When the Knicks made their two big salary dump trades, Mike D'Antoni tried to sell the idea that the Knicks were not only going to be competitive but that they'd be better. It sounded like hucksterism then and it sounds even more like it now. There's no way the Knicks will be either if the players are exhausted and overworked because their team won't give them the weapons needed to play.
That Cuttino Mobley's heart problem may force him to retire is sad, but it wasn't a secret that the Knicks found out about after the trade. They knew he had an issue and if they weren't prepared to deal with it, they should have either passed on the trade or waived him immediately. Now is where we'd mention the roster spot being clogged by their interminable pissing match with Stephon Marbury, but, honestly, nothing's going to change there.
Chris Duhon has played very well, but he's playing with back spasms and can't continue logging 40 minutes a night without seeing a dropoff in his play. They badly need Nate Robinson back in the lineup, but even then they'll be stretching that duo thin with only Anthony Roberson and Quentin Richardson as other backcourt options.
That's why the return of Jared Jeffries, helpful though it is, isn't enough. He'll likely allow Wilson Chandler, who looked awful the last two games, a chance to catch his wind. Jeffries, coming off a broken leg, isn't going to play enough minutes to make a serious difference in the workload of everyone else.
D'Antoni doesn't make it any better when he refuses to play Jerome James in the final minutes of a blowout in Cleveland or when he holds practice on the day off after back-to-back games. The skeleton roster that the Knicks have chosen can only take so much before those blowouts become more and more common. Why does that matter? It doesn't, based on the moves they made, but D'Antoni's words force him to be held to a higher standard.
