Isiah Thomas, who planned to fly to Europe on a scouting trip Monday, instead was summoned to San Antonio by team owner James Dolan for a high-level meeting with Larry Brown and the rest of the Madison Square Garden brass to discuss the debacle that is the Knicks, the Newark Star-Ledger is reporting.

Tuesday in Memphis, it is assumed Thomas will meet with Dolan, Brown, team president and COO Steve Mills, and vice chairman of Madison Square Garden Hank Ratner, where they can discuss the Knicks' performance that has resulted in a 15-41 record.

Following Monday might's loss to the Spurs, Dolan and Thomas spent a few moments in the locker room and then headed to Memphis in Dolan's private jet, the Star-Ledger reported.

Dolan makes regular visits to the team's training facility in Westchester, where he meets with Thomas, Brown and Mills. But apparently he didn't want to wait.

Two Knicks ? without mentioning names ? munched down on Chicken McNuggets and McDonald's fries an hour before tip-off Saturday night in Washington.

During the Wizards' rout, a heckler yelled at new Knick Steve Francis, "Hey Stevie, Where are you going next?" Francis turned to the fan and quipped, "To the bank." It took only three days for Francis to feel the emptiness of a lost season.

A confidant of Larry Brown's believes that he has lost the team, specifically Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and Jerome James.

"He should just find five guys that want to play his way and play them," said Brown's coaching friend. "There is no way to describe this debacle."

After Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas burnt the Knicks win 46 points on just 16 shots in a mere 30 minutes on Saturday night, Knicks coach Larry Brown, in so many words, said his team more or less ignored his plays in an effort to match baskets with Arenas and the Wizards, and just as he predicted, they were unsuccessful because they also neglected to play any semblance of defense.

Translation: Despite having Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis, don't expect the Knicks to become a run and gun team any time soon.

"I really believe this. We can talk all we want [about playing a running game], but when a team is shooting 65 percent against us and we're turning the ball over, and we get in foul trouble, we can't make it a high-possession game. The second half, we didn't make it a high-possession game. I wish we could, but we can't.

"We don't have interior defense right now if we do get beat. We can't play like that. I want to run on every play, but let's block a shot, get a steal, get a stop."

According to the New York Daily News, a confidant of Knick coach Larry Brown's believes that he has lost the team, specifically Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and Jerome James.

"He should just find five guys that want to play his way and play them," said Brown's coaching friend. "There is no way to describe this debacle."

After Nate Robinson missed over 22 attempts en route to the dunk title during this season's All-Star dunk competition, the NBA is considering changes according to the Seattle Times.

Stu Jackson, the NBA's vice president for basketball operations, said the league would consider discussing a rule change that would penalize a player for a missed dunk.

Kenny Smith, the TNT television analyst and former Houston Rockets guard who was one of the five judges, has been taking flak for giving Robinson what amounted to the winning score on his final dunk.

"I think the first thing we really need to do is limit the number of attempts," Smith said. "You're not supposed to look at the missed dunks. I lost count."

Dwane Casey wasn't pleased with a story in Friday's New York Daily News that mentioned that New York Knicks President Isiah Thomas, according to "several league sources," is planning to make a run at acquiring Wolves forward Kevin Garnett.

"Whoever it is in the papers talking about trading for our guy, it's as close to tampering as you can get," Casey said. "But you can't prove anything. I'm sure New York can't control it just like we can't control what you guys may talk about. It's not good when you talk about trading our star player, the face of our franchise."

On Thursday the Lakers reportedly sweetened their Lamar Odom package by adding other veterans, but the Knicks wouldn't part with Channing Frye.

There were some last-minute overtures for free agent Al Harrington, including a call from the Chicago Bulls, believed to be one of the teams targeting a player sure to be one of the most coveted free agents on the market this summer.

And the New York Knicks have stayed in touch with Hawks general manager Billy Knight throughout the season in their pursuit of Harrington.

"Don't they say you can't believe everything you read?" Harrington said and then laughed. "The smart thing to do sometimes is to sit back and really evaluate a situation first and then make a move."

Harrington's agent, Andy Miller, said they would let the "smoke clear" from the trade deadline before discussing his client's options for the summer.

Isiah Thomas spent the last few minutes before yesterday's 3 p.m. trade deadline on the phone with the Portland Trail Blazers, trying to present Larry Brown with Theo Ratliff.

But Portland's insistence on acquiring Channing Frye in the deal -- they were also offering a package with Darius Miles and Steve Blake -- ended any chance of a trade between the clubs.