You couldn't have been more dissapointed after a season as you were after the 2005-2006 one. For the past 3 years history keeps repeating. I remember 3 years ago when the Knicks drafted 3 great rookies.
Maciej Lampe,
Mike Sweetney and Slavko Vranes. Everybody was so thrilled about the upcomming season, kept dreaming and imagining the Knicks doing a nice playoff run. Sadly, the only one getting some playtime was PF Mike Sweetney, and what everyone expected from Lampe didn't happen. Although the team finished below .500, they made it in the postseason, for the first time in 3 years. They were swept by the Nets..
In the summer of 2004, Isiah Thomas in his first year as a GM drafted for Trevor Ariza, another player in which the fans had had a lot of faith. The roster was also improved, by the bringing of Allstar Stephon Marbury in January, the hiring of Lenny Wilkens as the new coach (replacing Don Chaney), and some trades in July brought Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams. The Knicks looked quite good on paper, and they started the 2004-2005 season pretty good, at the end of 2004 being 3 games over .500. Then something happened and they went in a horrible losing streak, that ended with Lenny Wilkens leaving the Knicks, allowing assistant Herb Williams to finish the job. Needless to say the playoffs remained just a dream.
Isiah Thomas then thought again about changing the roster, trading Nazr Mohammed - a player that was doing very well, Jamison Brewer, Moochie Norris and Vin Baker for Malik Rose, Maurice Taylor and two first round picks. He also signed Jackie Butler for the Center position. The summer of 2005 was one of the most promissing ones in the past years. The hiring of hall-of-famer coach Larry Brown (giving him the chance to live his dream), the draft that got the Knicks three great rookies (Frye, Robinson, Lee), the acquiring of
Quentin Richardson, Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis, the signing of Jerome James (which at the moment didn't seem that awfull), the retirings of Jerome Williams and Allan Houston, gave Knicks fans hopes like never before.
The Knicks were looking great, but again, just on paper. Nobody would have thought that all these major changes in the roster and in the coaching department would need time before having effect. Or maybe they did, but didn't calculate the time well. That is maybe why after going 0-5 people were still being confident. But the Knicks won only 5 out of 14 games in November and 2 out of 14 in December. That was also the month when
Qyntel Woods was signed and
Matt Barnes waived. At 7-21 in 2005 the optimism had dropped significantly. NY got theirselves a nickname from the media,
Team Titanic.
But then, something happened. Starting with 2006. It was the most memorable period of the last 5 years, Knicks managing to win 6 straight games, and with the new slogan Undefeated in 2006 things looked as they were going to straight a bit. The games weren't easy. They beat the Suns - in probably the most beautifull game of the season, after 3 over times - the Wizards, the Sonics, the Cavs, the Mavericks (in OT) and the Hawks, while coach Larry Brown got all the credit. The team was now 13-21, the confidence was back, and the light to the playoffs could be seen again.
However, the dissapointment was about to hit us all harder then ever, and nobody could explain how that beautifull team that went 6-0 managed to go 2-22 right after. Things look very far away when you turn from a possible contender into the worst team in the league. The bad news started with the 5 games suspension of Antonio Davis for going into the stands to protect his wife & kid from a Buls fan. Then Isiah Thomas tought that new trades will increase the Knicks' popularity and traded Davis for Jalen Rose. Two weeks later he realized that maybe bigger salaries would do some good, and traded Trevor Ariza and the expiring contract of Penny Hardaway for Steve Francis. But nobody was excited. The season was pretty much compromised. And like things weren't ugly enough, rookie Channing Frye
was accidentally injured by teammate
Nate Robinson in a game against the Toronto Raptors and was declared done for the season. Stephon Marbury and Larry Brown started a war between the two of them through the media and GM Isiah Thomas was accused of sexual harrassment.
But nice things happened too. Such as Nate Robinson winning the Slam-Dunk contest in the Allstar weekend, and teaming with Channing Frye for the Rookies in the game against the Sophomores. That's pretty much all.
The Knicks finished the season with 23 victories and at least Portland had the honor to be 2006's worst team in the league. So what happens next? Will a new rebuilding plan start? (i think they have been rebuilding for the past 3-4 years) Will James Dolan fire Isiah Thomas? Will Isiah Thomas fire Larry Brown? Will Larry Brown force Isiah to get rid of Stephon? Will anybody learn that massive trades aren't helping? These are a lot of questions and i don't know anyone who could answer them. The only thing i learned in these past few years is never set your hopes to high in the summer.
- rady
