Larry Brown Calls His Team "Quitters" <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ATLANTA - The Knicks can't take care of the ball, they can't take care of defense, and they can't take care of the team with the second-worst record in the NBA. They'd better take cover tonight. The Knicks were embarrassed in Atlanta last night for a second time this season, dropping a 120-101 decision to the lowly Hawks - although "lowly" depends on your perspective - and causing their coach to declare that many of his players already have quit. Now Larry Brown's Knicks stagger back to the Garden having lost eight of their last nine, with their welcoming committee consisting of a rested Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Asked last night if he thought his players had given up when they fell behind in the second half, Brown said: "Looked that way. Didn't it look that way to you? It looked that way to me." So leave it to the Knicks to turn Philips Arena - home of the now 12-31 Hawks - into their personal house of horrors. They were torched here back on Dec. 16, when they allowed 71 points in the first half, 122 in all, and let Atlanta shoot 63%. Last night, they came back for an encore. Trailing 61-53 after a first half in which there were 16 lead changes, the Knicks (14-29) - with only 10 players in uniform - came out of the locker room and fell completely apart. They committed 12 turnovers - against five field goals - in the third period alone, including a mindless double dribble and a pair of you-can-have-it passes by Jamal Crawford on three consecutive possessions. Atlanta scored the final eight points of the period, part of a 15-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters that ballooned the home team's lead to 30 points, 99-69, with 11 minutes to play. "We started off (the second half) acting like we just wanted to get home," Brown said. "That's the coach's opinion," said Crawford, who scored eight points and looked lost playing point guard. "It doesn't really matter what I think, because he said it." The Hawks - who hit 10 of 17 three-pointers and took 84 shots in all - had six players in double figures, led by St. Patrick of Elizabeth product Al Harrington with 26 and Joe Johnson with 24. Both players sat out most of the fourth quarter with the game already a laugher, as did Stephon Marbury (8 points, 4 assists in 29 minutes), who took another pounding to his ailing left shoulder. "We can't go into games playing like we played today," Marbury said. "It just can't happen. It's just too hard to play basketball that way."</div> Source
knicks will grow once the knicks get rid of starbury, crawford, taylor, hardeway. Id keep james and have him come off the bench for curry. Id let Nate start at the PG. Hes the smallest player and he isnt a pointguard( but who on the knicks is). put Q at the 2 he has a good 3 not a great penetrator but thats what nate is for. Ariza at the small forward position. Antonio at the PF and curry at the center. I would do this line up not to give up on the season but to put the guys on the floor that have more passion then the bigger names. It may or may not work but what do the knicks have to lose as of now? <u>STARTERS</u>Robinson Richardson Ariza Davis Curry P.S. dont beat me up too bad knickfans
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting michiganave17:</div><div class="quote_post">knicks will grow once the knicks get rid of starbury, crawford, taylor, hardeway. Id keep james and have him come off the bench for curry. Id let Nate start at the PG. Hes the smallest player and he isnt a pointguard( but who on the knicks is). put Q at the 2 he has a good 3 not a great penetrator but thats what nate is for. Ariza at the small forward position. Antonio at the PF and curry at the center. I would do this line up not to give up on the season but to put the guys on the floor that have more passion then the bigger names. It may or may not work but what do the knicks have to lose as of now? <u>STARTERS</u>Robinson Richardson Ariza Davis Curry P.S. dont beat me up too bad knickfans</div> That is a horrible lineup. You saw that the knicks cant even score 70 without marbury. This team just doesnt have heart. Robinson is bound to hit the rookie wall, Ariza has been a huge disappointment so has Q.
