EMPTY seats and empty suits running the show: That is what the Garden has become in regards to the Knicks.
Yes, the NBA’s longest running consecutive sellout streak of 416 heading into last night remains in full bloom, but just like the empty seats that litter the Garden landscape these days, the Knicks are an empty franchise with no hope of getting better unless GM Scott Layden somehow undergoes one of those vision surgeries.
No, not Lasik surgery. Layden needs the type of vision surgery that will enable him to see into the future and build a contending team. Fat chance.
All Layden has done so far is show that he is masterful at wasting money, like giving $41 million to a third-string point guard, Howard Eisley. Now Eisley is not just any third string player, he is someone who is playing behind Mark Jackson, who has been on his last legs for quite some time, and behind Charlie Ward, who has become a master of dribbling the ball off his foot.
In real NBA life, that’s like being sixth-string, but Eisley is getting $41 million over the course of his six-year contract thanks to Layden.
Layden also was the one who put the keys to the kingdom in Jeff Van Gundy’s hands. Van Gundy quit on the Knicks because he didn’t have the guts to hang in there when the tough times came. He knew what was around the corner because he helped Layden create this mess.
Layden put his faith in Van Gundy and was rewarded by the “noble” coach. Layden was left holding the bag of current Knicks in his hand.
That’s how the Knicks have become the mess that they are at 19-29. The Knicks went into last night’s fray at the Garden against the Vince Carter-less Raptors in 11th place in the East.
Layden, himself, is sitting on a ridiculous contract that still has $16 million left, which means that even Cablevision can’t afford to dump him despite his string of inept moves. Even Cablevision is feeling the financial pinch these days.
The only thing that could make the Knicks worse at this point is if they bring in another loser like Denver’s Nick Van Exel. Van Exel spent his Tuesday night standing on his homecourt challenging the fans to continue booing him.
And, of course, they did. Now there’s an NBA player with his head on straight, the kind of guy you want running your team.
Come to think of it, the way the Knicks are going, Van Exel would be a perfect fit. Layden should make the deal tomorrow -with or without Raef LaFrentz.
As bad as it is now, the best thing the Knicks can do is lose. Keep losing and keep going deeper into the lottery. The higher the pick, the less likelihood that Layden can mess it up.
Maybe even Jason Williams can fall into their lap. Then the Knicks could trade for Memphis’ Shane Battier and bring in a quality leader and, then, someday they may be good enough to win the NCAA title.
The really scary part for Knicks fans -besides their ticket bill -is that other GMs don’t seem to pay any attention to Layden these days. They all seem to like him, but some have remarked that when it comes to talking trade he leaves them confused.
With a little imagination there has to be a trade out there that can help the Knicks. And we do know the Knicks do have a good imagination. After all, they keep talking about these sellouts even though there are so many empty seats at the Garden.