IF we’ve learned one thing – and that’s debatable – it’s clear there are no lethal losses in the warped sports world of James Dolan.
Not three points to a Dwayne Wade-less (and previously winless) Miami at home.
Not An 0-4 western road trip, where Isiah Thomas lost whatever respect his fully renovated roster of Knicks may have had for him by brushing off the players’ unanimous vote to sit homing pigeon Stephon Marbury for one game for the game he deserted them.
Not getting waled at home by two dozen and two by the Warriors.
Not an embarrassing 104-59 Massachusetts mail-it-in, where only Nate Robinson’s buzzer-beating half court heave prevented an all-time low franchise point total.
Not a home-and-home horror against the sad-sack Sixers, losing two by a combined 39 points.
Not even the most recent repulsion, a 117-110 Garden-variety gag against the 5-17 StuporSonics, who, unlike the Knicks, played the previous night, are 29th of 30 teams in defense allowed (109 points), and are devoid of a true center, thus forcing them to rely on Kurt Thomas, the last physically and mentally tough guy to play for the False Prophet.
Guess who had twice as many blocked shots (two) as the entire Knicks team? Guess who had nine points, eight rebounds in 30 minutes? Guess who’s one of the elite mid-range jump shooters still active? Guess whose savage pick freed Kevin Durant for the victory-deciding two-handed jamboree?
At 6-15 entering tonight’s escape from New York to Oprah-ville, the Knicks are batting .286; and then there are those athletes, George Mitchell (Wiggins) submits, who should be authorized to swig performance en hancing drugs.
If this were a limbo contest, we’d already have the winner. How low can the Knicks go before Dolan must admit he was a dope last season for bequeathing Thomas a re ported 4-year, $24 million extension?
I know I’m an ass to assume Dolan understands the concept of the NBA standings. Still, I’ve got to believe even he realizes it’s not encouraging to be tied for last in the Eastern Conference with the Heat – whose record is misleading considering Wade is back in the high life again – and be ahead of but one, the 3-17 Timberwolves.
The Knicks’ wins and losses, the disparity in the results, the chumps they’ve made look like champs, the bad body language, the fake shame by hiding their heads under towels, and the unconstructive compatibility in all lines of work give us the vague impression the players have quit on the eagle talent eye responsible for rounding up every single one of them in suspect trades, free agent squandering and the draft, where it appears (no offense to Wilson Chandler) the team president who impersonates a Knicks coach at games and practices came up zero last June.
Does Dolan comprehend any of the observable above or is he oblivious to most of it? Guess that answers that. Otherwise, security would’ve escorted Thomas and his staff out of the building weeks ago.
So we agree Dolan fails to grasp the majority of those transpiring transparencies. That doesn’t make him a bad person, just a slack superior of the highest order who adheres to anesthetized impulses and doesn’t listen to a soul.
Allow me to qualify that; twice now, when Dolan was making more of a fool of himself than usual, David Stern was able to influence him to settle the Larry Brown and Anucha Browne Sanders ugliness.
In the last case, no doubt Dolan avoided punitive penalties, additional harmful publicity and a suspension for himself, Garden president Steve Mills and Thomas.
If I know Stern, part of that deal could involve a promise from Dolan that Thomas will be fired shortly.
In the meantime, I wonder if Dolan has the foggiest notion how depressing the Knicks locker room has become. If not, he should do himself a favor and find a source other than Mills and the Garden’s public relations staff of stiffs.
I don’t know how to say this so I guess I’ll just write the truth: Everybody, from the players to male secretary Jonathan Supranowitz, want Thomas to lose. He has united your organization against him.
Only players owning guaranteed mega-million contracts dare show it – on a nightly basis. They do not want to play for him. Many, I’m told, have asked, demanded and screamed to be traded at assistants in the dressing room after looses.
Malik Rose is on the record as wanting out. Quentin Richardson, David Lee and Eddy Curry also are begging to be gone.
The good news is, Nate Robinson, I’m informed, has spewed, too, a desire to distance himself from the insane asylum run by Nurse Ratched, er, Thomas. Who wouldn’t want such an inventive maker of plays? No matter how well he’s covered, IncrimiNate is always able to find himself open for a shot.
How depressing have the Knicks become? The other night a player told me Curry was moaning on the bench, “Get me out of here. Please get me out of here.”
Hey, I’ve got an idea: Fire Isiah instead.