Record: 1-5
The Knicks lost to the Cavs last night in a 9 point blowout. The score is a lie, and LeBron's blitzkrieg in the first quarter left no doubt and no hope for the Knickerbockers. LeBron was untoppable, doing his best Kobe impression, hitting one contested midrange jumper after another. As was to be expected, LBJ was determined to put on a show, and would have easily outdone last years performance at the Garden if the Knicks would have been able to keep the game at least somewhat competitive. Still, 32 points from only 17 shots, 9 assists and 8 rebounds was not too shabby for the King.
The Knicks actually played LeBron well, not letting him get to the rim and keeping him off the line, but the offense just didn't work. The ball movement and flowing offense that I saw in the 1st half against the Pacers and in the victory against the Hornets, was gone. Instead the team went back to the plan of bombing 3's (28% on 8-28) and taking long contested out of rhythm deep 2's. Chris Duhon and Al Harrington struggled the most for the Knicks, shooting a combined 5 for 20. David Lee, Danilo Gallinari, and Larry Hughes both played well, going 21 for 40 all together, but the Knicks had no chance and everybody knew it. Predictably, the Knicks semi-came-back in the 4th quarter, cut the deficit to 9, the crowd started paying attention, but nobody actually thought they would come all the way back.
The game had 2 main highlights for me. First was Danilo Gallinari singing Beyonce's "Halo" to Al Harrington on the jumbotron in a player karaoke segment. Not only can he shoot, he can sing too! The second was Kevin Rudolf's halftime performance. Not because it was good, it was the most terrible live performance I have ever seen, and maybe the worst of all time. The New York fans, frustrated with their team, and not afraid to speak their mind, mercilessly booed this so called artist. Check out the video, it was a great moment of a group of strangers coming together for a common cause.
I can feel my optimism waning every time I watch the team. There is a war waging between my head and my heart, and each dreadful performance is a crushing blow to the heart. My brain is shouting "The Knicks don't have enough talent to compete with teams like the Pacers and Bobcats on a nightly basis, how can they ever expect to be in a game with teams that are actually good? It is not optimism to believe the Knicks will win their next game, it is delirium. The Knicks are losing right now by 30 in the 3rd quarter TO THE BUCKS! The GM passed on an uber talented point guard in Brandon Jennings to pick a confused and awkward Power Forward which happens to be one of the only positions that the Knicks actually have a starting caliber player!"
But the heart is resilient, and fights back with admittedly weaker arguments, "Jordan Hill was 3-5 on two long jump shots and a nice pick and roll layup last night. Gallinari is a rising superstar who just needs more touches and more opportunities to shine. Nate Robinson, arguably one of the Knicks best players, has been out the last few games. Mike D'Antoni just needs to figure out the right rotations. Maybe the team is just in a flukey collective shooting slump. The team won 32 games last year, how could they have gotten worse when they added Darko, Hill, Douglas, and a healthy Rooster? And finally, it's a long season, it's still early, give it time."
Right now I am very upset. The Knicks are a bad team. But I remain steadfastly hopeful. They could get hot from deep and go on a 5 game winning streak. They could win 10 of 12. None of this is likely, but it is undoubtedly possible. Let's embrace hope, cheer on the team, and see what happens. At least we can do a little witnessing of our own, watching The Rooster crow his way to becoming the best 3 point shooter of all time.
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