David Lee described Mike D'Antoni's offense as being more complicated than he expected. AP Ian Thomsen's Mailbag Ian Thomsen will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

4 Quick thoughts on the Knicks

4. It's not so glamorous in New York. At this moment, at least. About one-third of the seats were empty throughout the Knicks' 101-98 win over the Bobcats in coach Larry Brown's return to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. He was greeted mainly with boos, but they were delivered in the shrill, high-pitched voice of children -- not the hoarse, bellicose sound we used to hear when the fans would chant "Jeff Van Gun-dy'' during the team's defense-first era.

New Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni has been fighting a bad cold for almost a week, which makes him look far more depressed than he really is. In two decades of successful coaching in the NBA and Europe, D'Antoni has endured only one bad full year, with the Nuggets during the 1999 lockout season, when after his 14-36 debut he was replaced in a horrendous power grab by general manager Dan Issel. (That isn't going to happen here.) Not only are the problems of winning games going to be new for D'Antoni, but also his first regular-season week on the job has been consumed by Stephon Marbury, his team has struggled to keep up with his open-court style, and three skilled big men -- Jared Jeffries (fractured left fibula), Eddy Curry (overweight) and rookie Danilo Gallinari (back injury) -- have been out.

"I still think we can make the playoffs,'' D'Antoni said stubbornly before the victory against the Bobcats. "I know it's a tough place, but the guys are going to have to get some college-like spirit and make the town fall in love with you.''

3. Having fun isn't as easy as it looks. Apart from adapting to D'Antoni's new offense, the players must accept the convoluted issues of New York's bloated roster. The Knicks like David Lee, for example, but they can't afford to re-sign him while they are trying to reduce their payroll by 2010, when LeBron James and several other stars can enter free agency. As much as Lee tries to not dwell on his future, he has no experience in dealing with contract issues and so it becomes another lesson that must be learned the hard way.

"David Lee is playing a lot, which means we have faith in him,'' Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. "We're not just showcasing him. We're trying to build with guys like him.''

D'Antoni runs the league's most gratifying offense, and you would think players wouldn't need to be told more than once to shoot the ball whenever possible. So far, it isn't working out that way.

"When we played against Phoenix,'' Lee said in reference to D'Antoni's tenure with the Suns, "I thought they were just running around playing street ball. I didn't realize there was as much structure as there is. I have to learn to be a lot more aggressive.

"It's a lot easier for the guards because a lot of the guards -- who have been the best player on their team before -- have had that [opportunity to shoot]. But I think we're going to be very successful as we learn the reads and how to get open.''

The offense appears to be perfect for shooting guard Jamal Crawford, but through four games he was hitting 39.6 percent from the field for his 15.0 points.

"Everything you've been taught in the past is almost reversed,'' Crawford said. "Usually, teams want to work it around and work the clock down, but with him it's the opposite. He wants to get a quick shot so the defense can't set up.''

The Knicks need to learn to play off one another (rather than watch each other go one-on-one) and to exploit the seams created by their floor spacing (which could benefit small forward Wilson Chandler, who could be a better scorer by attacking the basket occasionally rather than by trying to prove himself as a perimeter shooter).

"There will be good moments, and then we've taken steps back,'' Crawford said before Wednesday's game. "But if we win tonight, we'll be 2-2.'' Which they were. "And that's not bad.''

2. Marbury needs to think outside the box. The Knicks do not want to buy out Marbury unless he is willing to accept a reduction in salary. He should hire an agent, who can find him a new team that will enable Marbury to deduct his new salary from what the Knicks owe him -- and still pocket the remainder. In other words, he would be maintaining his current $20.8 million salary while playing for a new team and showcasing himself to earn a new contract next season.

But when people try to make this suggestion, Marbury boils over. He thinks the Knicks are trying to stick it to him by not honoring his full guarantee.

Instead of playing the role of victim, Marbury should be aggressively trying to stick it to the Knicks. He can average 18 points for another team while New York is still paying him $19 million. Who will have the last laugh in that scenario? Has Marbury no understanding of revenge?

1. 2010 is the finish line. Until now, the Knicks have avoided payroll discipline and a long-term overhaul based on the argument that a team in New York can't afford to rebuild. The truth is that the promise of signing LeBron, Chris Bosh or other stars should be enough to see this franchise through the next two years. Bring in a big name and the frustrations of these two seasons to come will be forgotten. Instantly.