Minutes before tip-off Tuesday night, would-be New York Knicks lead assistant coach Mark Aguirre went for his customary seat on the bench only to find newly reassigned Brendan Suhr already seated there. After an icy staredown, according to accounts, Suhr kept the seat and Aguirre moved to the row behind the bench.

It was another example of the chaotic state of the Knicks bench in the wake of Isiah Thomas' executive-backed resignation Monday of Lenny Wilkens' most trusted aide, Dick Helm.

None of the assistants on Wilkens' staff have been selected by the Knicks' coach ? an odd hodgepodge. During Wednesday's victory, assistant Michael Malone sat in Helm's seat next to Wilkens to start the game. Suhr, whose job title went from director of player personnel to assistant coach Monday, also sat next to Wilkens.

Former Knicks head coach Don Chaney often griped about the factions among the assistant coaches in his final days with the team -- his picks vs. Isiah's guys. Now that Isiah has removed Wilkens' only hand-picked assistant, it seems his own group of assistants are turning on each other, perhaps positioning themselves to be Wilkens' potential successor.

Wilkens inherited assistant coaches Malone and Herb Williams from Chaney's staff, as well as Isiah hires and holdovers George Glymph and Mark Aguirre.

Aguirre and Suhr have a history together, both winning back to back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990 with the Detroit Pistons (Aguirre as the starting small forward and Suhr as one of Chuck Daly's assistant coaches). Isiah was the Pistons' point guard at that time.