Man, Knicks games suck now. This may have been the most aesthetically unappealing basketball game I've ever seen. Green jerseys, yellow jerseys, errant passes, airballs, shots hitting the bottom of the rim, late defense, matador defense, and no defense at all. It was all there in this one, as Mike Dunleavy led Pacers to a win over the Knicks. Game notes (which are pretty short, because I spent most of this one playing "Georgia On My Mind" over and over again on my roommate's keyboard):
- Clyde's outfit theme for tonight: "leprechauns on shrooms".
- Apparently, Flip Murray is on the Pacers.
- I'm in college, so I don't have a particularly nice TV, and let me tell you, that much yellow, green, and orange does not look nice on a $150 screen.
- Whatever the actual numbers might say, it really looked as if Conseco Fieldhouse was at less than half-capacity. There may have been more players and coaches than fans at the game.
- I wouldn't say Wilson Chandler is a great defender just yet, but he's certainly got very active hands.
- Bizarre moment: MSG showed a shot of some little Pacers fan in the crowd smiling and waving a single thunderstick. Suddenly, a hand reached in and snatched the thunderstick away, but the kid kept smiling. Indiana is a fucked up place.
- There were really more unforced turnovers in this one than I've ever seen. They got creative too: passes to nobody, dribbles off knees, dribbles off faces, dribbles off ceilings... late-season basketball between non-contenders is really a spectacle.
- 50 seconds into the second quarter, Jared Jeffries hit an 20-foot jump shot. Meanwhile, in Italy, a solitary chef abruptly put down his knife, took off his chef hat, and walked directly out of the kitchen never to return.
- On one rebound, Jeffries boxed out Ike Diogu by simply kicking him right in the anus. Apparently, that's not a foul. Good to know.
- I don't know many of you have seen Semi-Pro, but there's one especially funny scene where Will Ferrell protests a call by screaming "I'M GONNA MURDER YOU FAMILY!" at the ref. I was trying to determine which Knick would be the most likely to do that, and I decided upon Mardy Collins, just because he looks so harmless.
- Jermaine O'Neal's watch was the size of my TV.
- In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, Mardy Collins is a pretty Irish-sounding name, no? I'm sure Bill Simmons has done this before, but if you made an all-star team of black NBA players whose names make them sound like Irish-Americans, Mardy would have to at least be the 6th man. Patrick O'Bryant is unquestionably your center.
- This game's highlight had to be Wilson Chandler lowering his shoulder into Marquis Daniels, who flopped directly into David Harrison's legs, causing him to also fall down. Chandler is just that powerful.
- Final note: Why in March of a decidedly losing season, against a shitty team, with the Knicks' starting center injured, when Isiah has promised otherwise, does Randolph Morris play only 6 minutes!? That's infuriating!