It makes me feel like a stereotypical grumpy Knicks fan to give this issue much attention after a nice win, but, well, it's what's happening right now and I'd like to see what everyone thinks. The Knicks won last night, which was cool. Not as cool (or maybe cooler, depending on your views), was that Stephon Marbury didn't step on the court for even a second. Mardy Collins and Malik Rose got around 5-10 minutes a piece, but good old Steph, our reigning "best point guard in the NBA" put up a dinoplacode (DId NOt PLAy, COach's DEcision, for those of you not in the P&T know). What do we think of this, people? Let's have a little point, counterpoint to start things off.
No longer will playing time be handed out based on contracts and perceived status. Not under D'Antoni's watch. By benching Marbury and Curry, the coach has made it clear the Knicks will have to earn their way into his lineup, which is welcome news to Garden fans who watched this team sleepwalk through the past two years under Isiah Thomas.
Not sure exactly what Stephon Marbury did this preseason to deserve what he got tonight - which was getting humiliated in his hometown by a supposed player's coach Mike D'Antoni.
Marbury got in the best shape of his career, he had a sharp preseason, he accepted his backup role to a career backup in Chris Duhon. But it wasn't good enough for D'Antoni. Maybe D'Antoni bought his son a pair of Starburys that didn't fit right.
I find myself on the fence between these two lovely gentlemen. On one hand, I trust D'Antoni, and we did win, after all. On the other hand, Stephon Marbury is better than Mardy Collins by any measure, and his clutch wisdom down the stretch. (Say what you want about Steph off the court, but I'll argue that he's as grizzled and competent a veteran as any in the league when he's between the baselines.)
I guess we should also remember that it's just one game, and it likely won't foretell how the whole season plays out (if it did, we'd end up 82-0!). I'd also like to add that I overreacted a bit to Jamal Crawford's fourth quarter plight in last night's game. He was magnificent throughout, and the shots were falling as sweetly as ever. I was just really frustrated with that late-game meltdown, and the recency effect of that brief lapse eclipsed an otherwise commendable game in my head. My mistake.
All that said, let's simplify this Marbury stuff into a nifty little poll. Go!