The Yanks: Why The Knicks Will Never Be Good Again

Ever since I was three years old I have been going to the same barber, Franco. I grew up on the Upper East Side but moved to the Upper West when I was 6. Still, I always made the trek across town to see Franco. My mother, the best but a very tough gal, would always complain to me and my dad: "Why don't you just go somewhere closer?"

Women...

Every month I would go to Franco and he would cut my hair in the same way, "short" and we would talk sports. Franco had a world of knowledge. Those 15 minutes every month were always some of the best minutes of the year.

Unfortunaely, Franco was a Yankees fan. The Mets vs. Yankees were routinely the subject of our debate often leading us to bet a haircut on a subway series. Thank god he never made me pay up.

So I went by the shop last week, I had my first chance to rub it in to him about the Yankees falling flat in the playoffs, which he laughed and shrugged off.

Then, the focus shifted to the Knicks. He asked me how i thought the Knicks would be the season.

I told him .500 at best. He was not happy.

Growing up I was a huge Knicks fan, but now I just can't stand them. I hate Isiah Thomas and think he is the dumbest person in sports.

I find his management of the Knicks' salary cap to be among the worst jobs humanly possible. This year the Knicks are 60 mil over the cap with no relief in sight and what have they got to show for it? At best a .500 team.

GO NEW YORK GO NEW YORK GO.

In an ideal world, Isiah would set a year, be it 2008/9 to get the Knicks to be far enough under the cap so they could make a run at a real star.

Imagine if they had set that goal two years ago for 2007...You think Lebron is turning down a max extension from the Knicks?

Instead, Isiah's philosophy is to trade every expiring contract (a contract that ends at the end of the current season, helping the team's salary cap situation for the next year) for players that are slightly better than average. Please read: Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry.

Then, he uses his mid level exception (A team over the salary cap can sign one player every offseason for the league's avg salary, roughly 6 mil, even if they are over the salary cap) on Jerome James, who is fat and has never been good.

This leads to a team consisting of slightly above avg players that costs way too much money. Doesn't exactly sound like a winning formula.

Last night I was having dinner with my pal, Nick "The Voice," who was teaching me to drive over the last couple of days for a road test that I went on to fail this morning. SALT.

We talked about the Knicks and my hatred for Isiah and the Knicks' financial situation.

After I shared my dismay, Nick asked me, "Why dont the Knicks just do what you said?"

My response: "Yankee fans."

See, Yankee fans are greedy and often unknowledgable and, surprise, they're usually Knicks fans. (Though I have seen a bunch of Spurs caps in Yankee Stadium)

Greed:

Yankee fans grow livid when the Yankees dont make the World Series and win it. A division title and a trip to the playoffs just isn't enough. This greed and expectation is unmatched in sports.

So do you think Yankee fans would accept an Isiah Thomas saying the Yankees were going to mortgage the next three years so that the they could become a powerhouse down the road? Of course not.

See New York is a city where people like the thing that is "hot". It is for that reason that the Yankees sell out most of their homegames now as opposed to 10 years ago when they average 30,000 fans a game.

It is that reason that my buddies complain about all the loser I-bankers wearing sparkling new Yankee hats that clearly don't belong.

Lack of knowledge:

So I was waiting on line at the Verizon store the other day, which for all you cellphone users out there, you know how much this sucks.

There were three guys standing behind the counter who worked in repair. They sat there talking about the Knicks and "how nice" Jamal Crawford was and how much of "a beast" Eddy Curry was in the paint.

See the Knicks on paper have plenty of names that even an average basketball fan would have heard of. Marbury, Crawford, Q-Rich, Curry, Penny, the rookies...

To the average fan, the Knicks look like they are alright. LOOKS LIKE ISIAH DID HIS JOB.

In truth, the Knicks are a 40-win team. They dont have single player on the team that can defend and they have 4 guys who want 20-shots a game. Im not really seeing Spurs-like synergy there.

So not only does the common fan not realize that the Knicks will be bad this year, but they for sure don't understand the salary cap

When I was with my barber, Franco, I sat there and complained about the Knicks' cap problem to which he responded: "Holy shit, I thought the Knicks were in great financial shape."

Of all people, I would have assumed that Franco would know about the cap but he did not.

To Franco, getting Eddy Curry was a tremendous move because the Knicks added another piece. To basketball people, the Knicks took a waiver on a guy with a bum heart and $60 mil, all at the low low cost of Tim Thomas' invaluable expiring $13 mil contract.

To Franco, Kurt Thomas-for-Quentin Richardson was a power forward for a small forward who could shoot a ton of three's. In reality, it was the Knicks taking on Q-Rich's 5 years/roughly 40 mil contract, his bad back and lack of defense for Thomas' defensive prowess and good contract.

Finally, the Knicks have the most money in basketball. Exactly like the Yankees. They play at the best arena in the game. Exactly like the Yankees. So if this is the case why can the Yankees be GREAT every year and the Knicks STINK?

So then the question becomes, Does Isiah have a choice?

If he mortgages his present for the future, he becomes public enemy No. 1. But if he doesn't, then the Knicks will never get to the next level.

It may just be that there is no good answer. That managing a New York team in a sport with rules that say "you can't spend as much money as possible" is too difficult because the people of New York won't accept it.

The ignorance of the people that love our teams combined with the rush of the city make New York a Yankee town. Unfortunately, that doesnt leave much room for the Knicks to actually go through the time and trouble of developing a championship-caliber basketball team.

Oh well.

I have a bet with a good friend named Ben that the Knicks won't win 45 games this year. Last year we made a similar bet, which he of course lost, by March, and he owed me 100 pushups in public. Be it at a bar or a game or the Dunkin' Donuts by the apartment we shared (RIP), Ben was doing pushups.

This year we upped the stakes. On top of the pushups, the loser has to sit down and eat 10 jack in the box tacos in one sitting.

Can't say im worried.

Like my pal Ace, all I do is lift weights and pick winners.

Sippy Momo