Knicks Knacks

Apparently, the new lineup isn’t going to be unveiled before the official lineups are exchanged before the game tonight in Orlando.

Isiah Thomas is good at keeping secrets.

While assembling a Lego castle this morning, I had plenty of time for thinking. I was running down the roster in my head, putting guys into categories.

Thomas is looking for defense and energy, so who are those guys?

Defense— Quentin Richardson, Fred Jones, Renaldo Balkman and Jared Jeffries.

Can you imagine a lineup that included all three of those guys? They better hold opponents under 70 points.

Energy— Nate Robinson, Malik Rose and David Lee.

Who’s going to pass the ball if those three are on the court together? Better yet, who’s going to catch it?

Scorers— Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Stephon Marbury, Zach Randolph.

A couple of them have been known to defend when forced to. Marbury was good last season, and Crawford was decent the season before.

Unknown— Randolph Morris, Jerome James, Wilson Chandler, Mardy Collins.

There’s probably not a lot of immediate help in that cast, but since we don’t get to see them scrimmage at practice, I’m not positive where Morris and Chandler are in terms of development.

It’s going to get busy around here in the morning with a couple of new toys that need my attention, so I’m sending along my seasons greetings before I hit the pillow.

What do you think is on Isiah Thomas’ wish list?

If you’re going to respond to that, do so in the spirit of the season. To steal a phrase from a former NBA coach stuck in an equally difficult situation, Walt Frazier isn’t walking through that door.

The players are scattered about the country right now, enjoying their own families.

When they gather in Orlando later this evening, the focus will change in a hurry. Whether a new starting lineup solves old problems remains to be seen.

Enjoy the day. Be a kid. Follow that star.

I’m thinking Eddy Curry is going to be sitting on the bench when the Knicks tip off in Orlando.

He’s an easy target.

The struggling big man is averaging just 11.4 points and 4.5 points this month. He’s constantly late to help on defense, and really didn’t seem to understand why Isiah Thomas felt a need to shake up the lineup.

“I don’t know,” Curry said after Sunday’s loss to the Lakers. “I’m not thinking about that. I’m just going to enjoy Christmas with my family and focus on Orlando and whatever happens happens.”

He’s already taking it personally.

And maybe that’s not a bad thing. Curry is easy going to a fault, no matter what coaches and teammates have done to stoke the fire. He’s a better player when something’s gnawing at his ego.

“It’s tough on Eddy, because he wants to play well all the time he’s out there,” Jamal Crawford said. “I think Eddy puts more pressure on himself than the crowd or anybody else.”

There’s a pretty good chance Zach Randolph will be playing alongside David Lee when the game tips off Wednesday in Orlando.

I’m not sure who the small forward is.

Quentin Richardson fits the defensive criteria, but there might be a price to pay for making Isiah Thomas look bad in Charlotte. Jared Jeffries has spent a lot of minutes on the court in the last two games, but he’s become a liability on the offensive end.

Renaldo Balkman appears to be in the doghouse, but he’s a natural fit.

In the backcourt, I’m thinking you’re going to see Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson against the Magic.

However this plays out, the Knicks will have to change their approach. They will have to increase the pressure defensively and pick up the pace offensively to make it work.

Isiah Thomas finally admitted something isn’t working.

He’s going to shuffle the lineup.

“We probably had the wrong guys starting,� Thomas said this afternoon. “We’ll look to change our lineup and try to get some more energy and defensive guys in the starting lineup.�

He’s not ready to go into detail.

The Knicks are off tomorrow, and will fly to Orlando on Christmas night. They will meet at the hotel there to discuss what happens next.

Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are likely to be split up. They still have not found a way to coexist and the defense suffers whenever they are sharing court space.

It’s obvious.

David Lee started the second half today while Curry watched from the bench.

Since the Knicks are 8-19, nobody is complaining that change is unwarranted. They aren’t complete idiots. Malik Rose, though, threw some logic into the conversation, though.

“There’s not a 100-percent commitment to competing,� he said. “And the chances of any moves working depend solely on everybody in this locker room. Are we going to accept our roles? And then within that role, are we going to give everything we got?�

Rose wants to see a higher level of accountability.

“If you’re in a fight and this guy is jabbing you, jabbing you, jabbing you, there’s going to be a time when you just run and tackle that guy,” he said. “There’s got to be a point where you get tired of this happening.

“No one’s getting to the point where it’s like, ‘This ain’t happening. I’m going to die first. It’s not going to be on my watch,’ Until we get that fire, that fight, we’re going to have one good game, one bad game, one good game, one bad game.�

So if you’ve got a minute, put down the cookies and come up with a lineup.

God only knows whether you should include Stephon Marbury in any future plans. He’s still on hold.

“I haven’t heard from him in terms of when he’ll be back,” Thomas said.

Don’t be surprised if a number of players get caught with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.

‘Tis the season.

Does anybody remember Dec. 23, 2006 when the Knicks were playing remarkably well for a short-handed team? They went into Philadelphia and lost 98-77, then scattered throughout the country to make sure the stocking were hung by the chimney with care.

We all get in that frame of mind.

In the locker room this morning, the players were sharing plans for a quick Christmas break.

Who knows, maybe Kobe Bryant and the Lakers were out late shopping. You’ll know early on who’s interested and who’s not.

Isiah Thomas was asked about the 2005 draft where he took Channing Frye eighth overall. Andrew Bynum went two picks later to the Lakers.

“Actually, they were 1a and 1b on the board,” Thomas said. “The only reason why we didn’t take Bynum was because of his age and because of New York and our crowd and everything else. I didn’t think that the two years he would need to develop here, I just thought it would be too tough on a 17-year-old, having to go through two years of whatever he would have to go through here in New York, so we went with the senior and the four years of experience as opposed to the two-year wait period. After the two-year beat down here in New York, I didn’t know if he would have enough to come back out of it.”

So it’s your fault.

And since he was around for the glory years, Phil Jackson was asked for his feelings on the Knicks being a laughingstock and he took a poke at the atmosphere.

“Well, I just think it’s about the fans staying tuned to the game,” he said. “One of the things that you have to have when you’re an athletic team is the support of your home fans and you have to have people that want to see you do well. That’s the part that’s difficult here.”

Is anybody taking Isiah Thomas out for dinner?

He is celebrating a fourth anniversary with the Knicks today, but I didn’t notice any cake or confetti at the MSG Training Facility a little while ago. And based on the  mood, things are not exactly looking up for this franchise.

Of course, that depends on who’s talking.

“We started from deep, deep, deep in the hole,” Thomas said. “We started with a cap number that was probably the highest of any team in history, and a low talent level and a building that was empty. Now we have a building that is full, and are probably one of the most profitable franchises in the NBA. Our cap numbe’s down and our talent base is good. We’re young. We’re improving, and we still have a lot of room for growth.

“Now we’ve just got to put some wins on the other side of the ledger.”

You think?

For the record, the Knicks are 126-200 since Thomas showed up so the improved talent base claim is debatable. I don’t believe the fans really care about the profitability of this franchise because it’s a mere three percent of the Cablevision empire, and the salary cap nightmare won’t be over until 2010-11.

And that could be prolonged with the addition of more long-term salaries.

Thomas also spent a little time this afternoon explaining away the latest embarrassing moment, a heated third-quarter exchange with Quentin Richardson.

“In a game when you’re down the way we were down, you’re going to get into it with somebody,” the embattled coach said.

Richardson doesn’t appear to have any hard feelings.

“I’m usually good with all that,” he said. “Last night, I got angry. That happens sometimes. I’m human like everyone else.”

Richardson said practice went on as usual. Nobody mentioned the confrontation. And these kinds of things do happen frequently in games, especially when a team is underachieving. Maybe it would be good for some of the other guys on the roster to show a little fire.

“All of the individuals on this team care,” Richardson said. “Some just go about different ways of showing it.”

Jamal Crawford delivered the quote of the day.

“I’ve never seen so much happen, just everything,” he said. “We’ve probably been through more than any team at this stage of the season, ever.”

And is the nonsense getting to guys?

“It’s easy to say no, but the results speak for themselves,” Crawford said. “So I don’t know.”

Looking for a little something extra to pour into your egg nog?

The cracks are beginning to show.

Did you notice Quentin Richardson and Isiah Thomas debating the merits of a quick hook in the opening minutes of the second half? I am reasonably proficient at reading lips, that’s how I survived first grade. And those comments Richardson directed at Thomas are not to be repeated in front of impressionable ears.

It was bound to happen.

Richardson was downright angry upon hearing Thomas had called out the players for their lack of inspiration on Monday against Indiana.

It was downright chilly around his locker.

And on Wednesday morning at shoot-around, somebody asked Richardson if the stinging postgame comments were motivational.

“I’m already motivated,” he said.

We’ll see where this one is headed. Richardson is a fairly influential player in the Knicks locker room. He’s probably had more than enough of this nonsense. The only problem is, with a cranky back that cannot be insured, he’s less likely to be dealt than any player on the roster.

Here’s why I’m scratching my head tonight …

• So if you know your team is notorious for sleepwalking in the first half and you cannot manufacture any success on the road, why not pick up full court from the opening tip?

• Nobody knew David Lee was going to be awful ahead of time, so why isn’t a player who came off the bench for 22 and 11 in the last game not on the court more than eight minutes in the first half? Especially when Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry aren’t getting it done.

• Has anybody seen all this depth everybody was talking about before the season actually tipped off?

• Renaldo Balkman isn’t getting any better. He came on in the first half and failed to get a hand up as the Bobcats dropped in a couple of 3s right over the dreads. Balkman spent the rest of the game watching from the bench.

• Oh by the way, Charlotte was the second-lowest scoring team in the league coming into the game.

• Lee was clearly fouled a couple of times heading to the basket in the fourth quarter, once by Gerald Wallace and later by Nazr Mohammed. He didn’t get a whistle on either play. And that’s what happens when you chat up the officials every time they catch you reaching at the other end. Lee needs to visit the Kurt Thomas School of Etiquette.

I waste more good blogs thinking out loud on press row.

We talked about the backcourt during last night’s game, noting that Jamal Crawford and Fred Jones seem to provide more balance. The extra defense is noticeable. And they won’t stand in the way of Eddy Curry or Zach Randolph.

So are they locked in?

It seems they are for a little while longer. Stephon Marbury is clearly not ready to play and will not be with the Knicks tomorrow night in Charlotte, which is a sign that he still has no desire to compete. Don’t read that as some kind of permanent setback.

“He’s really having a rough time,” Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said today at practice. “And I hope that he can come out of this because he’s having a very difficult time.”

Crawford spoke to Marbury on Wednesday, and noted basketball is not a priority. 

“He’s trying to remain strong,” Crawford said. “ It’s tough on him now. Nobody can imagine what he’s going through.”

So far, the Knicks are 3-5 when starting Crawford and Jones in the backcourt. Marbury has never liked coming off the bench, and stated as much after paying a penance for leaving the Knicks in Phoenix last month. The veteran playmaker might have to get used to the idea when he decides to come back and play. There’s little doubt Marbury could impact the game with the second unit. He’s actually a pretty good fit with a group that plays with great energy but lacks scoring punch.

What are you thinking? 

Eddy Curry was on the bench after just two minutes with foul trouble. Stephon Marbury was unable to go because of the flu.

And the Knicks were in control of the game.

I believe it’s called defense. And there was a fair amount of balance thrown in for good measure. David Lee had 17 points before the intermission, Jamal Crawford added 13. Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson each chipped in 11.

But that’s not what I’m talking about.

David Lee took 10 shots before the break, Jamal Crawford threw up nine. Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson each attempted eight.

And they weren’t crowding each other out on the court, either.

So were the Knicks motivated by embattled head coach Isiah Thomas, who called their heart and soul into question just 48 hours earlier?

Probably not.

These players apparently do have some ego. They were embarrassed about what happened against Indiana the other night, and were likely tired of listening to the unhappy fans and the frantic media. As for the pink slip protest earlier in the day, real Knicks fans have jobs. They do get the prize for most original prop, though.

• Marbury was in uniform, but took a DNP-CD. “He told me at the start of the second quarter if things are going well he’s OK with not playing tonight because he hadn’t practiced for a while and wasn’t feeling well,� Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said.

• Somebody needs to give Malik Rose a little credit for staying ready. He came off the bench and made a couple of plays.

• Crawford is rarely sneaky good. He played like a scoring point guard last night without ever disrupting the all important flow.

What’s an educated basketball fan to do on a night like this?

Ownership usually reacts to empty seats.

But how does anybody who enjoys the game pass up an opportunity to come and watch LeBron James in Madison Square Garden? He’s on the short list of players I would fork over money to see.

I would imagine the fans are going to have a short leash.

Stephon Marbury was not at shoot-around this morning because he’s got some of those flu-like symptoms. He is here tonight, and will come off the bench if needed.