In acquiring the willful Steve Francis to play alongside the stubborn Stephon Marbury, Knicks GM Isiah Thomas appears to be trying to recreate the glory days of his former Pistons, when he shared backcourt duties with Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson.  But Thomas is reaching back further than he realizes, 33 years in fact, when the Knicks were led by the most illustrious backcourt ever to grace the Garden floor: Walt (Clyde) Frazier and Earl (The Pearl) Monroe.

Unfortunately, the comparisons end there.  The Knicks of Frazier and Monroe were a veteran, championship team, filled with tough, resourceful players who played team ball at its highest level, offensively and defensively.

The Knicks of Marbury and Francis are a disorganized mess, filled with too many players who do the same thing well, and not enough who do other things even halfway decently.

Frazier and Monroe combined precision shooting with tough-minded defense.  Marbury and Francis have considerable offensive flair, but have shown little aptitude for defense.

It?s interesting to compare the circumstances that greeted Monroe?s and Francis?s arrival to the Garden, however.  Few people thought the Pearl, one of the NBA?s all-time great one-on-one players, could co-exist alongside the cool, controlling Frazier.  But Monroe brilliantly sublimated his individual game and became the consummate team performer, helping lead the Knicks to their last championship in 1973.

There are so such expectations surrounding Francis, once considered a star on the rise in Houston, but more known as of late as a malcontent who can?t get along with his coaches.  Hopefully, Larry Brown will have better luck than Orlando Magic coach Brian Hill the next time he tries to insert Francis in the fourth quarter of a blowout.  

Francis arrives as the latest desperate attempt by Thomas to save not only what?s left of a disastrous season ? but also his job.  Despite a nonstop whirlwind of rumors and negotiations over the last few weeks, Thomas managed to upgrade the Knicks at the one position where they last needed it: point guard.

By acquiring Francis on the heels of Jalen Rose ? another overpaid veteran whom the Toronto Raptors were only too happy to unload ? Thomas has made the Knicks the repository of the overpaid and unwanted.  Got a player you can?t move?  Need to dump salary to make it under the cap?  Call Isiah, who, flush with Cablevision?s apparently limitless resources, will do anything for a quick fix.

Except that players like Eddie Curry, Tim Thomas, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, and Jermaine Jones, Antonio Davis, and Malik Rose, to name a few of Thomas?s unmemorable acquisitions, have done little but sink the Knicks further into salary cap hell.

On paper, of course, Isiah always wins.  Purely on a talent exchange, Steve Francis for an injury-wracked Penny Hardaway and a rarely-playing Trevor Ariza is a steal.  But it?s not just about assembling the best pieces; it?s about assembling the pieces that best fit together. The Knicks should?ve learned from the lessons of their last mismatched backcourt experiment, trying to rotate Glenn Rice with Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell.  In his ever-frantic attempts to keep Garden seats filled with the draw of a big-name player (see: Kevin Garnett rumors), Isiah is throwing anything and everything at the wall in the hope that it sticks.  So far, nothing has.

There?s a transient feeling at the Garden these days, a sense of players passing through an endless revolving door.  Thomas and coach Larry Brown appear to be operating on different wavelengths.  The players barely know who?s starting from one night to the next.  And now Marbury and Francis have to figure out which one will have to make do without the ball.

There?s always hope, of course, that Francis will revert back to the ?Stevie Franchise? player that he was under coach Rudy Tomjanovich, and that Marbury will be motivated enough to rise from his funk and his white towels and start directing the offense.  

But Knicks fans who remember Clyde and the Pearl won?t be holding their breath.