First, I should admit that I caught very little of the Blazers game. A 10:30 tipoff on a Friday night just wasn't gonna happen. But from what I did see, and what I've read from you guys and around the web, it sounds like last night kept with the trend of blowing winnable games against tough teams. Sprinkle a couple extra minutes of good basketball over this road trip and we could be looking at 3-1 or even 4-0 right now. Most of us can see the problem. As the game nears its finish, the Knicks get tight. On defense, guys get passive and lazy. On offense, the ball stops moving and the chuckers chuck away. A friend of mine said to me today, "that's just bad coaching". He's absolutely right, but I think there's more to it. Isiah needs to assert himself more in crunch time, but there's leadership lacking on the court, too. I never expected to say this, but I think the Knicks are missing Stephon Marbury in the fourth quarter. Like him or not, Steph does tend to tighten his D and find his touch late in the game. Last night was yet another instance of not having a sure thing down the stretch. In retrospect, I think Steph coulda been that guy. Now, I would entertain the idea that even staying competitive up to that point in the game has something to do with Marbury's absence, but that's a whole 'nother topic...

Anyway, for good recaps of last night's game, I'd head over to SML and Knickerblogger. Cruel and unusual as it may be, the Knicks are back in action again tonight to face the Sonics. I'm gonna try my best to stay home for the whole thing because it's been a bit since I produced some legitimate game notes. See you then.