Meltdown in New York

I'm kind of worried that the Knicks will wake up at some point this season and maybe run off a stretch in which they win 6 out of 8 or something like that to catapult themselves over such teams as the Hawks, Blazers and Magic.  I know they have no chemistry, and that they're bad, I just didn't realize that they'd be THIS bad.  I just kind of count down the games they have left to wake up, and it's down to 27.  Articles like the one pointed out by OldeBull definitely help keep the chaos going.  

The Knicks should probably lose their next 2 (@SA and @Memphis this week), and hopefully the Bulls' will do their part on Friday @ MSG to get a couple extra ping pong balls in the hopper come lottery day.  We need as many as we can get, the Bulls have never had too much luck in the lottery.  I think they won 15 games in '99-'00 and 17 in '00-'01 and wound up picking FOURTH both years.

Thinking positively...Gerald Wallace is back for the Bobcats.  If Okafor can return soon, they could have a shot at dropping the Knicks to the bottom of the league standings, instead of just next-to-worst.

That "dream" backcourt didn't last long, did it?  

Also, they're losing by 27 to the Spurs in the 3rd quarter.  This is just beautiful to watch.

Here's why he was benched, courtesy of the NY Post (http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/60413.htm):

SAN ANTONIO - All logic and sense have left the Knick franchise.

Yesterday's Steve Francis fiasco was the latest example. Francis nearly missed last night's Spurs-Knicks game and was held out of the starting lineup after arriving before 55 minutes tip-off only after a private plane was chartered to bring the Knicks new guard from Orlando to Alamo City.

Incredibly, the Knicks - who lost 121-93 - permitted Francis to go home to Orlando after the Washington game Saturday night to collect some belongings.

But Francis was a no-show at yesterday's morning shootaround and called a club official during that practice to inform the club he won't make it for the game.

Francis told the Knicks his 6-month-old daughter was ill.

When Francis' camp realized a public-relations nightmare was ensuing if Francis missed the game, a plane was chartered to get him to San Antonio after he missed his commercial flight. A Knicks official said he was unsure who paid for the charter.

The Knicks' strictest dress code in the league, which forces players to wear suits and ties on the road, took precedence over Francis preparing for last night's game apparently.

Francis makes $13.9 million this season and has $49.7 million more left on his pact. Francis could have purchased a suit and tie in San Antonio or had his laundry dry-cleaned at the hotel.

According to an employee at the team hotel in San Antonio, slacks can be dry-cleaned for $7.50, dress shirts for $6.50. A laundry service also exists where undergarments go for $2.50 and t-shirts $3.75.

"What could we have done," Brown asked. "He had no clothes. I think we were all hopeful he'd be here [for the morning], and under normal circumstances, he would have been. It was the only chance he could go home and get some clothes.

Maybe if he was going to just wear [a polo-shirt] and jeans, he wouldn't have to worry about it, but we travel with ties and jackets."