Friday Hoopoes

Good day, babies. TGIF. The goose is fabulous. The second back of the Knicks' brutal road back-to-back is just hours away. Before we get to that, let's look at a few links.

- My two favorite facts about hoopoes, which are very handsome little birds: 1. They're in the genus "Upupa". 2. Their head musculature is such that they can open their beaks even while they're deeply embedded in the ground.

- Ben Golliver sees a couple Knicks who'd probably be on the All-Star ballot if they got to do it over again now.

- From last night: Jason Kidd and Tim Duncan got pretty intimate while rebounding.

- Then Jason refused to get intimate with the Spurs' resident giant, meth-addled coyote.

- Our friend Dan turned up some good numbers (now obsolete by one game, but still) regarding the Knicks' pace at different deficits. When the game's close, they've been speeding up considerably.

- Dan's also got split boxscores for the Knicks' fourth quarter before, then during their massive comeback.

- These numbers are also from before the Spurs game, but John Schuhmann sees some threads of sustainability in the Knicks' success.

- And here's Tom Ziller's "Hook" this morning on New York's success.

- Tyson and Kimberly Chandler are working hard to help hurricane-affected folks in Far Rockaway.

- I'm beginning to detect a theme in Iman Shumpert's football predictions.

- Here's Aaron McGuire's capsule on Shump.

- Tas Melas points out that Carmelo Anthony didn't even attempt a shot in last night's final nine minutes or so.

That is all for now. Look for updates and pre-game festivities in the near future. Enjoy your afternoon. Please.