By MARC BERMAN
Indifference is the absolute worst. And a loss like tonightâs vs. the rebuilding Sonics pushes the fan base closer to that point and the team closer to irrelevance. Closer to how a Jetsâ fan feels when theyâre not playing the Patriots.
Until the final two minutes, when boos and âFire Isiahââ chants washed over the arena, the Garden felt more quiet tonight. Maybe they feel no amount of chanting will sway owner James Dolan from his stance of five days ago when he said Isiah Thomas’ his job is not in jeopardy and he’s sticking with him the way he stuck it out with Glen Sather. In that New York Observer story a couple of weeks ago about the misery the Knicksâ beat writers have faced for six years, I made a comment that if this keeps up, whose going to be reading our stories in December.
Soon Knick fans are going to start rooting for them to lose because the Knicks finally have a lottery pick and someone such as O.J. Mayo could be available.
Their confidence shot, the Knicks no longer remember how to win, as they showed in the final minutes tonight.
Thomas admitted there is no âfightââ or âthirstââ when the game is on the line. How damning a reflection is that on a coach. Virtually all coaches and GMs would get fired, obviously, when all that happens. Isiah really did seem out of answers, but I think a lineup change is on the way, with center Eddy Curry’s game gone to pot.
For all the knocks he takes, grieving Stephon Marbury is missed dearly right now. The Knicks never lose this game if heâs playing. Because the one thing Marbury does, he will play with fire in close games like tonightâs, when wills himself to the basket.