The Knicks Fix

Nice of Isiah to wave to the crowd while they were booing him. What a class act.

Hahn,

Already posted on the prior thread. You're late. As usual.

I don't care about playing a rotation. Put Eddy and Zach on the floor ,and give the Knicks a chance. They are not performing well because they're taken out for David Lee every 2 minutes. Let the players get a flow. Like Dolan stuck with Isiah ,Isiah needs to let the players get their grove back.And leave Jefferies on Dirk.

Q Rich is a waste of time. Put Jefferies in on Dirk,and Nate in the back court with Jamal.David Lee plays his best ball when the Knicks make an effort.

Thomas says no one is on the block. "We're not actively looking to move anyone," he said before the game. "We like what we have."

Oh, my god – I think he’s serious. This is much worse than I thought. It means Isiah believes the hype he’s selling Dolan these days. At least if he were scratching his head, and talking about huddling with his assistants and trying to figure out what’s wrong . . . then there might be a LITTLE hope. (Van Gundy would stay up all night studying the tapes, trying to be better prepared, if Oak missed a defensive assignment . . . during garbage time of a blow-out.) Can Isiah and Dolan possibly be happy with the team the way it’s now put together? So Isiah the coach thinks Isiah the GM has done a darn good job of giving him the team he wants? OK. Then he should be able to win with this crew, right? So I ask once again:

What’s the plan here? How long does Isiah have to prove he can win with this team? Dolan HAS to have some kind of criterion for success or failure . . . doesn’t he? Last year he gave Isiah the season. Right now, the team is arguably worse than they were before all the injuries last year. Does he have all of THIS season? It sure looks that way, doesn’t it? I wish that were the most depressing thought. Here’s a worse one: I’m not convinced Dolan will fire Isiah even if the Knicks win the same number of games as last year. So, again, what’s the plan? Will Isiah be fired if he wins fewer than 33 games? Fewer than 30? 25? I wish I were being facetious. I have a hunch we’re stuck with Isiah for the entire year . . . no matter what happens . . . no matter how much worse things get.

Isiah apparently got into it with some fans beind him [verbally] Any more on the circumstances?

Once again a big run was made using the line up of

Lee
Randolph
Richardson
Crawford
Jones

The duo of Curry and Randolph just doesn't function well at all.......
Also one big thing I am starting to notice is that our team plays its best ball when we play outside in and not inside out meaning when we are running plays for Jones, Crawford, and Richardson first instead of always throwing the ball down to the post of Curry and Randolph it keeps the ball moving and it opens the floor up much better instead of just having our wing players standing around watching Zach and Curry backing down players with no intent to pass back out when there in trouble at least Jones, Crawford, and Richardson with pass the ball and make plays for this team

Alan – We know Dolan didn’t want to settle. If he were going to settle, he had lots of previous opportunities. So why now? It can't just be because the lawyers told him the appeal would likely go the same way, so at least by settling he could avoid paying compensatory damaged and her legal fees, too? Did daddy tell Jimmy to get the suit – and, presumably, Cablevision - off the front page, even if it cost a whole week’s allowance?

And why the almost simultaneous vote of confidence? Because that’s the only way Dolan could undercut the settlement -- to support Isiah? Could that be Dolan’s way of saying the settlement don’t mean a thing?

At this point, I can’t imagine what Isiah would have to do to get fired, if he hasn’t been already. How bad . . . how much worse . . . would things have to get? CAN they get bad enough that Dolan would fire Isiah? I’m getting this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that Dolan told Isiah last night that he had the whole season again, just like last year. Could it be more than just this season? The whole extended contract? I don’t feel so good . . .

Not enough of it for Zach Randolph.

"It's real hard. I ain't never been in a situation like that and I don't understand," he said. "I guess they say it's New York fans, but you know it's real tough. Honestly. Especially for me, because I've never experienced every time a player walks off the court you're booing.

"Everywhere else, in Portland, fans were a big part of our team. Fans are a big part of every team everywhere you go. We need the fans to be supportive with us, even when we're down."

Though the fans cheered the Knicks during the comeback, coach Isiah Thomas and center Eddy Curry were the targets of boos most of the night. Mara Altschuler, a fan sitting near the Knicks' bench, said Thomas was talking to some fans during the game, blaming them for being a poor "sixth man" for the team.

Thomas wouldn't directly answer if he had interacted with any fans.

"I was just trying to make sure that we kept the team together and we stayed focused on what we were doing and trying to win a basketball game," he said. "Our fans are great, they support us and they show up and we're glad they're here."

Asked a second time, he responded: "Again, I just want to make sure that our team stays focused. The fans are great, we love them and we're glad they're here and they give us a lot of support."

With the strong prodding of NBA Commissioner David Stern, Madison Square Garden disclosed late Monday that it had settled the massive and damaging sexual harassment suit filed by former executive Anucha Browne Sanders.

Terms of the settlement, including any dollar amount, weren't disclosed by either attorneys for MSG or Browne Sanders. But, according to a person with knowledge of the settlement, the amount was $11.5 million, which is $100,000 less than the punitive damages that a federal jury in Manhattan ordered Dolan and MSG to pay Browne Sanders in October.

"I am extremely pleased that we have reached a settlement," Browne Sanders said in a statement released last night by her attorneys. "The jury's verdict in this case sent a powerful and enduring message that harassment and retaliation at Madison Square Garden will not be tolerated."

By its verdict, the jury found that MSG had engaged in sexual harassment and retaliatory firing of Browne Sanders after she complained about an atmosphere of coarse language, sexual hijinks and inappropriate conduct.

Trial testimony showed that Knicks star player Stephon Marbury had consensual sex with an intern working for Browne Sanders. There was also testimony that Thomas called Browne Sanders a "ho" and addressed her with foul language, allegations he denied when he testified.

The economic damage claim part of the case held potential pitfalls for both sides and thus created incentives for a settlement. Lawyers who specialize in sexual harassment cases said right after the verdict that it was possible that Browne Sanders could prove only some of her damages such as lost income and benefits because the tenure of pro basketball executives in her kind of marketing job was not lengthy.

Had Lynch ruled that Browne Sanders couldn't prove the $6.5 million she had asked for in a settlement before filing suit, that might have pulled down the $11.6 million punitive damage award, the attorneys said.

The punitive award could also have been decreased by the appellate courts.

But the risk for MSG was that Lynch could still find a hefty compensatory damage amount, enough to make the total bill exceed the punitive award of $11.6 million.

Sums it up:

Ed-d League Curry

Stephondle

Im just tired, Im wearing down. I just want a change, any change, just something new.

Isiah acknowledges fans' disgust during latest loss

BY ALAN HAHN

10:18 PM EST, December 10, 2007

Isiah Thomas stood on the sideline -- that in itself was more than he did in the previous two games -- and while his team was being pummeled on the court, he was taking a beating from the fans. A breaking point was reached somewhere in the fourth quarter of Monday night's 99-89 loss to the Mavericks at Madison Square Garden, when Thomas decided he would give the fans behind the Knicks bench as much as they were giving him.

According to a fan who was seated there, Thomas told the fans it was their fault that the Knicks were making fundamental mistakes such as missing layups and blamed them for not offering support for his struggling team.

"He said it was the Sixth Man, the fans," said Mara Altschuler, a Manhattan resident who marched right to press row after the game to give her account of Thomas' verbal exchange with the fans. They booed him mercilessly throughout the game and serenaded him with chants of "Fire Isiah!" It's become a nightly refrain here at the Garden.

There was a brief chant of "Jeff Van Gundy!" in reference to the last successful coach this franchise has had and a beloved figure among the Garden faithful. According to Altschuler, Thomas shot back, "You kicked him out of town, too!"

Actually, Van Gundy resigned Dec. 8, 2001. And the franchise hasn't had a winning season since.

"I was just trying to make sure we kept the team together and we stayed focused on what we were doing in trying to win a basketball game," he said. "You know, our fans are great. They support us and they show up and we're glad they're here."

When asked to clarify whether he had interacted with the fans seated behind the Knicks' bench, Thomas paused and said, "I just want to make sure our team stays focused. The fans are great, we love them, I'm glad they're here and they give us a lot of support."

...the anger was redirected toward slumping Eddy Curry.

The Knicks' big man had another unimpressive night, with six points and three rebounds in 30 minutes. He shot 3-for-13 and was regularly booed, at least until he suffered a laceration on his lower lip when Josh Howard belted him in the mouth on his way to the basket with 3:05 left to make it a 94-83 Dallas lead.

Randolph was scoreless in the first half...

What a mess. Is this ever going to get better before it gets worse?

FIRST OFF.KNICKS MIGHT WIN 22 GAMES ALL JOKES ASIDE.TRADES=CURRY N CRAWFORD FOR WILCOX WALLY N WATSON.CURRY N CRAWFORD FOR TINSLEY N J.O.ZEKE NEEDS TO GO START FRESH IF THE KNICKS RECORD BY THE ALL STAR GAME IS SOMETHING LIKE THIS.18-30.ZEKE HAS TO BE FIRED OR KEEP HIM SO HE CAN SELECT AN OTHER ROOKIE.LOL.JUST GET SOM1 WITH A B-BALL I.Q NO1 IN THE KNICKS ORGANIZATION HAS ANY.I WOULD LUV TO REBUILD THE KNICKS FOR FREE.SORRRYYYY KNICKS FAN THIS YEAR IS GOING TO BE THE WORST YEAR(PLZ PROVE ME WRONG).MARBURY NEED TO BE THE 2GUARD..THEY GOTTA MOVE CURRY CRAWFORD Q.CHANDLER HAS TO GET SOMETIME.YALL SEE WHAT SEATTLE IS DOING WITH DURANT=PJ BUILDING A LEGEND DURANT TAKES AS MANY SHOTZ HE WANTS THATZ THE ONLY WAY YOUR GONNA BUILD A PLAYER UP BY LETTING HIM DO HIM.CURRY IS HIM=WANTS ALL O N NO D.IN THE NBA U GIVE A PLAYER BURN IS EITHER IS GREAT GOOD OR OK HARDLY BAD....STAY TUNED FOR MORE KNOWLEDGE