Knick Players Never Learned to Win

Here's the post on Knicks and winning I promised

It is no secret that the New York Knicks have trouble winning.
Why don't they win? They have talent... some may say they must play no D... they must play with no passion... they must fight with each other... nobody listens to the coach... And yes, all of this is true. However, this should be of no surprise. If you take a look at their roster, there is one problem that stands out more than Manute Bol on ice skates. The "centerpiece" players do not win. They never have. So then why should these players, already addicted to losing, start now? It seems to me that it is unrealistic to expect a collection of losers, when brought together, to win. If you were the owner of a store, would you ask someone who was just released from solitary confinement to be your floor manager? OK, so maybe your reservations would come more from the fact that he needed to, for example, eat a man to get there in the first place (Hannibal Lecter comes to mind), but is a cannibal's people skills any better than, say, a calloused loser's winning skills?

Here is a player-by-player analysis of just how bad a job was done when creating this Knick team.

Stephon Marbury - This one's almost too easy... He underachieved in Minnesota, but it was okay because he was just young talent. He saw (teammate) Kevin Garnett get a big contract and then jealousy took over. Stephon Marbury wanted out. He would tell you those exact words (Starbury is no stranger to talking in the 3rd person).
And so he fled to New Jersey - a fresh new start. 34 losses and 16 wins (lockout year) later, things started to really look down for Stephon. He became labeled as a selfish loser. But maybe Starbury just couldn't function after a 4 month lockout. Maybe Starbury doesn't work under those conditions.
Fast forward two years and Steph has built himself an... impressive... 73 - 141 record in New Jersey. He emerged victorious in about 1 out of every 3 games. Nice.
After he set a New Jersey Nets record in 2000 for most 30+ point games in a row (5 games), it looked like Steph may be able to carry the Nets on those rounded shoulders of his. Unfortunately, though, Stephon wore out his welcome after yet another losing season (despite stellar individual numbers).

A Jason Kidd for Stephon Marbury trade saw Steph get yet another clean slate in Phoenix, leaving Jason Kidd behind in Jersey. Fast-break style offense, 51 wins the previous year; Steph is sure to thrive in Phoenix. And thrive he did. 20.4 points and 8 assists a game... pretty solid. Pay no mind to the fact that Steph led the train wreck to 36 wins and it would appear Starbury was a good acquisition for the Suns. And who wants to hear about this "Nets double their win total with arrival of Jason Kidd" crazy talk? Steph got 20 and 8! Lighten up...
So for the next season, all Marbury needed was a little boost from Amare Stoudemire to get him over the .500 hump for the first time in 6 seasons. By the end of the 2002-03 season, Starbury had built himself a 44-38 record. Problems arose again next season, however, when the Suns went 9-17 with Steph (29-53 overall). And so that is when he arrived in New York; in the middle of a 9 win, 17 loss campaign.
Now pardon me for being the eternal pessimist, but I can't help but overlook the fact that when Steve Nash took over PG duties for Marbury after the 29 win season in '03, the Phoenix Suns won 62 games. That is, they had the best record in the NBA.

Eddy Curry - The guy's talent is unquestioned. The man is 280 pounds of raw power (maybe with a little pudge here and there) distributed through a sky-scraping 6'11" frame. These physical attributes led to him being dubbed as, the basketball-head favorite, "Baby-Shaq." Although not quite matching the Diesel’s size, Eddy was and is a physical specimen. The talent is there. So, definitely worth investing in, right? Maybe not for the Knicks.
In Eddy Curry's first 3 seasons, his team built up a 74 - 172 record. That, to be plain, is not good. He was 1 of the few players in the NBA that got to say that they were on the team known as the league's official doormat (kind of like the Knicks have turned into). These Bulls were as bad as the Jordan Bulls were good.

Jamal Crawford - Crawford had the Eddy Curry Bulls experience, but supersized. Jamal never enjoyed the winning season that Eddy did in his last year. He was drafted by the Bulls just in time for their 15-67... yes, 15 wins and 67 losses... season. He then hightailed it out of Chicago en route to N.Y. right before the Bulls enjoyed their first post-Jordan winning season. It would be unfair to say it was because of Jamal. However, the Knicks took on yet another player who had no winning experience.

Steve Francis - The winningest of the four, though still nothing to call home about. With winning seasons scattered throughout his career, he was a part of some sort of professional basketball success. Steve, unfortunately, can bring a losing attitude to a team. Though not always the case, he can become lackluster when things don't go his way (Orlando), he can get wrapped up in personal stats (rookie year), and he can quarrel with coaches (Houston - Van Gundy, and Orlando - Johnny Davis).

When surrounded by winners, a loser can be transformed. Just look at Rasheed Wallace. The top player on an underachieving Portland team (and even a short stint with the Hawks) and he is now leading the former World Champ Pistons. Unfortunately for the Knicks, one winner surrounded by losers can not make for a good team. The Knicks have one of the best leaders in the NBA in Malik Rose, however the Knicks need far more than one Malik. The Knick culture of loserdom negates Malik Rose's leadership abilites.
The lesson that can be learned is that stockpiling talent does not always work. Not a bad idea Isiah, but these players were available for a reason. Learn from the past, and gey talented winners.
Look at the current Bulls roster. Ben Gordon (HS, College Titles), Chris Duhon (College Title), Andres Nocioni (World Title with Argentina), Kirk Hinrich (HS Title). Not the most talented group, but these gym rats have been a part of winning teams all of their lives and thus (are the only team in the NBA to) overachieve. My recommendation to Isiah is take a page out of Jim Paxson's book and get winners first, raw talent second.