Anybody else watching the Knicks....

[knightdreamer2k]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

That's the thing. Basketball is the only sport that I know where teams can so obviously demonstrate a lack of effort from one night to the next. That's my opinion, of course. Others may argue for the same phenomenon seen in other sports.

Be that as it may, the Knicks have it, bad. They gave up in January and now they are merely sleepwalking. I will be goddamned if I am going to spend any money or viewing time on a team that is not even trying.

Don't blame Mike Woodson for this, although he will be. Even if the Knicks were hustling, they would still be below .500. The reason is, they don't have leadership (sorry, 'Melo, but you're no captain) and they have basically mediocre players. Stoudemire has tanked and don't even begin to tell me that Chandler is the big man that the Knicks have needed.

So, what do they do? They bring in J.R. Smith who is too stupid to realize that pranks are bush league, especially when your coach asks you to desist and you persist. And he sucks because the rest of the league has figured out how to shut him down.

They bring in huge failure Bargnani who, if anything, would take away playing time from Chandler if he were any good. No problem, though; he sucks.

They bring in Felton who is not a very good point guard and they ask him to be a team leader. Yeah, the guy who is too dumb not to get himself arrested on a weapons charge in NYC. He sucks.

They bring in has-beens like Kenyon Martin and World Peace. Hey, Mr. Dolan, ever hear of injury-prone, over-the-hill veterans playing out the string? When they do play, that is? No, I guess not.

Meanwhile, they are/were trying to trade Shumpert and, I would bet, Hardaway, Jr., two young, future stars. For whom this time, Nazr Mohammed or Vince Carter?

Knicks management is as dumb as a stump but you know what? I would still be watching the Knicks if they played hard before losing. These guys are just plain losers.

To some extent, I also blame Carmelo Anthony. He does not deserve what he is going through, playing with a team of this low caliber, but he is the only dependable offensive alternative that the Knicks have. He is not enough to carry a team playing in the N.B.A.

As it is, the team hands him the ball and stands around while he does his thing. Or not. Trouble is, that laziness also means not getting back on defense after Anthony scores, or not. So this is why you are seeing 'Melo score 44 points in losing efforts; the final score is consistently something like 125-105 on nights when he is on, or 110-89 when he is not.

Anthony is part of the problem and I wish he would go into free agency. Problem is, the Dolans are too stupid to figure out what to do with him, or without him.

[/End of rant.]

As a Knicks fan also I find it hard to disagree with anything you said. I find the Knicks have some of the worse management in all the major sports. They just baffle me.
It doesn't help that they have a collection of guys that for the most part I don't find very likeable off the court. I was one of those people who thought they should have re-signed Lin, cause it was a good relationship for both parties. This is just a poorly assembled team.
Carmelo needs a true number 2, they need a true consistant PG. I just don't see a bright future for a number of years.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by knightdreamer2k

As a Knicks fan also I find it hard to disagree with anything you said. I find the Knicks have some of the worse management in all the major sports. They just baffle me.
It doesn't help that they have a collection of guys that for the most part I don't find very likeable off the court. I was one of those people who thought they should have re-signed Lin, cause it was a good relationship for both parties. This is just a poorly assembled team.
Carmelo needs a true number 2, they need a true consistant PG. I just don't see a bright future for a number of years.

Sorry on two accounts: 1) That you are a fellow Knicks fan going through what I am (or was, since I have signed out for now), and 2) that you had to read through my rant.

Your point about Lin is well-taken. After all that excitement and optimism, you think that the organization could have found a way, spent the money, to retain him even if he ended up as a back-up point guard.

Gosh, the more I think about the Knicks, the happier that I am that I can follow the Rangers this time of year. I will not even follow this statement up with one of those angry smileys; the heck with that. Knicks basketball is too much of a joke as it is, for year upon year.

[Déjà Bru]

Heh, perversely, masochistically, I tune into the nationally televised Bulls-Knicks game (actually, my wife wants to watch the Oscars preview coming up after the game). The Bulls are goring the Knicks by 24 points on the NBA Sunday Showcase. I wonder if the NBA is thinking of relegating the New York franchise to D-League. "Sure, hon. I'll turn it back to ABC as soon as the game is over. I wonder what Jennifer Lawrence is wearing?"

[Rasmuth]

yeah...this season has been brutally depressing.

[knightdreamer2k]

Originally Posted by Rasmuth

yeah...this season has been brutally depressing.

This is different than before when they used to stink, cause back then they had a bunch a guys you generally liked but were not good enough.
Now they have talent but are not likeable and they don't play hard. I'm glad at least the Nets have picked it up.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by knightdreamer2k

This is different than before when they used to stink, cause back then they had a bunch a guys you generally liked but were not good enough.
Now they have talent but are not likeable and they don't play hard. I'm glad at least the Nets have picked it up.

Exactly. Except for the part about the Nets. I should like them more, now that they moved to the "Island," but I don't. Though I do highly respect them for having the progressive vision to sign Jason Collins.

[BaseballMan]

Do you think Phil Jackson can turn the Knicks around?

[knightdreamer2k]

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

Do you think Phil Jackson can turn the Knicks around?

Since I'm not optimisstic when is comes to the Knicks I'm going to go with no. I see him trying for alittle bit than when things don't work out I see Phil taking another offer or resigning claiming medical reasons.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

Do you think Phil Jackson can turn the Knicks around?

Depends on two things:

1. Can he make the transition from coach to team management? He's never done a job like this before. Remember Isaiah Thomas? Of course you do.
2. Will he have true autonomy or will that idiot Dolan scuttle Jackson's ship as soon as it sails?

[Déjà Bru]

Now that their season is over and they are about to miss the playoffs by a couple of games, these darned bums can spend the summer thinking about the games they threw away by sleepwalking through them. Just a bit more effort in a handful of games, that's all it would have taken. I am so annoyed with this team that I hope Phil Jackson cleans out the whole house.

Unfortunately, that includes Mike Woodson. The coach must take the blame for player laziness and foolishness; it's part of the deal. Woodson knows this.

I don't blame Anthony if he leaves for a quality team like the Bulls. Frankly, the Knicks may ultimately be better off without him. But these other slugs: Tyson Chandler, Amar'e Stoudemire, J.R. Smith, Raymond Felton, Andrea Bargnani, Pablo Prigioni, Kenyon Martin - get them the heck out of here or sit their sorry butts on the bench. The ONLY two players on the team worth keeping are Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr.

Again, I'm not angry with them because they lost more games than they won and missed the playoffs. I am angry with them because I SAW HOW THEY PLAYED MUCH OF THE SEASON WITHOUT PASSION AND DEDICATION. Relaxing and going through the motions against teams like the Bucks and the Sixers, and losing. They deserve to go home, and good riddance.

[Déjà Bru]

Time for another wallow in masochistic misery as a Knicks fan! My gosh, they are worse than last year.

Things got so bad last night that Fisher pulled all of the starters in the first quarter, including one Carmelo Anthony. How much worse can this get?

They ought to blow up the entire team, including and especially Carmelo Anthony. They won't do that, of course. I cannot watch anymore.

Heh, the thread title has taken on different meaning in the last season-and-a-half. Yes, is anybody else (beside me, heretofore) watching the Knicks these days?

[CommishJoe]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Time for another wallow in masochistic misery as a Knicks fan! My gosh, they are worse than last year.

Things got so bad last night that Fisher pulled all of the starters in the first quarter, including one Carmelo Anthony. How much worse can this get?

They ought to blow up the entire team, including and especially Carmelo Anthony. They won't do that, of course. I cannot watch anymore.

Heh, the thread title has taken on different meaning in the last season-and-a-half. Yes, is anybody else (beside me, heretofore) watching the Knicks these days?

Just please tell me we have our 1st round draft pick next year.

[RchW]

How do you guys like the Italian Stallion?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by RchW

How do you guys like the Italian Stallion?

Hmmm. More like "the Italian Scallion" because he stinks!

[RchW]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Hmmm. More like "the Italian Scallion" because he stinks!

LOL.

[Déjà Bru]

Endured that spectacularly bad season, only to see them win a few games at the end and, sure enough, sabotage their draft lottery chances as it turned out.

Now they pick fourth and miss out on the "potentially franchise-altering big men, Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor of Duke."

I swear, it seems like 20 years since the New York Knickerbockers did anything right.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Endured that spectacularly bad season, only to see them win a few games at the end and, sure enough, sabotage their draft lottery chances as it turned out.

Now they pick fourth and miss out on the "potentially franchise-altering big men, Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor of Duke."

I swear, it seems like 20 years since the New York Knickerbockers did anything right.

What really burns my butt, not that you should care of course, is that the friggin' LA Lakers, a perennial powerhouse that has won 10 (TEN) NBA Championships since the Knicks last won a title (1973), THEY get the number 2 pick. They have one crappy season, now will pick Towns or Okafor, and then begin a new dynasty built around a franchise big man.

What in the heck is wrong with the Knicks, anyway? Current ownership for sure is one thing. I cannot stand it anymore. My gosh.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Endured that spectacularly bad season, only to see them win a few games at the end and, sure enough, sabotage their draft lottery chances as it turned out.

Now they pick fourth and miss out on the "potentially franchise-altering big men, Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor of Duke."

I swear, it seems like 20 years since the New York Knickerbockers did anything right.

Don't get too hung up on the first two picks. The Knicks will be able to get a very good player at #4

And the NBA is changing. I don't buy into franchise altering big men anymore. The Warriors won tonight with Daymond Green playing at center.
The Cavs have a Russian mummy as their center.

It is just not important anymore. And the Knicks need a lot of everything right now. Carmelo looks to be on the downswing and with his knee issues he could be an injury away from being done.

Okafor and Townes are good players and will be good players, but even they are not traditional centers. The game has changed to the degree that wing players and athleticism is more important along with shooting.

4th is a good spot to pick in.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

Don't get too hung up on the first two picks. The Knicks will be able to get a very good player at #4

And the NBA is changing. I don't buy into franchise altering big men anymore. The Warriors won tonight with Daymond Green playing at center.
The Cavs have a Russian mummy as their center.

It is just not important anymore. And the Knicks need a lot of everything right now. Carmelo looks to be on the downswing and with his knee issues he could be an injury away from being done.

Okafor and Townes are good players and will be good players, but even they are not traditional centers. The game has changed to the degree that wing players and athleticism is more important along with shooting.

4th is a good spot to pick in.

This post made me feel better, thanks. Particularly this, which made me chuckle: "The Cavs have a Russian mummy as their center."

[kenyan_cheena]

Stephen A. Smith losing his mind over it.