Even ESPN Is Trying to Hide From the Knicks

The Knicks are in a rebuilding stage and in most cities the fans and press would have enough sense to give them time to transition. The New York fans and press, however, have a high level of impatience and immaturity. Too many expect a championship immediately though falsely professing to understand a rebuilding process.

Even more detrimental to team cohesion is that too many fans and reporters demand that owners "fire the bums." This makes it impossible to develop young players and build a stable organization. They act as if firing and hiring indiscriminately is a way to build a strong organization. They are incapable of recognizing the mature approach of organizations like New England and Pittsburgh.

Sure, they pretend to support player development -- as long as they make the playoffs first! Case in point is the ridiculous blaming of Jets QB Geno Smith for virtually all the faults of the team, then fail to give him any credit for things he did right. Ultimately, the attitude of NY fans and reporters will create an impediment to attracting young players and smart managers. Take a look in the mirror.

All this Knick hating is just plain dumb. Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows Jackson had to gut the team to get better next year and thank you Phil for having the guts to do it! There was no way the Knicks were going to compete for anything this year with this roster, who was kidding who? No, Jackson is doing right by cleaning house of guys who can't play his system (thank you Mr. Dolan for giving him carte blanche!). He wants plenty of cap room to go after a 2nd superstar and with a terrible record he's got a real chance to land Okafor or Towns via the draft. This happens, now you have a core to build on. Carmello is hardly the problem. He's been hurt all year and just like all great players, he needs talent around him to win, just ask Jordan, LeBron and Koby.

I tried to warn Jimmy against giving up the farm for Anthony (in an extremely respectful letter) - but he preferred to listen to Isiah, and see where it got him.

And now Mosgov just got traded for a better package than any player on the current Knicks not named Anthony would.

Even if Anthony was a "superstar", he wasn't a legit franchise talent - the kind of player who has a global impact on a franchise.

Now the Knicks are a laughing stock that even the Zen master can't perform a magic trick with - and the Knicks still owe a bunch of picks in the years to come.

And without the NBA's Ted Stepian Rule, we likely wouldn't have our #1 this season either.

If they're gonna show Knicks games on national TV going forward, they should be on Comedy Central - so everyone can laugh at this joke of a franchise.

Ah, for the golden era of Knick basketball, when the smartest guys in the room also happened to on the court (instead of wearing paper bags over the heads on the sidelines).

Can the Knicks do everyone a favor and just cancel this season ?

The Knicks just had to get carmelo back this summer .....well you got him congrats

"Even ESPN", as if an international sports network has an obligation to show the Knicks just because they are a New York team. How pompous and puffed up you are. The Knicks should be relegated the NBDL.

There IS a solution. Everyone knows Carmelo has to go. Trade him to The Nets (his preferred destination prior to coming to The Knicks, we were told) for, say, Mason Plumlee, a potentially very effective triangle offense center, Jarrett Jack, a point guard whose stock is on the rise and swing man Joe Johnson for contract equity. Both teams would improve, perhaps dramatically. Jackson would be rid of his albatross and able to really rebuild. And Anthony would be playing in his home borough, with something to prove. Most importantly, NYC basketball would get a real shot in the arm. Knicks - Nets games would be electric!

ESPN should headline a Knicks v. Philly game as the Futility Bowl, or perhaps the Toilet Bowl.

So fitting that Marv was calling this game. His dismissal by Nolan for not shilling for the Knicks early in Nola's tenure sealed my departure as a Knicks fan.

Great point by Miller, marveling how a supposed superstar like Melo could not get them more than 5 wins. Dead on.

Answer: Melo is not a superstar. He is a 20 points a game scorer with a career-long record of not playing on winning teams, no matter the cast or coach. And the reason is simple.

He's like that guy in the YMCA pick up games that all the guys who don't know basketball want on their team cause he's the biggest and baddest. They win a couple, with him chucking. You never get the ball, and by the third game he still doesn't know your name or that you are on his team.

First decent team you play, you lose, even though he gets his points (not bothering to guard his guy or anyone else). The winning basket for the other team? his man scores a layup as he's still at half court adjusting his head band and wondering why "you" missed a shot. Loser.

There is no truth to the rumor that ESPN has been tampering with those ping pong balls to assure that the Knicks and the Lakers get the top two choices in the upcoming draft.

Spike Lee: "I've been an Islanders fan all my life"

The Knicks are such a vaudeville team, the side-line commentators appear with all the sophistication of a Catskill comics.

It's one thing to be a bad team. But to sit there for 2 1/2 hrs to watch the Knicks play(literally) for 48 minutes is an insult to my sensibilities.
To lose ugly is torture for everybody. Why do they sell out ? Phil Jackson sits there because he must. And other celebs must. And the fans who are being punished by their bosses and receive free tickets.

ESPN should start televising ARMY basketball (men and women's teams) in place of the Knicks. We would see dedicated athletes interrific shape working as hard as they can as a team carrying out their mission according to plan. Not the loosy-goosey defense that these people wearing Knicks uniforms play. Granted that without Anthony and J.R. Smth, there is mnore passing and an effort to get better shots. They just cnanot execute plays. When the ball goes into the post, the players wait until the post man has the ball before making cuts. They are supposed to be moving BEFORE that pass into the post, so the postman can swing the ball as soon as he gets it to where he knows the mover will be, and it is not just one mover. Two players should be in motion to give the post passer options. And the third option is to pass it right back to the player who passed into the post. Passing for the sake of ball movement makes the defense adjust and then you see where the defense has left an opening. The slow motion passing and moving Knicks give the defrense time to adjust to everything. But all will be OK when SUPERSTAR ANTHONY returns. RIGHT.

Zen requires full capitulation to the"............."..

Now if only Knicks fans would follow ESPN's example and stop going to the Garden to attend the games.

Knowing that Barkley will stay home i might enjoy watching the game.

Sad
That's the only emotion I feel.
And more sad, knowing that Carmelo has zero leadership ability to lead these young kids to respectability.
And even more sadness knowing that any quality free agent won't want to play with a ball stopping, selfish and one of the few [any?] ''max'ed superstars'' with an overall career losing record.
I doubt it can anymore worse than this.
Sad

This unproven theory that you can get better by being the worst team is an insult to every NBA basketball fan. How many humiliating defeats will the Knicks suffer before they put a competive team on the court? How many years after that will they win a championship? There are 32 NBA teams. Only one will win the title. However there will be hundreds of exciting games that fans will enjoy. Unfortunatly the Knicks won't be involved in them.
All of Phil Jackson's championship teams had several quality players when he arrived. So will the Knicks someday. Unfortunatly I think Phil will be in LA with his fiance .
No one minds rebuliding a team. Fans deserve better than to see a team demolished.

PS Beware if a team doesn't resign a marque free agent ? Anyone ever here of Amar Stoudemire?