Category: Knicks

The Sprewell Era Ends.


ESPN is reporting as breaking news that the Knicks have basically traded Sprewell for Keith Van Horn in a 4-player deal (Latrell goes to the T-Wolves, Terrell Brandon goes to the Hawks, Glenn Robinson goes to the Sixers.) While this emphatically makes Minnesota a better team (particularly with Sam Cassell and Michael Olowokandi also joining KG), I can’t say I’m very happy about what’s happened to the Knickerbockers. Spree was the only high-octane guy on a team of one-dimensional choke artists…it’s going to be really hard to root for a team fronted by Van Horn and Houston.

You can’t teach height.

While the NBA draft this year was slower than usual and surprisingly free of interesting trades (with the exception of Cassell to Minnesota, which happened the next day), I thought the Knicks did reasonably well this year. The Sweetney pick at No. 9 was a terrible, Laydenesque call, but picking up the free-falling seven-footer Maciej Lampe at No. 30 sounds like a steal (presuming his contract negotiations work out.) The 7’4″ Slavko Vranes sounds like a decent second-round choice too, far better than Frederic Weis at any rate. Now the question facing Knicks fans is how the trade winds will blow.

Van Gundy to Gund?

Mike Fratello notwithstanding, it appears that TNT continues to be the best place for basketball coaches to spend time between gigs. A week after Danny Ainge joined the Celtics, the cellar-dweller Cleveland Cavaliers ask New York if they can speak to Jeff Van Gundy. Hiring Van Gundy would be a great move for Cleveland, but I’d think he’d want a more high-profile and talent-laden club. (Of course, they might always get LeBron…) Ah well. I still wish Van Gundy had never left the Knicks. (As for playoff news, Chris Webber’s injury has greatly depressed me, but I’ll stick with my earlier picks for now.)

Wait ‘Til Next Year.

True to form, the Knicks lost their final game of the season last night 109-93, and will be watching the playoffs on TV for the second year in a row. I dunno…obviously, it would’ve been nice to see them sneak into the 8-spot, but given the preseason injury to McDyess, I’d say the Knickerbockers pretty much overachieved this year. Hopefully a lucky lottery bounce and a rebuilt Dice can put the Knicks back in contention come 2004. As for the playoffs, they should be quite interesting this year, particularly in the West…I’ll post predictions sometime in the next few days.

Make Baskets, Not War.

In happier news, the brackets have been set for the NCAA tourney beginning next week, which means I have some thinking to do. I caught the opening day of the Big East tournament last week at the Garden, but none of the eight teams I saw made the Big Dance. So, as per usual, when it comes to filling out the bracket, I’m basically flying blind, particularly as my attention has been more spent following the up and down fortunes of the Knickerbockers. In fact, in my first-ever Knicks home game at the Garden (I’d previously seen them a number of times in DC and Boston), I got to see Allan Houston go for 50. Might be too little, too late, but at least it made for a memorable evening.

Last Chances and Big Dances.

Sports Update: The NBA playoff train is leaving the station, and – starting tonight – the Knicks have their last chance to get on board. They’re currently four games out of the eight seed, but they’re coming up on three very winnable games against Memphis, Atlanta, and Milwaukee (a must-win, although the Bucks, currently holding the eight spot, still have to face the Spurs twice more.) On the college side, I’ll be going to catch the first round of the Big East Tournament tomorrow at the Garden, which will be my last chance to bone up on my bracketology before the Big Dance starts next week. Update: In an early pick, Hunter takes Kentucky. Update 2: Well, that didn’t take long. Ah well. Hopefully the Knickerbockers will get a good bounce in the lottery.

So Long, Big Fella.

The Knicks honor their 15-year man in the pivot as Patrick Ewing’s 33 is retired tonight at the Garden. Despite the diatribes by Jordan-jocking naysayers like David Halberstam, Ewing was truly one of the greats, along with Hakeem the best center of his generation. If Johnny Starks hadn’t stunk up Game 7 in ’94 or if David Stern hadn’t gotten suspension-happy in ’97 after PJ Brown (of the Heat) attacked Charlie Ward, we wouldn’t even be hearing all this no-title nonsense every time Pat’s name comes up. Ah well…I just wish Ewing could’ve finished his career in NY. However bad he looked in those last two seasons in Seattle and Orlando, he could’ve brought more to the Garden every night than Glen Rice and Luc Longley ever did…and we wouldn’t be saddled now with overpaid, underachieving players like Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley. At any rate, so long, big fella. It’s your night. Update: Thanks to some triple-double heroics by Spree, the Knicks won in double OT on Ewing’s night. Other than the somewhat tacky gift of a 2003 Humvee, a nice night all around.