I am a lifelong Knicks fan who's been thoroughly disgusted by the way they have played this year. This team has a lot of problems, especially salary cap wise. I can't believe a team that is $75 million over the cap has the second worst record in the NBA. Isaiah Thomas definitely deserves blame for making the cap situation worse and for picking up players who are ball hogs and do not play defense. He traded two players whose contracts were up this year and who had big money coming off the team payroll (Antonio Davis and Penny Hardaway) for two guys who can score but can't play defense (Steve Francis and Jalen Rose). Thomas was the only person who thought that Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis could play together, and now realizes that they can't. Isaiah has increased Knicks payroll by $163 million while the Knicks have stunk it up. He also was not bright enough to lottery-protect the Knicks pick this year which will be in the top 4 and go to the Bulls. The Bulls also have the option of flip-flopping picks with the Knicks next year as well. Did the Knicks really think that a guy who bankrupted the CBA would help them? The Knicks have to get rid of Francis or Marbury, preferably both. But what teams will take them and their contracts?
Larry Brown was brought in as the savior of the franchise. He has led a team with superior talent this year to a far worse record. While Thomas deserves a lot of blame for the debacle, Brown has done a terrible job motivating his players and has lost his team. The Knicks rarely try to play defense. The Knicks could have saved over $40 million by hiring Herb Williams to lead them to a very bad record. Brown may indeed lead the Knicks to a much better record next year, but he did nothing for this team this year, and has not taken any responsibility for this team's poor performance. Instead, he blamed the team makeup and the abundance of young, inexperienced players. Even though Channing Frye was the Knicks best player this season, he rarely got more than 20 minutes a game before he got injure. When he scored 30 points in a game, Frye only played 26 minutes. David Lee, a guy with the heart and hustle of Charles Oakley but with better offensive skills, does not get much playing time either. This is despite the fact he plays better defense than most of the other Knicks. Brown is noted for not playing rookies. Is it because he is not good at developing young players in the NBA? How many NBA players did he develop? He never played Darko Milicic in Detroit, and Milicic has been pretty productive since he got traded to Orlando. I am willing to give Brown another chance next year, but as of this year, Larry Brown deserves an F for the job he did. And Isaiah Thomas deserves an F minus.