ESPN NBA

It is Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004, and Allan Houston hasn't had a steal or block or offensive rebound in a week, Stephon Marbury has piled 26 turnovers together in the month and there are still only two players on the Knick roster over 7-feet tall.

As far as they know, Don Chaney is still the head coach.

"It's a lot of pressure, the doubt part of it, waiting. But I'm not a quitter. I've never quit anything in my entire life," he said in the New York Post. "I'm going to hang in there. I don't care what the obstacles are, how tough. I've never quit on anything and I won't quit on this either. If it's inevitable, and [the players] see the writing on the wall, I expect them to still play. I don't want them playing for me, I want them playing for themselves. Have your own self-pride, win for the team. If I'm not here to coach it, somebody else will. But I want these guys to be men and compete."

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider