Isiahed.

After what looks to be a season-killing losing streak (9 of 10 games) for the Knicks, Lenny Wilkens gets the boot. (Ok, ok, he “resigned”…yeah, right.) For now, Knicks stalwart Herb Williams is in charge, but both Larry Brown and Phil Jackson are already waiting in the wings, and it seems clear Herb’s tenure will be a short one.

I dunno. Sure, there were several mental mistakes made in recent games by the coaching staff…but let’s face it: The Knicks are a bad (and badly-constructed) team. Without a single front-line player who merits a double-team in the post, our offense is basically reduced to hoping two of our three perimeter shooters (Marbury, Crawford, Houston) have a good game. That’s not going to win a championship, no matter who’s coaching. It wouldn’t even get us in the playoffs if the Atlantic Division wasn’t so terrible across the board. To my mind, Lenny was made the scapegoat for an unwinnable situation.

Zen Master Tells All.

“The meeting with Kobe reinforced an idea I had been contemplating since July, since Colorado, since everything changed. I decided to enlist a therapist to help me cope with what will surely be the most turbulent season of my coaching career. After receiving a few recommendations, I selected a therapist who has dealt with narcissistic behavior in the Los Angeles public school system. He’ll be right at home here.” Sports Illustrated publishes some revealing excerpts from Phil Jackson’s forthcoming book on the 2003-2004 Laker season, and it’s already clear this tome won’t do much for Kobe’s tattered reputation around the league…he comes off here as a hopelessly arrogant prima donna, as well as an out-and-out terrible teammate.

Things Fall Apart.

“It looks like Buss, the Lakers’ owner, has made his choice: Kobe stays; the others can go. In other words, he is not averse to trading Shaq and is willing to build his franchise around a narcissist who’s on trial for rape, doesn’t make his teammates better and is in denial over all of it.” Well, it looks like my concerns about Kobe joining the Knicks were unfounded. At the behest of Bryant, Lakers owner Jerry Buss sends Phil Jackson off, with Shaq soon to follow. I never really bought into the Zen Master hype, but Phil Jackson is assuredly a better coach than Rudy T. And letting Shaq walk to appease Kobe? That’s just ludicrous…The big guy may be on the downslope of his career, but he’s still in a league of his own.