Top > Sport > 2006 > November > 2006-11-28

Knicks season so far a repeat of last

The New York Knicks opened last season with a 5-10 record. They finished it with the worst record in franchise history. This season, with new Coach Isiah Thomas and a few changes to their roster, which nevertheless is still the most expensive in the league, they are once again at 5-10.

The Knicks are determined this time, it so seems, to avoid an all-out explosion like the one between Stephon Marbury and Coach Larry Brown. Even though he was benched twice recently, Marbury is close friends with Thomas and the two are determined to avoid a war of words. Thomas explained benching Marbury in the 106-95 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday on his point-guard`s health. Marbury said he felt fine at game time.

In the first half of the game, in which he played, Marbury did not attempt a single shot from the field. He has been asked to sacrifice scoring for sharing the ball, but this was peculiar. With power forward Channing Frye out for three to six weeks with a badly sprained ankle and Quentin Richardson`s status in the air as he strained his left hamstring, the Knicks are showing few signs of doing better than this dismal last season.