In the wake of Wednesday night’s blowout loss to the T-Wolves, Newsday’s Alan Hahn argues Knicks coach Isiah Thomas’ decision to start Jamal Crawford and turn Stevie Franchise into the 6th man, “might have disrupted the one element of the team that had proved to be reliable – the bench.”

It’s not as if Marbury and Crawford need practice time together to get comfortable as a backcourt; of the Knicks’ guards, the two have played the most together during the past two-plus seasons. It’s Francis (above) who now has to adjust to coming off the bench, which is something he was not keen on last season, when Larry Brown held in him in reserve.

Thomas felt compelled to make this move, but it went against his exact reason why he hasn’t taken Channing Frye out of the starting lineup in favor of the more effective David Lee.

“When somebody is playing well in the role that they’re in, you probably shouldn’t mess with that and [instead] try to help the other guy and make him better,” he said two weeks ago in reference to the Lee-over-Frye debate.

It could be argued that Crawford, who leads the team with 17.7 points per game, was an important piece of the bench unit’s success. He and Robinson had provided the needed pop off the bench to invigorate the team. Francis needs to figure out how to be that kind of player off the bench.

The Post’s Peter Vescey writes, “Steve Francis ‘volunteered’ to give up his Knicks starting spot same as I left college before being asked to leave.”

If the state of the world is getting you down, here’s something that should brighten your day considerably : Richard Jefferson pays $65 an hour for video game tutoring.

The Wizznutzz Hit Parade Continues. Long may it stomp through DC.