[NY Times] Motivation Hard to Find as Losses Keep Mounting Rockets 90, Knicks 83 By LIZ ROBBINS Published: February 13, 2006 HOUSTON, Feb. 12 — The Knicks, having already hit rock bottom, are now scraping along the jagged underbelly of futility. With drooped shoulders and exasperated sighs and without their so-called "franchise player," center Eddy Curry, who fouled out early in the fourth quarter, the Knicks found it hard to muster a comeback against the Houston Rockets. No matter that the Rockets All-Star Tracy McGrady, who went 3 of 20 from the field, had his worst shooting night of the season. The Knicks were worse. They could not find the basket Sunday night, but they did find a way to lose their ninth straight game, stumbling out of Houston, 90-83. "It's definitely rock bottom," Curry said. At 14-36, the Knicks have lost 15 of 16 games and are on pace to match the worst record in franchise history — 21-59 in the 1961-62 season. They have already matched their worst start after 50 games. The road does not get any easier. The Knicks play in Dallas on Monday night, against a Mavericks team among the best in the league. The Knicks — with the second-worst record in the league — lost this one in the third quarter, when they missed their first seven shots, a stretch indicative of their play in the second half, when they converted 13 of 42 field goals. "We had a horrible third quarter, it seems like that's been our M.O.," Coach Larry Brown said. Brown sat Jalen Rose, acquired one week ago in a trade, in the fourth quarter when the Knicks could not get closer than 6 points. Brown said he was not pleased with Rose's 1-for-5 shooting in the third quarter and wanted to give Nate Robinson and Quentin Richardson, who led the Knicks with 19 points, more playing time. "I've been here one week, I didn't come here with the pressure feeling like I was going to be a world beater," Rose said. "I'm just going to do what I'm asked to do when I was out there." Despite Brown's intense criticism of his players, he cannot seem to motivate them, nor find a combination that works without Stephon Marbury in the lineup. Marbury sat for his sixth consecutive game with a bruised left shoulder. The Knicks are 0-9 when he does not play. Before the game, Brown wondered why the Knicks were unable to reverse their misery. "I see guys trying to do what we're asking them to do, maybe they're not capable of it," he said. "Maybe they're young and it takes time." Brown said he worried that his players might be tuning him out. "Yeah, when you're losing game after game, it's tough," he said before the game. "It's hard to keep them up, it's hard to get guys to keep competing if we're bad and we're losing." The Knicks had an opportunity when McGrady shot 2 for 18 through three quarters, but could not capitalize. The Knicks trailed by only 47-46 at halftime but came out of the locker room and promptly missed their first seven field goals — all while the Rockets went on a 11-1 run. Just like that, the Knicks deflated. They shot 5 for 21 in the third quarter as the Rockets took a 69-60 lead into the final quarter. With 3 minutes 33 seconds left in the second quarter, the Knicks showed signs of life when they went on a 19-9 run. Jamal Crawford ignited the scoring with a layup. Richardson, who was defending McGrady, hit a 3-pointer. And the Knicks' defense — highlighted by Jerome James's block of Yao Ming — kept them in the game. Yao led all scorers with 24 points. Brown made sure Curry had extra energy after lecturing him in front of the news media after Friday's loss and then needling him in comments Saturday when he called him the Knicks' "franchise player." Curry did a double take when he was informed of that. "He never told me that; it's my first time hearing it, so I'm kind of shocked by that," Curry said before the game. "It's good that he looks at me like that." Later, Curry explained why it was hard to believe Brown would use that label. "It's more shocking to me because of how he is, he's not the kind of person to come to you and say, 'You're the franchise player,' " he said. "With me, it's always 'Eddy, you got to do this, you got to do that.' " Curry seemed to respond to Brown's demands in the first quarter. He announced his franchise presence with a monstrous dunk in Yao's face and had 4 rebounds and 8 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. He then proceeded to disappear. REBOUNDS Larry Brown said this Knicks season was reminiscent of another infamous one. "It feels like Roy Rubin," Brown said of the 76ers coach who was responsible for the start of the worst season in N.B.A. history, Philadelphia's 9-73, in 1972-73. Rubin coached up to a 4-47 record before Kevin Loughery replaced him. "The record is indicative of how we're playing," Brown said. ... In addition to his coaching duties, Brown said he discussed personnel in his daily conversations with friends and former players who are now in management positions throughout the league. "I'll ask opinions about players just to get Isiah some information," Brown said about the Knicks' president, Isiah Thomas. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/13/s...l?_r=2&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
