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Editor's note: Each week during the NBA regular season, Dr. Jack Ramsay makes a house call with an ailing team.

This week's team: New York Knicks.

The Knicks, 2-5 going into Friday's game at New Jersey, are a statistical puzzle. Crunching the numbers shows conflicting reasons for their slow start. On the negative side, they score only 86.l points a game, which ranks 23rd in the league and won't win very often even in this era of low point production. They're also guilty of 17 turnovers a game and force only 12 from the opposition.

On the plus side, the Knicks shoot a better field-goal percentage than opponents (.424 to .414) and have a slight edge in total rebounds (42.7 to 42.3). But statistics are sometimes misleading, and in this case, don't hit on the principal reason for the Knicks' malaise. Their biggest problem is an inconsistency of effort and purpose down the stretch of close games. New York has let several games slip away which would have been won with more positive play at crunch time.

In the season opener against Orlando, New York had a 10-point lead in the fourth period, then was hit by spasms of turnovers, low-percentage shots and gratuitous defense that allowed the Magic to run off 15 straight points and an overtime win. The Knicks led at the half of both games with Milwaukee but faltered badly down the stretch, and the Ws turned into Ls.

New York was never in the games at either San Antonio or Cleveland -- the latter performance bringing forth a surprisingly vitriolic, postgame harangue to his players by usually soft-spoken coach Don Chaney.

Among those losses were upbeat wins at Orlando and over highly-regarded Sacramento. Solid team defense -- and a huge lift off the bench by Othella Harrington -- helped beat the Magic, and an energized offense -- Allan Houston scoring 39 points, Keith Van Horn recording 20 points and 15 rebounds and Kurt Thomas adding 17 points and 14 rebounds -- crowned the Kings.

The Knicks are an old, slow team. Their team defense and rebounding are good enough to keep them in most games, but their lack of fast-break scoring, uncertain execution of half-court offense and limited bench production combine for a gloomy forecast.

	When games reach their critical points in the fourth period, the best the Knicks can hope for is that Houston, Ward or Van Horn will knock down a perimeter jumper, Thomas will get open from 15 feet or one of the bigs scrambles for an offensive putback. That's not enough to win close games when opponents turn up the defensive intensity.

Draft choices Maciej Lampe, Michael Sweetney and Slavko Vranes, about whom there were high hopes in June, haven't earned playing time and won't have an impact on this team. The other roster changes -- the loss of Latrell Sprewell and the addition of Van Horn and Dikembe Mutombo -- have left the Knicks with many of the same flaws that have plagued them in recent years. Mutombo is no longer the defender and rebounder he was in his most formidable years, the Knicks still lack a true small forward and there's not a penetrator on the team. The forward combination of Thomas and Van Horn has size but it lacks speed. Both point guards, Charlie Ward and Howard Eisley, are safe with the ball but don't create offense. Houston is a great shooter but can't penetrate to the hoop.

Until Antonio McDyess plays -- and that might happen Friday at New Jersey -- there's no scoring threat from the low post. When games reach their critical points in the fourth period, the best the Knicks can hope for is that Houston, Ward or Van Horn will knock down a perimeter jumper, Thomas will get open from 15 feet or one of the bigs scrambles for an offensive putback. That's not enough to win close games when opponents turn up the defensive intensity.

If the Knicks had finished those defeats against Orlando and Milwaukee the way they started them, they would be 5-2 through seven games and there might be a reason for optimism -- especially now that McDyess' comeback is ahead of schedule. But victories in the NBA are earned by smart, intense, seamless team play -- extended over 48 minutes -- and the Knicks came up short in all of those areas.

The Knicks need to quicken their game pace as much as their personnel allows -- or they'll continue to get mired in a slow-down, half-court game. McDyess, at either center or big forward, will make a difference if he gets his game back in top form. He can score in the low post, rebound, block shots, and he's a pretty good passer and defender. He also runs the floor well, which will help the Knicks get some transition hoops. Dice could be the inside, "go-to" player the Knicks badly need at game's end. In his best season with Denver (2000-01), he averaged 20.8 points and 12.1 rebounds. But he didn't play at all last season and was in only 10 games the year before due to knee surgeries.

Until McDyess is at full strength, and to get more quickness on the floor, Chaney could start a lineup of Thomas at center, Van Horn and Shandon Anderson at the forwards, and a backcourt of Houston and the speedy Eisley, who led the team in assists last season. That would leave a bench of Mutombo, Harrington, Michael Doleac, Clarence Weatherspoon and Ward. By playing either big or small lineups, Chaney would have greater flexibility to mix and match his opponents.

Changing personnel can bring real or cosmetic results. Making the Knicks a winning team is a major challenge for Chaney. He must maximize every ounce of the team's potential to do it.

Dr. Jack Ramsay, an NBA analyst for ESPN, coached the Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship. A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. Also, click here to send a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.