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.
Tag: Knicks
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.
Payton’s New Place.
So the NBA trade deadline passed with only one mega-trade: Gary Payton for Ray Allen. I know the Glove is in his waning years, but I still think this is a great trade for Milwaukee, despite the point guard glut. GP is a out-and-out baller, and he single-handedly makes the Bucks serious contenders in the East. As for Seattle, they’re clearly calling this year off. The Knicks made no moves again, but I’m glad we didn’t pull the trigger on the rumored Spree-for-Cassell trade.
Old School Knicks, New School ESPN.
In the midst of finding the appropriate Knicks beat Lakers at home link, I discovered that ESPN.com’s gone hi-tech. I’m really not too big on registering for anything, of course, but since I’m there pretty much every day I’ll give the Motion bit its chance. Hopefully it’s more useful than the annoying Bottomline they were offering a few months ago.
Please don’t go.
George Willis of the NY Post makes the case against trading Latrell Sprewell. Amen.
Nailon the 3.
Lost in the bad news and pessimism of this election week was one glimmer of hope…at least the Knicks have lucked into a bench scorer with Lee Nailon. Gotta take heart in the little things these days.
Grounded.
The Knicks’ season ended before it began yesterday, when new acquisition Antonio McDyess reinjured his knee in an exhibition game. It’s gonna be a long year…without Farscape or a decent Knicks squad, I might as well turn off my cable.
Mormon Justice.
Scott Layden and the Knicks throw the book at Sprewell for failure to disclose his yacht party punch. Put simply, Layden is a moron. The worst thing you could do right now is separate Spree and the rest of the team. Plus, broken hand or no, Spree works hard. If you want to start throwing around exorbitant fines, why not charge holy-rollin’ model citizen Allan Houston a quarter-mil for constantly disappearing in the clutch?