Pain

Yesterday, April 2, I happened to be back in Jersey for a night, and was able to catch a Knicks game on TV for the first time in over 3 months. I turned to MSG and saw there were about 5 seconds left in the first half. The Knicks were losing 73-60, and the Grizzlies had the ball. Mike Miller dribbled up the court, took a three... and got fouled. With less than a second left on the clock.

I immediately wished that it was April 1. I wished that play was just an April Fools joke. Instead, it's a microcosm of the Knicks' reality of a season. Absolutely inept on the defensive end, running around like headless chickens on offense, and happy to mail in the first half of every game just to show "guts" and "determination" by making a furious second half comeback that always falls juuust short in the end, these Knicks cause me such pain that I didn’t even bother watching the second half.

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It hurts a bit to think that we've had this blog for a few months, and yet it's just now that I'm first writing about the team that has been most important to me for most of my life – and the NBA has been in season the whole time. In fact, we've each written multiple NBA posts, but I haven't had the will to write about the train wreck that is the New York Knicks. Is there a more hopeless team in professional sports? There are other teams that lately have perennially been bad, sure, but is any team in such a condition that there is absolutely NO way, even with a ton of luck, of their competing for a championship in the next three years?

The salary cap is a mess, and has for years been the main source of my depression as a Knicks fan. It seems that the Knick front office plan has been to make the Knicks the team that will be the sole buyer for marginally useful players with terrible contracts, as if this were some sort of competitive advantage. Trade for Penny Hardaway, Shandon Anderson, Stephon Marbury, sign Jerome James and Allan Houston to contracts 25% over their respective market values... This "strategy" (quite obviously and stupidly) ignores the fact that it's a philosophy centered on acquiring players who are not that good, are undesired by ANY other team, and are incapable of forming a core of a team that can actually win basketball games. It's not a bad strategy if your owner has deep pockets AND you already have a core that's capable of advancing at least into the second round of the playoffs, and you just need a little extra help to get over the hump. It IS a bad strategy if your team has nothing, no core, no direction, no leadership.

If the front office has had some kind of (misguided) philosophy when it comes to payroll matters, it has had absolutely none in terms of actually building a cohesive team. The years since the Ewing-Sprewell-Houston days have lacked any sort of commitment to a plan for more than a year. Some would blame the high pressure of the NY market, but no other NY franchise yields so submissively to changes in the wind. A number of decisions illustrate this. The most recent is the demise of Eddy Curry, who ended up becoming a bit player after Isiah's claims that he would be the centerpiece of the Knicks' offense for years to come. The one-and-done Larry Brown year is another. This is a guy who once coached the Spurs to a 21-win season. The next season they won the division. Sure, in his one year with the Knicks he juggled the starting lineup enough to set records. So what?? It's not as if he had anything to work with! What would you do besides try every possible combination?

These poor decisions have been sequentially blamed on Ernie Grunfeld (in the late Ewing years, though his period is now respected), then Scott Layden, and now Isiah Thomas, but the common link has been owner James Dolan. What sort of inept fool is this man? Clearly the only reason that he is an executive of a major company is that he inherited the position from daddy. What sort of businessman is he? Last year, the Knicks pulled into 8th place in the Eastern Conference late in the season. Dolan immediately gave Isiah a 5 year contract extension. This still blows my mind. FIVE YEARS? The Knicks went on to lose 19 of their last 22 games to miss the playoffs by a mile, and are heading to another finish in which they will come nowhere close to 30 wins. What to do now, James? Clearly your faith has been misplaced and the situation has spun embarrassingly out of control, but you've left yourself without an option thanks to your inexplicable loyalty to a man whose peak has been to achieve mediocrity (as opposed to utter failure) for one day.

Of course, in the calculus of Dolan, there is still a way to rectify matters, which he seems to think was to hire Donnie Walsh from the Pacers to be the Knicks new president of basketball operations. In one sense, this is a sound move. Walsh is a salary cap guru, and perhaps he can work some magic to get the team under the cap in two years, even if it's still completely uncompetitive. That will be progress. The curious thing is the idea that Walsh can take over these duties while Isiah continues to coach the team. Their relationship isn't without precedent – Walsh gave Isiah his first head coaching job with the Pacers. But how tenable is the current situation? Isiah cedes personnel control to the new guy, but continues coaching the team? How will the players respect Isiah? Can Isiah make impartial decisions with regards to playing time when his options are split between his acquisitions and Walsh's?

Aside from the question of whether it's wise to give a new guy one of Isiah's two current roles, there is the question of whether or not he is actually a good coach. Common opinion seems to be that he is not a bad coach. Really? What successful adjustments has he made in his time as Knicks coach? Has he taught them how to play defense in all this time? Clearly not, as evidenced by 130 points they gave up to the Grizzlies last night (ugh!). Has he resolved the problem of having talented players playing below their potential? No. In Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford, and Stephon Marbury, he has arguably four capable scorers. Stephon has been such a disaster that he's no longer playing (and what's more, they no longer miss him), and Curry became a non-factor before his season-ending injury (in my opinion, he never had the skills to be one anyway). Randolph continues to futilely put up at least 18 and 9 every night (he is a true talent), while Crawford is given free reign to jack up terrible jumpers and shoot 40% from the field every night. Isiah doesn't have a clue in the way of getting the team to play cohesive offense or defense. There is talent on this team – aside from those four, you have a very capable outside shooter and defender in Quentin Richardson, an incredible rebounder in David Lee, and instant backcourt offense off the bench in the form of Nate Robinson. Are you telling me that this team doesn't have the talent to make the playoffs in this putrid Eastern Conference? For the final nail in the coffin, just take a look at Isiah's body language and comments at every halftime where the Knicks are losing by double digits and every postgame press conference after the Knicks lose by 20. He says the same things, shows no hint of innovation with X's and O's, no ability to inspire. He just always sounds defeated, and then smiles and says they just need to make shots, that the shots are there. No, Isiah, they're not. The team is not taking high percentage shots, but they sure are giving up a lot of them. And this has been the case for ages now. I submit, once and for all: ISIAH THOMAS IS NOT A GOOD COACH. He was once a great point guard. He is not good at anything else related to basketball.

(I'm not even going to go into depth describing the shame surrounding the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment lawsuit, in which everyone at the Garden came off looking like goons - not to mention Stephon Marbury, who had the gall to casually talk about his tryst with a Knick intern in the back of an SUV parked outside a strip club. This from a married father.)

The Knicks are not going to be any good for a long time. They won't get under the cap for another three seasons, and even then they'll have to sign more players to fill out the roster, bringing the payroll back up. The next two years at least are completely hopeless. I can't tell you how depressing and painful this is. This storied franchise, one that was a factor year after year after year... it's now a joke to everyone else, but not to us. Not to me. I'm angry. But it's hopeless. All I can do is turn my attention to the Mets, Tottenham, the Red Bulls, the Devils, until the day the Knicks have put all this behind them and are relevant once again.

How far can the Rockets go?

I'm sitting here smiling and shaking my head. I just finished watching the Rockets win their 22nd straight game. This is the second longest winning streak in NBA history, and after watching them beat the Lakers today and take over first place in the West, I see why - though I still have a hard time believing what I just saw, especially considering that the last 10 wins in this streak have come without Yao, and the last few without Carl Landry, their surprisingly effective rookie power forward.

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The first thing you need to realize about the Rockets is that their defense is excellent. Throughout this game, all of their players were active on the perimeter, ad Dikembe is an imposing force down low. They held Kobe to 24 points on 33 shots, which is fantastic.

Also, the whole team has a swagger to it. Bobby Jackson is looking like the dangerous scorer he was with Sacratomato, which is a bad sign for the rest of the West. Dikembe's finger has never wagged more vigorously. And at the end of today's game, as Rafer Alston was dribbling out the clock, he went a little Skip 2 My Lou on Sasha Vujacic, who didn't appreciate it and fouled him. Alston then got in his face. There was no need for it, really, but it's the kind of thing you see from a really confident team that really demoralizes its opponents. Also, you're allowed to play around a little bit in the final seconds of a game where you scored 31 points and went 8/11 from three.

And T-Mac has really raised his game and is playing at an All-Star level. If the Rockets win the West, this really confounds the MVP vote. It's probably still Kobe, but now you really have to seriously consider McGrady along with Garnett, Chris Paul, and probably Dwight Howard as well. (LeBron is not in my top 5 - the Cavs don't have nearly a good enough record considering that they're in the East.)

So how far can the Rockets go? Frankly, at this point, there's no way they're not a title contender. The stretch of games they're in now is their toughest test to date, and if they fare poorly, then I may revise that statement, but having just beaten the Lakers, they clearly deserve to be considered amongst the best of the West, which puts them amongst the best in the league. Also, no team has ever gone on a winning streak like this and not won the title. The '72 Lakers, '71 Bucks, 2000 Lakers, '96 Bulls, '70 Knicks - all champions. The '82 Celtics are the only team ever to win 18 or more and not win the title (they lost to the eventual champion Sixers in the Eastern Conference Finals that year), and the Rockets are on 22 and counting. Watch them and you'll see - this team just knows how to play basketball.

The Mavs are still a great team

I am watching a most excellent Lakers-Mavericks game and wanted to make a few observations:

Kobe Bryant is an amazing player. There's no other way to put it. As much as I dislike him, he does things I've only seen Michael Jordan do.

Kobe and Nowitzki are both absolute clutch players. At the end of regulation, Kobe made a huge play to grab an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw by Lamar Odom and then coolly made both free throws after he was fouled. With the Lakers up three with 6 seconds to go, the Mavericks came back with a beautifully designed play. The ball was inbounded to Jason Kidd, who had his back to the basket just inside the three point line. Another Mav came over and set a pick next to Kidd as Kidd tossed the ball out to Nowitzki, who came across the double screen set by Kidd and the other Mav and got an open look at a three, which he nailed with 2 seconds to go. Absolutely clutch.

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Reports of Jason Kidd's defensive demise have been greatly exaggerated. People forget that he used to be considered one of the very best backcourt defenders in the game. So what if he got torched by Chris Paul? Everyone gets torched by Chris Paul! I don't understand this idea that Kidd is somehow fast enough to be an asset on the fast break but too slow to keep up with most NBA point guards. He's fast enough, and more importantly, his defensive instincts are excellent. He reads the game exceptionally well, and thus is great at blocking off passing lanes and knocking the ball away when his man not paying attention. He's an excellent rebounder. And at 6-4, he's big enough to guard taller point guards.

I also think that people who think that Kidd is a bad fit for the Mavs are missing something. Just because Dirk doesn't really run the floor doesn't mean that other Mavs don't. Stackhouse? Howard? Terry? These guys have looked great running the wings with Kidd leading the break. Similarly, I don't understand how people think that Kidd is going to continue shooting so poorly. He's never been a good shooter, but shooting 35% or whatever he was at prior to joining the Mavs is obviously an aberration.

I do think that overall, the Kidd trade was good for Dallas. Devin Harris is a good young player but Kidd is most definitely an upgrade. With the revised version of the deal leaving Stackhouse and Devean George on the Mavs, they didn't have to give up too much to get him. Make no mistake: the Mavs are still a quality team and most definitely are legit contenders for the NBA championship.

The NBA Is No Longer Boring

Despite my love for the sport of basketball, I must admit that the NBA regular season is usually rather dull. The current playoff format makes for mediocre to bad teams (if they're in the East) duking it out for the final playoff spot during the final weeks of the season while the top dogs cruise to the post season. When those final teams are in contention don't happen to include the Hawks, I find it rather unsatisfying to watch mediocre basketball games. Unlike baseball, where the wild card team has a legitimate shot to win the title each and every year, the eight seeds are the equivalent of a 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. Perhaps they have a chance to raise some eyebrows in the early rounds and pull of an upset or two, but they have no real chance of winning the whole thing. This year, however, is entirely different, with a myriad of interesting story lines grabbing my attention.

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Story line: Blockbuster trades

In a league often derided as the "No Balls Association," general managers have broken out of their shells and made some truly gutsy trades that have involved superstar caliber players. It all started last year when Iverson was sent to the Nuggets, continued through the summer as KG finally left the Minnesota tundra for Beantown, and reached its climax with an array of deals leading up to this year's trade deadline. Gasol goes to the Lakers. J-Kidd returns to Dallas. Shaq ends up in Phoenix. Bibby finds his way to Atlanta. While some of these deals were steals (Gasol), some were great moves (Garnett, Allen), some were questionable (J-Kidd), and some were head-scratchers, at least in my opinion (Shaq), the avalanche of deals has certainly made regular season games more interesting as I watch to see how the relocated stars adapt to their new teams.

Story line: The Wild West

I'm a Hawks fan and would be more inclined to root for an Eastern Conference team to win it all. However, I don't think anyone can deny that the battle for supremacy in the Western Conference will make for one of the most exciting regular season finishes in years and create a playoff picture in which virtually no team could be counted out. The Lakers are an offensive juggernaut having added Gasol to Kobe and Odom. Farmar and Fisher have held down the point. When Bynum returns from injury, this team will be one of the most dynamic offensive teams we've seen in a while. They can bang inside, shoot the three, break down defenses off the dribble, isolate, pass out of double teams . . . they are loaded. The Suns and the Mavs, despite their questionable trades for aging superstars remain near the top. New Orleans could potentially go as far as Chris Paul can take them. And judging from his performance so far this year, he could take them a very, very long way (someone tell me why he's not in a Hawks jersey, again). The Jazz may actually be better than they were last year, when they made it all the way to the conference final before falling to San Antonio. Of course, San Antonio may still be the team to beat. Tony Parker is now healthy. Manu Ginobli is arguably the best shooting guard in the game. Tim Duncan is still Tim Duncan. And, with a team full of savvy veterans who have won multiple championship rings before, it would not be surprising if the Spurs emerged yet again as the Western Conference Champs. Even the teams vying for the lower seeds are entertaining. Golden State is perhaps the most schizophrenic team in the league, but when they're on, they are fun to watch. Portland is full of young stars. The Nuggets, despite being ravaged by injury, still are entertaining with the Melo-Iverson combo running the show. It's exciting stuff.

Story Line: Celtics Revival

The Celtics have been irrelevant for so long that when I thought of the Celtics, I could only recall replays of Bird and Co. from the '80s. It is a sad fate for such a storied franchise. However, the Garnett and Allen deals have immediately turned that around. Garnett has been one of the best players in the league since he first set foot on an NBA court over a decade ago. After languishing in the backwoods of Minnesota for years, Garnett finally has a chance to flash his skills under the bright lights of Boston. Garnett, Allen, and Pierce combine to comprise a group of likeable superstars who, up until this point, were forced to suffer while playing for subpar teams. Now, all three have a legitimate shot to win the title while wearing the Celtics jersey. As much as I'd hate to see Boston enjoy post season glory with the Patriots, the Red Sox, and the Celtics, it is intriguing to watch these three stars revive the Celtic machine while simultaneously finally receiving an opportunity to play for a true contender.

The only thing that could make these story lines even more interesting would be a Hawks playoff run. Here's to eternal optimism!

Live Blogging from... the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest!

This competition used to be something magical. Dominique, MJ... it used to be legendary. It used to display all that set basketball apart from other sports - the pure aesthetics of a guy gliding through air the rest of us can only dream of reaching, effortlessly, and punctuating the art with power. Unfortunately, these days, we see little but derivative dunks and people overhyping mediocre attempts. The competition now means nothing. But I'm sick at home, watching this and eating pizza, so... let's go!

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Jamario Moon, Dunk 1: Impressive. Lobbed it perfectly, caught it with one hand and went for the windmill. Good height, nailed it on the first try, a solid 9 in my eyes. Aesthetically nice and athletic - reminds me of the great old school dunks.
Score: 46

Rudy Gay, Dunk 1: Missed the first attempt. Simple two handed double pump, nothing special. A 7 in my eyes.
Score: 37

Dwight Howard, Dunk 1: Had my favorite dunk of last year, when he slapped up a sticker of himself with a goofy smile on the top of the backboard with one hand while slamming home with the other. Missed the first attempt. Pretty good dunk - bounced off the back of the backboard, and actually kind of screwed up the toss so it bounced off the rubber on the edge of the board, but was still able to grab it and complete a pretty impressive windmill from the side, ducking under the backboard. I think it's a 9; the judges are more impressed.
Score: 50

Gerald Green, Dunk 1: Last year's winner has been talking up this dunk for a while. He calls it "The Birthday Cake". First, a teammate puts a cupcake on the back of the rim and lights the birthday candle in it. Hm. Green goes for the dunk - blows out the candle! - and slams it home. OK, that's a 10 just for creativity and the slow mo replay of him blowing out the candle. Haha, very nice. But apparently a couple of the judges either missed the candle, or don't like gimmicks.
Score: 46

Rudy Gay, Dunk 2: Kyle Lowry throws it off the basket support, Gay runs down the baseline and slams it in. Not really that great, and Chuck hates it, but the judges like it. See, this is why this competition now means nothing.
Score: 48

Jamario Moon, Dunk 2: He runs from way back, Jason Kapono bounces it to him.. failure. Second try - nails it. Takes off with a foot inside the free throw line. Another kind of old school athletic dunk. I like it a lot. Again, aesthetically pleasing. This guy is growing on me.
Score: 44

Gerald Green, Dunk 2: Rashad McCants sits on a ladder in front of the basket, slightly to the side, with the ball. Green at halfcourt. McCants holds the ball out, drops it to Green, who comes in and slams windmill style. Good height. Not particularly impressive.
Score: 45

Dwight Howard, Dunk 2: Jameer Nelson holds a Superman cape and puts it on Howard, who is wearing a Superman costume underneath his jersey - haha, funny. Nelson tosses the ball to Howard from behind the basket, Howards comes flying in, wow, what height, what power! But he didn't actually dunk it, he threw the ball through the basket. Looked good enough though.
Score: 50

So Jamario Moon is unfairly knocked out - Green's first dunk was great from a showmanship perspective, but neither of his dunks were particularly impressive, while Moon looked artful with both of his dunks. Gay is rightfully gone, and Howard powers through with a perfect score, which is fine by me - he deserved it last year, in my opinion. No scoring for the second round - the judges will each reveal who he thinks is the winner after watching all four dunks.

Gerald Green, Dunk 3: A teammate lobs the ball over the basket from behind. Bad lobs the first few times. Green tries for a through the legs dunk and hits it on the second try. Impressive, reminiscent of Vince Carter. Too derivative, but a good dunk in and of itself.

Dwight Howard, Dunk 3: From midcourt sideline, Howard runs in, throws the ball up, it bounces... HOLY CRAP! He taps it off the backboard with his left hand and dunks it with his right! Kenny Smith proclaims it's over, and he's right! Amazing! That one will be remembered!

Gerald Green, Dunk 4: He takes off his shoes, autographs, them, and puts them on the judges' table. Um, OK, you're not good enough to be handing your signed shoes to Doctor J. Then he does the same through the legs dunk with no shoes. Sorry Gerald. Yeah, it's harder without shoes. But the dunk did not look impressive.

Dwight Howard, Dunk 4: This is practically a formality, but let's see. Hm, he's holding one of those small hoops with suction cups on the backboard, and he's calling for the ladder. The small hoop is attached to the backboard, on the right side. The ball rests in it. He grabs the ball from the small hoop and goes for the roundhouse, but misses. He has them raise the small basket. Attempt 2 is successful. Not as impressive as the others, but he'd already set the bar really high.

Chocolate Thunder, aka Daryl Dawkins, declares that Howard brought power and "magistration". I have to agree. All the judges choose Howard, and he wins the fan vote. Howard deserves it, far and away. But props to Jamario Moon, who also impressed. That was actually kind of fun.

Beasts of the East

The Celtics are legit. Watching their 98-90 win against the Spurs today (at home, but without KG, while the Spurs were without Parker) I saw a team that was, to a man, outworking a formidable opponent. It got to the point where 3 or 4 Celtics were slamming into each other as they fought to secure an offensive rebound. They dive for balls going out of bounds, fill passing lanes to grab steals, and are relentless in their pursuit of perimeter shooters (they lead the league in 3pt defense). This team is playing hard. Obviously they have their superstars, but the role players, who are the real key to this team, are filling in nicely. Rondo has really found his niche. His defense and distribution on the break has impressed me, and his shot has improved. Big Baby Davis has proved all of his detractors wrong. He has toned his body to the point where he has an excellent NBA power forward body. He's smart, agile, and very good around the rim. James Posey is an oft-overlooked veteran who can shoot from outside and play defense. This is a very, very good team, and with an absolutely stunning 16-0 (16! and 0!) record against the West, you have to say that this is the best team in the NBA.