Sullivan Vs.Hollander

SULLIVAN: Well he certainly isn't bad. They can do no worse than they have been, so adding Stevie Franchise was a "might as well" move. Actually, I would prefer him over Marbury as the two-guard but of course that still leaves the Knicks with no true point guard.

This is the most dire straits the Knicks have been in since I've been following the team. Even the lost late '70s and lean mid-'80s offered some hope. Now you have to be a C.P.A. to figure out the damage the Knicks have done to the salary cap selling their future away for Rose, Crawford and Marbury.

I'll leave Francis out of that mix for now, because I think he could bring some much needed charisma and fun to the Garden. I don't need to hear from Knick historians that this is no Monroe and Frazier combo.

I like the way Steve Francis plays, and if he fits in with the Knicks is moot. No one fits now with the Knicks. His debut got me to watch the Knicks lose to the Nets, as the endless march to obscurity continues for this team of fools.

That Net game was telling because Marbury threw a pass away in the third quarter, and he and Rose found that very funny. When you're paid eight figures for the year, I guess it's true-it is all good. At least Steve Francis will try, and that is now all the Knicks can do.

HOLLANDER: Francis and Marbury are no Frazier and Monroe. They're not Isiah and Dumars, either. If the Knicks are like a body, now that body has two assholes instead of one. What does that mean? A lot more shit in the Garden. This deal is absurd. This team is absurd. Francis does not help. He never does. He came into the league five years ago with something to prove and he proved it, playing brilliantly for Houston and earning the 2000 Rookie of the Year award. Since then, he has been thrown out of Houston and Orlando for his selfish be-havior on and off the court. Francis, along with Marbury, Jalen Rose and Jerome James now comprise the league's All-Malcontent Team.

But who is the genius who brought together this unique assemblage of misery and failure? A day after the trade broke, The New York Times Knicks beat writer, Howard Beck, ran a graphic chronicling the 29 trades, signings and draft picks Isiah Thomas has made in his two-plus years as the team president. Fifteen of those players are no longer with the Knicks. Under Isiah, the team has gotten worse and worse. In fact, this is the worst Knicks record at this point in the season in franchise history.

The only person who has not ridiculed the Francis trade is Phil Jackson. Why should he? He loves seeing at least one organization more dysfunctional than the Kobe Lakers. And, since his days in Chicago, Phil always did seem to derive some perverse enjoyment from seeing the Knicks go down.

Can it get worse? Stay tuned.

SULLIVAN: Well I don't know if everyone derided the trade. The Knicks gave up very little. A washed-up Nike spokesperson and an angry, unproven sophomore? Where is the harm in the trade? Maybe it gets Isiah and Marbury out of town? Look, give me a choice between Francis and Marbury, and I am taking Francis. Yes, the Knicks now have more guards than the New York prison system. Yes their record, morale, and team functioning is at a historic low. The team is the laughing stock of the NBA. And even if Phil Jackson is getting enjoyment out of this, I am equally reveling in watching him and Kobe-sans Shaq-struggle to make the playoffs with the vaunted L.A. Lakers.

Hollander, we are about done with the Knicks for the year. Unless there are major arrests and or firings at the Garden, I have no more interest. If Brown picks a line up and mixes in the young guys, I will watch a few more games. This is a sad year for the Mecca of basketball. The game has left New York. We are left with the ruins of egos and rich men who just don't care.

HOLLANDER: Where's the harm, you say? Unlike much of your own self-abuse, trading for Francis is not a victimless crime. You know this deal is a setback for the entire organization. Trading for a poison like Francis tells Channing Frye and David Lee, "We value shitty attitudes here." Why should these rookies with great potential invests themselves in this team? And Nate Robinson? He's deactivated. This kid, a healthy first-round draft choice, is on the sidelines in civvies. Why?

Because Isiah has inexplicably acquired three starting NBA guards-Francis, Quentin Richardson and Jamaal Crawford-in the last 18 months!

Look, I'm no salary-cap expert, but Francis is the second big-salary player the Knicks have obtained in the last 30 days. The harm is that you can't unload big-salaried, bad-attitude players unless Isiah can find another Isiah to deal with.

If your season is shot anyway, why not keep the low-salary guys and develop them into "right way" types for Larry Brown, or into more tradeable commodities that are attractive to other teams?

If you took the rest of the season to show the league that Nate Robinson is an Earl Boykins in the making, you could fetch a fair price for him or keep him on.

Whatever the case, the Knicks should be unloading big salaries and keeping inexpensive young talent, not the other way around.

Isiah should be clearing his payroll to go shopping for a quality, high-end franchise superstar. Instead, he's been shopping at NBA yard sales buying other people's junk at top dollar. His greatest accomplishment has been finding rare, matching, ugly-ass bookends in Francis and Marbury.

Incredible.