NEW YORK -- On draft night in New York, Knicks fans, tired of waiting almost 30 years for a championship, had their say. Moments after the Knicks used their No. 1 selection on an unknown forward from Brazil, the rhythmic chanting started:

"Fi-re Lay-den! Fi-re Lay-den!"

Even when Knicks president Scott Layden used the pick of "Nene" Hilario to trade for Denver's Antonio McDyess, the derisive chant continued in some quarters in the Theater at Madison Square Garden. When someone later joked to Layden that the fans were really yelling "Hire Layden," he smirked and said, "It comes with the territory."

And that was it.

	Scott Layden has four years left on his deal and James Dolan's support.

Unlike his dad, Frank, Scott Layden is a man of few words. Funny or otherwise. But what troubles Knicks fans more than his lack of candor is that Layden's deeds have even been fewer during his stint as the Knicks' top basketball executive. If you are what your record says you are, Scott Layden is putting together quite a resume -- of someone looking for a pink slip.

Under Layden, the Knicks have gone backwards. Since he came to town after they advanced to the 1999 Finals, the Knicks have slipped from a berth in the Eastern Conference finals, to a first-round loser, to last season's woeful lottery team that won only 30 games.

In the East, that's pretty hard to do.

Knicks fans might want his scalp, but Layden still has the backing of Garden CEO James Dolan, an admitted novice when it comes to basketball matters.

Dolan seems to be more interested in the Knicks maintaining their current home sellout streak than winning a championship. The evidence is that he is opposed to totally gutting the team and rebuilding. That accounted for Layden dealing off oft-injured Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and the No. 7 pick (Hilario) for McDyess, a move that came with Dolan's blessing.

"I have total confidence in my basketball people," Dolan has said on more than one occasion.

He has a lot more than the typical Knicks fan, who is having an increasingly hard time remembering 1972-73, New York's last championship team. Scott Layden doesn't exactly give them hope.

Granted, the Knicks were headed on the downside when Layden came in under de facto Knicks boss Dave Checketts after the 1999 season. Patrick Ewing had seen his better days. Larry Johnson's back was only getting worse. The chronic point guard problem was not getting any better. Marcus Camby's stints on the injury list were getting longer. The '90s team put together by Checketts and Pat Riley had run its course.

With Checketts calling the shots, the Knicks were only the best team when it came to one thing: Wild spending.

That included a seven-year, $28 million deal to entice Layden to leave the Utah Jazz and come to New York as the GM. Layden was always under a tight budget in Salt Lake City with owner Larry Miller. But under Checketts, he fast learned how to dole out the dough. And now, after a few Layden moves that featured classic New York overspending, the Knicks are paying for it.

This coming season, they've got a $91 million payroll and no franchise player who gives them a chance to win the title. Besides failing to adequately replace Ewing and Johnson, Layden was responsible for advising Dolan to re-sign Allan Houston last summer to a $100 million deal. Checketts had pushed for it, too. But by the time the deal was formally offered and executed, Checketts had been fired after the Knicks' first-round playoff exit against Toronto, and Layden had risen to be top man under Dolan.

So the record offer for Houston, a shooter who has trouble getting his own shot off and offers little else, came under Layden's watch. With few other teams having cap space and no one in their right mind about to offer Houston that kind of money, the Knicks ending up bidding against themselves. And, typically, overpaying.

"They've given Houston and Sprewell a lot of money -- money you'd give franchise players -- but those guys are only 'good' players," one Eastern Conference rival said. "It's the Knicks' way of doing things."

It hasn't been just Houston's contract that has put the Knicks in a salary-cap bind, which prevents them from ever getting under the cap and acquiring marquee free agents. Layden is responsible for the acquisition of two role players with large contracts, Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley, who came to New York in the Glen Rice trade and did nothing in their first season.

	What if McDyess' knees are never the same? What if he can't regain his athleticism? In that case, Layden will have to answer for that move and others.

But Layden is convinced they can help turn the team around, just as he believes that Don Chaney is the right coach for this team. On the latter, there was ample evidence to the contrary last season when the Knicks failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1987.

Layden's latest gamble was to trade for McDyess, who comes off major knee surgery. If healthy, the ex-Nugget gives the Knicks their best post presence since Ewing and Johnson. Theoretically, he will free up Houston and Sprewell, the team's top perimeter players who need someone inside to draw double teams and give them space to operate.

But what if McDyess' knees are never the same? What if he can't regain his athleticism? In that case, Layden will have to answer for that move and others. But with four years left on his contract at about $16 million -- and Dolan still firmly in his corner -- he can painstakingly go about his business. That means doing everything on the hush, telling nothing to the media or agents -- or just about anyone else, either.

"I'm not like my dad," he once said about his father, Frank, a walking quote and one of the funniest men to walk an NBA sideline. "When we're asked to speak before a group, I've got one rule: I always have to go first. How can I follow my dad?"

It's impossible.

But the gift-of-gab gene isn't the only thing that skipped a generation in the Layden family tree.

"I'm the impatient one," said Frank, who coached and headed Utah's basketball operations back in the mid-1980s. "I was always impetuous, ready to make moves just to do something. Like when I traded Adrian Dantley for (Kelly) Tripucka and that big stiff, (Kent) Benson, I should have made it work, with Dantley and Karl Malone. But that's not me. Scott's got the patience I didn't have. He really studies things and takes his time before he makes a move. He's just a very, very patient person."

More than your typical Knicks fan, that's for sure.

Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.