Witness: a reality check
LeBron seemed to enjoy being the object of affection tonight at the Garden. As much as he would discourage his own talk of 2010 and how it's two years away, he also made sure to encourage others to keep the fire burning in the meantime.
"If you guys want to sleep and not wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead," he said, "because it is going to be a big day."
It's going to be a long wait.
You can't entirely judge the Knicks awful performance against the Cavs. The trades made to get the cap-space to be in the game for LeBron in 2010 also stripped them of their leading scorers and they are now a team without bona fide go-to scorers. And, as we saw, they still can not defend.
Is it really pointless to break down too much from this game because the Knicks are essentially starting over.
What is more important is the injury to Nate Robinson (groin strain), which happened in the second quarter. Nate said he heard a pop which is never a good thing. For someone who relies on speed and explosiveness, a groin injury is a major concern. I would expect that Nate will be out for Wednesday's game in Detroit and even if he does play he won't be anywhere near full speed.
Of course that brings us to the issue that just keeps coming back: ol' No. 3.
Cuttino Mobley is still out. The Knicks, as we expected, waived the physical just to allow the trade to go through, but Mobley has another week to deal with some extra tests and consultations about an apparent heart issue that was discovered in his physical with the Knicks.
Right now, with Mobley and Robinson out, the Knicks are down to two guards - Chris Duhon and Anthony Roberson. And, of course, Stephon Marbury, who has already once before declined -- see I used "declined" instead of "refused" -- to play when the Knicks were shorthanded. Will Mike D'Antoni go to Steph a second time before the game against the Pistons and ask him to play? Will Marbury once again refu- I mean decline to play?
Will it even matter at this point, considering that Marbury is about as sharp as a marble after going almost a full month without playing in a game?
I was standing in the Garden before the game Tuesday night talking with Newsday columnist Johnette Howard as we discussed the collection of story angles that dominated the evening -- LeBron and Cuttino's physical. And then I turned to her and said, "So how does Stephon Marbury becomes a story by the end of the night? Because you know he will."
Sure enough....
* * * *
This is a brutal back-to-back situation. I wanted to update the blog on the Mobley situation but I was sitting in traffic on the LIE when the Knicks officially completed the deal. By the time I got to the Garden it was the usual pregame mixer of meet-n-greets. Had to check in with Wally Szczerbiak to see how his dad, Walt, was doing after a recent medical procedure. Wally said Dad was fine and as I tried to continue the conversation I realized I had wandered into the Cavs locker room before it was open to media. Oops.
There were agents and celebrities -- check out Spike Lee talking about the 2010 plan to our guy Hot Rod Boone in Wednesday's print edition -- and everyone else to check in with before LeBron's pregame press conference.
And now a late night at the Garden comes to an end (it's 2 a.m. and I'm still awake) and next is an early flight to Detroit for the annual Thanksgiving Eve game at Auburn Hills. Back on Thursday just in time for turkey.
I'll check in from Day-twah tomorrow. Gotta catch me a Z...
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Comments (22)
So it appears we're back to 23 wins - or even less! So what does Baby James do?
1. Trade every Knick that makes serious money for the next two years? After all you can't go too far under the cap!
2. Give free food at every game for the next two years to every sucker -- er fan - in appreciation!
3. Play the Knicks City Dancers (topless) in place of the Knicks! Just think how much that will save in salaries -- unless Marbury convinces them to file sexual HER-ASS-ment suits and testifies how he bedded the whole squad!
4, As a last resort Baby Dollan could give free admission to all fans to every game for the next two years!
BTW: King James will make $32 Million more by staying with the Cavs then he would make with the Knick Cav-NOTS, so why would he come here? It wold only be because he wants to be mishandled by Baby James - the way Marbury, Sprewell and so many other masochists have enjoyed being abused!
Old Knick Fan, you don't sound like a Knick fan. You sound like a bitter Old Man. 2 years from now don't come with some ol' "I've been a Knick supporter all along". I know you will though, just like the rest of the Fair Weather's. Shout out to all the true Knick fans who hold their head and keep an eye on the light in this dark age. That means you Alan, you have been a pillar for us. Thanks for your hard work. Tell these fools to keep their garbage ideas on Marc Bermans bull sh** blog where all the garbage belongs.
MSG,
Home of the St John's College Hoop team.
There's also some other Pro team that plays there.
That pro team will win 14-18 games. D'Antoni
can take the NY pressure. Pray that Walsh
hires someone to Pick our #1 draft pick.
Rick Rubio? That kid can't throw a rock
in the Ocean. But..he fits right in with
this team.
Most of you refuse to believe it not the best thing that can happen to this franchise is another 23 win season and another high lottery pick. What exactly is the point of winning 35-38 wins and getting the 8th seed? Boston would sweep and win every game by 20 anyway. How is that experience going to help current players on the team, that most likely won't be here past 2010 anyway?
King James says winning is what is most important to him. Donnie Walsh needs to pile up talent and the Draft Lottery is the best way to do so when you have unwated and rented players.
Jamal Crawford is a good guy who each year got to be a better player. Zach Randolph fit in with the Knick's new system and was the leading scorer and rebounder. The Knicks were looking good under the new system. Finally relief for the starving Knick fans who waited so long!
What was the rush to clear salary cap? Why not wait for better trades as the trading deadline approaches? Baby James needs more spending cash - or is it time for another sexual harassment payoff?
Marbury is getting $22 Million to do nothing. Jerome James barely plays a game or two a season for $6 Million per. Eddie Curry is earning big bucks for doing nothing.
The Knicks are still poorly run. And now its wait two years to see progress. How many 23 win seasons do we need to have?
I am a Knick fan and am disappointed. don't tell me what to think or say. Just because I don't agree with you, don't say I am not!
Cable(Blindness) are you Baby James Dolan? You seem like the moron who threw Knick fans out of MSG "the world's most dysfunctional arena," for holding up "fire Isiah" posters and paid Isiah and all the morons you hired before him to overpay the lazy misfits and slackers.
There has not been a good coach after Jeff Van Gundy, until now and the Knicks mismanagement sends our two best scorers away for a man with a heart problem, a never was and a never will-be.
Tim Thomas was never as good as Van Horn who we traded for him the first time and never will be.
IMHO: Now we have just as much a shot of making the playoffs this year as Marbury has of buying the Knicks and Jerome James has of making the all-star team.
Jamal Crawford is a good guy who each year got to be a better player. Zach Randolph fit in with the Knick's new system and was the leading scorer and rebounder. The Knicks were looking good under the new system. Finally relief for the starving Knick fans who waited so long!
What was the rush to clear salary cap? Why not wait for better trades as the trading deadline approaches? Baby James needs more spending cash - or is it time for another sexual harassment payoff?
Marbury is getting $22 Million to do nothing. Jerome James barely plays a game or two a season for $6 Million per. Eddie Curry is earning big bucks for doing nothing.
The Knicks are still poorly run. And now its wait two years to see progress. How many 23 win seasons do we need to have?
I am a Knick fan and am disappointed. don't tell me what to think or say. Just because I don't agree with you, don't say I am not!
Cable(Blindness) are you Baby James Dolan? You seem like the moron who threw Knick fans out of MSG "the world's most dysfunctional arena," for holding up "fire Isiah" posters and paid Isiah and all the morons you hired before him to overpay the lazy misfits and slackers.
There has not been a good coach after Jeff Van Gundy, until now and the Knicks mismanagement sends our two best scorers away for a man with a heart problem, a never was and a never will-be.
Tim Thomas was never as good as Van Horn who we traded for him the first time and never will be.
IMHO: Now we have just as much a shot of making the playoffs this year as Marbury has of buying the Knicks and Jerome James has of making the all-star team.
Yes we want to pick high in the lottery.
But, it sucks to watch losers for another two years. And the Knicks don't have a first round draft pick in 2010.
So should they let everyone go? Lee, Nate, Chandler? What will they have in two years, just cap room and a bunch of stiffs?
you think they will attract LeBron by paying him $35 million dollars less and having players like Tim Thomas?
Yes we want to pick high in the lottery.
But, it sucks to watch losers for another two years. And the Knicks don't have a first round draft pick in 2010.
So should they let everyone go? Lee, Nate, Chandler? What will they have in two years, just cap room and a bunch of stiffs?
you think they will attract LeBron by paying him $35 million dollars less and having players like Tim Thomas?
Getting under the salary cap was just the first step. More changes are to be made. Walsh wants to keep Chandler, Nate and Lee. Let me turn the tables on you. You think a Cris Bosh, and Steve Nash won't attract Lebron? Stop being so negative.
After the first 13 games, I was excited again.
All of you 2010 people say what you want, but it felt good for the first time in years to get some wins and see the team working together. We had 2 Bonafide scorer and a huge rebounder.
Maybe the right moves were made
But this is gonna suck. I dont want to watch 2 more years of garbage.
This team isn't going to be as bad as last night. Even with Jamal and Zach we struggled against good teams and wouldn't have beaten the Cavs. They are too big and Lebron was hot from the outside. Until Curry comes back we just lack size.
I have never seen such fluctuating emotions. People have gone from praising this team's heart after the Wiz game to saying we are a 14-18 win team. The truth is, when we finally get Mobley back, and Thomas and Harrington some practices we will be a better defensive team. There was no point in keeping Zach and Crawford and winning 35 games. I wish we could have gotten some draft picks as well but at least we have cap space. Now it is on D'Antoni to make it gel. We have been begging for a rebuilding plan in NY, now we have one. Yes we will get blown out some nights and may win 5 less games but who cares. As long as the team is competitive this year in every game and make the playoffs next year it was worth it, unless you think we were winning a championship with Crawford and Zach. I was against the 2010 plan because I thought it would make us less competitive, but the players we brought in are not that bad and D'Antoni is a much better coach than I imagined.
@ Sergio, I would agree with you on losing and getting good draft picks, but, after Danillo I don't trust Walsh to pick out a value meal. We need a GM to do our next draft otherwise it will be another Danillo/Duhon offseason disaster. Donnie brought in some good guys into the front office but we still don't have a GM. And isn't Duhon's inconsistency maddening. Told ya!!
Wow. Lots of negativity.
I can't say I don't understand the disappointment in seeing the team lose. It was an absolute slaughter last night. I had the team pegged for 36 W's at the beginning of the season, but that total went right out the window after last friday.
However, I don't think the next two years are going to be a total waste. I think just this year is a throw away.
As some people have astutely pointed out, we still have our first round draft pick at the end of this season and NOT playing to have a high pick would be an absolute travesty and a total hindrance to our rebuilding attempt. Making the playoffs this year would be pointless. It would only be to get swept out of the first round.
At the end of next season, however, our first round pick is gone. And that's probably a good thing. The loss of that pick leaves no reason for us not to have a competitive team that is gunning for the playoffs. This would provide great confidence to the players on the team and make NY all the more attractive to the free agents (yes, that's plural) we want.
So am I disappointed about this seasons loss? Of course. Any Knick fan would be. I mean, who WANTS to see their team lose? However, I am seeing a bigger picture being painted and, man-oh-man... I cannot wait to see it finished.
Guess it's the nature of sports, but take a step back for just a second.
They have 3 new players, haven't practiced together, and looked flat and uncoordinated against a perrenial playoff team with the league's best player.
Relax just a little. This loss isn't at all validation that the 2010 plan won't work. Give it some time, and D'Antoni will have these serviceable NBA players playing serviceable NBA ball. They'll get their 35 wins, flirt with the 8th seed, and be good enough by next year to attract big name free agents.
K4L-
Against whom are you comparing Duhon's consistency as a player? Reggie Miller? Everyone has off nights, and Duhon is far from the most inconsistent player on this team. I don't understand why everyone hates this guy for ridiculous reasons like, "He's no 'Steve Nash'". Even if he's PLAYING inconsistently at times, his ATTITUDE is stable, and he's the strongest leader we've had on this squad in years.
I know he's not an all-star but give the guy a break. He's on a new team, new coach, new system and he's lead the team to .500 basketball through fourteen games. That's more than we can say for the starting PG we had the last four seasons. People need to stop living and dying by every game. You're going to keel over.
No need to compare Duhon and Marbury, I like Duhon better than Steph. I just want us to upgrade at PG before 2010. And Duhon is not the reason why this team is playing .500 basketball. That .500 record is suspect too based on who we have played thus far. Point is, Duhon is not the starting PG for a winning team, which is where we want to go. He is better than I could have hoped for, but I expected him to be Hubert Davis so that isn't saying much.
What does Reggie Miller have to do with anything? Who is comparing him to Steve Nash? Look at Duhon's performances vs. good teams/good PGs. Is this who you want in the playoffs next year leading your team? Ride or Die with Duhon, see how far he gets you. If you don't want consistency from your PG then you really aren't trying to win.
I CANNOT understand the logic of some of you so-called Knick fans commenting here, complaining about getting rid of Randolph and Crawford after we had started winning. WOW, i am SOO upset that we won't be an 8th seed now! That's ALL we were going to be with randolph and crawford. Both players are marginal, but their lack of defense and how they both seem to love playing one-on-one means they will NEVER be on a championship winner. So you Knick fans would prefer to be a perenial 8th seed now and watch the 2010 FA class pass us by over losing for the next two years then having the opportunity to start a DYNASTY by bringing in two superstars? Forget Lebron, even if he doesn't decide to be a FA, there will still be a TON of other stars who will be. If we add them to our nucleus of Chandler, Gallo, Lee AND our 2009 first rounder, the Knicks could be a championship contender, instead of a perennial 8th seed.
Jeez, some of you "fans" need to pull your head out of your a$$.
You took 6-5 wayyyyyyyyyyy too seriosuly. Look who they beat. The Crawful/Randolph Knicks wouldn't have made the Playoffs, those losers would have led them to another 30 wins.
Keep shipping them out Donnie, 8th seed and out don't excite me any. Lottery pick would be great, since next year's pick is unprotected.
Next step is to get Curry in there and rehabilitate him, then ship him out. Let's face it, the youngsters Chandler, Lee, Nate, Gallo are the only ones worth keeping an eye on and let them get plenty of playing time to develop.
Maybe this is the moment of truth with Steph ... if Nate is out of any length of time.
I agree Ray. We need to build Curry back up. It's one thing to eat a few contracts and take a few uneven trades (BTW, has any team ever received two more lopsided deals than the Clippers with Camby for a 2nd rounder, and Randolph for Thomas and Mobley!), but let's stop giving people away. Eat Marbury and James already, then rehab Curry and Jeffries and find a good deal for them.
Duhan is not as bad as people are saying. He is much better than I thought he would be.
He is a capable passer and defender who is often able to hit the three.
Not Steve Nash, but good enough to win a championship with the right players around him.
Perhaps the Knicks have the right plan. But they are awful to watch at times. We shall see.
"This is a brutal back-to-back situation. I wanted to update the blog on the Mobley situation but I was sitting in traffic on the LIE when the Knicks officially completed the deal. By the time I got to the Garden it was the usual pregame mixer of meet-n-greets. Had to check in with Wally Szczerbiak to see how his dad, Walt, was doing after a recent medical procedure. Wally said Dad was fine and as I tried to continue the conversation I realized I had wandered into the Cavs locker room before it was open to media. Oops."
Who cares about excuses?
Where I come from, there are three reasons:
Yes, I succeeded
No, I failed.
No, no excuses, sir.
If you wish to make excuses, it only shows your weakness.
If your bosses wish to accept those excuses and still employ you, it only shows their foolishness.
This reader could care less if your entire family was killed. Do your job successfully or resign.
Just can the excuses.
Crawford was a notorious Cav Killer we missed him last night.Im firmly behind the 2010 plan .But we are gonna be a lot worse before we get better .
The weirdest thing to me is reading things about how Zach and Crawford were not winning players ? Well we never really found out because we blamed them for the past few years even though we know see we were horribly mismanaged and the benefit of dealing with marbury.I dont think its a fluke that they were doing well under D'antoni .I think it was showing how we wasted our talent the past few years .
Lee and Nate are in their 4th years and we are saying lets wait a couple more years before winning and that its okay .So if we resign them and we wait 2 more seasons and they are in year 6th without a playoff appearance does that mean they are not winning players. .
The players brought in came from a 2-10 squad and one wasnt playing at all due to basically not liking the coach . I dont see how we should expect anything at ll from them. They couldnt deliver with better players than we have now ion smaller roles now we want to expand their roles and hope for improvement.
Im gonna make note of my post and Im gonna revisit this exactly one year from now on thanksgiving eve and see if thinks are working in our favor .I pray it does .