Submitted by Longwinded, Dec 12, 2006 10:59

This is the worst analysis and advice for this Knicks team that I have ever heard. And that's including short conversations I've had with people who don't claim any basketball knowledge. This guy actually got a job at a newspaper writing about sports, so I'm assuming the capability to understand the game is there. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you haevn't yet actually watched the Knicks play this year and instead are just reading your colleague's articles. Please say this is the case. I don't see any other explanation for your thoughts, and believe me, your image would at least raise a bit if you admit to never having seen the Knicks play than to say this is your "professional" reaction based on actual evidence.

Francis and Nate have the same skill set as Marbury? Unless you are looking solely at free throw percentage, I can't find a single thing that those guys do better. Especially as Steph has now accepted the plan to pound the ball to Eddie time after time. I could pick apart your entire article but don't want to waste any more of my time.

I'll only end with this. You say "At this point a smartly run organization that produces a .500 team that hustles nightly — a reasonable short-term goal for the new administration — will look almost as magical to the fans as Willis hobbling out onto the floor for Game 7 in the 1970 Finals." If you start watching the games you'll see a tremendously higher amount of "hustle" than you ever did last year, despite the fact that there is still plenty of room to improve. We have had major deficits yes, but it is only due to our hustle that those do not result in blowout losses. We are nowehere near the goal yet, but it is a dramatic improvement ALREADY from last year. And the .500 mark? Let's see where we're at when we have played more than a quarter of the season! You ask for hustle and a .500 mark. I say we are almost there with the hustle, this season is gonna bring us much closer to that winning mark, and then next year should see the realization of both of those goals. And this is WITH our best point guard Stephon Marbury.

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