Let Nate Play!

Nate Robinson hasn't seen the court in the last 9 games.

It's now nine and counting for Nate Robinson. Krypto-Nate has had a DNP CD (Did not play--Coach's Decision) next to his name for nine long games. Mike D'Antoni obviously has the Lethal Liliputian (as Clyde Frazier might say) in chateau Bow-Wow. I don't understand it. I'm not sure when the weird energy between these two started. Was it the Nets game at the Meadowlands when Nate shot the ball into the Nets basket, clearly after the buzzer? I always thought that was really overblown, but D'Antoni was clearly hot that day. Maybe it started when Nate joked around with Dwight Howard before a game against Orlando. Whenever it started... It's a full blown beef now. Saturday, Nate's agent asked for a trade. Aaron Goodwin told the Daily News: "I can't allow Nate to rot on Mike's bench and not do anything about it. I can't allow this to happen to his career, It's clear that Mike D'Antoni doesn't want to play him." Nate has been the good citizen so far, saying all the right things. Before Sunday's win against Charlotte, Robinson said he would like to stay in the Big Apple. But when asked if he would want to stay in New York and not play or go elsewhere and play, Robinson became the "Artful Dodger."

I'm sure a lot of you are saying Nate should watch his P's and Q's... and don't get me wrong, he should. After all, he can be a knucklehead at times and a pain in any coach's rear. But I think Mike D'Antoni and the Knicks organization should be very careful here too. D'Antoni didn't handle the Stephon Marbury situation gracefully. Neither the coach nor the player looked good when the saga finally ended. Marbury bad mouthed the Knicks on the way out the door. Now you may not want to believe Marbury, he might not be the most credible witness, but don't think that other NBA players are not watching this. Can D'Antoni get the reputation of being a hard coach to play for? He certainly can. These players are all friends off the court and they all talk. This situation can hurt the Knicks when they look to land one or two big free agents in the summer of 2010. Hopefully, it doesn't get any messier than it already is.

I find it ironic that D'Antoni is taking this stand against Robinson this season. A season that for intents and purposes is a "weigh station" as the Knicks try to improve their team for next year. The job of the Knicks organization is to steer clear of any strife this year, to keep their noses clean. And if they win a couple of games, that's a bonus. They want to be in the best possible position to land the big free agent. Nobody wants to come to an unstable place. So the Knicks better clean their house.