making the playoffs this year. I thought I would look through the Knicks' schedule and give my prediction on how well they will fare and whether they are good enough for the playoffs.

Last year the Knicks started off slow and eventually recovered to play slightly above .500 but then injuries decimated the team and caused them to fall well below .500. To get a better idea of how many games this team can win, we need to look at the games on a month-by-month basis. If you look at November, the schedule looks favorable for the Knicks to get off to a good start. They play 8 games at home and 7 on the road. Looking at their opponents, I see them going 9-6 in the month of November. More specifically, I see them starting off 4-1, going 2-2 on their West coast trip, and then finishing up the month 3-3 against some good playoff caliber teams. The game of the month in my eyes will be the Nov. 29th game with Boston on national television. This would be a great statement game for the Knicks if they could come out and play well and beat the revamped Celtics.

In December, they play 9 games at home and only 5 on the road. They have some tough games at the beginning of the month and I see them coming out of those games with a 2-4 record. Their next 8 are mainly against teams in the East and I see them going 6-2 to finish the month at 8-6. The game to look at in this month will be the first game with New Jersey on the road on Dec. 5th. New Jersey has owned the Knicks since Jason Kidd has been in town and this would be a huge boost for the Knick players if they could go on the road early in the season and beat the Nets.

In January, the schedule gets a little tougher. The Knicks have 7 games at home and 9 on the road. This will be the month that makes or breaks this team in my opinion. With a tough Midwest road trip and some tough games at home, I see them starting out the month at 3-4. After that, I feel like this is where the team will hit their stride and will begin to gel as a team. They will finish up the month going 6-3 and a record of 9-7 for January. The Knicks will play 6 games in 9 days from Jan. 13-21. They will play Boston on Jan. 21st to wrap up that string of games. Again, if they can find a way to win this game, it would be a great building block for the second half of the season. In February, they play 5 games at home and 8 on the road. I do see them struggling a little bit this month with the tough January and rust from the All-Star break. I think they will finish 6-7 for the month of February with back-to-back games with Toronto on the 22nd and 24th being the big games of the month.

In March, the schedule has them playing 8 games at home and 7 on the road. I see them going 7-8 during this month as things starting getting a little tighter and teams in the East will be playing tougher. On March 7th, the Knicks will host Detroit in what could be a good test for the Knicks to see where they stand with one of the top teams in the East. In the month of April, with 4 games at home and 5 on the road, the Knicks should be able to finish the month with a 5-4 record as they try to hold on to a playoff spot. I hate to keep bringing Boston up, but the next to last game of the season with them on April 14th could be huge. A win in that game could set the tone going into the playoffs and give the Knicks that extra push to make some noise.

If you add up the records for each month, you will see that the Knicks would finish at 44-38 for the season. This is about what I expected from this team before looking at the schedule on a monthly basis like this. With a 44-38 record, that should be good enough for a 7 seed in the playoffs. If the Knicks can do this and grab a spot in the playoffs, maybe then Isiah can smile again and get some of his critics off his back...for a little while anyway.

First I apologize guys, I have been away some time. I haven't had much time these days to write. I had been thinking about writing a few times but never got around to it. But after another amazing game by the Knicks, I couldn't hold back any longer. Its probably too soon to get into what this triple overtime win over the East leading Pistons could mean for the Knicks, but it's an hour later while I write this and I still can't believe the Knicks pulled this win out. I know there are alot of Knick haters and Isiah haters out there and they don't want to hear me gush about how good the Knicks have looked lately. Whether you are a hater or just a pessimistic Knick fan, everyone should agree that this team is at least exciting to watch. Just that alone should give Knick fans hope as we haven't had a team to get behind really since they made that magical run in the playoffs in 1999. There are so many good things to like about this victory that I'm not sure where to begin.

 In my 20 years as a Knick fan, I honestly can't remember feeling this way about a Knick team. Sure the teams of the 90's were great and will always be the teams that I became a die hard Knick fan with. But with those teams, after Pat Riley arrived, there was a certain expectation of the team for many years. While there was some great moments during that time, because they never won the championship, fans came away stilll a little disappointed. Knick fans have gone through a tough period these last 5 years as the team has slowly and painfully become the laughing stock of the league. There was momentary excitement when Isiah came aboard and traded for Stephon Marbury right away. That team rebounded after the trade to make the playoffs but never really stood a chance against a superior New Jersey team. Since that time, most fans and the media especially have aimed their frustration at IsiahThomas and 11 days ago that frustration boiled over.

With the Knicks reaching rock bottom with the brawl with the Nuggets, the NY media and other journalists bashed the Knicks and Isiah for becoming such a disgrace. It likely reached its pinnacle with the front page image on the Post of Isiah and his "donkey ears", in reference to George Karl's comments the day after the brawl in which he called Isiah among other things, a "####". Did Isiah resign or complain about the treatment he was receiving? Did the team fold or start pointing fingers? No, they did not. Instead they have taken Knick fans on a wild ride for a week and a half that has seen them beat 3 of the top teams in the league going 4-1 in 5 games. 3 of those 5 games went into overtime with the Knicks seemingly out of everyone of them, only to persevere and find the will and a way to win the game. The fact that this team has found a way to win these games should speak volumes about what kind of coach Isiah is for this team. Would they have won these type of games last year. Absolutely not. Isiah has molded this team into A TEAM. You can see it in these last few games. You can see it on the court, in the huddle, on the bench. Many times while watching the games, I have noticed little things about the players and their body language that suggests to me that this group is becoming a tight nit team. During timeouts, players are talking strategy to each other, players have their arms draped around each other often times around Isiah too. You see players laughing and cheering their fellow teammates on the floor.

Every time the media tries to divide the team with negative stories, the team seems to ignore it all and battle on. Just yesterday, a couple of articles spun Francis's absence from practice as a disinterested player trying to get out of practicing and trying to poison the team . That seems like a reasonable assessment given Francis' past but if you watched the game Wednesday night, you saw a hobbled Francis giving it his all and cheering on his teammates while on the bench. Maybe Francis is more mature now or maybe Isiah has gotten Francis, along with everyone else, to buy into the team concept or maybe the public bashing Isiah has received lately has made this group of players really go with a "us against the world" mentality. Whatever it may be, it is clear to me that Isiah has already done more with this group of players then Larry Brown done all of last season. Stephon Marbury is playing great basketball now AND fitting in to the schemes that Isiah has put into place. Eddy Curry has become a lethal low post presence and the central focus of the Knicks offense. David Lee is an automatic double double every night. Channing Frye has gotten his stroke back and is becoming a valuable 3rd or 4th go to guy. Jamal Crawford has become equally important with his instant offense and knack to hit the big shot at the end of the game. The other players are all finding their places and meshing with the others to make a very nice rotation of solid players. I admit, optimism is high right now after this great win, but the Knicks these last 11 days have been showing New York City and the league that they are not as bad as many thought and may finally be on the right path.

I wrote an article when all this speculation begin over a month ago that Brown would be bought out or fired. I think the only reason it took this long to announce it is the league requested James Dolan wait until after the finals. They didn't want to deal with a Phil Jackson redux as we saw last year when Jackson come back to the Lakers during the Finals. It took some of the focus away from the Pistons and Spurs. I actually like this move by Dolan. Isiah has made some questionable moves as the gm, but with the makeup of this team, Brown was just butting heads with everyone. Isiah will at least try to come up with a game plan that utilizes some of the players talents. I imagine he will implement something similar to Chicago or Dallas, ala Phoenix lite. Below I list a few reasons why I think Isiah will be able to significantly improve the Knicks next year. This is a reprint of what I wrote on May 14, 2006.

A Brownout in NYC?

Well, that didn't take long. About three weeks ago, Knick fans were finally put out of their misery when the regular season ended. We all waited with anticipation to see what Marbury had to say at his exit interview about this train wreck of a season. He had promised two weeks before that he was going to let everyone know what he thought of Larry Brown. Instead, Marbury revealed to everyone that Brown had made him a better man. Wow. Did we miss something? I think we did and now we are hearing the full story. Reports out of New York Sunday morning had the Knicks on the verge of buying out Larry Brown's remaining four years. Apparently, management realized in order for Brown to be happy, they would have to change over half of their roster or risk having the same problems next year. It doesn't appear that it will be easy to move many of the players, so management likely decided that buying out Brown was the easiest route to take.

There is also speculation that Isiah Thomas would be his successor. I find this interesting as maybe Dolan has had it with Isiah too and this is his last chance to prove his worth to Dolan. Larry Brown is a great coach but I don't think he is able to adapt to the players he has, they have to adapt to him. With several young players and veteran players with ridiculous contracts, it would be difficult to get Brown the players he needs. Dolan and Isiah have done a terrible job up until this point, but if Isiah takes over for Brown, the Knicks will improve. Isiah has proven to be a horrendous executive, but he had a very underrated coaching stint at Indiana for three years with a collective record of 131-115. He took over at a time when Indiana had lost in the finals the previous year and the team was entering a transition period. They lost Rik Smits and traded Dale Davis for a young Jermaine O' Neal. During this time, the Pacers acquired Ron Artest as well. They made the playoffs and improved each year. O' Neal and Artest blossomed under Isiah and became all-star players. Isiah was replaced once Larry Bird decided to come back as president in 2003. If it was anyone but Bird, Isiah may still be there today. The next season the Pacers won 61 games under Rick Carlisle and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. You could argue that Isiah built that team and Carlisle simply inherited a good team that was ready to take the next step.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Dolan would be making this move for that reason. I won't give him that much credit. He is likely giving Thomas one last chance to right the ship. It might just work. Thomas has acquired most of the players on the roster because he felt he knew them and thought they could succeed in New York. If he comes down to the bench, the players will work harder and play harder for him because they know he is the reason they are there. He is younger and very close to many of the players, so they would likely be able to relate to him better then Brown. He would be comfortable with giving Frye and Lee big minutes unlike Brown. He would be comfortable with Marbury being Starbury again. Whether thats good for the team or not remains to be seen. History has proven that its not.

With the ending contracts of Jalen Rose and Maurice Taylor, two first round picks, and Steve Francis as trade bait, the Knicks need to acquire a good shooting forward and rugged rebounder to go alongside Eddy Curry. A shot blocking center would be beneficial as well. Al Harrington, Reggie Evans, Kenyon Martin and Theo Ratliff are a few players that would fill these needs. If they can accomplish these tasks this summer, Thomas would be in a position to significantly improve the team's record from this season. I say give Brown his money and let the Isiah watch begin.

Back in Sepember of 2005, I have to admit I was full of hope as a Knick fan. It bugged me that everyone was only saying how this experiment of Larry Brown, Isiah and Marbury was going to fail miserably. I decided to write about it at the time and in the process, come up with the different reasons why I thought this would work. I am always optimistic before the season starts. As a Knick fan, I have grown accustomed to being wrong about my optimism. I could not have been more wrong this time. I reread this a few weeks ago and really just had to laugh at myself. I thought everyone might get a good laugh out of it as well. I think there were at least a few others who felt the same as I did, so its interesting to see how things can be so different then what you might speculate could happen. Given this, its even more frustrating trying to figure out what really went wrong with the Knicks this season. There were several factors, but ultimately I blame Brown for not adapting more to the players he had. He is a great coach, but he doesn't have that skill like some of the other great coaches do. Everywhere he has been, the players always had to adapt to him or they were traded. Anyway, enjoy this wild story about emminent success I wrote before the season started.....

I admit I am a very avid Knicks fan. I admit I am a big fan of Larry Brown. I admit I am still holding out hope that Allan Houston can contribute this year. I admit I am convinced that Nate will have the #1 selling jersey this year. I admit I am overly optimistic about the upcoming season. But I strive to be very objective about everything, my Knicks included. I know we have several players that play the same position. We have several very overpaid players. We have a coach that may have bitten off more then he can chew this time. Our star player has failed time and time again to be a leader for the different teams he has played for. So I know there are many obstacles standing in the way of this Knicks team becoming a contender again. I keep reading these articles about how Marbury will not get along with Coach Brown and how there is not enough talent to make the playoffs. I keep waiting for the article that explains why the Knicks will make the playoffs again and why this is the beginning of something good for New York. I haven't seen it yet, so I wanted to share with you why I thought objectively that the Knicks could win 45-48 games this year and land anywhere from a 3 seed to a 6 seed in the playoffs. Ok, go ahead and clean the coffee off your monitor now and stop laughing. There are many signs that we can look at to see that this Knicks team with Brown is poised to make a splash this year.

Everybody talks about Brown making a difference but they don't fully explore how big of a difference Brown can make. Its easy to remember what Brown has done for the Pistons. But others argue that Rick Carlisle had them on the cusp of a championship and Brown just simply got them over the edge. That may be true, but "getting them over the edge" is the definition o####reat coach. No one seems to remember that Philadelphia never won more then 26 games between 1992 and 1997. They hired Brown in 1997 and he immediately improved that team from 22 to 31 wins. The following season the team went 28-22. Apply that winning percentage to a full season and they would have finished at 46-36. Follow that up with 49 wins in 2000 and 56 wins and a Finals appearance in 2001 and you can see that what Brown did in Philly was remarkable. People forget that Brown was said to be doomed from the start with the Sixers, Brown and his young selfish point guard would never get along. They certainly had issues along the way, but it worked and both will tell you they are better people after there experience together.

Does any of this sound familiar yet? I don't think the Knicks have been as bad as those Sixers teams of the mid 90's, but in Knick fans eyes, they have been pretty darn bad the last 4 years. Especially after all the highs they generated during the Ewing, Oakley, and Starks years. The Knicks also have a certain pg that people have already said will cause the Brown era to be a rocky one. The key to the Sixers success was Brown moving Iverson to shooting guard and making them into a more conventional team his second season. He stressed better post play, better defense, and even though Iverson's scoring avg went up 6 points when he moved to SG, a look at the teams stats suggest that other players were more involved, resulting in a more balanced team on offense. After doing a comparison of the two seasons where they went from 31 wins to 28(46 if a full season had been played) in the 1999 season, I found a few telling stats that show the affect Brown can have on a team. Looking at the team stats for assists, steals, turnovers and ppg, and comparing them to their opponents avg, the Sixers bettered their stats while their opponents got worse. For assists, they increased their avg by 1.1 a game while the opponents avg decreased by 1.2. Thats a difference of 2.3 a game. For steals, they increased their avg by 0.7 while the opponent decreased by 1.6. A difference of 2.3 a game. For turnovers, the Sixers decreased by 0.8 while the opponent increased by 1.5. Thats a difference of 2.3 again. Finally, for points per game, the Sixers increased their scoring by 1.5 while the opponent decreased by 2.3. A difference of 3.8. So what does all this tell us? It says the team took better care of the ball, shared the ball better, and defended the ball better. This just reflects what people have been hearing ever since the Pistons won it all in 2004, Brown likes to "play the right way".

What does this have to do with anything you might ask. If you go back and look, you will see the same thing took place with the other teams Brown coached in Detroit, Indiana, San Antonio and the Clippers. There is a reason the Knicks paid him 10 million and he is considered a great coach. The numbers don't lie. I chose to detail the Sixers second and third season because out of all the teams Brown has been with in the last 15 years, that team appears to be more similar to the Knicks then any other team. The Sixers won 31 games that second season under Brown. The Knicks won 33 games last year. The Sixers had a scoring pg that despite being a great player, was not considered a leader or someone that could carry the team. A great player, but somehow a detriment to the team. We are all well aware that Stephon Marbury carries a similar label with the Knicks and with his previous teams.

We have already heard comments from Brown that he will play Marbury at the 2 this season. There are some rumblings that they may go after Eric Snow to give him that steadying PG up top. I'm not sure they will do that in the beginning, there seems to be an inclination for Brown to at least try Crawford at the point. I don't really like Crawford's game, but I remember when I didn't like Iverson or Larry Hughes' game either. Both of those players have evolved and become much more complete players. So, I think Crawford deserves a shot at the pg position. Especially since it appears Nate Robinson may be able to contribute there as well. You really can't underestimate the respect and attention that Brown will get from the players including Crawford. With that, Crawford may be a suitable option at pg, especially during this first season. It sounds like we will probably see Richardson at SF and Sweetney and James down low. If you apply Iverson's stats from that Sixers team, you would expect Marbury's scoring to go up and his assists to go down. With Crawford, his shots will likely decrease and his assists will go up. With Richardson at SF, I expect to see a Rasheed Wallace type role for him where he works primarily down on the blocks but also will be able to float outside for open jumpers. I really expect Sweetney's numbers to go up this year if he stays a Knick. Jerome James' stats will go up too but not as much. Another common theme for Brown coached teams is the PFs on the team rebound better. A good example is Antonio and Dale Davis in Indiana. They became monsters on the board and were a vital part of those great Indiana teams. Given the chance, Sweetney could turn into the same type player for the Knicks. Another reason I'm hopeful, is that if Houston is healthy, he becomes a great 6th man off the bench to provide a legitimate outside scoring threat. Also, with the three rookies coming in, especially Robinson, they could really prove to be valuable to the team this year. Those last two are big if's, but they still have to be considered.

One last item we can look at to maybe forecast how well the Knicks could do this year is to apply those Sixer stats to last year's Knicks team. I expect Brown to get the players to play the way he wants them to, so its not inconceivable to think he could get similar stats for this Knicks team. If you look at the Knicks record, they were 33-49 last year. Apply the Sixers success when they had a similar record(31-51, then improved to a prorated 46-36), and the Knicks would improve their record to 48-34. Also, apply the Sixers ppg differential of 3.8 and the Knicks go from averaging 97.3 and allowing 99.7 ppg to averaging 98.8 and allowing 97.4 ppg. Now take a record of 48-34 with the points scored and allowed and you have three teams from last year that produced similar stats. Those three teams were Seattle, Denver, and Minnesota. Thats pretty good company to be in. Finally, with 48 wins, the Knicks could possibly win the Atlantic Division. The Nets look strong this year, but they have to see how well Kidd's knee does over a full season and how well Jefferson and Carter can mesh in the offense. The winner of the Atlantic Division is guaranteed the 3rd seed in the playoffs. Even if they don't win the division, 48 wins likely gets you at least a 6 seed in a competitive Eastern Conference. With the 6 seed, you likely don't have to face Miami or Indiana. In my mind, those are the two powerhouses in the East. After those two, anyone has a chance to win a playoff series in the 6 slot. In the end, all of this points to the Knicks having a good chance at a breakout season this year. If thats the case, be sure to listen, because the Garden shall roar again.

Well, that didn't take long. About three weeks ago, Knick fans were finally put out of their misery when the regular season ended. We all waited with anticipation to see what Marbury had to say at his exit interview about this train wreck of a season. He had promised two weeks before that he was going to let everyone know what he thought of Larry Brown. Instead, Marbury revealed to everyone that Brown had made him a better man. Wow. Did we miss something? I think we did and now we are hearing the full story. Reports out of New York Sunday morning had the Knicks on the verge of buying out Larry Brown's remaining four years. Apparently, management realized in order for Brown to be happy, they would have to change over half of their roster or risk having the same problems next year. It doesn't appear that it will be easy to move many of the players, so management likely decided that buying out Brown was the easiest route to take.

There is also speculation that Isiah Thomas would be his successor. I find this interesting as maybe Dolan has had it with Isiah too and this is his last chance to prove his worth to Dolan. Larry Brown is a great coach but I don't think he is able to adapt to the players he has, they have to adapt to him. With several young players and veteran players with ridiculous contracts, it would be difficult to get Brown the players he needs. Dolan and Isiah have done a terrible job up until this point, but if Isiah takes over for Brown, the Knicks will improve. Isiah has proven to be a horrendous executive, but he had a very underrated coaching stint at Indiana for three years with a collective record of 131-115. He took over at a time when Indiana had lost in the finals the previous year and the team was entering a transition period. They lost Rik Smits and traded Dale Davis for a young Jermaine O' Neal. During this time, the Pacers acquired Ron Artest as well. They made the playoffs and improved each year. O' Neal and Artest blossomed under Isiah and became all-star players. Isiah was replaced once Larry Bird decided to come back as president in 2003. If it was anyone but Bird, Isiah may still be there today. The next season the Pacers won 61 games under Rick Carlisle and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. You could argue that Isiah built that team and Carlisle simply inherited a good team that was ready to take the next step.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Dolan would be making this move for that reason. I won't give him that much credit. He is likely giving Thomas one last chance to right the ship. It might just work. Thomas has acquired most of the players on the roster because he felt he knew them and thought they could succeed in New York. If he comes down to the bench, the players will work harder and play harder for him because they know he is the reason they are there. He is younger and very close to many of the players, so they would likely be able to relate to him better then Brown. He would be comfortable with giving Frye and Lee big minutes unlike Brown. He would be comfortable with Marbury being Starbury again. Whether thats good for the team or not remains to be seen. History has proven that its not.

With the ending contracts of Jalen Rose and Maurice Taylor, two first round picks, and Steve Francis as trade bait, the Knicks need to acquire a good shooting forward and rugged rebounder to go alongside Eddy Curry. A shot blocking center would be beneficial as well. Al Harrington, Reggie Evans, Kenyon Martin and Theo Ratliff are a few players that would fill these needs. If they can accomplish these tasks this summer, Thomas would be in a position to significantly improve the team's record from this season. I say give Brown his money and let the Isiah watch begin.