The luster is off the Knick rose - Vescey

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

The Knicks, who were the media darlings, have come back to earth. If Isiah 
reaches for Baker, you know they are really getting desperate....

DJessen33

SHOOT, STEPH NEEDS HELP 




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--
 Stephon Marbury soars for two points Sunday - but still shot only 13-of-34 
in loss to Cavs while his teammates also stunk up stat sheet.
-AP  
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February 24, 2004 -- 
Somebody must've mistakenly hit the time-warp button; the Knicks' insipid 
loss to the Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon ominously resembled a Nets' game of 
four seasons ago. 

As teammates parked like potted palms, Stephon Marbury squeezed off 34 rounds 
and managed to hit only 13 stationary targets, excluding six disguised as 
teammates for assists. 

The final stat sheet emphasizes the paint prowling Cavs' 27-of-35 from the 
welfare line and the jump-shooting Knicks' 10-of-17: 

It's practically permissible to lag at the league's rear in attempted free 
throws when you've got Keith Van Horn, Michael Doleac and Allan Houston 
(urgently needed back to combat the big boys who start showing up every night this 
time of year; Lenny Wilkens' role players are doing as much as they can do) 
hoisting mid-range and 3-point springers. 

It's virtually irrational to live and die from the perimeter with New York's 
current cast of shabby shooters. Especially when their leader is having 
trouble distinguishing good selection from bad. 

Slick and slippery with power steering and positraction, Marbury can easily 
shake free or stop short for a surface-to-air missile just about any time the 
spirit moves him. So, why do it early on the 24-second clock, or at all, for 
that matter? 

Maybe because the middle is swollen shut thanks to Mt. Mutombo. The inactive 
volcano can't seem to get out Marbury's way quick enough or long enough for 
anything worthwhile to happen inside. 

Marbury's duly documented problem is one every player should have; he's often 
too marvelous for his team's good. When things are going badly his biggest 
challenge isn't making shots, it's withstanding the temptation to try to do it 
all by his lonesome. That's because his other full-blown problem is an 
obsessive desire to win every possession, much less every game. 

Accordingly, Marbury frequently forgets his first objective: Juke and jive 
and find another member of the five. 

Zydrunas Ilgauskas' 31 points and 15 rebounds may not be a reflection of 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's work with the Knicks' big men, but the output of the Cavs' 
center definitely exposed New York's flawed interior. Mutombo and Nazr Mohammed 
couldn't stop Ilgauskas from scoring and they couldn't score on him. 

The overt mismatch plainly illustrated the inadequacy of the Knicks' post-up 
people. Which is why Isiah Thomas had an intensely sensitive conversation 
yesterday with agent Aaron Goodwin regarding Vin Baker, released by the Celtics 
last week. 

There is no immediate plan to sign the 6-10 recovering alcoholic (like, today 
or tomorrow, maybe the day after, though), a four-time All-Star before binge 
drinking sucked the soul out of him. If the Raptors and Heat don't overnight 
Baker an irresistible offer, the idea is to put him in the same room with James 
Dolan, Steve Mills, Thomas and Wilkens and hear what he has to say for 
himself and see how he responds to what they have to say. 

Thomas watched one of his brothers drink himself to death. Dolan also is a 
recovering substance abuser. It's not as if Baker, who has deceived and 
defrauded innumerable teams, executives, coaches, teammates and fans over the years, 
can bull spit his way into yet another con job and contract.