WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

I have no answers.  Just a little rant.  All I really want to scream out is, “NOOOO!”

Things are bad and have been bad for a while. The Knicks just can’t seem to get back to winning like they won way back in November and December.  Those halcyon days when people were asking “are the Knicks for real?” and I kept thinking, “yeah, I think they are.” The days when the Knicks spanked the Heat, Spurs, and the like on the regular, when we had a potential MVP and a Sixth Man of the Year. When a championship, the first of my lifetime, seemed not just like a real possibility but destiny.  The kind of destiny that wraps around great teams like a blanket.

The thing about great teams is not just that they win a whole lot more than they lose, but rather that they win when they need to and in magical ways.  National Television against the defending champs?  Win.  Division rival on the road? Win.   Against Western conference leader? Win.  And New York does it was a certain swagger that makes the rest of the nation hate us and we love the teams all the more for it.   Sadly for us basketball fans, this has happened almost exclusively in  baseball.  The 98 Yanks, the 86 Mets to name two.  You just knew they would win and when they lost, it was like the Earth shook for a few seconds.

The Knicks are not like that.  I thought for a while they might be.   Knicks fans are dreamers.   Seeing Rasheed Wallace in 2013 swishing threes at critical moments is sort of magical, isn’t it?   But there’s no magic to be gleaned when every game is a struggle, when even the wins have become draining.   Any hint of magic from those first two months has blown away like so much fairy dust in the cruel winds of winter.  With the Heat riding a 10 game winning streak behind some sublime basketball by Lebron James and the Pacers in the midst of their own 4 game streak, the Knicks couldn’t have picked a worse time to start losing. They have now fallen to third in the conference with a good chance of falling into fourth or worse this week with both the Nets and even the Bulls breathing down their necks.

As the kids say: FML.

Knicks return to Madison Square Garden this Oscar evening to face the Sixers.  Both teams have lost four straight games.  Only one team can emerge from this ruin.   This is a must win if there ever was one.

THE PIPE SITUATION

It’s been an eventful few days for the Knicks and not at all in a good way.  First of all – it’s been a good while since the Knicks got a thrashing as all encompassing as the they did against Indiana on Wednesday to start the symbolic second half of the season.  They were a mess.  Immature, ugly, unwieldy; pretty much everything you’d expect from a bad team. A real bad team.

There were real stakes too. Indiana is breathing down their necks in the standings along with the Nets and the Knicks needed to make a statement.  The only statement they made was that they aren’t ready and we really shouldn’t be holding our breaths for anything more than a mere showing in the playoffs.  At this point will they even make the playoffs?  I’m sure they will – again the East is too weak for that kind of free fall but things aren’t looking splendid.

What makes this even worse is that the Knicks had us believing they were a pretty good team for so much of this season. First place in the division, second place in the conference. Yes, the East is weak but with a good seed in the playoffs anything can happen right?   There were some moments when May matchup against the Heat seemed almost assured.   Sure, the Knicks have lost in ridiculous ways over the course of the season, but then so have a ton of teams and the Knicks always bounced back with mini-streaks and awesome play by Carmelo and Tyson.  Until the sad losses against the Clippers, Raptors, and the Pacers the Knicks were flying high.   Well something has snapped.  I don’t know what it is.

Ball movement, undisciplined defense, clumsy playmaking, turnovers, free throws, silly fouls.  Pretty much everything that has been wrong with them in tiny spurts this season has become chronic now.   They have to lock it down.  They really do. Because to fall out of first and become a discombobulated mess at this point would be too much for even me to handle.    I could taste it.

In other news this week:

JR Smith decided to get sassy on Twitter as he’s wont to do.  He is crazy. Entertaining but crazy.  I’m sure this will all blow over. It’s embarrassing for him but he doesn’t seem to care all that much.  What’s troubling is that he’s annoying the coaching staff. There’s the bench the kerfuffle between him and Herb Williams.  Then the post-game stare down and head shake that included Herb telling JR “take off your headphones.” I know none of this sits well with Old School Coach Woodson.  We’ll see how it plays out.  Remember when he was a legit contender for Sixth Man of the Year?

Ronnie Brewer is gone.  I hardly knew him.

And now – they have Kenyon Martin.

K-Mart.   I just don’t know.  I guess.  I have to believe this is good.   It know it would have been in 2003.

I’m tired, it’s Friday. Long week.  The Knicks play in 10 minutes.  Stop the bleeding guys.

DOMINATION

Well, hey now. The Knicks are looking pretty great lately, aren’t they?

In winning their 4^th game in a row last night – a thrashing of the Sacramento Kings  – and 7of their last 10, they are now the first and only team in the East to win 30 games, a fact that we can enjoy for about an hour or so until the Heat take the floor against the Raptors.   If by some miracle, the Raptors pull out a victory – then Mike Woodson will join Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler in Houston as the Coach of the East Conference All Stars – which no Knick coach has done since 2000, when Van Gundy prowled our sidelines.

Things are going swimmingly to say the least.   This whole week has had me filled with the basketball giddies.   Yeah, I was in behind enemy lines in Miami – where between shoots, enjoying the sun, and mime-spits on the American Airlines arena from my rental car – I still found time to watch the Knicks win all their games.

Amar’e has been superb.   I must confess that I was one of the many who secretly wished he wouldn’t come back when he was injured, which seems completely irrational now.  I don’t know why but I just thought he wouldn’t get with the program.  That he wouldn’t accept his role, that he’d whine and complain.  I didn’t see him for what he was and what he’s always been. An utter professional who just happens to be a pretty damned good basketball player.    Now we couldn’t ask for anything more from him.   Last night he put on a clinic of dunks, elbow jumpers, and inside moves for a perfect offensive game.   In fact, the Knicks bench outscored the whole Kings team last night. JR has been doing it all season.  Now he has a partner.

Tyson Chandler had his second straight 20 rebound game.   Ray has been the glue, proving his value with each minute he’s on the court.  He has always loved New York and New York loves him back.  Even Novak woke up.

And then there’s Melo. MVP.  That is all.

The Knicks are deep.

Last night, I excitedly said to a collegue – “we might actually win this shit…” and was quickly shushed for fear of jinxing it.

Jinx are for kids.  I’m going to beat my chest and enjoy this.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

 

 

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Always a soap opera with these Knicks.  Any Knicks.   Every Knicks.  I don’t know what it is once you put on the orange and blue.

Lets leave aside the “incident” for a minute.   I feel like if the Knicks season goes to shambles it will be because of their hard fought, though ultimately fruitless loss against Boston.  It was a game they should have won and in many ways needed to win just to establish emotional/spiritual dominance in the East.   Yes, they are still few games ahead of the Nets, but a thorough asswhooping of the Celtics would mean that the torch had officially been passed.  That the Knicks were the team to beat.  On Monday, the Celtics held onto that torch and reminded us all, if we needed reminding, that they are a very dangerous team, a team no one wants to see in the playoffs.  The Knicks meanwhile reminded everyone that they are still prone to silliness, sloppiness, and selfishness, the three S’s that make pull down a team, the unholy trinity of bad basketball.  What could have been a rousing win, perhaps something that started a decent win streak for January turned into a disaster.

So the incident.

First let me wonder aloud if executives at General Mills are secretly thrilled by all this free publicity.  Are they having meetings about it?  Is some young cereal Sammy Glick saying to his bosses, “we gotta capitalize on this! Now!”  I wonder.  I mean Honey Nut Cheerios is now trending on Twitter and a goggle image search reveals more than a few of these images:

  

Oh, in case you’ve been Rip Van Winkling, Kevin Garnett, who is widely regarded as the biggest asshole in basketball, said to Carmelo Anthony that his wife tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios.   It had been a hard battle of bruising and bear hugging between the two all game. Melo wasn’t playing well and was visibly frustrated.   KG got under his skin and then seemingly crossed the line.

The altercation around center court was nothing physical, just some big men screaming at each other while other big men held them back but it resulted in the two getting T’d up.  After that Melo, who had long since regressed into playing hero ball, hoisted up miss after miss to shoot the Knicks out of the game despite the best efforts of his more level headed teammates like JR and Tyson.

Buzzer. Celtics: 102, Knicks: Less.

Then Carmelo went berzerk.  He chased the Celtics down their runway, jawing and looking to fight outside their locker room.  He got dressed without speaking to the media and went out to the Celtics team bus looking for something.  Who knows what.   He said he just wanted to “talk” but that’s what cell phones are for.  So I don’t know. I just don’t know.

I’m a big fan of physical 90s style basketball, the jawing and the taunting are sometimes works of art in themselves.  One of my favorite images of all time, is Jeff Van Gundy holding onto the leg of Alonzo Mourning during a fight between the Knicks and the Heat.

But you leave it on the court.  You play hard and you go home.  Win or lose, life goes on.   Carmelo is idealized by way too many kids and stupid adults for him to be pulling this nonsense.  In the real world, this is the kind of incident that results in people getting shot.

For Carmelo the worst of it was still to come.  The media discovered he and Lala are separated, a fact that hadn’t yet come to light which is just the kind of thing that could rattle a player with Melo’s apparent thin skin.  Plus, Melo is suspended for tonights game against the league’s defensive leaders, the Indiana Pacers, which could make it a gross night for the Knicks.  And finally – he might have permanently spoiled his MVP chances.  As early as we are in the season, this is the kind of thing people remember.

So there you have it. NOT COOL Carmelo Anthony. We still love you. Please don’t do it again.

By the way, the Brooklyn Nets are 3.5 games behind the Knicks.

To reiterate, tonight’s game could be a mess.  I’ll be watching though.

MORE THAN A FEELING

I’m not apologizing for this lull.  There was another person that could have spotted me (not naming names) but didn’t happen.  Quick recovery.  I’ll just say that December really punched me in the gut.  I was useless.  But I did manage to watch every game.   And 2013 promises to be a very productive year.   Happy belated New Year all two or three of you.

Ummm, the Knicks are really good.   So good that with last night’s win against the Orlando Magic – they are in a virtual tie with the Miami Heat for best record in the East.

This is just crazy and has thrown me for a complete loop.   Kvetching and/or crying about the Knicks is something I’ve grown so accustomed to over the past ten or eleven years that I almost don’t know how to talk about them now that they’re good.

    

The nagging – is it for real or am I going to wake up some cold February morning to see the Knicks struggle for the 8^th seed or worse is still there….  To actually see a decent, perhaps even great Knicks team, feels somehow too good to be true. What did I do to deserve this?  What?   Red Sox fans know what I’m talking about.

And yet it is true. They aren’t just good.  This team is a freaking joy to watch and not just when they run the likes of the Heat and the Spurs out of town.   Carmelo Anthony is playing absolutely bonkers basketball, producing with a consistency that no Knick has ever had in my lifetime.  And though he might not catch Kobe Bryant for the scoring title, Bryant’s Lakers are a mess, while Anthony’s Knicks – they belong to Anthony now – are bona fide contenders.   Last night, Anthony put up another 40 point night, including 16 in the 4^th quarter. It was masterful.  It was genius.  It was Mozart.

JR Smith has been doing things like this all season but this gets my vote for the second best dunk in Knicks history.

Of course #1 will never be touched unless Smith does it again – over Lebron in the playoffs or Durant in the Finals.

Tyson Chandler just doesn’t miss a shot.  Though his insane league leading field goal percentage of nearly 70% suggests he might miss here and there – last night he made all of his six shots and he’s grabbing over ten rebounds a game.  Damn Tyson.  Damn you’re good.   If I had one complaint it would be to average at least a block a game but I guess that’s why we have Marcus Camby.

It just feels good to see Marcus and Kurt out there.   Not much more to say about them. They do the dirty work. They are bruisers from another era and they are making themselves essential – at the very least to my happiness.

Amar’e is inching back into his game, isn’t he? You can see slight flashes of his old self in the last three games.  I have a feeling he’s going through some serious soul searching at the moment.  The team has been sailing without him for so long that rocking the boat would just be silly at this point.  I know he so wants to be a part of it.  You can feel it in every movement, every expression.   But if he can accept his role off the bench, he could thrive.   It’s all in his head.   He has to accept it.  Does he want to score 20 or get a sweet ring in June?  There’s only one right answer to that question.

Jason Kidd, my fellow 1973er, is orchestrating like a master conductor.  I’ve spent much of my adult life hating Jason Kidd but what can I say? The guy knows basketball.  He’s amazing.  And he’s my age.   Pablo Prigioni is playing beautifully, those inbounds steals are hilarious.  It seems obvious to go for that steal every time but it’s such a  lost art in today’s NBA that his victims seem almost confused when it happens, like, “can he really do that?”

Together Jason and Pablo are more than making up for the unlucky loss of Raymond Felton.   Hurry back Ray, but please don’t ever take 20 shots a game.

And that brings us to the most wonderful thing about these Knicks. They’re not even full strength yet. Along with Ray, there are two other HUGE pieces missing:

  

Who knows how good they’ll be when everyone is in the swing of things come March or April.  All I know now is that these Knicks are damned good. That’s just something I’m going to have to get used to.

Now let’s go get that ring!

STOP IT. JUST STOP IT.

I’ve been traveling in the West Coast of Africa for the past week so have been remiss on my blog posts.  But fuck it, I was traveling in West Africa – just for the hell of it, surviving by my fists and my wits – none of which the Knicks did tonight mind you.  But more on that later.  Needless to say, when I did I have internet access – the first thing I checked was the status of the Knicks: articles, boxscores, updates.  Not even the gorgeous coast of Ghana could distract me from that distressing Texas swing.  So I came back to a nice victory over a super weak Detroit team yesterday, but knowing that the real bout was tonight – the first game between the Brooklyn Sweats and my clique clique clique clique clique, ain’t nobody fresher than my muthafuckin’ Knicks, Knicks, Knicks Knicks.

Well….ummmm. Truth be told, the Sweats were fresher tonight. The Knicks lost. They got beat.  Fine. Okay.  All I can say is a deep dark long “fuuuucck” that I think kind of sounds kind of like the long fart you let out when you’re alone in your room late at night. Sorry for being crass (but you know it happens). I’m jet-lagged and tired and a more than a little irritable at this loss.

Some tidbits, impressions, because I’m tired and mad.

I missed Jason Kidd.  What’s with these sudden injuries, man?   Go down in a heap on the court in the middle of the game. At least it gives me time to mourn. Don’t just call all of a sudden call in sick on us a few hours before the most important game of all time!  Get better soon Jason Kidd.  Get better soon.  Tonight, even in your absence – you proved your importance.

If the Knicks had a goat mask in the locker room just sitting around –  something like this then Ray-Ray Felton would wearing it right now in his skivies. Hopefully there’s a few mics in his face and he can explain to the people, in goat mask, why he went 3-19 in the aforementioned most important game of the season.  If he had even made four more of those shots, like a professional basketball player, we’d have won the game. He was all over the place.  It was gross.

Wallace played excellent defense on Melo, but Melo still scored 35. He would have had 45-50 had Jason Kidd been in the game.  Melo was atrocious at the free throw line. Inexcusable.   100 free throws at the next practice.   He don’t leave till he’s all net for the last 10.  Thing is, when you have a player of Melo’s caliber on your time, you have hope right until the very end, just because the Knicks have Melo and they don’t.  Melo wanted it. For a second there it seemed like he wanted it more than anyone has ever wanted anything at any point in the history of the world. Alas it wasn’t meant to be. Melo is still lovable.  Let’s not forget that ever.

JR Smith looked hung over.  I know of what I speak. The dude must have had a Sunday night rager and been sweating vodka ont the court.  He did nothing.

Novak needs to get get more open looks.  Quiet night. Maybe he and Smith partied at some exclusive professional athletes of New York shindig after the Giants game.   In fact they both looked kind of hung over.  Unprofessional guys!

Rasheed is just great.   Needs to make the 18 footer though.

Camby needs to re-learn how to rebound.

Chandler needs to average more rebounds than Kris Humph.  Not going to happen and that’s sad.

We got killed on the boards.  I don’t know that for certain but it certainly felt like it.

This is a weak entry but I’m feeling weak.  Good win Sweats!  All I can say is that it’s on.  See you soon.

Go New York go New York Go.

HALLELUJAH

November 4, 2012 – Knicks vs 76ers

Sunday Knick games are a foreign concept to me. I was reminded of this fact when my credit card (along with any self-respect I had), was handed back to me at 11:45 today by a Madison Square Garden beer representative. He informed me that I could not purchase an adult beverage until noon. Flushed with embarrassment, I headed to my seat muttering under my breath that TECH-nically it was 12:45….

So what if I am used to weeknight games where vodka sodas go down as quickly as a Novak three? I can adapt.

It was Sunday, and I was excited to be back in my church, even if I couldn’t drink the holy water for another 15 minutes. I was with my boyfriend, not a huge fan of basketball but my biggest fan so instead of playing the new Assassin’s Creed video game at home, he was with me, cheering on the Knicks to a second straight win!

There was a lot to cheer about. First, there was the female referee. Though I didn’t agree with all her calls, I just loved having a female ref on the court!

Second, there is our coach. I am loving you by the pound, these days, Woody. Like a great nurse, you anticipate my needs before I even know what I want. I salute you.

And then there was Melo’s Dive.

Let me break it down for you. As of late, there are only three occasions when yours truly expects a Knick player to dive into the stands for a ball: 1. When that Knick player is a sprightly young rookie, 2. When it’s play-off basketball and a big game is on the line 3. Over time.

When you witness your captain plunge three rows deep for a loose ball at the very beginning of the season; it’s a lot like falling in love again. You had your ups and downs, there are things that annoy you about him, but then he goes and does something great and you can’t help but smile.

  

And it wasn’t just Anthony bowing and scraping on defense. Kidd, Tyson, Brewer, Felton­­­­, – they were all channeling their inner Donna Summer today. They were working hard for the money.

And Jason Kidd, the 18-year vet is one of the best new additions to our team. He is a galvanizing force on the court and his level of maturity and experience exude in every hand-gesture and cross-over dribble. He literally has this calming effect on Felton and Brewer. I saw it today and poise and good-decision making are contagious. Also, we were on fuego from downtown, thanks to Melo and Smith, who both scored 30 and 20 points respectively.

I pray every Sunday match-up is like this one, and God, if you are listening, can Rasheed close all the ball games with a fade-away hook shot?  Amen.

Count it!

IAJ

A DREAMY START

A Greek in the off-season.

I am Greek and being Greek means I like to suffer. It is our patriotic duty, to not only suffer but to do so with pizzazz, with a certain amount of flare. We moan, we pull our hair out, we throw ourselves onto other suffering Greeks. So it makes perfect sense that I am a New York Knicks fan.

To be a New York Knicks fan, well…you just simply have to have the stomach for it. You will be brought to your knees by knee injuries, blinded by baffling trades and soaring ticket prices and just when you think you can take a breath and relax, Dolan kicks Jeremy out of the Garden. I was convinced Jeremy was the sun and nothing could grow in MSG ever again.

By the end of the summer when almost everyone else had moved on, I was still feeling Lin-less. I swore I’d become a Nets fan. But then I saw the uniforms…the dancers uniforms, and I knew I could never support those fashion choices. (Leaving a Halloween party last Saturday, I spotted a Brooklyn Nets Dancer buying a slice of pizza on St Marks Place. That’s not a Nets dancer, my friend said, that’s a grown woman wearing a slutty referee costume.) Enough said.

  

Agitated and hot-headed, I promised my dad and brother that they could have my season tickets. I was through with the game, with the Garden.

Fast forward to last night, Season Opener.

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

Two beloved Red Hook refugees on my coach, one pot of chili bubbling in the kitchen and an NBA widow ready to love again…?

During the pre-game show, I was, like Manhattan, only half aglow with enthusiasm. The other half was still feeling down and out and I wasn’t sure how the night was going to play out for me or for our team. But the one thing I was certain about was my gratitude. I was thankful that the Knicks were playing, I was thankful that I could house and feed my friends who had no power or water. And as soon as that tip-off happened, I was so thankful that my desire for my team to win was as strong as ever.

We came out aggressive (yes!) and never let up on Miami (eat it Lebron!). Seeing Rasheed Wallace in orange and blue made my heart explode (ka-boom!) and watching Melo play D like he was still on the Olympic team had similar effects (finally!) and Novak…Novak was magic (duh!).

We came out to win and we beat the Heat! We were the champs last night and to quote Clyde, we are off to a “dreamy start”. Let’s hope we never wake up.

Count it!

Irene Abdul-Jabbar

GAME ONE – GAME WON

Last night’s game was the first opening night I’ve missed in many many years.   Probably about three decades. Hurricane Sandy, that fuck-face of a storm, put an end to that streak as pretty much all of downtown was plunged into darkness.

Spring and Greenwich as the Hudson flowed

Spring and Greenwich all dark

It was a hairy few days, more trying on my sanity than any actual physical hardship. Unlike our neighbors in Breezy Point, The Rockaways, Long Beach, Hoboken, and that 130 mile sandy stretch of paradise we call the Jersey Shore and more – all I had to really deal with was the darkness.  It’s surprisingly more taxing on your spirit than you might think but obviously no where near the losses of life, property, possessions that so many others have endured in the storm’s wake.  I’d even go as far as saying I was lucky. So many weren’t.   Please DONATE

In short, I can’t complain too much.  I got my dad out of his 12 floor apartment the morning after the storm and brought him over to mine. At least he wouldn’t be alone and without food; and my local bar The Ear Inn was heroic by staying open despite major damage. It stayed open with a generator, candles, and love.

Three hours before the bitch arrived

It was the only place where you could get any news and kept the neighborhood in food and drink (much of it free) and phone charges.   As darkness fell, it was the lone beacon of normalcy. It was also the only thing my dad could look forward to.  His eyes and age prevented him from leaving my apartment so he essentially just sat on my couch, waiting for me to get home from work.   It was a sucky situation.

So last night, as with the other few nights – I had a couple of Jamesons and chatted with my dad and neighbors, knowing I wouldn’t see the game. Then as word trickled down that power was going on all over downtown, I crossed my fingers that we might be able to catch a bit of the game when power finally came to our neck of the woods. But alas, the sun set, darkness fell, and it was tip-off time.    The Knicks would have to face that monster known as the Miami Heat – the defending champs – without me.

That’s where my lovely blogger-in-arms started sending me text updates from the BK.  And I started screaming them out for anyone who cared, which pretty much included only my Dad.

    

When it was over, I was tipsy and the Knicks had won.  Perfect.   Loved it.  We beat the champs.

I caught some highlights today when my neighborhood got back on the grid, including a nasty crossover by Raymond Felton, some sick threes and a sincere speech by Carmelo, and THIS…probably my favorite highlight.   I kind of love our coach.   And I kind of love Rasheed.  

My blogger-in-arms will be posting in a moment.

All I gotta say is good job guys. Good job.  You made New York happy for the first time all week. Well, those New Yorkers who haven’t switched sides.

Lights came on at 4:25am.

And for those that care, Jeremy Lin almost had a triple double last night.  Darn.  I miss you Jeremy, I really do.  But you’re going to LOVE James Harden.   And I think James Harden already loves you.  Superstar backcourt in Houston.  Forever.

But really – don’t forget to do THIS.

You’ll always be a Knick Jeremy…

Anyone who truly loves the Knicks will agree. You reminded us all why we ever fell in love with the Knicks in the first place.