The Demigod of Diction

The Knicks were trounced last night by an extremely impressive Thunder team, but at least Clyde brought his A game in the booth. He was rhyming with exquisite timing and analyzing with style and guile. Here are a few nuggets from last nights broadcast, with one particularly splendiferous sequence.

Clyde aptly described the movements of Russel Westbrook by saying he has

"feline quickness"

Clyde struggled to prounounce the name of the Thunder's starting shooting guard, turning Sefolosha into

  "Sefolosofo from switzerland"

But Clyde really outdid himself when after the half he described the Thunder D with this gem

"Swarming, harassing... Defense, byyyy the thunder as well. Omnipresent, riveting, at times impregnable! Baffling the Knicks... So they had no spontaneity, no continuity, and were just floundering on the offensive end."

Knicks humbled by dominant Thunder

This was an awful game that was painful to watch. I was preaching optimism yesterday on the Knicks realgm message board, but now I feel like an idiot.

The Thunder outclassed the Knicks by far, in every way. Intensity, effort, quickness, agility, length, defensive rotations, the Thunder were indomitable. Kevin Durant looks like a man on a mission out there and I cannot believe the way he has improved since I last saw him. He is truly a special player, a superstar in the NBA, and at only age 21...wow.

Here are some bullets. I'm putting as much effort and quality into this post as the Knicks put in last night...

• westbrook brought resounding rebounding

• durant is so long and graceful, he runs like a grayhound according to clyde

• lee complains an awful lot to the refs but can you blame him? after complaining very loudly in the 1st, about repetitive no calls on drives...very next play, foul and 1

• thunder defense is what they win with

• return of al and freedom of nate doesn't have me too happy

• durant got superstar calls on minimal contact. prob cause he is so skinny.
  
• knicks got no calls
  
• thunder defense is swarming and inpenetrable

• lee boarding hard

• rare foul trouble for the knicks, mostly due to durant

• thunder have tangible chemistry on d

• knicks down 10 after 1...it'll be ok or so i thought
  
  
• knicks no chemistry and hesitant shots

• durant swatted gallo, looks very lethargic, just slow and out of it. has he been partying?

• lee complains sometimes instead of hustling back

• duhon def sluggish, ugly ugly game

• what team is this?

• disgusting

• jeffries swishes a 3.

• wow durant just went through somewhat hard fould from wil and finished and 1. making me realize lee is not the leader/star i thought. gallo better start leading and bringing the work ethic.

• down twenty with 5 to go in third. they can comeback, they can turn it around. prob wont but im still positive
  
• they are sooooo quick long and athletic

• perhaps ambidexterity of lee confuses refs, he gets no calls

• durant swatking?

• westbrook amazing leaping ability alley oop saves collison on baseline

• david lee bricking

• durant working so hard up by 30 in 4th, on defense. amazing

• eric maynor looks great . knicks should have made that trade...dang

• harden out doing our rookie from arizona college. jealous of all that talent

Mike D’Antoni- The Man Behind the Moustache

As I was watching Mike D’Antoni give some pregame pointers on last nights MSG telecast, I came to the sudden realization that he has a pretty thick southern twang. This also made me realize that I don’t really know much about Coach D. So I did some research.



• Michael Andrew D'Antoni was born on May 8, 1951, and is from Mullens, West Virginia. This small town looks to be in the middle of nowhere, between a bunch of mountains and trees. It features a Dairy Queen, a couple pizza places, and that’s about it.

Looks like they have a Rite Aid as well

• Mike played hoops for Marshall, was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1973 NBA draft, and earned all-rookie 2nd team honors for the KC/Omaha Kings.

• He found great success upon crossing the Atlantic and heading to Olimpia Milano, where he spent 13 seasons. He played alongside the likes of Bob Mcadoo and of course the legendary Boselli twins. Unfortunately he retired a bit too early to play with Gregor “Uncle” Fučka.
• D'Antoni’s Milan team is now Armani Jeans Milan, which is also Danilo Gallinari’s former team.

• Mike is a legend in Italy, and for good reason. He won 5 Italian league titles as a player and 2 as a coach, and 2 Euroleague titles as a player. He was also named one of the Euroleague’s top 35 all time players.

• Mike is 6’3”

• Some of the most common used nicknames by Knicks fans for D’Antoni are : D’Andummy, ‘Antoni (no D). In Europe he was known as Arsene Lupin (a thief and a gentleman apparently) during his playing days, for his ball hawking abilities.

• He was an assistant of Mike Krzciewszki’s (did i spell that right, didn't check...dang nope it is actually "Krzyzewski")for Team USA, who took home gold in Beijing. Popular opinion says that all the big stars like LeBron James loved playing for the man with the mustache.

• He has the Knicks storming up the standings after starting the season 1-9. The Knicks are now on the cusp of breaking into the top 8 in the east, are playing stellar defense and smart efficient offense, and are gelling into a cohesive unit. He won the Coach of the year in 2004 and hopefully is on his way to another one this season, after the Knicks claim the 5th seed in the East.

Knicks Win Brawl with Bobcats, 97-93

The Knicks triumphed tonight in a gritty game with Larry Brown's Charlotte Bobcats, 97-93. The game was a rough and tumble affair, with the refs allowing physical play, resulting in only 18 free throws attempted between the two teams all game. The young duo of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari led the team, and Mr. Consistent, Double Trouble David Lee had his usual game. This was the type of game that used to be a loss for the Knicks, but they stayed focused, played through the Bobcat runs, and held a tight lead down the stretch. Call me crazy but I think Mike D'Antoni deserves some consideration for Coach of the Year thus far.

The Knicks future lies in Gallo, Chandler, and hopefully Lee, and they all put on a show tonight. Chandler has been playing like a star lately, and had 27 points, 7 rebounds, and tied his career high with 6 assists. He was slashing to the paint frequently and with great aplomb. The Knicks bread and butter from timeouts has been the alley-oop to Wil, and he finished one tonight in spectacular fashion.

Lee again had a double double, wait no he didn't I just assumed he did. Lee dominated the first 2 quarters, and 14 of his 22 points were before half. He only had 7 rebounds, but added some trash talking and shoving with Nazr Mohammed, as well as a lot of complaining at the refs.

Gallinari put the icing on the cake in the 4th with a couple dagger 3 pointers in the last 2 minutes. Crunch time is Rooster Time. Gallo ended up with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal. The refs also made four extremely bogus calls against him, including heinous fouls on a block and a steal attempt.

All in all the referees were dreadful, only calling fouls when nobody was actually touched , or when a player ran into his own teammate as Stephen Jackson did, and when they did call them the whistle was about 10 seconds late. They also missed a ton of blatant fouls, like when Bender got all arm on a supposed rejection of Flip Murray.

Nate Robinson led a key run to bring the Knicks back even in the 4th. With Nate percolating, the Knicks went on a 15-0 run that gave the Knicks control of the game. I like this use of Nate as a microwave to get a quick burst of offense off the bench

The Knicks are really surging up the standings now, and wins against other teams fighting for the 5-8 seed could make a huge difference down the stretch.

Here are some other thoughts on the game, bullet style.

• David Lee may be blossoming into a legitimate star. D'Antoni was mic'd up and said something like "I gotta keep you in you are the best guy we got." It's obvious but Lee said himself he needs to develop the mindset that he is a star, and the confidence that goes with it. He really came out of his shell tonight, showing lots of emotion and leading the team. He slammed home a few thunderous dunks on the night that seemed to carry a bit of a message.
• Bender threw down a dunk of his own, and had a decent showing tonight, 5 points, 4 blocks, and 5 rebounds in 18 minutes. Unfortunately he also had 3 turnovers, but you gotta take the crookeds with the straights. His presence in the paint is promising and his ups can be impressive at times.
• Marcus Landry made an early appearance, but was not very noticeable.
• Kelly Tripucka is a brilliant wordsmith. After an emphatic and electric drive and dunk from the lilliputian Nate Robinson, Kelly only took a second or two to come up with this clever quip. "NATE IS GREAT!" Pure color commentating gold.
  
• Chandler iced the game with a cool 2 free throws putting the Knicks up 4 with 13 seconds left.
• I noticed Wil's right arm is now completely covered in tats. 

This is Wil's right arm now...

This is Wil's right arm rookie year

• In the fourth quarter during a commercial Knicks' superfan The Dancing Grandpa had some sort of dance off with a fat guy and a kid with spaghetti legs. The crowd was noticeably geeked up by this. MSG sure has some great entertainment, and I always love to see The Dancing Grandpa bust a move. I couldn't find a photo of the real Dancing Grandpa, so this one will have to do.

Knicks beat Indiana D League Team

I went to the Garden last night and was treated to quite a show as the Knicks destroyed the woeful and decimated Pacers, 132-89. Yes, the Knicks won by 43 points. No, I am not talking about in NBA 2K10, this was in real life.

The Pacers starting lineup made me say "this will be the worst starting 5 in the NBA this season." and they lived up to my billing. Earl Watson, Luther Head, Mike Dunleavy, Josh McRoberts, and the Hib Dog Roy Hibbert stunk up the joint, as did the rest of the Pacers, and the Knicks got of to an early lead and never looked back. It was an early 6 PM Sunday start for the Knicks, and the Garden was packed and the crowd was roaring from the opening tip, like they sensed the spectacle that was about to unfold. Hibbert kept daring Lee to shoot, so he did, and he made them, and ended up with his expected 22 and 16. Luther Head (6'3") tried to matchup with Gallo (6'10"), who was looking to drive early and often, and played what may have been his most aggressive game to date. This newfound assertiveness was highlighted by a monstrous one handed throwdown followed by a pose for the camera. Here is the video of the highlight of Gallo's career thus far, courtesy of Big C. The Rooster was crowing, and finished with 20 points on just 9 shots, 8 rebounds, and 3 flashy assists (shoulda been one more but JJ missed a wide open layup after a no look pass from Danilo).Wilson Chandler has been great lately and had 23 points, 2 blocks, and a couple sweet alley oops. Chris Duhon was on fire, scoring 18 points and bombing 6 of 7 from downtown. Jordan Hill got to play in the 4th and looked good, stroking a few jumpers and wreaking havoc on the boards. All in all it was an incredible game that left me dumbfounded afterwards, like I would soon awake from this Knicks dream.

The Knicks should not be too thrilled with themselves, since they beat what was essentially a glorified D league team, but coming off a loss to the Nets a couple games ago, it was real nice to see the team dominate a game that they should dominate.

An interesting sidenote from this game, apparently Larry Hughes made some snippy comments about being kicked out of the rotation. He seems to think he lost his spot due to injury, which he also believes is faux pas in the NBA. I say who cares about these unwritten rules. Nate scored 41 points and led the team to victory and Hughes hasn't played well in a long time, and Coach D'Antoni can play whoever he wants. It stinks that this sour note from Hughes came after a hugely successful game that looked like it would really help the team build some chemistry. The success of the team should be the first priority, and obviously right now for Hughes it is not. I'm glad a selfish player like that is out of the lineup.

Another sidenote, I was thrilled to see AJ Price has won the backup point guard role on the Pacers, who have benched TJ Ford for some reason (maybe because he sucks). Price scored 11 points which is likely his career high. I guarded AJ in high school, and managed to hold him to a respectable 21 points if my memory serves me. My Phantoms could not beat his Amityville Warriors, who won the state title about every single year. I consider myself a defensive specialist, but one time he unleashed a wicked spin move on the fast break that spun me around, and caused me to spill to the hardwood as I tripped over my own feet.

Knicks lose to Nets...Should I Just Kill Myself?

Ok, so last night the Knicks helped the Nets snap a 10 game losing streak and win for just the third time all season. The final was 104-95, and it is just depressing that the Knicks cross river rivals were the ones to break the streak of keeping teams under 100 points that lasted 11 games. Obviously, it is very disappointing when the Knicks dominate the Pistons one night and then get crushed by the worst team in the NBA the next. Then again, who can expect any team in the NBA to win when Yi is in the opposing lineup?

Now for some bullets.

• "The Chairman" Yi was an absolute beast, an unstoppable force. He dominated the low post with numerous hookshots, and finished with 22 points on 9-16, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and a +/- of +13 which led the Nets. Combined with Brook Lopez, it was just too much height for the Knicks.
• David Lee and Brook Lopez were going at it and chatting it up all night. Lee won the statistical battle with what has been his norm lately, 24 and 15, plus he added a career high 8 assists, 2 blocks (!), and 2 steals. Nice work from the Knicks point center. Lopez was too big for Lee to handle on the other end, as he went for 21 and 14 with 4 blocks. While Lee got 14 of his 15 boards on the defensive end, half of Lopez' 14 were of the offensive variety, which really hurt the Knicks.
• Larry Hughes has been in a stupor lately, and has not been making the impact as backup point guard that he was a few weeks ago.
• Danilo had his most dreadful game of the season by my eyes. He had 3 turnovers and was 3-9 in 31 minutes. He tried a ridiculous driving, jumping, twirling behind the back pass that was easily stolen (but would have been amazing if he pulled it off). He got stripped a few times, and looked to be more sluggish than ever. I wish he would be more of a focal point of the offense, and I wish he would start to be consistently awesome instead of sporadically awesome.
• Bender still doesn't look like he can move very quickly, but he managed 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 14 minutes, so that was good.
• Duhon rained down a few early threes, which got him thinking he was actually good. How many times do we need to see Du Du airball heat check 3 point bombs after hitting a couple? Why can't he just be satisfied with nailing the good shots? Ugh. Duhon was good in the 1st and sucked majorly the rest of the game.12 points on 13 shots is far from ideal for a facilitator point guard.
• Why does Al Harrington keep attempting 3 pointers? He should take a page from Josh Smith's book and only shoot close shots. He is shooting a nice 66% at the rim (better than guys like Amare and Bosh) He is shooting 30% on 3's, and therefore should not be attempting near his current 5.4 per game. He had 25 points on 10-19 shooting last night, which is good, but he was 1-6 on 3 point attempts. I'd rather he had 22 points on 9-13...
• The Nets outplayed the Knicks. The shot well, and took more shots at the rim and less 3's than the Knicks, which made all the difference.
• The Knicks defense seems to hinge on Jared Jeffries. He is the cornerstone, the lynchpin, and as much as I want him off the books so we can be assured room to sign Lee and LeBron, I hate to imagine how much worse the team will be without him. Maybe once/if he is dealt, Jordan Hill will fill his place with energy and activity, but Jeffries plays intelligently, something Hill may not yet be capable of.
• Al Harrington doesn't seem to be all there, mentally. After stuffing Yi in the 4th quarter, you could see his heart and passion turn off his brain, as he fist pumped and cried out triumphantly. As he ran down to join the offense, you could just tell he was about to do something crazy, like maybe dunk and hang on the rim too long in celebration. This time he chose to go for an MJ'esque tomahawk slam from near the foul line, that unfortunately went awry, but at least he drew a foul. It is funny to see him get taken over by his emotions, even if the results are usually bad shots or fouls or techs.

That's all folks, hopefully next year will be better for the Knicks. See you in 2010.

Knicks Cruise to Victory Against Hapless Pistons

Great win for the Knicks tonight against the plummeting Pistons 104-87 in Detroit. David Lee was the star of the game and has been playing at superstar level for the past few games. Lee led the way with 30 points 12 rebounds and 5 assists. He scored in a variety of ways including long range jumpshots, drives starting from outside the 3 point line, layups off pick and rolls, and tip ins and put backs. D Lee was unstoppable and his 30 points came on a super efficient 13-19 shooting.

The rest of the Knicks played the part of role players and everyone seemed to chip in with a solid performance. Danilo Gallinari found his stroke and finished 4-9 on 3 pointers. Another efficient game from the Rooster, who really isn't looked to often by his teammates. Gallo also had a block. Jeffries was swarming to the ball and doing his usual routine, and did a nice job on the weak and small Pistons. He played just like you want him to, scoring 5 points on only 4 shots, with 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Wilson Chandler scored 23 points, snagged 9 rebounds, and had 3 steals and a block. Al and Duhon were quiet but efficient which is perfect.

Unfortunately Jon Bender looked shaky again, and Toney Douglas didn't show much either.

It was a rough night for Clyde the Glyde, who has been a little off his game lately if you ask me. He has been mumbling and not speaking with his usual flair and eloquency.

It was a slow game and the Knicks played equally well on offense and defense. They shot 51% and held the Pistons to 42%. The Pistons lacked an inside presence to slow down Lee, and lacked organization and flow on offense. Ben gordon was 6-9 and score 17 off the bench, and should be a starter in place of Rip Hamilton, who scored 16 points, and only took 11 more shots than Gordon.

The Knicks are showing a lot of promise for the playoffs, with David Lee really stepping up and dominating lately. His last 5 games he is averaging 22 points 15 rebounds and 4 assists and shooting 64%. The Knicks offense runs through Lee and I can't help but envision Lee and LeBron thriving together next year, but right now Lee is the clear star of the team. Good thing they resigned him!

Next up are the woeful Nets. Is it too much to ask for 2 easy wins in a row?

One Trick Rooster?

John Hollinger is a really smart basketball guy. I like reading his articles, and I like how he invented PER (player efficiency rating (duh)). I do not like how he incessantly talks smack about the Knicks and especially Gallinari.

I wrote recently about how the ESPN writers all preferred Michael Beasley over Gallinari, and how they all seemed to think Gallo is bad at defense and rebounding, and all he is good for is shooting 3's.

Hollinger talked about Danilo in his chat on espn.com today, and it showed he has probably not watched the Rooster play very much. Here is what went down in the chat:

Rotem (New York)
Do you think Gallinari should be in the 3 point contest? Also, do you think he'll be an all-star within 2 years? I do



John Hollinger (2:59 PM) I doubt Gallinari will ever be an All-Star. He's a one-trick pony but between the back and a general lack of athleticism I can't imagine him turning into a Nowitzki. I think he'd be a good choice for the 3-pt contest though.

He'd obviously be a good choice for the 3-point contest, and would no doubt win, sinking every shot, but he is not a one trick pony!!! He is a multi-trick Rooster! Let's list his tricks.

1. Obviously, his number one trick is the 3 ball. Struggling as of late but still is at 40% this month. Pretty good for a slump.
2. Newsflash. Gallo is a shot blocker. He is averaging 1.3 blocks per game this month, and 1.2 per 40 minutes on the year (.3 above league average).
   
3. Gallo draws fouls nearly every time he puts the ball on the floor. He gets to the line a decent amount, but also gets teams in the penalty quicker by drawing non shooting fouls a ton. As he gains experience and confidence I am sure his and 1 opportunities will increase dramatically.
   
4. The Rooster is a solid rebounder. It is tough to get a lot of boards when David Lee is sucking them all up, but Danilo has shown a fierce side on the glass, and is getting over 6 rebounds per 40 minutes, which is a lot considering how much time he is on the perimeter.
   
5. He is a pesky and tough defender. He may be a step slow on closeouts, but he has shown the ability to stay in front of speedy point guards, using his length and savvy well.
   
6. He is starting to show the midrange game. This is an area where Danilo can really utilize his size advantage to get easy buckets. Maybe Mike D'Antoni can give him some more looks curling off screens toward the elbow or picking and popping like David Lee.
   
7. He can drive by you and slam it on you.
   
8. He can sing!
   

Of course Gallinari can be an all star. He will probably finish this season averaging about 18 points per game, and will likely eclipse 20 ppg next year and be a 50/40/90 player. But Hollinger doesn't even think he is as good as a young Peja Stojakovic.

HeathMalc (Cleveland,Oh)
Gallinari=Peja



John Hollinger (3:01 PM)
As a young player, Peja was great at moving w/o the ball and a better rebounder than people realized. Gallo can't touch him in those phases.

Ok John...Peja's best rebounding year was 03-04, when he averaged 6.2 rebounds over 40 minutes per game. Gallo is currently averaging 5 rebounds in 30 minutes. Gallo is used to being on the ball so his off ball movement could use some work, but it is undeniable he has been getting more involved as the season progresses.

Just stop with the one trick pony stereotyping of Gallo and watch him play a little.

Knicks play the Pistons tonight, and hopefully Gallo will be matched up with fellow 6'10" handsome, young. hair gel loving European Jonas Jerebko, who hails from Sweden (google image search Jonas Jerebko...the third result is a picture of Gallo)

.

How Dwyane Wade Stole Christmas

You're a mean one Mr. Wade.

Dwyane Wade ruined my Christmas yesterday (not really I still had a wonderful time with my family), scoring 30 points, and many crucial buckets down the stretch to down the Knickerbockers by a score of 93-87. Wade was unstoppable slashing to the lane, and it seems like his jumper always starts falling once the 4th quarter starts. He hit some tough shots and showed why you need a superstar to win in the NBA.

The game was physical, ugly, and surely brought back plenty of memories of the knock down drag out wars that used to be routine between these two teams. The refs played a major role in the game also, giving Wade the unfortunately expected superstar calls, including one play where he shoved David Lee as hard as he could while chasing after a loose ball, and Lee was called for the foul. Heinous calls and no calls were frequent. And refs please stop calling travelling on Gallinari, just because he is gangly and goofy doesn't mean he is breaking the rules.

Al Harrington also played his part in the loss, shooting woefully and frequently. This guy has to stop bombing so many 3 pointers. He was 0-7 from deep and has been shooting an amazing percentage this season from close range. Al should play to his strengths and stop launching.

As part of the pre game media coverage, a bunch of ESPN analysts were asked which soph they would rather have, Danilo or Michael Beasley. Everyone picked Beasley, and they all seemed to think the Rooster is a one trick pony. A gunner, a shooter, a one dimensional player who is bad at defense. Maybe Gallo was trying to prove a point yesterday, as he shot a sub par 3-11 from downtown, but still managed 26 points on 18 shots. Everybody should know that Gallo is a versatile player, far more versatile than Super Cool Beas, who is shooting um, 20 percent on 3 pointers and is widely known to be a pitiful defender. Beasley impressed yesterday though, scoring 19 points, but Danilo won that argument. 8 rebounds and 3 assists also for the Rooster, who played nearly the whole game, logging a team high 43 minutes.He also wore some nice (hideous) Green Christmas shoes.

David Lee is on the verge of becoming a star in the league. He put up his normal double double, with 19 and 16, and any player who has an average game and scores 19 and boards 16 should be an all star. Lee nailed the outside jumper, banged down low, and worked his magic with the right and the left. His defense on the nearly 7 foot Jermaine O'neal was a little rough, but it must be tough to close out on a 7 foot jump shooter with a high release when you are 6'9".

Q-Rich reminded the Garden faithful what he's all about, going 1-7 on 3 pointers. Wilson Chandler was the only other Knick besides Lee and Rooster who played well, netting 15 points on 11 shots. Bender looks like he may have been a flash in the pan. He seems to want to be a go to scorer instead of the role player he is. He should stick to the corner 3 and stop turning it over every dribble drive. Knicks fans chanted we want Nate a lot throughout the game, because I guess they thought we needed to give the heat some easy baskets.

The loss snapped a six game home winning streak, which will hopefully start anew against the Spurs tomorrow at the Garden. I will likely be in attendance (if you have tickets you need to sell, let me know) with my best friend and newly converted Knicks fan, Connor, who is visiting for the holidays from sunny Santa Monica. It would be nice for the Knicks to hit more than 18 percent of their 3 pointers. Come on Knicks, do it for Connor.

Hope you all managed to enjoy Christmas even though the Knicks couldn't pull off the victory. At least they are playing hard and competing every game. The defense has been solid and the playoffs look like a serious possibility if the team keeps up the hard nose play and if they can just hit a few more treys. Just think, next Christmas we will be watching the marquee matchup, Knicks vs. Lakers, LeBron vs. Kobe. What a present that would be.

Merry Knicksmas

Hi everybody. Just wanted to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas. Santa comes tonight but I'm more excited for the game against the Heat tomorrow. I already got some great gifts (Knicks Lakers tix!), but all I want for Christmas is a Knickerbocker W. It is a rare national broadcast for the Knicks, and a chance for the team to show the ignorant people out there that they are a force to be reckoned with in the NBA. And everybody knows Christmastime is Rooster Time!

Ho Ho Ho and Cockadoodle doo.

P.S. sorry for not recapping the last couple games. I watched them but decided to take a little holiday from the blog. Tomorrow I'll have a recap up soon after the game. Let's go Knicks.

Lay off the Pringles Man

A lot of hate is being tossed around toward Mike D'Antoni after the past 2 crushing losses. In the words of Michael Jackson in South Park, "that's ignorant"
Here's how I feel about it:

Everyone acts like it is easy to take a crappy team and turn it into gold. Rome wasn't built in a day ya know. The Knicks just don't have enough talent to consistently win. Look at the good teams in the NBA...The Lakers have Kobe, Pau, Bynum, Artest, and Odom who are all better than any single Knick player. The Magic have Howard, Lewis, Carter, and Nelson, who would all be upgrades for the Knicks. Boston has Allen, Rondo, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins. The Suns have Nash, J-Rich, Stoudemire. The Hawks have Johnson, Horford, Smith, Crawford. I mean just about every team who is successful just flat out has loads more talent than the Knicks. It's a fact of life right now we have to deal with.

Remember a few years ago when Celtics fans thought Doc Rivers was the worst coach in the NBA? Now he is a god there, ever since he happened upon acquiring KG and Ray Allen. D'Antoni was a coaching legend in Phoenix thanks to Nash, Amare and Co, now he is hated by Knicks fans for not putting a good product out there. Talent makes a coach, coaches don't win games, the players do, and the Knicks don't have enough.

There just aren't many things for Donnie Walsh and D'Antoni to do right now. The most sound plan is to hope to get LeBron. What other ways do you know of to instantly turn a bad team into a contender? Sure they could have been better if they signed Sessions, and maybe they made a mistake in the draft this year. The thing is the Knicks have repeatedly gone for the quick fix, like Marbury or Curry or Randolph or whatever, and it hasn't worked, so no we have to be patient and if LeBron does sign, everybody is happy and Walsh is a genius and I'm sure D'Antoni will have better success utilizing the King than Mike Brown in Cleveland.

I don't like people acting like there is a clear, quick, easy and surefire fix that D'Antoni and Walsh are missing. There isn't one. The team is not good enough, but they are still my team so I cheer, hope for wins, have discussions about what should be done, enjoy the glimpses of Gallo's star potential, etc. Just don't blindly bash the team you supposedly love when there aren't any real solutions right now.

And if you think Nate Robinson is the solution, well "that's just ignorant."

Knicks shoot themselves out of a Win

I don't really want to talk about what happened last night. The Bulls sagged on defens and conceded the 3, and the Knicks were happy to go along with the plan. They shot a franchise record 3 point attempts, and missed a lot. The team attempted more 3's than 2's. I'm flabbergasted.

For the first time in his career Danilo had a very bad game. He was lazily chucking threes for the first three quarters before he turned it on in the 4th. He did end up with 18 points on 17 shots, but was a team worst -22. I was not happy last night. Is he hurt? Is he just sore and tired from what is essentially his rookie season? I hope this was just a fluke bad game but the rooster did not have any pep in his step.

The whole team lacked pep, and maybe it is because only 6 guys played major minutes. Maybe Coach D'Antoni should look at the way Taj gibson and the rest of the Bulls reserves outplayed the Knicks regulars. Is it time to expand the rotation and give Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill some more playing time? Judging by how fatigued the guys looked last night, I think the gameplan might need a little tweaking.

Tonight the Blake Griffinless Clippers come to town for Friday Night Knicks, and as always, let's hope for a big win to get the Knickerbockers back on track. That would be a huge help in forgetting the travesty we watched last night.