By Rob Sosin

Okay, it's been a tough tough season for my Knicks. We all knew that without Marcus Camby they weren't going to be too great, but this is way beyond what most everybody was expecting. It's clearly time to start rebuilding, but because this is New York and there's a distinct need to put an entertaining (or at least boring-but-successful) show on the garden floor, these steps just can't take three to four years. They just can't. Scott Layden is going to have to take big bold steps rather than the more tried and true "give it some time and invest in youth" plan.

What needs to go? Well, that's a complicated question. It's tempting to say "everything", but that's not going to happen. A better question to ask is what needs fixing, and from there Layden's bold moves can be planned out. Amongst other things, the Knicks' problems are:

1. Their players are getting paid way too much and not performing nearly well enough. They are screwed in terms of the salary cap for years to come, and have no players any other team covets, so moving players is not an option.
2. After Jeff Van Gundy left, the team clearly did not gel under Don Chaney. There MUST be a coaching change, but it is anybody really exciting available? I'll answer that one for you. No.
3. They are a "structurally flawed" team--they have three point guards, two superstar shooting guards, no center, and a lot of undersized role-payers who don't match up well in the frontcourt.
4. They are the oldest team in the league.
5. They are the shortest team in the league.
6. They've lost the interest of their fans... people have stopped caring about the Knicks. Even Spike Lee has stopped wearing his Knicks jersey. And I've been having an impossibly hard time getting people to go in with me for the $40 Knicks tickets (in the blue seats!) I bought at the beginning of the season.

Okay, there's a whole lot more than that wrong with the Knicks, and you can definitely probe further into the problems and find something bigger at the root (here's a hint for you: they're calling the Knicks GM Scott "Osama Bin" Layden around Manhattan these days), but that's a breakdown of some major points. The big problem here is that point 1 makes dealing with points 3 through 6 nearly impossible. Fortunately, there's a simple move the Knicks can make now, despite point one, to at least make some progress on most of the other points.

Let go of Don Chaney, as soon as possible. Make Mark Jackson the new coach of the Knicks, as a player-coach.

Boom. There you go. Everybody knows Mark Jackson is going to end up as a coach some day, and he'd be an excellent fit for the Knicks--think of it, he has a great understanding of the game, an understanding of the league based on real experience, the ability to call and run plays, and an already solidified relationship with the current crop of Knicks. What's more, the Knicks can put down an investment on Jackson and get him as a coach before some other team scoops him up--once he makes that decision to coach, it's going to be a bidding war to get his services. The Knicks aren't going to make the playoffs this year, and even if they were to buck the incredible odds and make it, it's not like they're built to get out of the first round. Now would be an ideal time to let Mark get some coaching experience under his belt and learn the ropes. On the level purely of a coaching change, it makes a lot of sense for the Knicks to act now.

But look how this affects the other points. As coach, Mark Jackson is suddenly responsible for addressing and solving the point guard problems the Knicks are having. He can bench himself while sparing his own ego, and leave himself open as an option in case of injury to Ward or Eisley. Suddenly these Knicks aren't quite as structurally flawed--a good drafting this year of a frontcourt impact player and they might be right back in the east. And suddenly these Knicks have a compelling storyline to win back the fans--a hometown basketball legend is suddenly thrust into a new and exciting position that has almost never been seen in the NBA. And suddenly these Knicks aren't as dependent on the athleticism of the 37-year old Jackson, and without Jackson in the regular lineup (and again, with a good draft) these Knicks can become younger and perhaps taller. Gasp.

Would Mark Jackson do it? Are you kidding? He'd love to do it, you can just tell. It allows him to keep playing on his own schedule and simultaneously get into coaching right away. It allows him to cement a place for himself on the Knicks not only for the next couple of years but for the rest of Knicks history, and believe it, that's something that would mean a whole lot to him. It allows the Knicks to become more competitive right away, and you know that's something all of the Knicks want.

Would the Knicks do it? They should. It's a bold change that could fix some things right away, and would almost certainly put some more asses in seats. It would be something to pitch to NBC or ABC or whoever has the TV rights... a powerful story that resonates with viewers. And say it doesn't work--Mark Jackson might turn out to be a terrible coach, maybe, although it sure doesn't look like he'd be--well, so what? You're rebuilding anyway. A bad season next year might put the Knicks in the lead for the grand prize of drafting LeBron James, and with Jackson at the reins would be a whole lot more exciting than.

Will it happen? Boy, I hope so, and quick. These Knicks games are getting harder and harder to watch, and I've got these two tickets for the game against the Bucks on March 5th that I need to get rid of... anybody out there interested?

ROB SOSIN is a freelance writer living in New York City. Every so often he catches himself fantasizing about having The Flash-style super speed and setting the career steals record for the Knicks. He has a fully-developed pitch for the best gosh-darn basketball show ever, in case you're some bigshot in the entertainment industry. Write to him at rob.sosin@mindsping.com if you're interested and get in on the ground floor.

(Editor's Note: I've got some ideas that aren't too shabby as well. Contact me after Rob.)