April 8, 2008
The Tragedy That Is The Knicks
Photo Nate Robinson, Eddy Curry, and Stephon Marbury during a March game against the Miami Heat by AP/Frank Franklin II
Are the Knicks under Isiah Thomas the worst team in the history of sports? According to New York Magazine, they just might be. Jeff Coplan’s piece offers the most complete and depressing summary of the Knicks during the Dolan era. From designating Knicks as “the Church of Lowered Expectations” under Dolan to describing the “rolls of flab” peeking through the Eddy Curry’s jersey, everyone--with the exception of Malik Rose and David Lee--is subject to withering criticism.
According to the article, the horror began when Jim Dolan wanted a big name to run the Knicks, trying to get Magic Johnson and ultimately hiring Johnson’s recommendation, Isiah Thomas. We might argue problems started earlier--the Patrick Ewing trade for Glenn Rice instead of letting Ewing's contract run out--but Coplan's account of the Isiah era is thorough and fills in some new details. Like:
- The Knicks apparently kept a microphone on at the scorer’s table to eavesdrop on conversations between the press and players.
- A Rockets scouting report basically confirms the fact no one on the Knicks plays defense or even tries to.
- And of course there's plenty about Isiah, Dolan and Stephon, the three main players of this tragedy.
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wait, do you mean David Lee, not Derek?
No matter how woeful the Knicks may be, fans keep flocking to their games like flies to a turd. Almost all of the games at MSG are sellouts or nearly so. If the fans voted with their feet and stayed away from the games in droves, well then maybe the Knicks would have to do something.
Sell the Knicks. All of the problems will be solved.
Yup, I did, thanks for letting me know I messed that up.
The Knicks profit from being the only game in town. why do you think the MSG group were totally against The West Side Stadium? They have a license to print money. Wealthy Ibankers need front court tickets and they don't care if the knicks stink as long as people see that they are sitting frontside at 34th and 8th ave. Trust me. Most of the people who are going to the games aren't even Knicks fans. They are tourists who go to see the only game in town or some friends or relatives of season ticket holders who just got free tickets cause the real fans are sick of seeing the knicks lose time and time again. There are also a huge contingent of Knicks fans who are masochists who love to support a team that's assraping their hopes and dreams every year. The Knicks are a Debacle. I was hoping to switch to the Brooklyn Nets but now MSG has destroyed that dream too. The only team I can root for now is the Clippers. At least you know they are supposed to suck.
The Knicks are losing out on a lot of extra money by not being in the playoffs. Being they are the NBA team in the largest market in the league, they should have better management. Sell the Knicks.
I must have been at one of their few home wins very early this season.
Gut everyone out of the roster except for Rose and Lee and start over. God I miss the Ewing/Riley era. Shit, even Sprewell/Van Gundy never looked so good in comparison to these clowns.
The Knicks games are sell outs because they are practically giving the tickets away. For many games this season, you could get 400 level tickets for $10! Tonight's game is $15 for 400 level tickets, $25 for 300 level tickets and $40 for 200 level tickets. Plus, they are giving you free food! Last time I went to a game (free ticket) it was overwhelmingly tourists and large groups - students, youth groups, etc. Their base fans are staying away.
That article was fucking awful. There was probably enough material for an awesome 2-3 page article.
"..the Clippers trimmed the Knicks.."
*barf*
Here I'll give you the money quotes so you can spare yourself:
"During the four years and change of the Isiah Thomas era, the team lost more than 60 percent of its games, a ratio that got worse after Thomas added the title of head coach in 2006. Over that span, the Knicks have amassed the largest payroll (peaking at more than $160 million with luxury tax) and the third-worst record in the National Basketball Association."
"As of this week, they sat 35 games below .500, hurtling toward the draft lottery—the NBA’s booby prize—for the fourth year in a row. They ranked dead last among 30 teams in assists, and averaged the fewest blocked shots in the stat’s 35-year history—in short, they neither shared nor cared. A 104-59 rout in Boston led one New York fan to fling his blue-and-orange jersey onto the playing floor in self-loathing."
"Reggie Miller, now on TNT, called the Knicks “a leaguewide joke.” The Phoenix Suns’ Leandro Barbosa was distraught when a prankster said they had traded for him. “My heart was hurting,” the Brazilian said. “I went a little crazy.” The Knicks knew they were in hell when Mike Dunleavy—head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, once the NBA’s poster child for utter fecklessness—pitched a plea for sanity in long-term contracts. “Anything else,” he said, “and you become the New York Knicks.”"
"Rockets’ internal scouting report. It told all you needed to know about why these Knicks were doomed to disappoint:
Stephon Marbury: “Tends to go into or under every pick and will leave his feet on shot fakes.”
Zach Randolph: “Doesn’t work on the defensive end of the floor … slow in transition defense.”
Eddy Curry: “Gets lost on defensive rotations … labors to get back. He seems to only play hard on the offensive end of the floor.”
Jamal Crawford: “He allows dribble penetration + doesn’t expend a lot of energy on defense.”
"After the Clippers beat the Knicks by nine, I asked center Chris Kaman how he knew when Curry was tiring. Kaman smiled and said, “When you run down court and he’s 30, 40 feet behind you.”"
"Official eavesdropping was de rigueur at the Garden, ever since Dolan got surprised by a 2001 Times Magazine story in which Charlie Ward waxed on about the Jews’ killing Jesus. Players could not speak to the media unless monitored, while assistant coaches and executives like Mills were off-limits entirely. Before introducing Walsh last week, Dolan hadn’t talked for more than a year"
"two sources (one of them an assistant coach) confirmed that the Garden kept a “hot” microphone at the scorer’s table before the game, when writers chat with players and coaches along the sideline. “You better watch what you say out there,” Hahn’s source told him. “They’re listening in.”"