JT the Brick

I wanted to let you know that my radio moniker, JT the Brick, came from the fact that I have always been a die-hard New York Knicks fan. I was an intense caller on sports talk radio in the mid '90s and used to call into sports talk radio show about my beloved basketball team. Brick rhymed with Knicks and the name stuck and made me a familiar name on sports talk radio.

That being said, for the next 40 days and 40 nights I'm giving up everything that has to do with the New York Knicks. I will no longer watch them play, take calls to my radio show or write about them in this column unless they fire general manager Isiah Thomas.

The 2006 Knicks are an embarrassment to every great former legend that wore the uniform in the past. This team doesn't lack chemistry, they have no chemistry. They currently have a reported $125 million payroll and can barely compete in the league against any team no matter what the circumstance is. They play with no passion and seem to be going through the motions because every player understands that they are a part of a pathetic team that will continue to dump salary and make excuses.

Owner James Dolan is to blame because most New Yorkers couldn't point him out in a police lineup, let alone interact with him during a home game. He has been able to run his Cablevision empire from the privacy of his plush office, but that isn't the proper way to run a professional sports franchise. New York sports fan at least respect George Steinbrenner for the way his wears his emotion on his sleeve when it comes to the New York Yankees. Steinbrenner will do what ever it takes to deliver a winner to passionate Yankee fans and if he comes up short in a given season, he regroups and finds a way to make the team better the following year. Dolan just continues to let Isiah Thomas make desperate trades in the hopes of giving Knicks fans a small glimmer of hope in a season that get worse each and every day.

Larry Brown needs to take a lot of the blame for his team’s horrific performance. He was all smiles at his initial press conference when he accepted his new title as head coach which included a 5 year $50 million dollar contract. "This was the job that I always dreamed of" was one of the prepared sound bites that came out of his mouth as he sat next to Isiah talking about the future of the Knicks.

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Brown knew from the beginning that his roster was weak and that they would have a hard time making the playoffs, but he never dreamed that his team would fold as often as they had throughout the 2006 season. He can't seem to make good decisions in regard to his lineup and when to pull certain starters and go to his bench. He clearly doesn't have the confidence in most of his roster to change his defensive philosophy against specific teams that want to run and gun or slow it down and play a physical brand of basketball. Brown looks lost and I'm surprised that he hasn't asked for a few days off to recharge his batteries.