Mardy Collins.

Yeah, Mardy Collins, a defensive specialist who averaged 4.5 points in 52 games last year. With Marbury on leave, Collins started Tuesday night against the Suns. He played the first 5:53 of the game, was replaced by Nate Robinson and never made it back into the game.

If Marbury was watching, wherever he was, he surely said to himself, "THIS guy? THIS is who they're benching me for?"

In the end, this Marbury mess is not so much about Marbury as it is about Thomas. The guy is desperate. You don't just trash your starting lineup after five games. But Thomas' job is very much in peril, and it's looking more and more like the Knicks will be a 35-win team no matter how Thomas juggles the pieces.

What made things more disturbing for Marbury was the relationship he's had with Thomas, who had promised to mentor him after trading for him in the 2003-04 season. Since then, Thomas has allowed Marbury to run roughshod over the franchise. He has indulged Marbury's ego, chose to fire Larry Brown rather than move Marbury and hired a gaggle of Marbury cousins. Marbury was in Thomas' foxhole during the sexual harassment suit this summer — each came out with their images battered.

So, now, this sudden impulse to get tough with his point guard is bizarre, his move to Collins a hollow one. Little wonder that, as the New YOrk Daily News reported, Marbury threatened to spill the beans on Thomas' secrets. Actually, maybe Marbury deserves a little credit for his disappearance. He'll have time to cool off, get his head together and not say anything he'll regret.

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In the meantime, Thomas has again sold out someone else for his own benefit. That's pretty much been his M.O. throughout his entire post-playing life. The Marbury mess has created a sideshow big enough to hide the fact that the team is 2-4 and will probably be 2-7 when it gets back from its Western road trip. But now, Thomas can sell team honcho James Dolan (who is one shockingly gullible fellow) on the notion that the Knicks will get it together once they can find a suitable trade or buyout for Marbury. Thomas can buy himself some time, possibly to find some other gullible employer and make his escape from New York look like it was his choice.

If Thomas can rescue some of his dignity at the expense of Marbury, one of his most loyal followers, he'll most certainly do so.

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