Good riddance, 2005 – one of the most vile calendar years in Knicks history.
Spanning two seasons, from a loss to the Nets last Jan. 1 up to Friday’s fourth-quarter flop in Milwaukee, the Knicks finished with a nauseating 24-57 record and .296 winning percentage in 2005 – the sixth-worst such span in franchise annals.
The pain for Knicks fans hurts today as much as their New Year’s champagne hangover. Considering the expectations across both seasons, the league-high payroll, the league-high salaries for coach Larry Brown and president Isiah Thomas, the running feud between the team’s captain and its coach and the notion they won’t even keep their high lottery pick, the year of 2005 is so devastating, it’s mind-boggling.
It’s stunning Forbes Magazine estimated last week the Knicks’ franchise is the highest-valued in the league, at $543 million. It’s a flawed study, as it does not take into account the amount of empty seats that will balloon during the dog days of February, March and April, when the Knicks will be competing for the league’s worst record.
Team Titanic is tied for the league-worst record at 7-21 with Atlanta. The Knicks also are tied for the franchise’s worst-ever start after 28 games, with the 1986-87 edition.
At least Team Titanic will give Bulls fans something to follow. Chicago owns the Knicks’ first-round pick from the Eddy Curry trade, and will have a legitimate chance at winning the lottery and getting a crack at Gonzaga small forward Adam Morrison – a poor-man’s Larry Bird who plays the exact position the Knicks desperately covet. The Knicks will have San Antonio’s selection, likely the second-to-last pick of the first round.
Droves of empty seats were already apparent in the Knicks’ home game eight days ago against Utah – a Friday night before Christmas, with sections of the upper-tier blue seats completely barren.
When the clock struck midnight last evening, Thomas and Brown know the worst may not be over. How much longer can Brown and Stephon Marbury coexist after last week’s freeze-out? Maybe Brown’s health will suddenly worsen after his scheduled offseason bladder surgery if he believes Thomas can not trade Marbury.
One-third of the way through the season, the Knicks are on pace for a 21-win campaign, which would tie the least amount of wins in franchise history, set in 1961. It would also match Brown’s worst season as a professional coach, when he went 21-61 in his first season in San Antonio the year before David Robinson arrived.
It seems a different century when the Knicks, under Lenny Wilkens, were rolling at 16-13 on New Year’s Eve, in first place in the Atlantic Division. The Knicks took yesterday off for New Year’s Eve. It’s too bad Wilkens didn’t give the club off last New Year’s Eve.
That would have prevented the maligned Marbury from making his boast about being “the best point guard in the world” – a remark that jinxed the franchise. The next evening, New Year’s Night, Jason Kidd and the Nets ransacked the Garden. Knicks blood hasn’t stopped spilling since.
When asked about the stunning turnaround from 16-13 last New Year’s Eve to now, Marbury said after the Milwaukee defeat, “I don’t know what you want me to say. We’re losing. We’re not winning. It’s not good.”
Brown becomes more confused by the day, still treating late December games as if the team still were in training camp. The Milwaukee game marked his 19th different starting lineup in 28 games, with rookie David Lee the new flavor of the week, playing out of position at small forward.
Brown remarked Friday, “I have trouble coming up with a starting team some days.”
Thomas’ two young-veteran summer acquisitions have been embarrassments – Quentin Richardson, a physical and mental wreck, and clumsy center Jerome James, who sometimes looks as if he picked up the sport last month. In Milwaukee, James committed three fouls in two minutes.
The Knicks have not hit rock bottom yet because of Brown’s track record of reversing reclamation projects. But Isiah’s ship is scraping the ocean floor.
marc.berman@nypost.com
Worst Calendar Years in Knicks history
Season Record Pct.
1963 19-63 .232
1986 21-59 .263
1961 23-57 .288
1985 23-57 .288
1964 23-55 .295
2005 24-57 .296
Source: Elias Sports Bureau
