By Geoff Walter / SNY.tv

 

The end of a regular sports season in New York usually means one thing: the post-season. In the past 12 months, all of Gotham's professional sports franchises have had a playoff game except one -- the Knicks. Larry Brown, Isiah Thomas and owner James Dolan comprise the unholy trinity of the Garden which has effectively squeezed the life from Big Apple basketball. So much so, that strains of "Fire Isiah!" shouted down from the rafters where the numbers of Walt Frazier Bill Bradley and Patrick Ewing hang, turned to a handful of jeers and boos during the last home game of the season, a 104-95 loss to the Nets, who start their first round match against the Raptors tomorrow night.

 

Thomas can be credited with doing better than Brown, compiling a 33-49 record and getting more production out of Eddie Curry, but those same successes faltered down the stretch and evaporated with the loss to the Nets. Thomas will bemoan the injuries, and claim that if only his players were healthy, they'd be in the playoffs. He will complain that the fans aren't giving the team their full support, and that their catcalls aren't what the team needs right now. Losing seasons don't make the fans want to cheer, nor do five missed playoffs in six years (including the three for which Thomas has held the reins) when that is the only season that counts in this town. Every team has their share of injuries, but that didn't stop the Heat, the Nuggets or even the Nets from getting into the postseason.

Fans that bellowed from the nosebleed seats calling for Isiah's head are now quiet, silenced by Dolan granting the head coach a multi-year contract extension last month. There was little they could do except to hold their breath as the Knicks went 4-15 to close out the season, as this miasma of apathy permeates the Garden, turning their bile into malaise, fiery passion into burnt-out coals. Right now fans are moving on to the Mets and Yankees; this is what happens to basketball fans in New York because the only reason to come back to 34th St. before next season is the Rangers. Ironic isn't it? That of the two teams under Dolan's roof, the one he cares about least makes the playoffs while the one he invests his time and money in falls again? This is how another basketball season ends in New York: a smattering of applause, a polite thank you, and goodnight.

Wanna argue with the Ref? Don't like the call? Go ahead and make your own!