Knicks all over ya'

There are few things as satisfying in life as watching a New York area team struggle.

With the Latrell Sprewell story continuing to take ridiculous turn after ridiculous turn (hasn't this guy had more sagas then Beowulf?), it looks as if the Knicks are in deep.

Or are they?

Could all this be part of some sort of master plan? Say, attempting to load as many ping-pong balls as possible into attempting to get Lebron James in the draft next year?

Scott Layden gets a lot of grief for being a GM who can't win with all but limitless resources. However, if viewed through the lens of Lebron, his decisions suddenly make a great deal of sense.

Sign Alan Houston for $100 million, even though he is primarily a catch and shoot guard who can't create his own shot, plays matador defense, and tends to slip off to the Hagen Daaz vender come crunch time.

Trade for Sprewell, the malcontent with corn-rows affectionately known as "Crime-Spree," and then play him out of position so that the flaws in his game are only magnified.

Solve a log-jam at the point by trading Chris Childs, who is one of your floor generals, to get another one back -- this one, Mark Jackson, who can't even contribute to the one thing your team has going for it -- defense.

Hold on to your biggest asset, Patrick Ewing, long past the time he can help you win a championship, either on the court or through a trade.

Sign majorly flawed back-ups, Howard Eisely and Shandon Anderson, to big dollar deals.

Take stock of your undersized front-court and "improve" it by signing Clarence Weatherspoon, an undersized power forward for over-sized $$'s.

Finally, do something about the lack of post presence and also get rid of your most over-rated, inconsistent and injury prone player, Marcus Camby, only to take on Antonio McDyess, a player with even more injury worries. Then act all shocked when he goes down before playing a single regular season game.

The Knicks look to start the year with Charlie Ward, Houston, Anderson or perhaps Lavor Postell, Kurt Thomas and Michael Doleac at center.

Ahhh, now it all becomes clear Scott. Insidious, actually. You've been plotting for years to acquire James, ever since a scout told you he sank a bank shot with one of his diapers from 15 feet. With this line-up, even if and when you get Sprewell back, you might just have that coveted gem for your demanding city -- just make sure you overpay him, OK? No use ruining a perfectly good trend.

In fact, after checking with the NBA head office (thanks Angela for your help, I appreciate it) I found out that the Knicks could suspend Sprewell internally for the whole season. Sure, on one hand you're gonna have to deal with a P.O.'d Spree, but really, isn't that par for the course? On the other hand, no Spree means your team might just finish behind the Cavs and Nuggets and be one step closer to Lebron James. That could be the best move Layden could make.

Quick quiz. If you were a Knicks' fan, who would you want next season? Sprewell, a year older and some other lousy pick the Knicks will make, or, James, with Spree available (and begging) to be dealt for a useful spare part?

Plus, wouldn't it be nice to see a jerk put in his place just once?

That's what I thought.

*****

Seriously though, what is the problem with Sprewell?

I remember, back in the day when Sprewell was my favourite player in the NBA.

I was, for some reason, a big Warriors fan -- probably a hold-over from the RUN-TMC days.

One of my favourite years was the one where Spree and Chris Webber combined to take the high-flying, high energy Golden State Warriors to the playoffs, and an absolute gem of a first-round series against the Charles Barkley lead Phoenix Suns. The Suns won in a sweep, but not before the young Warriors forced them to expend an awful lot of energy. Each game was fun, competitive and the Warriors two young stars seemed to be sending the rest of the NBA a warning.

I remember being beside myself with joy watching TV that summer and seeing Sprewell and Webber in their own shoe add -- Golden State Warriors -- cool!!!

Spree and Webber were sitting back in a barbershop getting their hair cut, discussing their plans for league-wide domination, while one of the greatest hip-hot cuts of all time NWA's "Express Yourself" bounced in the background.

Spree was young, he was up and coming. The man was a demon on defense, he had the 3-ball, could take people off the drive on a level just slightly below Jordan (or so it seemed to my young eyes). So what happened?

How did such a fiercely competitive player -- a guy who seemed poised to build a new dynasty get so far off track?

Well the hold-out and subsequent trading of Chris Webber was probably the biggest factor. The two remain the closest of friends, and all reports said Sprewell felt abused by the decision. Then the Warriors sank like a stone following the trade, dismantled, and that was that, back to the old "no-win Warriors."

So now the Knicks have to decide what to do with Sprewell, a man who it seems can't come out and admit any responsibility.

In Golden State it was "the coach's fault" that he got choked, and certainly PJ Carlissimo must have played a roll, but obviously, so did Sprewell.

Then "it's the Knick management that have kept the team from succeeding," which is a fair statement, but Spree's off court histrionics, the missed practices and so forth, hasn't helped to instill a winning attitude, now has it?.

Finally, we have the "he didn't take a swing and miss anybody, if he had don't you think he would have got after the guy" debacle. Nothing about what he says really happened, no apologies for the circus, no words of how before the injury he was committed to getting this team back on track, that he'd worked out hard all summer, that he was coming into camp and the exhibition games fresh and ready to do what it takes to win.

No, nothing from Sprewell except more denial of fault.

Spree, it isn't just your fault, we know that. In life it rarely ever is just one person's responsibility. Maybe our society jumps to harshly on people who are strong enough to step up and admit a mea culpa, but you have to stop blaming the rest of the world. If you made a mistake, admit it. If you didn't, don't give us crap about how if you had wanted to hurt another human being you would have. Drop the suit, settle out of court if your good name really has been besmirched, and then get back to playing basketball as best you can.

Of course, he probably won't, which means the Knicks have to decide what to do. Maybe it's time to throw the book at Sprewell. With the whole potential James pick looming on the horizon, the Knicks could do worse than have Spree sit for a bunch of games. If you lose, more ping-pong balls. If you win, maybe Spree starts taking his role a little more seriously, and if not, Scott Layden has a great deal more leverage in the inevitable trade talk.

I can only imagine the pressures of being a high-profile athlete today. I know, however, that many have dealt with it far better.