The Garden last night was great. Just great. The energy and electricity was as good as I’ve seen it in years and the Knicks actually won their season opener against the horrific Heat, giving Mike D’Antoni a solid start as new head coach.

But this is the Knicks we’re talking about, so of course there was a little controversy. D’Antoni had made it known ahead of time that one big Isiah Thomas signing wasn’t going to play (out-of-shape Eddy Curry) but it was a total surprise when a second Isiah addition, Stephon Marbury, also never got off the bench. The DNP-coach’s decision was a resounding statement by D’Antoni both to the public and to the players in his locker room. Doesn’t matter that Marbury’s making $20 million this year; D’Antoni is about the future, and it’s pretty clear Marbury isn’t a part of that future, so that also means he doesn’t figure to be a large part of the present, either.

Now the question: So far, Marbury has held his tongue. He’s been a good soldier, said all the right things, hasn’t blown up. Last night he was calm, collected and reasonable in his answers to questions after the game. But can it continue? Will Marbury – a former All-Star who, by the way, is still in excellent playing shape – be able to keep himself from exploding at some point if he becomes a permanent garbage time player?

I think it’s impossible. I think that if the Knicks are truly dedicated to minimizing Marbury’s playing time, they should be prepared to cut him (or trade him, probably for way below value) as well, because that may be where they have to go if Marbury does erupt. And odds seem pretty good that he will erupt at some point. The only question is when.
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On an unrelated note (to the Knicks, not this blog), kudos to Carp for his correct World Series pick. Phillies in seven was way closer than my pick (Rays in six), though it’s hard to believe anyone will ever remember this World Series for anything other than a Game 5 that lasted – quite literally – three days.
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If you’re around during lunch hour today, why not join Carp and me as we discuss the Knicks, the World Series, Yankees and Mets offseason news and anything else that comes up during our second FACEOFF LIVE online video chat. Come on over to our FACEOFF LIVE channel by clicking here and submit your questions that we’ll answer live starting at 1 p.m. Tell your friends.

CARP SAYS:

We will certainly discuss this more during our live chat at 1 p.m., but it seems to me the Knicks are doing one of two things here, especially given James Dolan’s Garden’s priors.

Either they are willing to let Marbury sit and rot on the bench, whether he’s a good soldier or not, because the most valuable asset they have in him is his expiring contract, which comes off the salary cap at the end of the year.

Or, they are hoping Marbury does explode and violate all of Dolan’s Garden behavior policies, as Larry Brown did, so they can buy him out at a discount, so that he will either accept less to go away, or that they can reduce his contract payout as they did with Brown by charging that he broke team policy (by complaining, or worse, leaving the team or skipping practices or games).

I think they should just keep him around—especially if Mike D’Antoni is only going to use nine players—and let his contract expire. I think Steph is smart enough to collect ALL of his money by accepting his non-role.