The Aftermath of the Nate Robinson Show

What an awesome display of individual scoring ability by Nate Robinson last night. It did not matter who was guarding him, he was lights-out on fire, and every shot seemed to go in for him. There have been some times in recent years when the streaky Jamal Crawford has put on shows for the Knicks with 50-point scoring outburst, but this was something different. Nate hadn’t played in 14 games; Nate hadn’t played in a full month. Nate was using all that built-up energy and killing the Hawks in Atlanta by himself.

How I see this is different from the way most people interpret this kind of outing. Most people think that Nate was showing up Mike D’Antoni for benching him with no daylight for a month. For me, Nate needed the benching because he needs to understand his role on the team. His role is to come in and score the ball, which is his God-given talent–but his role must remain within the confines of the New York Knicks winning the basketball game. I still don’t think Nate fully gets it yet either, because I don’t think Nate has figured out the team game concept.

After the game, Nate was interviewed on the court and continued to thank everyone he could think of, including his x-box friends, twitter friends and everyone else. If Nate REALLY understood what mike D’Antoni was trying to do by benching him for a month, he would have simply been glad he contributed to getting the win. Instead, it was like watching an award show with the laundry list of thank yous.

Nate says he’s been humbled by the whole experience, yet he insisted he’s going to continue to be himself. So which is it Nate, are you a changed player, or the same player that dances with the enemy before the game, shoots at the wrong basket and pounds his chest after scoring a basket?

Larry Hughes’ demise has as much to do with Nate’s rise. Hughes was effective in December, but is now falling apart. He will take Nate’s place on the bench and pop a squat.

Duhon has shown he doesn’t have the ability to play consistently for 82 games. He seems to be sufficient right now, but how he’ll be in April, I have no idea.

Toney Douglas, like Jordan Hill those two are going to have to be patient, because the vets are getting the burn, and the only way Douglas and Hill are going to develop is when the get to play–it won’t be this year.

Nate is going to have a big part of this team’s success or failure come April, because we don’t have the guards to run Mike D’Antoni’s system at a high-level. What we are seeing is a modified, half-court version of the 7-seconds or less offense. This is dumbed-down 7-seconds or less.

We need Nate for this year, but I don’t think we need him after this year. We’ll get the back court help we really need this summer, something tells me.

You know, why is it that we haven’t tried to acquire a more high-profile point guard 1.5 years into Mike D’Antoni’s tenure in New York?

Are there any GOOD point guards in this summer’s crop of free agents?

There is this one guy, when he came out of high school a few years ago, he was described as a big, selfless, all-powerful point guard. Maybe that’s why we haven’t acquired a Jason Kidd, Steve Nash or even a Ricky Rubio. Maybe we’re going after him. Maybe Mike D’Antoni is picturing him running the 7-seconds or less system.

Tagged as: Chris Duhon, Jordan Hill, Larry Hughes, Mike D'Antoni, nate robinson, Toney Douglas