[Lefty Noob]

... come these rumors.

1. The Knicks will acquire All-Star power forward Jermaine O'Neal from Indiana. When asked about this one by Newsday, Pacers president Larry Bird "offered a big smile and said, 'Come on, you know better than that.'"

2. Kevin Garnett will become a Knick. Not gonna happen.

3. Allen Iverson will wind up on the Larry Brown-coached team. Come on... are you KIDDING me? Do we even need to discuss how ludicrous this possibility is?

Other, perhaps more likely scenarios, from the 4/22 New York Post:

"Generally, Brown wants players who rebound, defend and don't need the ball. That the description of Seattle's Danny Fortson, who has demanded a trade... among the targets are Brown favorites: playmaking point guard Speedy Claxton; small forward Jared Jeffries; and rugged rebounding power forward Reggie Evans."

Of course, the players apparently have reserved the domain name "www.FireLarryBrown.com" -- according to the April 23 edition of the New York Daily News, "eight of the Knicks' 15 players blamed Brown for arguably the worst season in franchise history... 'The Knicks are going to have to make changes because there is no way Larry can walk into the locker room with this same group,' says one source."

Ah, what a fun offseason it's gonna be for Knicks fans...

[Wizard of Os]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

"eight of the Knicks' 15 players blamed Brown for arguably the worst season in franchise history... 'The Knicks are going to have to make changes because there is no way Larry can walk into the locker room with this same group,' says one source."

Ah, what a fun offseason it's gonna be for Knicks fans...

Come on now, hasn't it been fun ever since Isiah was given the wheel?

Lemme ask you this, Lefty: Do you think Larry (that's Brown, not Bird) should be given some say (read: a lot of say) in the Knicks' offseason? If eight of fifteen guys hate Larry, do you think they should go? It is said that the Knicks have a bunch of untradable contracts, but what are the specifics on that? Couldn't they just flat out CUT some of these detractors? Seriously, you've got to staunch the bleeding somewhere. We'll just see if Larry's the bandage.

O, and the Bird quote is brilliant. Another beautiful shot for number 33.

Cheers.

[Lefty Noob]

I'm somewhat removed from the situation, but I'm always in favor of coaches getting to pick their own personnel. Hey, if it's your job that's primarily on the line, if you're the one "cooking the stew" as Bill Parcells put it, they need to let you "choose your own ingredients".

Problem in NY, as I understand it, is that they've got a bunch of humpties with inflated, guaranteed contracts, not enough salary cap room to cut them and sign replacements, and no one dumb enough to deal for them. So what CAN they do? They're pretty much stuck with who they've got.

[MJHMarc]

It isn't Larry Brown's fault. There is one person responsible for this disaster and that would be the players. They are not motivated at all and refuse to work with him.

Speedy Claxton looks good in orange and blue. Plus, he is a local from Hofstra. I remember watching that kid play college ball.

[Wizard of Os]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

... Hey, if it's your job that's primarily on the line, if you're the one "cooking the stew" as Bill Parcells put it, they need to let you "choose your own ingredients".

I love this quote from the Tuna! I used it last month in a piece on the Cowboys. The man is good for millions of quotes. Ah, what the hell, i'll publicize myself a bit. The article is here.

I think the coach should be given as large a say as warranted -- in football alone, you've got the Bill Bellichik success story (see ya, Bledsoe; see ya, Terry Glenn!) and the absolute textbook example of Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys, teams built from scratch via the Herschel Walker trade and a few choice cuts.

At this point, the Knicks should probably just move the team to some market with fans hungry for a team, like St. Louis or Las Vega$. Or maybe they should move to Pittsburgh, hire an astrologer and sign twelve guys with the same astrological sign...