Watching Seattle versus Denver right now on NBA league pass. They’re in double overtime, and it looks like Seattle is going to hang on and get the W, which helps just a little bit with the lottery positioning, because to their detriment, New York took out Orlando earlier this evening at the garden.
Funny thing about following a lottery team as the season ends, it is the exact opposite of a playoff race; instead of looking at the respective loss column of a team that would make the playoffs, when it comes to the knicks, you’re looking at the win column and looking for a smaller number to maximize the ping pong balls phenomenon.
Right now, Miami is faking their way to a 13-win season, followed by Seattle with 18 wins including the victory over Denver. The T-wolves have 19 wins and the Knicks, including their win tonight, are tied for fourth with Memphis with 21 wins.
Who knows how they handle tie-breakers among losing teams? Is it the team that LOSES the season series that gets the larger number of ping pong balls?
Basically most teams have about five games to play out, whether your goal is to make the playoffs or tank it for Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley.
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Just saw nate’s dunk tonight on the replay. pretty nice…
chandler with the career high
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nba/news/news.aspx?id=4143260
Nate was a beast tonight took it to Dwight Howard on a pretty up and under. Skied for a fierce rebound over the Magic’s trees, and had that rim rocking dunk on the fast break near the end of the game.
A win whether good or bad depends on what you want from this team. Extra ping pong balls or some rescucitated pride.
Your pick.
21 wins on the season, 5 games to play… Nah, I don’t think you can get your pride back with one win, one dunk, or 5 strait more wins.
Pride is something you earn with a consistent work ethic, scheduled practices, and proven and displayed will to compete over 82 games.
But yeah, the dunk was nice.
correction, 21 wins IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE.
New York Magazine’s 7-page online article on the Knicks’ 2007-2008 season. You probably shouldn’t read it if you think the knicks got some pride back last night with the win over orlando.
I wasn’t talking about me or any fan being proud of the franchise’s woeful state of late. I was talking about the players perhaps regaining some pride. But perhaps the better word was some sense of self respect.
Pride is a fools concept really. A win in an otherwise terrible season is nothing to be proud about. With that I have no qualm.
What is more important in the end for the team and city of NY is that the team play with a sense a dignity and respect for the game. That the coach coaches the team with that concept in mind and that the person’s running the organization run the organization in a manner consistent with the standards of a first rate organization.
If your whole pride tirade was a slight at me. Then you misunderstood what I was alluding to with the win or lose commentary I put out above.
You should be the last blogger to get all high and mighty about pride, you humiliated Statesman by uncloacking him on this blog w/o his permission. You shut out otherwise great voices who will be sorely missed. Now, I am hoping I am misunderstanding you, you make a veiled slight at my commentary which alluded to the concept of pride – team pride mind you- and demand respect from other bloggers here.
This is your house. Duly noted. Much success to you. But check yourself and how you phrase your commentary, unless you intend your words to carry a certain meaning good foul or otherwise.
In the end I’m a Knick Fan and Lover for Life
and I perfectly understand why I won’t feed into the media negativity b/c it could flow over into me personally.
I won’t wear rosed covered glasses but I won’t become a pariah and sess pool of negativity just b/c the other sheep are screaming that shyt in my ear.
I’m above that fray like Lives, and other quality people on this blog and elsewhere.
Just speakin for me O & B, but i didn’t take that as a shot at you, i took it to be a roundabout way of saying it was an overtly negative MSM piece, warning away those folks who don’t like to read negative articles on the Knicks.
i agree and co-sign heartily on your post about pride being a generally foolish (and yet sadly, very prevalent) concept. And also, i think you are dead-on when you you bring up the players’ mindset. None of those 14 men can control who calls the shots in the front office, or what players fall out of the rotation due to injuries, questionable rotations and/or personal conflicts with the coach.
But they can most certainly try their best to play “the right way” within the framework established by the opposing team, the referees, and the sets that the head coach calls. There is absolutely no reason to wait until next year to start playing the right way, draft position be damned.
i think Wilson’s 23 should earn him a starting role the rest of the way. He’ll blow assignments (like Nate/Jamal/Zach/Eddy/Lee don’t????) – but he’ll learn from the experience, and give us a leg up on next year.
LGK!!!
Does Donnie Walsh look like Grandpa Monster? Were these guys switched at birth or what?
Just a quick point on Thomas. All season Q was starting. Maybe if Thomas took Q out of the starting line up and started Chandler earlier, the results of some game s would be different. Yes, Thomas drafts well, but then he doesn’t play the guys he drafted and plays bums like Jared.
Paulnoize
I hear you. I guesse that’s why I gaurd my words so they aren’t subject to a dual interpretation.
Were on the same page on the topic of pride. You know I’m not hesistant to fess up when I’m wrong.
Thus
If I mistook the commentary, then my bad, no foul intended. If not well then.
Anyway.
I think Thomas’ roster redundancy was a way to hedge his bets given that he was picking usual mid to late first rounders. With that type of pick there is the possibility they won’t flourish and bust. Hence, Thomas the GM covering for Thomas the GM. Pick a player in the draft with upside. Sign via the MLE a player very much like the one drafted to cover your basis. If in doubt and facing a legacy season where it’s playoffs or bust, hedge in favor of the MLE players to the detriment of the pups whose careers would be better served with gametime burn. Thomas is always fighting himself b/c he it appears he was trying to reclaim his image, after it being tarnished with the accusations that he blew it in Toronto and the CBA. That plus the mandate when he stepped on about how NY can’t rebuild sort of boxed him in. He was always trying to make his moves as a coach GM, draft picker, free agent acquisitioner look good beyond on paper. He was destined for a fall with all that redundancy.
His story is tragic. That’s if you can step back from the vitroil and have 20 20 vision of what sort of internal and external pressures he was under. To that end he failed under pressure, and marketing (“Starbury,” “can’t rebuild,” and “big money MLE signings and trades”) trump sound management decisions.
i dunno Ed, i think that all four 3′s we have this year are actually VERY CLOSE to each other in terms in overall production. Q is a notch above the rest, but is not healthy. Jeffries brings the steady “D” and length, Balkman brings explosive athleticism and energy, and Chandler is the rook with the flashy offensive game.
Isiah’s not the first coach to sit the unproven rook down, and he won’t be the last.
If Wilson had been torching guys in practice, i bet we woulda seen him by now, or at least heard one of the other players drop a nugget on us, media policy be damned. Instead, Isiah had laissez-faire practices (unforgiveable) and i guess Chandler just kinda went through the motions like everyone else.
Frankly, i can make a case that if Isiah had chosen ANY of the other three guys instead of Q and played that man 30 minutes a night, every night, it would have served the team a lot better than playing the one guy who wasn’t physically ready to perform.
A rebuilding team would have been best served by that player being Balkman or Chandler (probably Chandler), but i think Jeffries could have built some chemistry with a consistent role and long minutes.
LAP short – let’s not do this again next year. Pick one starter, one backup and bench the rest. Let’s find a winner at the three, whether on the roster or not, and move forward.
Yeah, that’s why i don’t blame him for the MLE signings, they were just very expensive insurance policies. No need to buy them out, the JJ’s are old pros at being end-of-the-bench guys, and should probably stay there for the duration of their five year deals.
All this “buyout” talk is frivolous, what is the opportunity cost? The Players Association will make sure any so-called “settlement” is 95 cents on the dollar anyway – or else they won’t approve it – thus very very little gets saved.
Isiah also takes an unfair shot with the CBA – they were openly on the deathbed when he came in the door, it was their final desperate ploy to get a big “name” to lend them some leverage when negotiating with the NBA. It didn’t work, not because Isiah is incompetent, but because he is not a miracle worker (granted, he’s not competent, either).
Yeah Ed, Dolan does look a little creepy, but Van Gundy was an ugly fucker and he had us close. Isiah’s as smooth looking a character as you can find, and he hasn’t done jack.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. How did you guys score on this interesting link? Are you a racist?
P-Nice excellent post. Ed Drossman please get off of Jefferies knuts. At least he attempts to play defense. Can’t say that for many Knickerbockers these days. Mr. Drossman, since you seem to have an eye for talent (??????????????????), do you think Hawtharne Wingo is still available?
Defenders it’s a great day for Knickerbocker Basketball. Patrick Ewing is NOW A HALL OF FAMER!!!!!!!!!!! THAT’S THE TYPE OF PRIDE I AM TALKING ABOUT AND IT’S NOT FOOLISH, HOLLA!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU FEEL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Balkman has and can provide more then JJ, but for some reason Thomas refuses to play Balkman, just like he refused to play Randolph Morris, and Chandler until recently. Heck if the team wasn’t winning then Thomas should have made changes before it was too late. Larry Brown used say he’s going to play the younger players, only not do it. Thomas said he was going to play the younger players and did so too late to make a difference.
Holla out to you Vicbit
On same page. Pride in the best of the organization. Diginity and grace in the times that try a ballers, and fans souls!
Mr. Drossman point well taken. I called for change during the Phoenix debacle. I called for more of Chandler, Morris, Balkman and Lee. Didn’t happen and here we are. Curry moped, Marbury doped, Richardson loped and Thomas choked. Collins was not physically ready in November due to his knee was only 50%. All of this is a moot point now.
What happened last night is not an abberation but things to come. Add Mr. Derrick Rose to Nate, Thrill Will, Lee, and Zach or Jermaine O’neal and you have a squad that with time will scare folks. Just bloggin, holla!!!!!
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