Happy Thursday, comrades. Today's a good one in the land of P&T, as our Knicks pulled off a thrilling home win last night. Stingy's recap is down below, but I thought I'd share some of my own notes and relevant links as well.
- To start, I've gotta mention a few key characters in last night's win. First, David Lee is something other than human. Anyone who still says he's expendable after 25 and 16 against Shaq and Ámáré can go bone a goose. D-Lee is the truth, and it would absolutely kill me to see him anything other than a Knicks jersey. When he perfects that midrange J, I don't even know what I'm going to do.
- Moving on, my next-biggest basketboner is for Danilo Gallinari. The kid can do so much already. Hesitation dribble to a left baseline drive? Check. Hard drive left to a pull-up mid-range jumper? Yup. Step-back three over a defender? Got that too. Swatting Shaq? That's just gravy. He even got the Garden sound people to play Alice in Chains' "The Rooster" when he does his thing. A couple of my suitemates loved that.
- I think I just came up with something. The Knicks have two particularly young prospects who are just busting out and represent the potential of Knick basketball: Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. They need a nickname. How about this? Wilson is Willy. Danilo is Nilly. Together...THEY ARE WILLY NILLY. Thoughts?
- Finally, props to Nate Robinson for getting it going last night. Whether it was a fluke or a true slump-buster of a game remains to be seen, but it was great to see Nate being Nate, even if it meant some over-the-top antics.
- One thing Stingy missed by not seeing the TV coverage of the game was Jill Martin's halftime interview with Derrick Ward. Ward mentioned that he planned on hitting the beach and working on his tan this summer, which produced perhaps the most awkward inter-racial silence (AIRS) in a long time.
- Now some links. Via The Haus, word that the Greek team Olympiakos (Josh Childress' bros) have been courting Stephon Marbury. Whatever.
- WWOD's recap includes an important segment on the Knicks' very recent success in close games:
The Knicks are learning how to win. And how to get back up off the mat when a team knocks them down. This quality was on display early and often last night as the contest was back-and-forth. It was a game of runs. One team would make a charge for a few minutes and then the other would storm right back to retake momentum. In months and seasons past there would come a point when the Knicks lost confidence and elasticity. When they wouldn't/couldn't bounce back anymore. This never happened against Phoenix.
- Alan Hahn's mid-season grades are up. Here's a taste:
F/C Jared Jeffries
Grade: C -- Might have finally found a niche as a defensive specialist who, at 6-10, can defend point guards and avoid mismatches when switching on a screen. His work against Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Steve Nash recently has been effective. Jeffries has spent a great deal of time on his shooting, but opponents still know you can double off him and he won't beat you, so he remains a liability on offense. But at least he has found a role and is having some success with it.
- Wizznutzz is selling gorgeous Charles Oakley car wash tees at their Mothering Hut of merchandise. The whole store is worth checking out, but this one's a real gem.
- Nate Robinson pumps you up for the dunk contest with some chicken noodle s00ping. Also, I think he implies that he's small enough to personally stand in as the trophy.
And there you are. I'm totally jazzed about Gallinari, Lee, and this new streak we've got going. Next matchup's on Friday with the Grizz (trap game!).