FanNation | Great Debates | Removing the Stench

So the first step in the century-long task of cleaning the mess left by Dolan, Zeke and Co. at Madison Square Garden began with Donnie Walsh and his first move is bringing in Mike D'Antoni as the head coach.

Personally, I'm worried about this fit because this team flat out refuses to play any defense and his teams have never been defensive stalwarts to say the least. But honestly, there are so many things that have to be done to even get this team back to medicority, let alone a contender, let's see what kind of team Walsh can assemble over the next few years.

It's a shame the Knicks have turned into the sham of a franchise they are now, considering the type of teams I grew up watching in the Ewing Era, which seems like so long ago now. As frustrating as that era of Knicks' basketball turned out to be with coming excruciatingly close to a championship with nothing to show for it, looking at what they have become now, I would give anything to relive those teams again from the 90s.

You can not overstate how embarrassingly disgusting this history of the Knicks is. There's no doubt Thomas really drove this team into the ground, but it starts and ends with James Dolan. He's the biggest culprit of all, but he will never be accountable for this since he's the boss. Walsh might have autonomy when it comes to personnel, and that could always be debated, but as long as Dolan is in charge, this team is forever in trouble.

I would like to think the Knicks can't go anywhere but up, but we've seen them sink lower and lower each year, so there might be a lower point this team could reach, so I'm still crossing my fingers. I'm skeptical of D'Antoni being successful here, but hopefully Dolan can keep his hands out of the soup (doubtful) and let Walsh do what he wants and see what happens.

Here's hoping for a Knicks championship by 2020!