Exit Strategy It's safe to say Stephon Marbury is having a rough week at the office. After being badly outplayed by Jameer Nelson and torched by Jason Williams at home, Marbury decided to skip the road matchup against the league's two-time MVP, Steve Nash. Permission granted or not, he wanted out. Maybe the Coney Island Kid was looking for a "Ferris Beuller's Day Off" of sorts. Regardless of what precipitated his spat with Isiah Thomas, he simply had no right to leave his team en route to American West Arena.

Like Marbury, Eddy Curry was dominated by Dwight Howard in their matchup and proved his was not ready to seriously challenge Shaq for his perennial All-Star seat. To Curry's credit, he gave a decent effort against first team NBA superstar, Amare Stoudemire. Unlike Marbury, when word of a possible benching circulated on the team plane to Phoenix, Curry allegedly took the news in stride while Starbury objected to the notion of coming off the bench for Mardy Collins.

Longtime Knicks fans have seen versions of this movie before. The "local product makes good only to see things fall apart" starring Rod Strickland & Mark Jackson quickly come to mind. Stephon Marbury's arrival in January 2004 may have ended the disaster that was the Howard Eisley project, but has failed to deliver a winning season. Strickland & Jackson were eventually traded for Maurice Cheeks & Doc Rivers. Both were no frills floor generals, who fed the post and played solid defense. Considering Isiah Thomas' repeated comments about his expectations of a starting point, Marbury may indeed have one foot out of 2 Penn Plaza.

Marbury and Curry were outplayed again in Los Angeles, this time to the likes of 38 year-old Sam Cassell & Chris Kaman. Curry & Marbury have shown an aversion to defense and propensity for coming up small in the crunch. Watching Marbury miss an open three to tie with 45 seconds to go and then get burned on the other end by Cuttino Mobley, resulting in yet another loss is only a microcosm of his career in New York. For all his mercurial talent, he simply has not shown the ability to lead or defend from the point guard position. If Thomas can't persuade Marbury to come off the bench, then he & Marbury should begin plotting their exit strategies together.

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Injuries are once again taking their toll on the Knicks. Last season's playoff push was derailed by Jamal Crawford's season-ending ankle injury and David Lee's mysterious foot problem. With Richardson, Balkman, Robinson & Collins injured of late, Jim Dolan has to seriously consider upgrading the medical staff. Either Isiah's Knicks spend little time on strength & conditioning programs or Dr. Lisa Callahan & Roger Hinds are equally ineffective. Paging Mike Saunders….

-Greg Hutchins