Pivotal season awaits

0 Comments | USA TODAY, October, 2008 | by Chris Colston

NEW YORK -- Madison Square Garden is nestled among Manhattan's midtown skyscrapers at Two Pennsylvania Plaza, an address some basketball fans consider hallowed ground. But for the last seven seasons, the New York Knicks have done little to consecrate their home. In that time the Knicks have failed to deliver a winning season, finishing 23-59 last spring.

Last October they lost a sexual harassment lawsuit involving Isiah Thomas, the team's former coach and president, and a former Knicks employee. On the heels of that lawsuit, NBA Commissioner David Stern said the Knicks were "not a model of intelligent management."

Since April, the Knicks have been regrouping. New York fans hope a new brain trust can deliver a winner and put the organization back in the...