Start spreading the news, because according to reports out of the New York Daily News Mike Fratello is coming on board as the Knicks' new head coach.

It's just the kind of splash Isiah Thomas loves to make. Just as his arrival came as a mega-shock three weeks ago, his blockbuster deal for Stephon Marbury took all of New York by Surprise. As much as the fans loved that move, he's ready to appease the Garden masses who have been calling for Chaney's hide.

When we last saw Fratello working on an NBA sideline, he was having his players walk the ball up the floor and putting on one of the most boring shows in all of basketball. But now, it will be incumbent upon Fratello to allow Marbury to do what he does best. Let him push the ball.

No matter what style he uses, Fratello has to give Thomas results. And that means only one thing: the Knicks' first trip to the playoffs in three years.

"We make one trade and you guys say we've got to get into the playoffs this year," Thomas said the other day to a group of reporters. "We never said that."

"Is this a team that can get in the playoffs?" Thomas said, the night he brought Marbury back to New York. "We hope so. But time will tell. We'll see. But that's our goal."

With Fratello, the goal becomes readily attainable. He's won 55 percent of his regular-season games. The East is in shambles again. Marbury is on board. There is more than enough time left - 43 games - to sneak into eighth place.

"Who's in the eighth spot, Miami?" Marbury said earlier in the day, before Thomas' plan to bring in Fratello leaked.Told it was Philly, Marbury didn't exactly quake in his boots. Why would he?

"We're right there," Marbury said. "It's not like out West, where you've got to win 50 games to make the playoffs. It's different. Our chances are great."