Remember, when a GM publically voices support for his head coach, it's never a good thing. But the New York Times reports that Scott Layden has done just that.

Layden, the Knicks' president and general manager, said before tonight's game that he still had faith in his coach, Don Chaney, and his struggling team, even after the 43-point loss to Charlotte on Monday.

Layden again refused to say that Chaney would definitely coach for the rest of the season. The team is 4-16 under Chaney. "But I think we still believe in this group," he said. "We believe in Coach Chaney and we believe in the coaching staff. Having said that, I'm not na?ve enough to think that we don't have a lot of work ahead of us."

Regarding the possibility of a trade, Layden said the team would continue to seek ways to improve itself and indicated that no player was untouchable. "That's no knock on our team, but we're in the business of always trying to improve," he said. "You always have to see what's available and if you can, you have to look at that."