Fire Sale

The Knicks are back in the headlines which is pretty amazing considering their season has been over for weeks. The news out of the Garden these days is that the Knicks are looking to get rid of Larry Brown after arguably the worst season in Knicks history. Heckle and Jeckle also known as James Dolan and Isiah Thomas have apparently decided that the major problem with the team is the coach.

Larry Brown and the Knicks have been a match made in hell to this point. Brown, who went through a messy (and lucrative) divorce with the Pistons last year, said that the Knicks were his dream job. He never realized what a nightmare this season would become. The Knicks roster was filled with rookies, underachievers and over paid shooters with no conscience. Larry Brown is first and foremost a defensive coach. He should have known that this team would never be able to fit that style of play. Brown is partly to blame for the Knicks performance this year. He should have tried to adapt his style to the players that he had, not the other way around. He made certain concessions when he coached Alan Iverson, but for some reason seemed unwilling to do that here. Perhaps he's just getting more stubborn with age.

With all that being said, Larry Brown still undoubtedly knows how to coach. He is the only person in history to win a NCAA and NBA championship. He is only one season removed from being a few points away from celebrating back to back championships. Heckle and Jeckle have no such resume to fall back on. Isiah did win as a player in college and the pros, but I don't remember that being a prerequisite to success as an executive. Dolan has turned the Knicks from perennial contender into laughing stock of the league. Now, who is in a better position to turn the Knicks around? Don't worry, it's a rhetorical question.

The Knicks are about to take a sad song and make it much, much worse. The reports are that Isaiah would take over as coach. Isiah has never proven that he has the ability to be a great coach. His Pacer teams never reached an NBA final and what makes him think that the malcontents on the Knicks would be willing to listen to him? They didn't listen to Larry Brown, but apparently Isiah speaks their language. After all, he did draft, sign or trade for every player on the team. The fact that Dolan is willing to turn this team over to Isiah is just another example of an owner without a clue.

There are lots of people around the country who hate George Steinbrenner, and with good reason, but at least he has brought a winning team to the city. Dolan only embodies the worst qualities of George; meddling, spending, bad decision making. He needs some good "basketball people" around him to help him with some of these decisions. Unfortunately the last two, Scott Layden and Thomas, have led the Knicks to this current state of affairs. And his answer to this quagmire? Fire the only person on the staff who has actually shown the ability to lead a team to a championship. Genius, pure genius. And George is supposed to be the crazy one.