The Knicks Fix

It’s cold in the desert, man. So cold the tumbleweed have stopped tumbling. Cactus arms are wrapped around itself. It’s so cold here, Randy Johnson’s personality would feel like a cozy fire.

They’re actually excited about the prospect of getting him back here. Even the cameramen.

What do you think Renaldo?

“Aw man, crazy. Just crazy.”

* * *

It’ll be warm in the gym tonight though. Two teams that love to go up-and-down and aren’t concerned about stopping for defense. The Suns lost in Dallas last night. The Knicks are coming off another breathtaking win. Mike D’Antoni was talking about the Knicks even before his team blew a 9-point fourth-quarter lead to the Mavs.

A little cut-and-paste, courtesy of the Arizona Republic:

SNIP

“They're playing well,” D'Antoni said of the Knicks, winners of four of their past five games. “It'll be a hard game for us. They'll be tough.”

UNSNIP

Isiah Thomas returned the exchange of respect when he said the Suns are “just damn good. We’re going to have our hands full in every aspect of the game. I mean, they do everything well.”

Thomas also was giving it up for Steve Nash, my Canadian homeboy who knows his hockey. If the Suns had a shoot-around this morning, I’d have been all up in his grill about the Ottawa Senators getting all the calls against the Islanders the other night. Ted Nolan had a right to go off on that ref.

But since Isiah doesn’t follow much hockey, I let him just talk about Nash.

“He’s good,” Thomas said. “He’s just flat-out good. Left-hand, right-hand. Jump-shot, short-shot. Think the game, see the game. He’s good. I think you have to go, I guess, by the era that you’re in. And in this era, he’s good.”

(In conclusion: Nash, the reigning two-time NBA MVP, is "good".)

* * *

Quentin Richardson did not join the team for the shoot-around. He was face-down on the trainer’s table with a heat-pack on his lower back. Q has been shooting some, but still is dealing with the spasms issue. The Knicks definitely miss him in the lineup and will, most especially, on this trip. But he’s right to take this slow and make sure the back muscles subside.

In the meanwhile, get the word out: The beds at The Conrad hotel in Indianapolis are too soft. That’s what started this whole mess for Q-Rich. Ever sleep on a mattress that is too soft? You can't even walk the next day.

Yo, Conrad Hotels: get a Sleep Number bed for my man Q.

* * *

If you haven't heard it the first 100 times it has appeared in print, Magic Johnson had a brief chat with Stephon Marbury. You’ll keep hearing about this ridiculous notion that Magic’s brief chat with Stephon has led to Stephon’s sudden scoring outburst. This is called getting shelf-life out of an otherwise coincidental occurrence.

But this is where I enjoy Marbury as a subject to cover. He sees this coming from a mile away. Instead of playing along, he fights it head-on. He calls you out for it. That's how it should be.

Stephon reminds me a lot of Rick DiPietro from the Islanders. They are very similar when it comes to their views as athletes and as athletes being covered by reporters.

Stephon was asked this morning about his sudden scoring outbursts and how he scoffed at notions made earlier this season that he lost a step.

“I understand how, from the things that you guys write and from what they read, from not playing well, I would understand why people would say that,” Marbury said. “That doesn’t bother me. I just laugh, really.”

A reporter then reminded Marbury that he has said he can play well without scoring a lot.

“Yeah, but if people don’t understand basketball and the people that are writing don’t understand, they’re not going to understand,” he said. “For me, I really pay no mind to it.”

Do I think you need to have played basketball to cover basketball? No. Do I think it helps? Absolutely. I learned this when I got back into playing ice hockey during my time on the Islanders beat. I saw so many more things I never considered, felt things I never realized a player might feel and had a better understanding for the details of the game that are more important than the damn statistics page.

It definitely gives you a better perspective if you’re covering a competitive sport that you once – at some level – also played competitively. I think, as a rookie on the Knicks beat, my basketball background has helped me make the transition a lot easier than if I was to cover football or – ugh – baseball.

Ugh. Baseball.

* * *

Gotta love Jalen Rose. He was asked if there were any hard feelings toward the Knicks, who waived him at the end of training camp.

“Why?” Rose told the Arizona Republic. “They’re still paying me.”

We should all have it like that, baby.

This was submitted on Christmas Eve and it strangely disappeared from the blog on Dec. 27. Hackers? Blog pirates? Bugs in the system? Perhaps an upset rival seeking revenge?

Here's a re-post, because you know I spent arduous minutes on this. And because I have nothing to offer at this moment, yet you're all clamoring for something new to read.

I'll file after today's shoot-around in Phreezing Phoenix.

Respects to Clement Clarke Moore . . .

Twas the night before Christmas
The Knicks are not playing.
But I’ve got a few things
that I need to be saying:
Isiah Thomas may be hung
in effigy all year long,
but he’s still running this team
until Dolan says he’s gone.
Eddy Curry’s got some game -
Thank God for this -
But was he really worth
two potential lottery picks?
The Kids are all right;
David, Channing and Nate,
but Balkman and Collins
are still up for debate.
Stephon, again adjusting,
was hearing more boos
despite his efforts on defense
and selling affordable shoes.
Way up in the blue seats
there wasn’t much clatter.
Proving sub .500 teams,
in New York, just don’t matter
And I seated at press row -
across from Jimmy D slouched courtside -
figured to settle myself in
for a long, boring ride.
When what do our wondering eyes then behold?
Isiah telling Carmelo: “Don’t go to the hole.”
Melo snaps on Mardy’s flagrant and goes straight-up street,
throws a wild right hook into the Knick rookie’s cheek.
The media scrum was a moshpit of tabloid outrage;
and analysis varied from page to page.
Most of it fair, most of it true,
some of it got a bit too personal, too.
Some took silly shots and would garishly boast
I’m talking about . . . yeah, the paper that rhymes with ‘boast’.
And that instigating Isiah,
His impish smile so quick,
Had ‘em outraged from Wall Street
to 1-2-5 and St. Nick.
(He looks so gentle and sweet
to those who don’t know ‘em.
But he’s got a nasty mean streak;
just ask Bruce Bowen)
More rapid than losses, the fans suddenly showed up
and filled old MSG to see what was up.
Thomas played him a lineup, truncated by bans,
that played inspiring ball which pleased all the fans:
Now Stephon! Now Crawford! Now David and Chan!
On Curry! On Balkman! On . . . Cato? Oh damn!
To the 2-3 zone and the boards you will go,
And just like that, they won three in a row.
Steph beat the Jazz with a last-second flip,
Lee topped the ‘Cats with a miraculous tip.
Against the red-hot Bulls, their rebounding won,
But fatigued in Philly, they just couldn’t run.
Still look at the Division and believe what you hear:
The East is so weak, the Knicks might make the playoffs this year.
So celebrate mediocrity; aim for the .500 notch!
(If anything this team is at least interesting to watch).
I proclaim all of this to you for no other reason,
Merry Christmas, Knicks fans. It’s already been one hell of a season.

Renaldo Balkman is a go-to guy in situations like these. He sat by his locker, checking his BlackBerry when I approached him. He didn't even hear the question. He just shook his head.

"Oh man. Crazy."

It's got to be his go-to quote when something wild happens. But I'm amused by it, so I'll keep going back whenever something like David Lee's game-winning tip with one-tenth of a second left in double-overtime tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Looking to start a little lighthearted trouble, I asked Jamal Crawford, who inbounded The Tip (which from here forth it will be forever known) if it was a perfect pass or a perfect tip. Crawford didn't even look up.

"Both."

So I asked David Lee.

“Oh, perfect pass. Are you kidding me?”

Jamal then chimed in and my plan to get them into a debate worked. Sort of.

“No," Crawford said, "perfect tip.”

Tastes great! Less filling!

“That guy threw it right over Okafor," Lee said, "through Gerald Wallace.”

“This guy tips it with one-tenth with his right hand, going backwards," Crawford said. "How did you even see that?”

“I actually used to be in Cirque-du-Soleil," Lee said. "Don’t write that, I don’t want to hurt my image.”

With that, the debate ended. I felt unfulfilled. Looking for some amusement, I headed to Balkman's locker. But he was gone.

* * * *

Michael Jordan got a rousing standing ovation from the Garden crowd during the second quarter and he gave a polite salute to the fans he once used to terrorize and mesmerize as a player. And while this was going on, Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley, sitting at centercourt, remained seated as they looked at the court and waited for play to resume, as if completely oblivious to the love that was being shown to MJ in their building.

A while later in the game, Ewing and Oakley were shown on the video screen and the Garden cheered again. Ewing waved his arms and pulled Oakley to his feet and the two faced the crowd.

More fun with Michael came later when the Garden scoreboard showed a "memorable moment in Knicks history," which was, of course, John Starks' dunk on Horace Grant and Jordan. Then the scoreboard showed Starks at his seat, looking impishly down at Jordan, who ignored the camera.

Old rivalries never die.

Think anyone in the Denver media is trying to get shelf-life out of the Knicks-Nuggets brawl? The Nuggets organization pulled off a textbook PR move by bringing in A.I. to quickly change the subject. The brawl is already old news everywhere else in the NBA.

Here in New York, the Knicks need the Giants to resurrenct their tabloid-pleasing dysfunction -- Mara's kid decking someone on the stock market floor is a start -- so people can go back to talking about their mess than the mess at the Garden. Can't the Yankees go sign someone to a ridiculous amount of money? Someone's gotta be on the verge of doing something dubious enough to get the Knicks off the back pages for a little while.

But as long as Isiah keeps churning out sound bytes, the Knicks will always be more of a story off the court than they are on it.

He was asked this morning how reaction has been "on the street" the last few days, as if Isiah has to hoof it through the holiday crowds in mid-town Manhattan to get home each night. As if he's doing like Duke Snider walking through a Brooklyn neighborhood with his bat over his shoulder and the glove hanging off the knob.

Isiah lives in Westchester. He's not "on the street" that often. But, relevant or not, the question was asked. And Isiah used it to shoot back.

"I've had a lot of nice things said to me," he said. "Nobody's had the courage to come to me and say things like what you guys have written and said. But that's OK."

* * * *

With just two guards in the lineup, the Knicks will have some odd combinations on the court, such as when Renaldo Balkman played a little two-guard in Monday's win over the Jazz. David Lee, too, found himself far away from the paint a few times, I asked him if he needed a GPS to find his way back. "Yeah," he said, "exactly."

* * * *

Quentin Richardson wasn't at the shoot-around, so it's doubtful he'll be in the lineup tonight against the Bobcats. Steve Francis worked out with the team, but it's doubtful he'll be in tonight, too. But Jerome James is back after his one-game suspension for leaving the bench area. So the Knicks will have more centers -- three -- than guards available.

Statement released by James Dolan, Madison Square Garden chairman:
"I was sitting just a few feet away at the end of Saturday night's game. I believe the Commissioner acted appropriately, as it was an ugly incident, not worthy of the Knicks, Nuggets, Madison Square Garden or the people of New York. I am grateful to the fans and our security personnel for remaining calm during some very chaotic moments. The incident was deeply regrettable, unacceptable on every level and I hope and expect to never witness anything like it again. We are all very sorry it happened. We will have no further comment on this matter."

David Stern:

“I’m going to start holding our teams accountable for the actions of their players and other employees. And in the case I’m not finding a cause of the altercation with specificity, what I’m saying is, if you continue to employ employees who engage in these actions, your organization is going to have to pay a price even beyond the suspensions that are involved here.”

Melo - 15 games
N8 and JR - 10 games
Mardy Collins - 6 games
Jared Jeffries - 4 games
Jerome James and Nene were given a game each for leaving the bench area.

Nothing for Isiah.

More to follow on Newsday.com once David Stern's conference call is over.

The Knicks are on the practice court here at the MSG Training Center in Greenburgh and the media room is packed with reporters from both print and broadcast media and a handful of cameras from the local TV stations. By 11 a.m. it is expected a PR official will come in and "release the hounds!" to enter the gym. But as the NBA has yet to make any announcements regarding punishment that is expected to be handed down as a result of Saturday's brawl at the Garden, there isn't much to talk about just yet....
Release the hounds!

Saw Chuck D post this among the comments and I had to follow-up on it because I had talked about exactly this point -- why George Karl had his starters out there with less than two minutes to go in a blowout win -- with a few other people in basketball.

First and foremost, GK wanted to win big at the Garden. Before the game he talked about how sad he felt about the atmosphere of MSG these days and, while on the surface he seemed to be spewing wistful nostalgia, his comments seemed laced with sarcastic venom at the current leaders of the once-hallowed hoops hall.

“There's basketball luck and there's karma and there's all types of things and the Knicks have not been very good in those areas lately,” Karl said. “I think it will change. There's a pride in this city and a pride in these fans and of course some pride in the organization to put a high-level product on the court.”

But there is also another defense worth exploring and that was that Karl and the Nuggets, who entered the game with consecutive losses, wanted to ensure this win. Remember that on Nov. 9 in Denver, the Knicks rallied from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out a 109-107 win on Jamal Crawford's wild trey with 6.9 second left. (Excellent recollection, Mr. Chuck).

And in Saturday's game, the Nuggets saw a 24-point lead cut to 10 when the Knicks ripped off 28 points in the final 5:58 of the third quarter. Karl wasn't taking any chances. He was making sure the 'W' was in the books before he called off the dogs.

But, come on, you know Karl, being Larry Brown's boy -- all those Carolina guys stick together -- wanted to enjoy hearing boos rain down on Isiah Thomas' team.

Wonder what he was more disappointed with: Carmelo Anthony for suckering Mardy Collins and making himself liable for a lengthy suspension (which the Nuggets can ill-afford) or hearing the jacked-up Garden crowd cheer the Knicks off the floor despite a 123-100 defeat?

* * *

Sound off, Knicks fans. How many games should Melo get? How many for N8 the H8er? JR and Collins? Thomas??
Here's my scorecard:

Melo - 10 games. Why: The Nuggets are about to open a five-game homestand and will have eight of their next 10 at home, so you'll hurt the franchise at the turnstile. The Nuggets don't play too many important games in that stretch, but they do have the Lakers and Jazz in the ninth and tenth games of the stretch, which is why you can't cut it at an 8 game suspension. Gotta make it hurt.

N8 - 5 games. Why: Because instead of stepping in and moving his teammate out of a bad situation, he sprayed lighter fluid on the smoldering coals by shoving J.R. Smith and then doing the street-fight pose-down. (Which I never understood: why put your fists at your waist to start a fight? wouldn't it make more sense to raise them up? If Rocky Balboa ever stepped into the ring that way, the Italian Stallion would have been at the glue factory before Clubba Lang ever got to the party.)

Mardy - 1 game. Why: Because of the flagrant 2. It's in the books.

JR - 1 game. Why: Because he sacked N8 into the front row like Michael Strahan.

Thomas - A fine for his comments. Why: Because its not the first time he's done things that are unbecoming of an NBA coach (see: the Bruce Bowen incident in San Antonio).

* * *

P.S. -- If I haven't said it yet, awesome job by the Garden and NBA security for acting quickly to diffuse the situation on the court and for keeping the crowd around the court under control. No one wanted to see another Auburn Hills Melee and, thankfully, no one did.

It’s too self-righteous and sanctimonious for me to sit here and type all types of condemnations about the behavior of Nate Robinson, Isiah Thomas and Carmelo Anthony in tonight’s game. I won’t even bother tearing into Robinson for being the igniter of the whole situation because he decided to push and shove Nuggets players and knuckle up when J.R. Smith squared with him. It’s not even worth all of the infinite space on the internet to psycho-analyze the choice Robinson made between stepping in to remove his teammate (Mardy Collins) from the situation or pick a fight with Smith, who, if my eyes did not deceive me, was the one who was headlocked to the hardwood by Collins. And it's usesless to predict what the NBA will hand down as far as suspensions go.

So let me just get to the real issue at hand here: Isiah Thomas’ inexcusable behavior before, during and after the fight.

Before:
Thomas seemed more fixated on the fact that George Karl left a few of his starters in for the final minute of what was a blowout win for the Nuggets at the Garden. This probably goes back to Karl taking shots at Thomas after the Larry Brown incident. Thomas was seething. And he should have been seething at the end of that game, but not about anything Karl or the Nuggets were doing. His team had yet another awful night defensively. Awful. The team’s interior defense was practically non-existent. I was shocked it took until 1:15 left in the game for someone to deliver a hard foul on a layup. Where was this in the second quarter, when the Nuggets were punching holes in the Knicks 'D' for layups, oops and dunks?

But Thomas was distracted by what Karl was doing instead of focusing on what he needs to do to improve his team’s defense.

During:
Thomas' player, Collins, took a sucker-punch to the face from Mello Yello – and there’s no way he didn’t see it, the whole Garden saw it – but Thomas went to mid-court to meet with Anthony. He put his arm around him and the two spoke briefly. Thomas later revealed that he explained to Anthony that he and Marcus Camby shouldn’t have been on the floor up by 19 points that late in the game. Karl should have been ticked off that the opposing coach was talking to one of his players, never mind that the opposing coach was trying to blame it all on him.

Meanwhile, Collins is back at the Knicks bench, where Thomas should have been with his arm around his first-round draft pick. Showing that solidarity the Knicks talked about after the game with such bravado. And giving his appreciation for his determination not to give up another fast-break dunk to the high-flying Smith. Instead, Collins had to see Thomas hugging the guy who just suckered him in the jaw.

Very classy.

After:
Thomas had the audacity to claim this was all the result of the actions of the Nuggets and, though he never mentioned him by name, Karl. “Most people have been around long enough and you watch any type of sporting event, when it’s a minute to go or something like that, guys know when they’re rubbing it in their face,” Thomas said. Then Robinson echoed the company line a few minutes later in the locker room. Robinson spoke as if he knew something was going to happen.

Premeditated?

Garden chairman James Dolan was in a video room across from the Knicks locker room after the game, reviewing the play. He cut it short when he noticed a few reporters standing nearby. He and Garden president Steve Mills declined comment. What could they say? That they were proud? There was nothing to be proud of about this night at the Garden.

But then again, some among the sellout crowd roared with approval as the five ejected Knicks left the court. Talk about a needed distraction. The Garden fans were applauding the Knicks with 1:15 left and a 19-point deficit.

If this isn't rock bottom, it's damn near close.

* * *

If any player involved in that mess deserves an ounce of respect it is Jared Jeffries, who went into the fray as a peacemaker, took a sucker punch to the ribs from Smith and then chased down Carmelo after the punch to Collins’ face. Robinson claims he was sticking up for a teammate when he shoved Smith, but he was the instigator there. Jeffries, however, clearly was coming to the defense of Collins when he charged after Carmelo. He had an assistant coach, a security guard and two teammates grabbing at him to hold him back. Otherwise, he would have gotten to Carmelo, who, by then, had retreated toward the Nuggets bench.

* * *

In case you missed it (things that the fight distracted us from focusing on after the game):
- Stephon Marbury had 31 points and shot 13 for 24 from the floor in his best offensive performances of the season that no one will remember
- Eddy Curry had 19 points but did so little on the defensive end, it’s fair to say he was ineffective in the middle of the 2-3 zone, which the Nuggets were able to divide by drawing double-teams on Anthony and conquer with easy layups
- Channing Frye returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with an ankle sprain, which was great news for Channing Frye
- Quentin Richardson missed the game with back spasms that flared up during Friday’s loss in Indiana
- The Knicks trailed by as many as 24 points for the third time in four games
- The Rangers lost 9-2 in Toronto, so it was a bad night all around for the Garden

* * *

If you read your morning paper and are wondering why there isn't a great deal of informat