<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LOS ANGELES - En route to the Maui Classic to (presumably) do some scouting, Knicks president Isiah Thomas stopped off Wednesday for a firsthand look at what he and Larry Brown have wrought and pronounced himself (big surprise) happy. Happy despite the Knicks' 0-5 start. Happy because of the defensive and rebounding improvement he saw during that stretch, as well as the Knicks' two subsequent victories entering Wednesday's game against the Lakers. Happy enough with the play of Stephon Marbury to say that reports last week that he was shopping him were untrue. Thomas, in fact, while maintaining his usual stance that his roster is always subject to change, even agreed with Brown's frequent remarks that it isn't a perfect roster, with players such as Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson playing out of position. "[Brown] and I understand that it's not a perfect roster," Thomas said in his first remarks since the start of the regular season. "I never promised that in two years that I would put together the perfect team that was going to go out and win the NBA championship. "I understand it's a work in progress, and we're committed for the long haul. We want to continue to upgrade our roster and continue to get better until we finally have the pieces to win the NBA championship." Thomas did acknowledge that 0-5 certainly wasn't ideal, but said he had no problems with Brown shuffling his rotation and lineup to find the right combination. The improvements on the boards and defensively - the Knicks led the league in field goal defense (40.2 percent) and were third in points allowed (88.7) entering Wednesday's game compared to 46.5 percent and 99.7 points allowed last season - were what he said he sought in making his preseason changes. And although those changes (including trades for Eddy Curry and Richardson) produced a starting lineup with only one constant from last season, that constant (Marbury) is playing the way Thomas said he hoped he would for Brown. "I thought the game that he played [Monday] in Utah and [Sunday's] game in Sacramento, those are probably the two best games I've seen him play in terms of understanding the position and doing what the position calls for," Thomas said. "I think right now he's really making an attempt to do exactly what Coach wants done, and if that means scoring 10 points or sometimes having to score 25 points, he's capable of doing that. And finding the right time to score the 25 or score the 10 is probably the most difficult thing that a guy who has talent has to do." As for how he reacted to the talk he'd consider trading Marbury, he said it was the same when a similar report arose during the Knicks' summer league trip to Las Vegas. "The same," he said. "I just was at home. My wife took the brunt of it."</div> Source
The Knicks still have a ways to go before they're considered real championship contenders, but they are making progress which is a good thing. Record wise, we're not as good as last year, but we are a better team. Brown has gotten into the players' head and they have played much better basketball, especially on the defensive end. Take for instance Eddy Curry. Eight games into the season Curry is playing almost three less minutes than last year, but he?s averaging 2.1 more rebounds and .58 more blocks per game. Another good example is Jamal Crawford. Last year he didn?t even shoot 40% from the field, but now he?s shooting 45.1% from the field. His defense still has to be improved, but it has been better than last year. Marbury is the same way. He?s not averaging as many points, but he?s becoming better defensively, making hustle plays, and becoming more passive. The Knicks might not make the playoffs this year. They?re still a work in progress as Larry Brown always says, but as they get accustomed to playing the right way, the team is only going to get better in the next couple of years.
