Knicks Links: Of triangles, tanking and tasty fast food

Whew, what a few days in Knicks land. A couple wins, a loss, a waive goodbye. But most importantly... are the Knicks tanking? And what’s all this triangle business again? There seems to be a bit of a disagreement within the organization, as actions on the court say one thing and actions behind the scenes say another.

Here’s some music to listen to while you’re reading:

Let’s dive into some links:

SPOILER ALERT: If you don’t care at all about reading about the Knicks today, I have a much more important debate at the end of this piece that you can skip to instead.

• Following last night’s tank-busting win, Daily Knicks takes a look at defensive effort and, well, overall effort of the seemingly-rejuvenated Knicks. I get the feeling this will all end up being a case of too little, too late. But depending on your viewpoint, finally developing an identity on both sides of the ball could be almost as beneficial as tanking.
• Berman of the Post writes about last night’s game, and also something called the “tank police,” which is a coined phrase he must be really proud of, because he’s tweeted about it no fewer than three times. Never change, Marc.
• Al Iannazzone also reports on last night’s game.
• Frank Isola of the NYDN muses about Derrick Rose, and determines that with a renewed focus on a certain offense, retaining him probably doesn’t make sense.
• Hey, speak of the devil: what has three sides, is a basketball offense, and annoys the shit out of people? Kristaps Porzingis’ favorite offense, apparently. From Al Iannazzone:

“We’re starting to learn (the triangle) now the way we should,” Porzingis said before the Knicks’ Wednesday morning shootaround. “We should have been playing from the beginning of the season. So we’re a little behind. But every game we’re getting a little better. Hopefully, I don’t know when, we can start using it properly and making some impact playing it.”

• From Barb Barker of Newsday: Apparently Jeff Hornacek is using aptitude of The-Offense-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named as a measuring stick for players the rest of the season, in an effort to figure out who will stick around beyond this season.
• Berman delves into how Phil Jackson has successfully power-struggled his way into re-integrating You-Know-What-Offense (I’m totally referring to it only as Voldemort names from now on).
• Also from Berman, Derrick Rose spoke a bit about what he plans on doing in free agency.
• So, a couple nights ago the Knicks lost to the Raptors after a little back-and-forth endgame. We all know this. But Courtney Lee took some exception to the officiating (a Knick being critical of officiating?! Not our team!). He might have a bit of a point, though:

• Oh, what’s this? The NBA’s last two minute report says that the Knicks were fouled three times in that critical juncture of the game. Par for the course! (Also, crazy to think that the Knicks would now be on a three-game win streak now if that game went differently.)
• Berman muses about the Knicks and whether they’re tanking despite their repeated assertions that they aren’t. My personal assessment: Phil is tanking, the Knicks on the court are not. At least not yet.
• Mike Vorkunov of the New York Times writes about the tank vs. no tank internal struggle of the Knicks, but in a better way than Berman because he writes for the New York Friggin’ Times and they only employ good writers.
• Mostly retread information in this article, but Stefan Bondy of the Daily News had a good quote about how Jeff Hornacek is not married to the idea of starting Joakim Noah in the future (phew):

“You never know. You go into every season with an open thought of who can start. You may have certain guys, perennial guys. Maybe when Carmelo is 37, maybe you start looking at him coming off the bench. But you pretty much think he’s going to be a starter. KP, a starter next year. But everything else is kind of open,” the coach said.

• Amar’e Stoudemire... woof. STAT had some very 1950’s-esque things to say when asked about playing with a gay teammate. Look, I loved Amar’e on the court and for trying hard to bring competitive basketball back to New York, but this isn’t his first bout of homophobia, and he’s never been the sharpest tool in the shed. He’s also walked back the comments now, saying they were supposed to be a joke... Because, well, when things actually come out of your mouth you can’t just write it off as someone hacking your Twitter or something. I genuinely hope that Amar’e gets educated on LGBT rights and can do a 180 on this, a la Tim Hardaway. Be better than that, STAT.
• Deadspin’s Giri Nathan has some not-so-nice things to say about Phil Jackson and The-Offense-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named.
• 55 years ago today, the most Knicksy thing ever happened:

• Former Knick coach Larry Brown said some stuff about the Knicks, to which I say, shut the hell up Larry Brown, you’re washed.

• With this season more or less dead in the water, Ian Begley has gotten ahead of the curve and started reporting that the Knicks are interested in Jrue Holiday this summer. A real go-getter, that Ian Begley.
• Begley also reports that Carmelo expects to meet with Knicks management after the season, as has become customary in the Phil-Melo era.
• Brandon Jennings said goodbye to the Knicks and the city of New York on Twitter, and for all his flaws on the court, I’ll miss the guy. He really did want to do well here.

• The Unicorn was sad to see Jennings go, but ultimately hopes he finds more happiness elsewhere since he “wasn’t himself.” BJ’s now a Washington Wizard, and I bet that being John Wall’s backup on a playoff team will definitely lead to him having fun out there again.

On to the important stuff...

So The Ringer apparently polled their staff about their favorite fast foods. To say that I’m a tad disappointed in the results would be an understatement:

So, their top five:

1. Chic-Fil-A waffle fries
2. In-N-Out Double-double
3. McDonald’s fries
4. Popeyes chicken
5. Chic-Fil-A chicken sandwich

Alright, so here’s my beef with this. Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. have absolutely no representation on this list, which I could understand if you were keeping them off the list strictly because their CEO is an asshat. But then you’ve got Chick-Fil-A on the list no fewer than five times, and their CEO is a grade-A dickhead. The Hardee’s ²⁄₃ lb Monster Thickburger is, to me, the best burger you can get in under five minutes, even if it will probably clog your arteries all to hell from the second it it slides down your throat.

Also, the Egg McMuffin makes an appearance, when we all know its cousin the Sausage McMuffin is superior. McDonald’s chicken nuggets are high on the list, while Wendy’s spicy chicken nuggets are absent, which is a travesty. The KFC Double Down didn’t make the list, despite being one of the most diabolical fast food creations ever. Chipotle soft tacos make the list but not Chipotle burritos. And Shake Shack made the list, period (fight me, Shake Shack is overpriced and overrated).

I’ve also never been to an In-N-Out burger, but luckily I’m going to Las Vegas this month and will be solving that problem once and for all.

So, my P&T brethren, I ask you to stop arguing about the Knicks and start arguing about fast food. I want to see some top-five lists with justifications. I’m saving mine for the comments so I can join in.

My hope is that this will maybe help some of you find some common ground amongst one another in these trying times of the Knick season.

Then again, maybe it’ll just make you guys all hate each other more. Who knows?!