NEW YORK (AP) Isiah Thomas says he still has confidence in New York coach Don Chaney, though it took some prompting to get the Knicks president to say so.

The Knicks brought a four-game losing streak into Saturday night's game against Milwaukee, two of the losses coming since Thomas acquired Stephon Marbury from Phoenix.

``We have a responsibility to try to be the best and to keep moving to be the best, and Don's confident that he can do that, the players have confidence in him, and my job is to sit back and evaluate and see where that process is going,'' Thomas said.

Only when asked if he, too, had confidence in Chaney did Thomas say he did.

The coach's job status might have grown more shaky when the crowd at Madison Square Garden chanted ``Fire Chaney'' during New York's 111-79 loss Thursday night to the Houston Rockets. Thomas soaked it all in from what has become his usual spot, standing just behind the scorer's table at midcourt.

``Sports is a bloody business,'' Thomas said, ``and every man has dignity and pride and self-respect about himself. You know, he's got a wife, he's got kids, and that (chant) is not a pleasant thing.''

Chaney has compiled a record of 71-111 since taking over as coach of the Knicks in Dec. 2001 following Jeff Van Gundy's resignation. His career coaching record is 336-493 in 12 seasons.

The Knicks entered the game against the Bucks with a record of 14-23, in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference despite the league's highest payroll.

``To me it's not that hard,'' Chaney said. ``I have to win games, and he has to make a decision eventually in terms of what he's going to do.''

Assistant coach Brendan Malone, who was Thomas' assistant in Indiana and coached under Thomas in Toronto, has been mentioned as a possible successor for Chaney.

``We know what the situation is, and I also don't want to lead anyone to the conclusion that Isiah is going to name me head coach,'' Malone said. ``It could be somebody outside the organization, it could be somebody inside the organization.

Thomas made one curious statement during a meeting with reporters when he said no one in Knicks organization ever said the team had to make the playoffs this season.

In fact, Thomas was sitting right next to Cablevision chairman James Dolan at Thomas' introductory news conference almost three weeks earlier when Dolan said the team ``must'' made the playoffs, emphasizing the word ``must.''

``We're getting started, we're moving, but we're a long way away from where we want to be attitudinally, culturally, everything else,'' Thomas said. ``We've added a piece, but make no mistake about it, we only added one piece. We'll keep building and moving from here.''