Wednesday Windmill: The New York Knicks are a total joke

After making the decision to fire head coach David Fizdale, the New York Knicks once again confirmed that they are a total joke. At 4-20, they sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, acting like coaching and not their lame roster, is the problem. The Knicks have four players who I think are actually worth anything: RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Marcus Morris, and Julius Randle. That's it. The rest of the roster is trash and can be done away with. Even those four guys, while solid, aren't nearly enough to field a competitive team.

By firing Fizdale, the Knicks are neglecting to acknowledge what's really going on here. They keep making dumb decisions in free agency and in the draft. They don't know how to build a cohesive roster and instead throw darts at a wall, hoping something sticks. It's pathetic and an embarrassment.

What's sad is that the Knicks are such an iconic NBA franchise playing in the most iconic basketball arena in the world: Madison Square Garden. If the New Orleans Pelicans toiled in obscurity for 10+ years, nobody would give a damn. But the Knicks? They're a team a lot of people care about. Both fans of the team and the NBA as a whole. If the Knicks are competitive, even remotely competitive, there's an added buzz to the league that makes it all the more fun.

That isn't to stay the NBA should give the Knicks any extra breaks. The Knicks need to figure this out on their own and get their act together. Ultimately, this comes down to ownership. James Dolan is a clown of an owner and might as well have bubbles coming out of his fanny. He's a complete embarrassment to the league and should resign from his position. So long as he remains at the helm, the Knicks will continue to be a laughingstock. There really isn't anything more that needs to be said.

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Wednesday Windmill: Charles Oakley has every right to go after James Dolan

                                         (Credit: Kevin Coles. Click here for source) 

On Wednesday, New York Knicks legend Charles Oakley was arrested and ejected from Madison Square Garden after an altercation with security during the Knicks' home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, a game the Clippers won 119-115. Bleacher Report provides a good run down of the events that transpired, that you can read here.  Oakley has reportedly harbored feelings of ill-will towards Knicks owner James Dolan for quite some time and the Knicks claim that he directly attacked Dolan, a claim that he denies.

I don't want to get into whether or not Charles Oakley actually attacked James Dolan or if the New York Knicks overreacted to his presence. I wasn't at the game and we have conflicting stories of as to what happened. What I do want to express is my opinion that Charles Oakley has every right to be upset with the direction of the New York Knicks and if he is so passionate about the sorry state of the team that he would go bananas at Madison Square Garden, I say good on him.

When I think of the New York Knicks, I still think of Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and Charles Oakley. I remember their fierce battles with the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Orlando Magic in the 1990s and look back at those days as if they were billions of years ago. It feels like an eternity since the Knicks were relevant and quite honestly, their owner James Dolan should feel embarrassed that he has let such a storied franchise essentially rot and decay for the last 15+ years.

Sadly, it appears as though James Dolan doesn't give a hoot about the Knicks' pathetic state. He seems content to watch the team continue to flounder as Phil Jackson continues to show the rest of the NBA that he is not cut out for an NBA front office job. Dolan, a bloated doppelgänger of George Zimmer, has made a fool of himself and the Knicks for far too long and it's about time a Knicks legend flies off the handle in disgust.

What I want to make clear is that I am not indicting Charles Oakley of going bananas at Madison Square Garden. I have no proof that his arrest was justified. What I am saying is that if he did in fact unleash a tirade of epic proportions directed at James Dolan, he has my full support. While NBA owners do have full control of their teams, it doesn't make their actions pertaining to the franchise justified or morally acceptable. NBA owners may own a team, but they don't own everything that pertains to that team. They don't own the history, the legacy, or the significance that a team has to its city. That stuff belongs to the fans and the city that the team resides, which is why Charles Oakley has every right to be upset.

Unlike James Dolan, Charles Oakley literally put his blood and sweat into the Knicks every time he stepped on the floor in a Knicks uniform. Charles Oakley proudly represented the Knicks while Dolan has made a mockery of them and turned them into one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NBA. James Dolan probably eats nothing but donuts and coffee judging by his disheveled and sloppy appearance and what's even worse is that he's probably ok with it. If anything, he's probably happy being a rich bum that owns the Knicks without a clue of as to how to make them good. He might as well go to games with a propeller hat on his head and tell jokes at halftime because that's all  that he's good for.

At the end of the day, whether or not Charles Oakley actually attacked James Dolan is neither here nor there. The big story is that we are once again talking about another controversy in the New York Knicks organization and that has to stop. We've seen Derrick Rose evaporate for a period of time, we've heard Carmelo Anthony trade rumors float around, and now we have a team legend reportedly vent his frustrations while at a game. Dysfunction and controversy cannot continue to follow this Knicks team and whether he likes it or not, it's ultimately up to James Dolan to put a stop to this nonsense and get the Knicks back to prominence.

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Wednesday Windmill: The Derrick Rose situation is just another sign of New York Knicks dysfunction

Dysfunction seems to follow the New York Knicks wherever they go. On Monday night, Derrick Rose went A.W.A.L., not showing up for the Knicks' home game against the Pelicans and nobody in the Knicks organization had an immediate answer for his whereabouts after the game. Knicks president Phil Jackson didn't talk to the media after the game or provide any sort of explanation for what had happened to Derrick Rose, leaving Knicks players and head coach Jeff Hornacek to answer difficult questions that they really didn't have answers to. This whole situation is just another sign of incompetency and ineptitude in New York. Sadly, having a player seemingly vanish is just the kind of thing that would happen to the New York Knicks.

What's an especially bad look in all of this is that it was Joakim Noah that broke the news that Derrick Rose was ok, not Phil Jackson or team owner James Dolan. While it is true that Derrick Rose should have alerted somebody in the Knicks organization that he wasn't going to be present for Monday's game, Phil Jackson or James Dolan should have been the ones to address the Derrick Rose matter head on, not putting their players and head coach in an awkward situation.

                                          (Credit: Image via NBATV on YouTube. Click here for video) 

It appears as though the Knicks' dysfunction in the front office is leading to dysfunction on the court. The Knicks have lost 9 of their last 10 games and are now 17-22 overall, which makes them 11th in the Eastern Conference. Despite having some quality players in Carmelo Anthony (21.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game), Derrick Rose (17.3 points and 4.5 assists), and Kristaps Porzingis (19.8 points and 7.6 rebounds), this Knicks team is not able to gel and one has to wonder how much of that has to do with having a front office that isn't in very good communication with its players or coaching staff. In addition, there have been reports that Derrick Rose may not be getting along well with head coach Jeff Hornacek, so it appears as though the dysfunction truly is extending onto the court.

The sad thing with the New York Knicks is that they have their priorities all out of whack. They should be focusing on building around Kristaps Porzingis and making him the center of attention, but instead, they are dealing with all of this Derrick Rose drama and trying to do all they can to keep Carmelo Anthony happy. Honestly, I don't expect that to change so long as they have the same yahoos in charge. The Knicks really need a change of ownership and a brand new front office to take the franchise in a different direction. Phil Jackson isn't the answer and James Dolan sure as hell isn't the answer, either. New ownership needs to take over in order for this team to become contenders again. It's that simple.

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