The battle for ultimate futility between the New York Knicks (18-46) and the Miami Heat (11-51) starts at 7:30pm down in Miami.
Just going from the comments in the last post during the Dallas game, some of you Knicks die-hards shut off your TV by the time first quarter had ended. I don’t blame you, nothing good came out of that game, nothing at all. Okay, maybe the prospect of another ping pong ball or two in the 2008 NBA draft lottery, so that’s something if they sink lower than the 5th worst. Hardly a reason to watch the remaining three quarters though.
I’m not going to sugar-coat any summary of this Knicks basketball team with a month and some change remaining in this disappointing season. The Knicks haven’t shown me anything this year. Last season, they showed me something I could believe in, and I paid money on a regular to watch this team play at the Garden.
This season, I have been to just one regular season game.
This season, Marbury, after he ran away in phoenix, was chased out of New York by Isiah.
David Lee has lost some of his hops and production.
Quentin absolutely would not be starting on any other team in the NBA.
Balkman has not been a factor for a good majority of the season.
Randolph has only further proven his career as a good statistical player on a bad team.
Eddy Curry is following in the footsteps of Mike Sweetney’s work ethic post-Knicks draft.
Crawford, well I won’t go there, because some defenders think Crawford is doing well this year; I am not one of them.
The idea of Isiah Thomas as a come mierda of a GM/coach was further supported by his talk of a championship in New York with a 26% winning percentage at the time.
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Jason Kidd had this and that to say about the Knicks after Dallas demolished the Knicks the other night. Some of it is surprising, some of it is to be expected.
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Isiah Thomas humbles himself in New York, for once. Well, sort of…
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Mr. Spitzer just resigned. During the last post, there was a lot of discussion about New York Governor Eliot Spitzer taking the heat for exposed prostitution purchases. I just think the timing is very typical for the media. Any time some real issues arise, something like this gets exposed to change the subject and sedate the masses on something that pales in significance to three or so ongoing wars. Where is the database of dirt the republicans obviously keep on the democrats?
Now that the real controversy of the disqualified primaries in Michigan and Florida (the significance of which being millions of voters voices silenced again and that’s not to mention the weight of the missing delegates) are being exposed as Republican sabotage, a democrat from New York gets exposed for having expensive taste in prostitutes. It was my understanding that a lot of the politicians had such taste, but perhaps that is just a stereotype, right? A democratic stereotype? Yet what happened to the republican senator in the men’s bathroom stall looking for sex?
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For any book lovers near NYC, the 6th Ave Barnes & Noble location is closing for good. All books marked with a white dot are now on clearance. Last year, I cleaned up when Tower Records on Broadway in the village, and later Hollywood Video, both shut down. This year, it’s Barnes. Kind of sad.
Scores:
Barack’s second book, The Audacity of Hope.
The Miracle of St. Anthony written by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Record. Chronicles a year in the life of Coach Bob Hurley and Jersey City’s famed Saint Anthony’s high school basketball team. They took state again this year.
(Hurley in the background)
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Blogzilla, kindly delete #45 and #46 entries. The hot link is in #48.
KFLL
Steady
That is why you are my mentor.Keep it REAL!
Jibber-Jabbering,
Jay Bee,
I admire a man that lends his brother a hand. Not only are you your Brother’s Keeper, but you
also have the Spirit of Compassion. It appears that the “Herd” shares your Passion and
agrees w/ your Theme & Theory. My experiences have taught me that an Honest Evaluation
is the Beginning Step in a Successful Growth Program.
You wrote, “I can truthfully & w/ straight face can say this team has more talent, more pieces than almost
any they have had in my lifetime & just a few pieces away from being great”. After a good laugh, I thought
Bro, the Record Reads 19-46!!! What about the Ewing teams w/ LJ, Mark Jackson, John Starks? Or how
about Camby, Houston Sprewell? Jay Bee, I accept that I do not know your age or how long you have been watching the Knicks, and it is not my place to invalidate your opinion.
Regarding the Culture. Changing the current culture requires adding/deleting players. To improve the culture the knicks need a clear vision,a commitment to a style of play, and singular focus. Is this current group capable of
doing this for the next 17 games, when they could not for 65. This current group of players quit in December. Losing by 20 points or more to mediocre squads was due to TANKING.
I am sure there is something to be said about staying the course even when success eludes you. However, I also
believe that being flexible, and willing to adapt as situations change, is what keeps an organization successful.
Ask AOL which dominated service providers 10 years ago, what happen as they stayed the course. They are now struggling to remain relevant w/ the high-speeders kicking their azz. I am sure there were AOL-DEE-FENDERS saying we can’t
afford to take a step back now and develop a high-speed service.
Peace & Blessings
Steady and Real always D L T. Check me if you must as you fish from the shore. On tera ferma, with heads up high, and eyes on the prize, we don’t get led astray, get misguided, bamboozled, or Clintoned.
KFLL
Dolan should apply same standards to Thomas as he did Brown.
If you disagree tell me why, or tell Frank Isola, he’s the one who came up with the headline.
There seems to be a good amount of linkage between the needs and ambitions of a business franchise (Knicks) and personal ambitions/character. “Culture of losing,” and all that stuff. To thems I say with a record such as theirs, the Knicks already embedded a culture of losing. Freak streaks aside (Portland? Houston?), far more often than not, you are who yer record sez you are.
It’s good to believe in your dreams, but there needs to be a balance with reality too, yes?
I suspect a lot of this has to do with ideas of still making the playoffs. I’m having a hard time believing that if the Knicks had a record like the T-Wolves or Grizzlies (hm, seems a bad season for four-legged, fanged mascots this year), with the vets proving ineffectual, that y’all would really consider it “tanking” to let the kids and other end-of-benchers play more.
At this point in the season, several games and teams behind the last playoff spot, with no reason to believe you have a bright new spark/system that could turn fortunes around, why not consider other options? Let the others get a chance to develop, to show and prove. Give them burn, give them a chance to develop their game, some confidence. Give them some real, game-time COACHING. Is that so wrong?
If you believe this is not really life or death, that these are (or supposed to be) professionals who understand business needs; if you believe you will have another season to try again, with more seasoned/developed players, a better understanding of your entire roster, while giving yourself a better opportunity at drafting from the best of the next crop, THERE IS NO GREAT EVIL in putting forth less than your supposed best. Context is king. Not everything is so black and white.
That said, there is good tanking and bad tanking. We know the difference when we see it.
p.s. i think too that there’s just a lot of us who just aren’t broken up by a loss anymore, that a lot of us are looking at the “bright” side of losing and finding some solace there. i think only DOJ is openly rooting for losses. This community has all kinds.
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