Maneuvering the Knicks to the playoffs in five steps

	As difficult as it may be for Larry Brown, the Knicks might be wise to spread the point-guard duties among Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and Stephon Marbury. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Though Larry Brown at last seems to have at last bitten off more than he can chew with these New York Knicks, history shows that the Peripatetic Prince always gets his teams to the playoffs by his second season. Therefore, I would not presume to tell Larry Brown how to do his job.

Then again, being a sports writer, actually I would.

New York, see, is a tough town, and even the great ones need some help from time to time. For this week's five-pack, then, I offer, with all due modesty, a blueprint for Brown to get the seemingly lottery-bound Knicks to the postseason ... this year.

This year? Well, I have to say this year. Because by next year Brown will have done it himself, right?

So, here we go:

1. As exasperating as it might be at times, utilize the three-guard Stephon Marbury-Jamal Crawford-Nate Robinson system that worked well in the second half of a 105-102 overtime victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last Saturday at the Garden. Not exclusively, of course. But often.

By now, everyone who follows the NBA is aware of Brown's belief (borne out by facts) that he does not have a true point guard. Marbury has always been more 2 than 1, and despite Crawford's wispy build (190 pounds on a 6-foot-5 frame), the same is true for him. The Knicks weren't exactly sure what kind of guard they were getting when they made a draft-day deal with Phoenix to get Robinson. General manager Isiah Thomas was most interested in Robinson's buoyant athleticism, and, from that perspective, Robinson is the real deal. The 5-7 1/2 guard (that's his real height) made a flat-footed jam from the baseline in the Sixers' game. But he is not a distributor and seems lost, so far, when the game crawls to a halfcourt pace.

Granted, then, throwing those three guys out there with only one ball seems like an absolutely hair-brained scheme, but it might be nutty enough to work. Using the three of them would help stifle the debate about who's a point guard and who's a shooting guard -- they would all be responsible for a little bit of both. Maybe they'd even try to outshine each other in the keep-your-composure department. One of the loudest roars in the Garden during Saturday's game occurred when Crawford came steaming downcourt in a potential heave-one-up situation and actually held up his hand and backed out to slow up the offense.