It’s a crime to be a Knicks fan - literally. An Interview with Ivan Cash

This interview was not conducted by me, but i decided to post it as it corresponds with my Knick post last year

A few weeks back, our Knicks Trade Game generated interest, and some good suggestions, but, surprisingly, no one suggested keeping the Knicks as is and just arresting/banning all fans who disagreed. It is a simple but brilliant strategy. Find those fans who enjoy a 8-23 record and make the rest just go away.

In case you haven’t heard, the New York Knicks have expanded their Isiah Thomas protection net from inside MSG, where hecklers and posters are forbidden, to the streets outside. Ivan Cash a student at SUNY was arrested Wednesday for selling a t-shirt that expressed his feelings at the direction the Knicks are headed in. “Don’t hate player or the game. Hate the coach” reads the shirt which is embossed with a picture of the now infamous Thomas.

I sat down via email with one of those fans who, by way of expressing his opinion, was made to go away.

How long have you been a Knicks fan?

Ivan - I’ve been a Knicks fan for as long as I can remember. In middle school, I listened to EVERY single game on my walkman. Lately though, I just check the box score.

At what point did you start to consider selling the shirts (a specific loss or last season etc . . .)

Ivan - It was actually for a screen printing class I took in the Fall of 2006. I had to come up with a t-shirt idea and, as a Knicks fan who, like everyone else, was frustrated with Isiah’s lackadaisical coaching job, I decided to make it Knicks-themed.

Do you plan on selling the shirts in the future?

Ivan - I don’t plan on going back to MSG any time soon, as I go on vacation soon and then I return back to school in Geneseo, NY near Rochester. (I’m a communications major, graphic design minor by the way.) I do plan on continually selling the shirts through my website though. If Isiah’s still around next year, and I’m able to hook up with another vendor, I’d love to sell the shirts again.

What was your jail experience like?

Ivan - Jail time certainly was an experience! The cell was filthy and smelly, and I felt like an animal trapped in a cage. What a degrading experience—especially since I was charged with a bogus crime!

What do you see that is good about the Knicks right now?

Ivan - I see young energetic players that play with passion: David Lee, Nate Robinson, Rolando Balkman are really the only Knick players I like.

Do you play Fantasy NBA?

Ivan - I do play Fantasy Hoops; I play on SportingNews, and am in 2nd place out of my 21-team division.

How many Knicks are on your roster(s)?

Ivan - *Laughs* Very Funny. (No one)

Do you plan to fight the ticket?

Ivan - While I don’t agree whatsoever with how I was arrested or the reasoning of my arrest, it will probably be too big a pain to fight it, especially seeing as there are virtually no repercussions, aside from having to waste my time getting to NYC from my college which is 7 hours away.

Do you feel like you were targeted because the Knicks made a request to stop the anti-Isiah movement like they did when banning the fire Isiah posters and handing out warnings to fans who heckle the players or Isiah?

The cop at the precinct admitted that MSG anticipated me, and called the police to do something about it. My arresting officer however, who didn’t hear this conversation between me and the other cop, denied any MSG connection. I just find it EXTREMELY fishy that I was arrested literally 2 minutes after getting to my destination, near the Garden. When I sell, I’m holding posters of the shirts as well as shouting catch phrases like “Love the franchise; hate the coach!” or “Give me a draft pick for a T-Shirt.” Up to the point I was arrested, I was doing NONE of those things. I was literally standing, chatting with my friend who would be helping me sell. I was waiting for my vendor to come and put the duffle bag of shirts and poster with the shirt against the sidewalk wall. The cops argued that I had intent to sell since the price was on the poster, even though we weren’t selling nor would I have sold to anyone offering me $ before my vendor arrived. (At one of the prior games, I actually did turn someones $ down because I wasn’t with my vendor.) I was trying to sell everything legitimately, and the cops were really just busting me, despite my compliance and politeness during our interaction before they actually handcuffed me and took me to jail. As I was being hand-cuffed, our vendor arrived. Before even looking at his papers, (which turned out, according to my arresting officer, to be ‘tax papers’ rather than a ‘vendors license’) the cops put me in the van and told me I was going to jail. [Interesting side note: The previous 3 games I’d been selling at, the cops looked at my vendor’s license, which apparently may have been a tax paper, and approved us selling there. So why this sudden extreme disparity in judgement? I blame MSG.

Does this arrest make you feel differently about free speech, the Knicks and the NYPD?

While in the freezing-cold, smelly, ridiculously dirty jail cell, I had an epiphany. What has our society come to where we put people in cages not because they are murdering or stealing but because they are expressing themselves by either selling a product or writing on a wall? I don’t want to get overly political, but it definitely raised my interest in anarchistic ideology. What gives cops the right to lock people in a cage, when the cop themselves could just as easily be morally corrupt.

I was standing for something I believe in—something that is supposed to be a constitutional right in America.

I’m not a cop hater; I have a lot of respect for the men and ladies who put on their lives on the line to battle criminals while most people sit at desks doing office work. I’m just disappointed with the NYPD’s judgement and attention to superficial issues. As a Knicks fan, it’s disheartening to know that they are indirectly responsible for my arrest. I still love ‘em, but it’s sad.

Who would be your choice to run the Knicks?

Ivan - I wish someone like Mark Cuban came in as owner. As for coach? Anyone who’s ambitious, level-headed, and possesses good fore-sight. I don’t want someone who has unrealistic goals and expectations. I wouldn’t mind the Knicks losing for a few seasons if it meant rebuilding from the ground, ensuring a better team in future years to come.


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An funny interview brought to you by:
M.T.M-M

NBA: Back to the dark ages?

There is a question that has been boggling my mind as of late; has the NBA gone back to the dark ages? If anyone has watched the NBA as long as I have (approximately 11 seasons) you would have realized the changes and improvements in teams,players and their records. As of late even the worst teams in the NBA were winning over 20 games in a season in comparios to teams of the late 90's and early 2000's who would end seasons in the TEENS! However I am noticing a disturbing trend in the NBA, this season, and though we may not have gone back completely to those horrid days it seems that we may be heading there. Prime example and specimen are the Minnesota Timberwolves. The team, now 4-25, are simply ATROCIOUS! Kevin Mchale, in one of the worst managerial moves in recent times, automatically relegated his team to not only a losing season but an embarrassing one as well. In his attempt to 'rebuild' he sold his big star, Kevin Garnett. Now not saying this was a bad move as we will have to wait for the long-term effects. However, what seems to have me lost is the trading off of Ricky Davis and Corey Blount to the Heat for Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac and a draft pick. Now if you're attempting to rebuild why in the world would you trade two relatively young players (both in their late 20's) for two 30+ year olds, one of whom is completely irrelevant and worthless as a basketball player (Doleac)? If you're rebuilding you usually want to get/keep the young players right? What's worse is that they gave up two players who were budding stars and promising to have career-high seasons this year (especially Ricky) to get old, inconsistent and worthless players. Mind-boggling I tell you, Mind-boggling. Another team set to have a record under 25 wins are the Seattle Supersonics. Granted it is a team which although bad has its sparks in young star and future ROY (Rookie of the year) in Kevin Durant. However, they are almost no better than the T'Wolves with a weak offense and possibly even worse defense. It must be noted though that they blew the T'wolves out last night (109-90) basically without Durant which shows there obviously lies more talent here than in Minnesota and most of the players are young. Other teams looking very dismal thus far are the Miami Heat and New York Knicks. Now Miami is doing worse than expected and is probably suffering from a combination of aged and inexperienced players. Try as the superhuman, Dwyane Wade might, his team is struggling a lot and though we must give credit to his resilience, this team looks like a below 25 win team (Just to note they got blown out last night as well, only conjuring up 76 points). The now infamous New York Knicks organization is possibly the least fortuitous team in the league. How can you have such a plethora of 'big names' and yet play this badly. I am watching them play as we speak (aginst the Bulls) and I cannot figure why the fans of New York would bother themselves, spend their money and sit down and watch this team. In fact, I am of the notion that they are there to watch and cheer the other team (or just to boo the Knicks, take your pick). This team's play is nothing near enthralling and are woefully dismal in many areas, especially defense. Eddy Curry, as fat as he is, yes I said FAT, is worthless, so far missing at least 5 easy baskets (it is currently halftime) and it seems like coming off the bench has done nothing to lift his declining game. Then there is Marbury (who seems to be the 'boss' of the team) taking personal time for apparently NO DAMN REASON, and they actually are letting him sit courtside? I won't go into anymore details on this team as my blood is beginning to boil and my fellow writer M.T.M.M. has articles addressing their situation. Even at the top of the league some of the more prominent teams are not playing up to standard and I'm simply hoping that this is due to the 'middle' teams from last year stepping up a gear (eg. Hornets and Blazers). Thus , in concluding, I hope to see the league improve in terms of team records and I sincerely hope these teams mentioned above prove me wrong and elevate/upgrade their standards and their respective organizations.

LOOK AT THAT....Renaldo Balkman just missed a wide open dunk! Yes you know what followed that horrific display of basketball skill, a plethora of "booes". As I finish this article, the Bulls currently lead 73-57 at the end of the third.


Some of these teams are playing like...well to be frank, ASSES (DONKEYS)!

My First Basketball Post (The Knicks)

There is no team in the NBA worse than the New York Knicks,
I know the records of Minnesota and Miami may state otherwise, but Minnesota is rebuilding, and Miami has lost a lot of players to injury, and hence is a small way are also rebuilding.
New york on the other hand arent rebuilding and arent experiencing Injuries

The Knicks are suppose to be one of the best teamn in the NBA, why, because it is one of the original teams, it is in the main media city in the US, New York city, has the largest arena, MSG, The richest Owner, Jim Dolan, Is the most valuable team, (check the forbes list), it has the highest salary roll, (over 90mil), HAs the most first round picks, and the list goes on...................


ONCE THEY LOOKED LIKE THIS
THE GREAT



NOW THEY LOOK MORE LIKE THIS




"NEW YORK KNICKS SUCK"



SO


q: Why do the Knicks Suck?

a: Well if you were to ask there Head Coach and GM, he will give you all kind of excuses, like the The players arent playing with heart and urgency, or it is the fans harsh criticism. But the answer to the question is simple.

Isiah Thomas - he is the worst GM and coach in basketball. He is a manipulative person and it seems that no matter how much he messes up, Dolan (the owner) will still give him praise. He is actually the only GM that has being hired to a team so long, without making the playoffs. Mr. Thomas has fired three of the best coaches of all time such namely Lenny Wilkens (Most wins as a coach), Jeff VanGundy, and Larry Brown, because he believed that with the talent that they have on their roster, they should be making the playoffs, but after he fired Brown, he appointed himself Head Coach, but the results have been even worse.
Though as a GM, he has completely wasted Jim Dolan's(the richest owner) money, acquiring or giving Van Horn, Jerome James, Marbury, Allan Houston, Crawford, Larry Brown, Steve Francis, QRich, Jalen Rose, Curry, Penny Hardaway, ZBO (Zach Randolph), both Kurt and Tim Thomas , and more that i just cannot remember right now, huge contracts, and then either relegating them to the bench or after a year waiving them, or simply the person did not deserve the money. Now Dolan is over the luxury tax threshold, and has to pay a dollar, for every dollar over the tax limit(last year he was 100+Mil over the limit, hence he had to give the NBA 100+ Mil for nothing).
The Knicks and Thomas do try hard to win, and thats why they try to acquire these players, as the Knicks has the most first round picks on a team with 11 knicks being drafted in the first round. But what they do not realize is that for a team to be successful, there has to be chemistry, and chemistry usually begins at the point, Marbury is a selfish player and hence not the best player to lead a team, and he and Thomas have fallen out many times about his leadership, which led to Marbury being demoted to the bench, but quickly promoted back to the starting position, as they were worse off with Marbury on the bench. Later, however, Marbury has had to take a leave of absence due to "personal reasons", and since Marbury's leave, the Knicks (correct me if I'm wrong) haven't won more than two games. This is because it all goes back to the point guard, as Crawford and Robinson have played the minutes at the point and both are offensive players, they look for their shot first.

AT the Swing MAN (SG and SF)
SG - Crawford, Jones (Fred), and others
SF - QRich, Jeffries, Rose, and others

Crawford problem was already explained in the PG section.

Jones - not really that good of a player, got ups though, surprised he lasted this long in New York (2 months - was apart of the Zbo trade), quick and strong. He plays hard defense. He's a scrappy offensive player who can get to the rim and he can shoot from distance albeit with no consistency. He was dumped by Toronto and Portland because he wasn't a versatile enough offensive player who was a hindrance to ball movement and movement off the ball. His best season was with Indiana, after the brawl.

QRich - He is the Knicks best perimeter defender and a versatile scorer. He has a post game, is good attacking the hoop, can run the floor and hit the outside shot with consistency so he can space the floor. However he falls victim to wrong situation, wrong time. He moves off the ball very poorly in the half court (NY's biggest problem) and consistently struggles to use his abilities next to the Knicks established players. He has two ball dominating guards which limits his touchs and two ball dominating big men to man the post and are not versatile enough away from the hoop to free up opportunities in the post for Q. He simply is a horrid fit here.

Jeffries - He is a complete joke, was once regarded as the one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, now he is $#*t.

Rose - doesnt even play enough to comment on his game, truthfully i dont even remember how he even played for SA.

Weak Defense in the front court: Curry vs ZBo
Now a year ago the knicks problem was their backcourt, having heavy weights as Francis and Marbury sharing minutes, but the two just never got along, as they have similar styles of play, and would have to compete for minutes and ball possesion, How did they solve that problem, trading francis for ZBo, which to me puts them in the same Dilemma.
Curry and Randolph are great offensive players, capable of putting up big scoring numbers, but both play little to no D(defense). Zbo is a better all round player as unlike Curry can pass and rebound, but for any of them to be productive they need the ball, and as they are not great ball handlers, they expect to get the ball in the right position (Unlike Garnett, Duncan and Dirk, who no matter where they receive the ball can make magic happen). The problem with this is that with a point guard looking to score, none of them are getting the ball, and these players are not hustlers who work for the ball and when the points do decide to pass in the post the question is who to pass to. However, the beneficiary of most of the passes have been ZBo, making Curry redundant (BUT WITH HIS CONTRACT SIZE, THEY CANNOT AFFORD FOR HIM TO BE REDUNDANT, OR CAN THEY). This has led to the the same problem with Francis and Marbury, both are fighting for minutes and possession, and ultimately has benefited the team.
But the problem they now face is that THOMAS has benched Zbo(similar to how he benched francis), to start DLee. DLee isn't a bad player, and does deserve minutes, but not at the cost of ZBo (similarly with crawford and Francis). and once again this led to poor performances by the one being demoted to the bench (Francis and Zbo), while the one who starts (marbury and Curry), still are not performing how they are expected to perform.

Now what do you call this, the same thing is basically, with different players in different years, Hence it must me Admins Fault or better yet Thomas.

To me Thomas is only getting big names, but worrying about Chem, but look at the lakers now, they do not have the big names (apart from Kobe and Maybe ODOM), but are gelling well and winning, which did not take over night, it took hard work, which even led kobe to being frustrated, but now its paying off as Bynum is now the one making a name for himself.
Now trevor Ariza (LAL)is also playing well, as he once did in New York, but as a rookie, no matter how much promise he had, they wanted a bigger player and so traded him and others for francis. (the point im trying to make is that it is only recently with young players like Dlee, have they kept to try and develop, usually these players get traded, for a all star caliber player.

After Blaming the coach, for the players he has acquired, an stated how the player compete each each other, i think i should mention how the knicks play as a team. at different ends of the Court

It's clear and has been clear for a good time that the Knicks have a bad mix of players. But why are they a bad mix?

Let's begin with the starters. The game of basketball is all about combinations. How do the big men play together? How do the guards do? How do the swingmen do? Can the guards and big men play together? Do the players complement one other?








Dont get me wrong Thomas isn't all bad, he has had some great drafts picking D.Lee, R.Balkman, N.Robinson, and others, and i do believe he has the teams interest at heart, but just isnt the man to do it.


Q: What can they do to improve.

A: I cant answer that, but what i recommend they do is scrap this season and start over, NOW
First get rid of Thomas, get a new Board, new coaches, assistants, etc.

Trade Curry, Crawford, Qrcih, Marbury, Rose, Jones, James, Collins, Jeffries

Keep, Randolph, Dlee.

Other Dont care what happens to them, can be traded, or kept

Why Trade so many players, it is simple, the dont play well together, and have been here long enough.
Many of these players, are easily Traded, because they do have talent.

1.) Get a young capable point Guard, a pass first type player(no recommendations on who)
2.) Get a 2guard with the offensive ability of Crawford, but with Defensive talents, unlike crawford (Someone like Monta Ellis)
3.) Build around Zach
4.) Get players who are willing to play, (Mark Blount) - a matter a fact i think with SHaq, injured, and falling off, Zo out for the season, and no confidence in blount, Curry to Miami doest even seem to be a bad deal, the only problem is when Shaq returns, does curry go back to the bench.
5.)Get players willing to take a role position (there are many of them. preferbly veterans though, as they will provide better minutes.
6.)Continue to draft well.

Now i know trading those player will be hard, because of their salary, and it may seem to drastic to start over now, but their record reflect a rebuilding team.

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If a certain someone wasn't too busy 'pimpin' staff members and cheerleaders
and actually coaching, maybe he would be able to realize what's wrong with his team



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M.T.M-M with assistance by DiPhoenix