I have not really been following the Knicks so this is a novice opinion.

Larry has Marbury and Farancise who are both unconventional guards. They put up stats but don't always play the right way or what one would expect them to do - especially LB.

Seems to me that LB would have been better off just stepping back and letting these guys play. I would not have expected a serious challenge in the East but they should have at least made the post-season and gave the NY fans something to cheer about.

Now like a cold slap in the face they will get a top 3 pick and have to hand it over to the Bulls.

Well, that's pretty hard to argue with. Larry probably would bench Dirk at some point.

And jammer - I believe my actual words were "No, Sheed, nooooooooo..."

I think Larry did everything he could to take the spotlight off Sheed after that play (the quote). There wasn't anything he could say that was going to make anyone believe that Sheed didn't (in hindsight) mess up. Sheed made a basketball choice. He reacted to the situation and went to trap a guard in the corner. More times than not they would have forced a turnover and we wouldn't be in this conversation.

Anyway, I believe it was micro a few pages back who admitted to liking Larry as much for his flaws as for his strengths and I'm in that camp too. Unfortunately in NY, he is in a situation (perhaps in the majority of his own making - I'm not an apologist) where his flaws are all that come through.

__________________
"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi

@Max - I like (strong emphasis on like, not "love") Larry but I have not followed the Knicks except as it pertains to my fantasy players (Curry, Lee, Crawford at various points of the season). I just know that Stephon Marbury is not a winner, and Jamal Crawford is a chucker. I thought LB might be able to sort them out, but he hasn't. It's a players' league which makes what Joe does, building a team with emphasis on character and talent so important for success.

@dba - I think that today's rapid fire, instant press release, searching for a scandal media can make or crush a reputation overnight. Hence the need for players' and anyone steeping in front of a microphone to undergo media sensitivity training.

I love getting the news as it happens, but I wonder if we would have had a Ty Cobb, or Babe Ruth, or Bobby Layne if all of their exploits and idiosyncrasies were constantly under the microscope, analyzed to death by forum and blog hacks like ourselves.

I enjoy character in sports. The heroes, the villains, the oddballs and the average joes struggling to make a career. It's almost as much fun for me as watching the ball go through the hoop.

Love these last two paragraphs. I am of the same mind. People worry about the dumbing down of America, but I am just as worried about the white breading of character.

One of my favorite memories of Bobby Layne, a commited roue (accent egu), was his being stopped by a cop at 3 or 4 in the morning after a hard night of carousing. The cop suggested that his manner of speech indicated that he had been drinking. But the irrepressible Bobby insisted that he hadn't been drinking, although he could understand how a northerner might confuse his Texas accent with the slurred speech of someone less responsible than he.

I also liked his assertion, "It is my intention to run out of money and breath at the same time."

__________________
"Dying in your sleep is the next, best thing to immortality, or is it the other way around?"
--Me.