This Season's Turning Point: Now
by Seth on Dec 4, 2008 2:57 PM EST
in Miscellaneous
32 comments
Last night's 46 point loss to Cleveland was an example of a severely weakened team running into a monstrous opponent, thus forming a perfect storm of suck. After gutting through a couple games, and even nearly robbing the Blazers in New York, the Knicks completely broke down. They've got some excuses, though. Chris Duhon's been playing league-leading minutes on a sore back and a tender ankle, and it finally caught up to him (incidentally, the same day I procured for him the most beautiful of serenades, that ungrateful punk). The 6'9'' (on a good day) David Lee is essentially playing both frontcourt positions while the rest of the "big men" are injured or chilling on the perimeter. Against Cleveland's 7-footers, Lee just can't hang. The team as a whole has played eight deep, and that includes Malik Rose and Anthony Roberson getting meaningful time. The garbage lineup includes multiple starters. Assistant coaches are needed to fill out practice scrimmages. The Knicks are thin at every position and running on fumes against top-tier teams, so it's hard to blame them.
Starting Friday, those excuses will run out. Tomorrow begins a 5-game stretch that could keep the Knicks afloat or put them under for good.
At least they'll be dealt a better hand. Nate Robinson and Jared Jeffries are expected to return by this weekend, providing some reinforcement off the bench, while Cuttino Mobley's potential retirement might open a spot for a healthy body pretty soon. Furthermore, outside of the Pistons, the upcoming opponents range from terrible to beatable. The Knicks have a decent opportunity to win 3 or 4 of their next 5, and they'll need to do just that. Heading into Mike D'Antoni's 12/15 return to Phoenix and an unfortunate visit with the Lakers the very next evening, New York's gotta still be somewhere around .500. If not, the Knicks may return at Christmas several games under. If you've been around here long enough, you know that falling that far may very well put the season beyond repair.
This season currently hangs in the balance, but we'll have a much clearer sense of our fate within the upcoming weeks. Either the Knicks hang on tight, or we'll have another trip to the lottery all but locked up by New Year's. Anything, my friends, can happen.
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anything is better than a lockout
cuttino mostly and the (current) one-who-will-not-be-named could free up some spots fairly soon.
enter: p-ew junior and………mutumbo?
by stingy d on Dec 4, 2008 3:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Right and Wrong
Seth, you’re right that the next five games or so are going to have a big effect on the rest of the season.
I wish I could share your optimism when you say “The Knicks have a decent opportunity to win 3 or 4 of their next 5” however.
With the possible exception of the Kings game, don’t you figure that the Knicks are going to be underdogs for all five of those games? I suppose they still have a “decent opportunity,” but not much more than a puncher’s chance of winning 3 or 4 of those games.
by Serious Garbage Time on Dec 4, 2008 4:08 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
we SHOULD
be able to baet chicago, sacramento, and new jersey. not that it would be easy. but those teams are definitely beatable given the current construction of our team. this is me assumign robinson is back and no more getting hurt for anyone.
by stingy d on Dec 4, 2008 4:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Road
Win three straight on the road? It’ll be a while before I believe we should do that.
It sure would be nice though.
by Serious Garbage Time on Dec 4, 2008 4:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
any sentence that contains the words
“Knicks” and “should win” hasn’t had any legitimacy since Patrick Ewing was traded.
Ewing with the step...YES! and the foul!
by Anthony Masons Haircut on Dec 5, 2008 6:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
ok look
“should” + “win”
i meant should contain the capacity to contend for the win.
be able to… or…. have the ability that which is: the chance to win.
all i really meant was we should be able to be competitive at the end. and obviously that depends on if we come to play or not and do we have enough healthy bodies. whatever though. you guys are right. i’m rooting for 0-5 too, just like you.
by stingy d on Dec 5, 2008 10:17 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
stingy
we’re all Knicks fans here – i don’t think anybody is rooting for 0-5. i’m not trying to be negative nancy (did I just say that?), i’m just trying to be realistic. let’s look at the five games:
at Atlanta (11-6 and looking like a playoff team): Loss
vs. Detroit (11-6 and looking like a playoff team): Probable Loss
at Chicago (8-11 and on the same level as the Knicks): when it’s an even matchup, usually you lean towards the home team.
at New Jersey (9-8 but i think are on the same level as the Knicks, too): see Bulls explanation.
at Sacramento (5-15, the only awful team on this list) Probable Win
i think 3-2 should be the goal, and they have to get at least 2 to stay afloat (which is what Seth was referring to).
Ewing with the step...YES! and the foul!
by Anthony Masons Haircut on Dec 5, 2008 5:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
shut it nancy
Agreed, though I’m not wise enough to foretell which games the Knicks will win.
Posting and Toasting: Blogging Robin Hood-Style Since 2007
by Seth on Dec 5, 2008 5:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
You never know.
And the “This Season’s End: Now” post didn’t really sound good.
Posting and Toasting: Blogging Robin Hood-Style Since 2007
by Seth on Dec 4, 2008 5:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
let's take this day by day
Atlanta – loss. We’re outmanned, and they’re mediocre, which is better than us.
Detroit – Big L. Rest in peace. (rest in peace rest in peace)
Chicago – definite w, as I will be in attendance.
New Jersey – its weird that we keep referring to @ NJ as “a road game”. I still have never met a New Jersey Nets fan. And I know many a New Jerseyite. Point being, we still could lose, NJ has been surprising.
Sacramento – probable w. Sacramento has been decidedly shitty.
Anyway, that’s 3-2. But the Knicks this year are tremendously fucking weird, so I can’t say.
by Barnesgasm on Dec 4, 2008 6:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I know Nets fans.
Nearly every one is a Knicks fan who got fed up around 2001. Traitors.
Posting and Toasting: Blogging Robin Hood-Style Since 2007
by Seth on Dec 4, 2008 8:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Flamboyant for life
"I'll probably go get lifted right now with Greg. Hey, and come back tomorrow and try to get another win."
-Renaldo
by solanumbrella on Dec 4, 2008 8:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
in retrospect, big L has no place on this website
“i’m from new york but i never was a fan of the knicks”
by Barnesgasm on Dec 4, 2008 10:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
in double retrospect
the song i just referenced, 98 freestyle, goes like so:
“i plan to get rich
i’m from new york but never was a fan of the knicks
you mad because i was in the van with your bitch
with my hands on her tits”
That was DEFINITELY written by Stephon Marbury.
by Barnesgasm on Dec 4, 2008 10:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Just surprised me to
see someone reference him. I’m pretty sure “We Got This” is like #7 on my “Most Listened.”
On the other hand…Busta:
“Rubberband stack money with my New York click
Yeah, I’m on my New York shit
I rep the Giants, the Jets, New York Knicks.”
"I'll probably go get lifted right now with Greg. Hey, and come back tomorrow and try to get another win."
-Renaldo
by solanumbrella on Dec 5, 2008 4:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
And then there's Nitty.
“Gettin more dough then bakers
Rim’s spinnin like I knew your break is
You got it all give me a call
I’m ballin like the Lakers”
Greatest video of all time. Yeah, I said it.
Posting and Toasting: Blogging Robin Hood-Style Since 2007
by Seth on Dec 5, 2008 5:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
how about any Beastie songs?
Get It Together: “I got heart like John Starks, hittin’ mad sparks, pass me the mic and I’ll be rockin’ the whole park.”
Flute Loop: “I’m like Al Goldstein and I’m all about screwing, lead my team to sixty-wins like my man Pat Ewing.”
B-Boys Making with the Freak, Freak: “I got my hair cut correct like Anthony Mason, then I ride the IRT right up to Penn Station.”
inspirational.
Ewing with the step...YES! and the foul!
by Anthony Masons Haircut on Dec 5, 2008 5:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Biggie
I got a story to tell.
“Television’s, Versacci heaven, when I’m up in em
The shit she kicked, all the shit’s legit
She get dick from a player off the New York Knicks
Nigga tricked ridiculous, the shit was plush
She’s stressin’ me to fuck, like she was in a rush
We fucked in his bed, quite dangerous
I’m in his ass while he playin’ ’gainst the Utah Jazz”
According to Big, the girl was “Fucking one of them Knick-ass niggas.”
When asked which one, he replied “One of them six-five niggas. I don’t know.”
"I'll probably go get lifted right now with Greg. Hey, and come back tomorrow and try to get another win."
-Renaldo
by solanumbrella on Dec 5, 2008 6:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Just a note on the biggie song
“I got a story to tell” is off Life After Death, which was released in early 1997. The only player on the Knicks roster for 1996-97 listed as 6’5" is John Starks. Does that mean Biggie fucked John Starks’s bitch? Yes, this is the shit I think about.
"I'll probably go get lifted right now with Greg. Hey, and come back tomorrow and try to get another win."
-Renaldo
by solanumbrella on Dec 5, 2008 6:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
since this just became a nba lyric-off
“NBA Live 2004” by Twista.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdKJuwnAgVQ
Quoth Twista: “Antonio McDyess is so nice with the pill.”
THAT is true lyrical greatness. If that isn’t the best song of all time, it’s gotta be top ten.
by Barnesgasm on Dec 5, 2008 6:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Well,
Everybody do yourself a favor and check out the comments underneath the video.
My favorite is by “Robajz12”
Also, the entire Space Jam Soundtrack. Specifically the song “Hit ’em high” featuring METHOD MAN.
"I'll probably go get lifted right now with Greg. Hey, and come back tomorrow and try to get another win."
-Renaldo
by solanumbrella on Dec 5, 2008 6:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Well,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVPaUvNOQPw
Everybody do yourself a favor and check out the comments underneath the video.
My favorite is by "Robajz12"
Also, the entire Space Jam Soundtrack. Specifically the song "Hit ’em high" featuring METHOD MAN.
"I'll probably go get lifted right now with Greg. Hey, and come back tomorrow and try to get another win."
-Renaldo
by solanumbrella on Dec 5, 2008 6:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
every conversation in this sites history
ends in a discussion of the film “Space Jam.”
Don’t neglect to mention the other amazing rappers on that song: Busta, Coolio, LL Cool J, the dude from Cypress Hill. The amazing thing is its the only video featuring Coolio in which he doesn’t have the weirdest hair in the video.
by Barnesgasm on Dec 5, 2008 7:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
We can be competitive against decent teams
but Derrick Rose and Devin Harris will break all of our collective ankles.
anybody notice that brandon bass is an unrestricted free agent after this year? i hope to god donnie walsh has…
by tak4prez on Dec 4, 2008 9:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAA8mLz8aJ0
You all did love him once. - The New York Knicks.
by THEWILLY on Dec 5, 2008 4:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I disagree
Teams can have a good run at almost any point in the season, Similarly, teams can go on a bad streak at any point. It will take a few weeks for the new players to mesh into the team.
This is the cleaning house year. They might put together some good games at any point, but the best this team can possibly do is barely make it into the playoffs, and be eliminated in the first round.
After the Iraq war started, Thomas Friedman said “the next six months are crucial” – six months later he said “the next six months will make the difference” – he kept talking about the “next six months” for three years – six months became known as a Friedman Unit.
The point is – losing the next 5 games doesn’t end the season, and winning the next 5 games doesn’t make them a championship team
by NYERinSF on Dec 4, 2008 11:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
"teams"
Yes, “teams” can make good runs. Maybe, just maybe things have changed under D’Antoni, but the Knicks I know never get up once they’ve been down.
Posting and Toasting: Blogging Robin Hood-Style Since 2007
by Seth on Dec 4, 2008 11:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Been years
since they had a decent coach.
I think this year they have already shown more grit and resiliency than in years past. Purging “he” will help
by NYERinSF on Dec 4, 2008 11:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
so far so good here
2-2, with the kings on the horizon. salmons might eat us up. but if nate comes back we might be able to get an extra push when we start to lag.
by stingy d on Dec 11, 2008 12:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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