The Bluecheese Wonder Room: Season's end

The other night I dreamt that I received a letter from Lamar Odom's attorney. Apparently Odom was suing me for libel after I wrote a story claiming that an anonymous source told me that he saw Odom drinking alcohol. I'm not sure why reporting on anyone getting drunk, particularly when the subject is a member of the Kardashian family and had an alleged crack addiction, would be considered libel, but my sleeping brain didn't question it. Instead, I figured that the only way I could keep Odom from getting my money was if I tracked down this anonymous source and found the proof that everything I wrote was true.

Somehow, my journey took me to my grandmother's apartment complex in Florida, where I met an old man by the pool area who claimed that while he didn't personally witness Odom drinking, he knew someone who could help. The man told me to meet with his brother in California at 9 am the next morning, then disappeared. With no other leads, I decided to walk to the airport (for whatever reason, it didn't occur to me to take a faster mode of transportation) and seconds later I found myself boarding a plane for California. At that point I woke up.

Now that the season's over, I'm going to have to find a way to fill the time usually spent watching, researching, and complaining about the Knicks. I can think of no better way to pass the time than an adventure that will take me across the country in search of the truth. So Lamar, do your worst.

Breaking News: An anonymous source has confirmed that New York Knicks forward Lamar Odom was caught drinking alcohol. I will keep you updated on this developing story as more details emerge.

Player of the Week - Cole Aldrich

After a slow start to the week, Cole Train picked it up in the final two games, with 13 points and 13 rebounds against the Nets and 13 points and 16 rebounds in the final game of the season against the Raptors. In doing so, Aldrich became the youngest Knick with 13 points and 13 rebounds on consecutive days in 25 years. The last Knicks player to do that at such a young age was Charles Oakley, who had 22 and 15 on February 7, 1989, and followed that up with 22 and 13 the next night. Now I know what you're thinking: sure, matching Oakley is nice, but it's not good enough. This is the great Cole Aldrich we're talking about. I'm sure he did something this week that hasn't been matched by a Knick since before they even won a title.

Wow, how did you know? As a matter of fact, Aldrich did do something that had not been done by any Knick in almost 50 years. This week, Cole grabbed 39 rebounds in 90 minutes of play. In doing so, he raised his season rebounding numbers to 14.1 boards per 36 minutes. Aldrich became the first Knick to average at least 14 rebounds per 36 minutes over the course of an entire season (min 41 games played, or half a season) since '66-'67! Who did it that year? Only the guy who Clyde Frazier considers to be the greatest Knick of all time, Willis Reed!

Opposing Players of the Week - Tyler Hansbrough and Chuck Hayes

On December 9^th, 2013, Chuck Hayes was traded from the Kings to the Raptors. 19 days later, Toronto beat the Knicks 115-100 in the second game of a home and home series. Hayes did not play in that game. Tyler Hansbrough did though, playing 15 minutes without attempting a FG. Thus the stage was set for the incredible set of events that took place last week.

On April 11, New York and Toronto met for the first time since that game in late December. This time, Hansbrough only played 7 and a half minutes, and again did not attempt a single FG. Hayes got even less playing time, just 6 and a half minutes. He too did not attempt a FG. Five days later, the Knicks and Raptors once again squared off, in the final game of the regular season. Hansbrough played 28 minutes - and finally put up a shot. But that does not matter. What matters is that Hayes played 13 minutes and once again did not attempt a single FG. Thus, Tyler Hansbrough and Chuck Hayes became the first set of teammates in NBA history to play at least 5 minutes and not take one shot from the field in two consecutive games against the Knicks in one season!

Bluecheese's Rambling Stat of the Week - (WARNING! May not end in a coherent thought)

On Wednesday night, Shannon Brown had 0 points and 5 turnovers against the Raptors. He became the first player with 0 points and 5 turnovers in a game since Vince Carter did it on December 20, 2013, in the Mavericks 109-108 loss to Toronto. Jose Calderon shot 7-10 from three point range in that game. He became the first Mavericks player to make seven three-pointers in a home loss since November 21, 2000, when Hubert Davis shot 7-12 from beyond the arc in Dallas' 116-110 loss to the Supersonics. Gary Payton had 28 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds for the Sonics that night, the first time a teammate of Patrick Ewing had ever put up those numbers in one game. The only prior time a team boasting Ewing had a player put up 28, 9, and 8 in a game came on April 19, 1996, when Ewing himself had 28 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists in the Knicks 115-108 loss to the Hornets. The Hornets starting center that night, Robert Parish, had 0 rebounds. It was the first time a team had beaten the Knicks despite their starting center going an entire game without a single rebound since January 28, 1993, when Jon Koncak had 0 rebounds but the Hawks beat the Knicks 110-105. In another game that night, the Rockets beat the Bulls 94-83. Robert Horry and Kenny Smith were each 1-1 from three point range that night. They were the first players to start a game and shoot 1-1 from downtown against the Bulls in over a month. The previous player to do that was Doc Rivers, who was 1-1 from three in the Knicks 89-77 loss to Chicago on Christmas Day, 1992. Greg Anthony had 0 points and 5 turnovers in that game. He became the last Knick to ever have 0 points and 5 turnovers in a game...until Shannon Brown did it on Wednesday night!

Last Week in Jared Jeffries History

On April 12, 2006, Jeffries recorded the first 20 point game of his career in the Wizards 100-97 loss to the Bucks. It seems clear to me that the only reason that the Wizards lost that game is because Antawn Jamison took the final shot, a desperation three pointer that missed badly. They should've gone with the hot hand: Jeffries was 3-4 from three point range that night. It was one of three career games in which he made 3 three-pointers.

Last Week in Jared Jeffries Shot Tracker History

JJST Memorial Fun Fact of Whatever Time of Day this Article is on the Front Page of P&T

Shannon Brown scored 14 points against the Nets on Tuesday night. It was the most points ever scored by a Knick wearing number 26!

Bluecheese Answers Your Questions

This week's question comes from BernardKing'Speech, with some help from allzingers, who put up the bluecheese signal:

The answer is yes! In fact, the Knicks just became the first franchise to ever do it twice. In 2009, they signed Chris Hunter right before the final game of the season. Hunter never played a regular season game for the Knicks. Only once has a player who was signed by a non-playoff team right before the last game of the season actually ended up playing in that final game. In 1999, the Nets signed Gheorghe Muresan, who played 1 minute in the final game against the Bucks.

Here is the list of every time a non-playoff team has signed a player with only one game remaining in the regular season:

2014 - Knicks sign Lamar Odom

2011 - Rockets sign Marqus Blakely

2010 - Timberwolves sign Greg Stiemsma

2009 - Knicks sign Chris Hunter

1999 - Nets sign Gheorghe Muresan

1992 - Magic sign Howard Wright

Movie of the Week - This is the End

I'll hold off until next week's Wonder Room to recap the entire miserable season. This week's slate of games though was surprisingly enjoyable. If only this Knicks team had shown up for the entire season, we'd have at least 4 more games of basketball to enjoy. Alas, this week was indeed the end of the road.