I read the column above, and as is typical these days, it got me all riled up. Here is the response I sent to Mark Stein:

I must take offense with several of your points.

Yes, the Knicks were 33-49. I was a season ticket holder so I know the truth, unlike many sports reporters who simply enjoy dumping on the “down” Knicks.

1)The 2004-05 Knicks had to endure the Lenny Wilkins situation - he should have been removed prior to the start of the season.

2)If the Knicks could have simply diagrammed a last-possession play, they easily could have been 41-41, given how many games they lost in the last minute of play.

3)Sweetney is undersized, I'll give you that. JYD is a role player and so is Malik Rose. You don't know what David Lee is capable of doing - Charles Barkley played the '4' at a stature less than that. And Maurice Taylor has the length to guard that spot.

4)Crawford, who the Knicks should keep anyway, has a reasonable contract. His salary stays under $9 million until the 2009-10 season, and there is a player option for more in 2010-11. But that is still 4 years away. He may be a bargain by then.

5)Boring? Hardly. Though they were frustrating, the Knicks were not boring. Trevor Ariza and JYD brought more 'juice' to the Garden than anyone since Spree first arrived with that two-handed tomahawk dunk.

6)Ariza is 20, Crawford and Richardson are 25, even Marbury is only 28. All showed MAJOR, MAJOR improvements over the last season. They should all continue to do so and provide a young core, along with the 3 1st round rookies they just added.

7)They should have traded Kurt Thomas 4 years ago. When he was not hitting his jump-shot off of the pick, he provided no offense. Removing the predictable pick-and-roll play as their only offensive option will at least create uncertainty for their opponents.

8) Penny and TimThom will be gone after the year, and so will Allan Houston. Isiah will have more freedom and will be out of the "shadow" of the legacy of Leyden's terrible deals. Since I am a die-hard, a few years of struggles won't scare me off.

I don't know why everyone in the media enjoys kicking the Knicks while they're down, and are writing them off. Larry Brown may help, but he will have to help THESE Knicks, on THIS roster.