We love you too.

Oh is that for me, your loyal fan? Thank you so much New York Knicks for showing me and all of your fans how little you care about winning. I was very excited to see that my season preview was being dis proven every night. The team was competitive , and actually winning more games than they were losing which has been so incredibly rare these last few years.It seemed we were missing just one piece, that stone cold perimeter scorer who could take the pressure off Zach every night and really push the ball. Where could we find that? Not Chris Duhon..no..Jamal Crawford! Oh wait he's a career 40% shooter which means as hot he has been lately there are a couple of 0-12 nights in his future.Sorry can't count on that. Wait a minute do we not have a former all star and member of arguably the greatest draft class in nba history on the chllin' list? What's his name? Stephon Marbury! right, the holder of career 19 point and 8 assist averages. The guy who can drop 35 on any guard in the league and if he isn't he can do other things with the basketball. No we can't use him though, a consistent go to guy never works in the nba, so lets pay him 21 million dollars to sit on his ass. Still though we were moving in a great direction Duhon was serviceable , Crawford was on fire (who cares if he was a 6'5 shooting guard averaging less rebounds per game than pretty much everybody in the entire NBA)Nate Robinson was an early candidate for sixth man of the year Z-Bo was an absolute beast. The New York fans finally had something to smile about , we could see the light in the darkness.Less 36 hours ago I wasn't ashamed to say I was Knick fan anymore. I could see progress and fire and a new look for the future finally, now I see we are competing for the D league championship because winning doesn't matter anymore. We had a team that could compete night in and night out. A team that had a chance to see the playoffs from the bottom half and now we jettison our best scorer and rebounder and a hot streak shooter for Tim Thomas, Cuttino Mobley and Al Harrington? If this was 2001 we would be talking about a great future line up , unfortunately Cat Mobley is past his prime and Al Harrington is going be Marbury's stiffest competition for malcontent of the year. Oh but Thomas has his best season under D'antoni he can help. Right , so he plays in a system that exploit his (useless on any other team) talents for 2 years then he gets another contract and we are subjected to another 4 years of this waste of a basketball body.So now the plan is to sit through two years of bad basketball (maybe we can get another Gallanari in the draft!) and hope beyond hope that Lebron James or Dwyane Wade give us a look in the summer of 2010. Let's think about this though, say what you want about Danny Ferry , but he tries. It may not work , but he tries to surround Lebron with talent and this year it may have finally paid off. Dwade is 2 years removed from winning an NBA title and Pat Riley is in charge which means he will not put up with losing for long. Two teams that have at least shown they are committed to trying to win ballgames are not going to lose their respective best players to a team that gave up any shot at competing this year or next hoping to win the free agent lottery.And if you think for a second that any other free agents are going to go near the knicks to play with Chris Duhon or anybody else on that roster please put down the drugs.I don't understand this.I understand moving crawford , his stock was never higher than it was these first few weeks, Hell even Randolph was playing the best ball of his career, which means we A) we could have gotten more or B) we could have kept them and won some games. We need a coach like Herm Edwards out here again. You play to win the game folks and the Knicks just flushed their season. Dolan Walsh and D'antoni better have wink wink deal with one of those class of 2010 free agents or we're in for a long half decade.

Point/Counterpoint

As a lifelong Knicks fan I pretty much followed anything the blue and orange did including getting drubbed by the Bulls every year or John Starks shooting us out of a championship while Rolondo Blackmon and his 49% career shooting percentage grew roots on the bench.That being said I paid little attention to anybody else.
In 1996 that all changed. Like a bolt of lightning Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury exploded onto the scene.Iverson was wrecking Jordan which was great cause he played for the Knicks arch nemesis Bulls and Marbury was straight out of Brooklyn which gave a 12 year old from the same city a dream. Here were two guys who played the game in a way I had yet to notice, crossing people over dropping buckets and assists like they had been here before and before long they were engaged in a battle for the rookie of the year and my favorite player.Iverson came out on top in the ROY race but many people believed and still believe Marbury was more deserving because he carried his team to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, but there was no denying the numbers of Iverson 5 straight 40 point games, making Jordan look ridiculous and even dropping 50 on the Cavs.I decided Iverson won me over but I had to make room for my hometown hero Steph.
Twelve years later the debate almost looks silly especially to someone who hasn't been watching since day 1. While for his entire rookie year Marbury was praised as an unselfish pure point guard who was gonna spend his career setting up his teammates ,Iverson was conversely criticized for being a showboating selfish ballhog.If you can find anyone who in 1997 predicted what's happened since , I'd like to meet him and ask him how my life is going to turn out before it's too late.AI has gone on to win the hearts of millions scoring on any and everyone (27.6 ppg career) leading a weak sixers team to the finals where they handed the juggernaut Lakers their only loss of the 2001 playoffs before being sent packing.Stephon meanwhile has been toiling in his shadow for years hardly even making the playoffs let alone a finals and turning into the selfish player everyone thought Iverson would become.He has appeared in a total of 18 playoff games and has worn out his welcome in every city including apparently his hometown team, the New York Knicks.
Twelve years later they stand on opposite sides of a career crossroad. At 31 Marbury is inactive and awaiting his team to either cut him or trade him so he can hope for a chance at redemption , Iverson supposedly slowing at 33 was traded for the second time in his career to the Detroit Pistons and looks to make a push toward his first championship with a team very similar to the one he took to the finals seven years ago.Many people myself included are baffled by what's become of Marbury, benched in favor of Chris Duhon and Nate Robinson.He's still at worst the second most talented player on the Knicks roster and arguably THE most talented , but somewhere along the line he lost sight of who he was and where he came from. In this respect he could take a lesson from AI who has played everyone of his 832 nba games as if he was gonna die when the buzzer sounded,who gave it all he could for every one of his 34749 minutes and who earned every single one of his 23044 points. After twelve years in the league Iverson has shown minimal signs of slowing down , he can score on anybody and sharing the ball the past 2 seasons with another top five scorer has done nothing to slow him down.Scoring 26 a game while being your teams second option is no easy task.
Allen Iverson is getting another chance , possibly his last at winning a ring,he brings to the table immeasurable toughness and gives the Pistons the stone cold scorer they have lacked over the past three or four years and they're hoping it will put them back in the finals to compete for that ring.Stephon Marbury deserves another chance. He came to camp in great shape , he has kept his mouth shut while being benched and for the first time the game he loved has been taken away from him , so he is unable to take it for granted. He is still one of the quickest and strong point guards in the league and can help the Knicks win, whether he is the best player on the Knicks is debatable but he is their best point guard.Building for the future is great but you play to win the game.Let the man play , let him write his own happy ending to what started out brilliantly but has lost its luster over the years.
Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson were supposed to be two of the greatest to play the game when it was all said and done.Marbury was gonna lead the league in assists and Iverson was gonna lead the league in scoring and they were gonna lead the NBA into a silver age of point guard play.Sometime in the past 12 years half of that equation got lost, and anyone who knows math will tell you half any equation won't get you an answer.


This is the way it's supposed to end , except they're supposed to be on opposite teams playing each other for a championship.One congratulating the other after a hard fought game 7. AI is gonna get his chance , when is Marbury gonna get his?

Knicks Preview.

So I'm new at this sports blog thing but I figure I'll give it a shot.
2008/2009 Knicks Preview.
Depth Chart:
PG- Stephon Marbury ,Chris Duhon , Nate Robinson
SG- Jamal Crawford -Mardy Collins, Anthony Roberson
SF- Quentin Richardson, Wilson Chandler Danilo Gallinari
PF- Zach Randolph, David Lee, Jared Jefferies
C - Eddy Curry , Jerome James

In a perfect world we would get rid of some these players , maybe acquire a legit shot blocker while making room for David Lee to get on the floor more.In the meantime lets work with what we have.



Point guard Stephon Marbury has a lot of haters right now but I for one believe he still has some good basketball left in him , especially playing at a more uptempo pace.This is a guy who was railroaded by his last two coaches which is especially shocking since Isaiah Thomas was a scoring point guard himself.Nevertheless , his 13.9 ppg and 4.7 apg were by far a career low signaling to some this may be the end. Lets get this straight he is only 31 years old. He can still bounce back near his career averages of 19.7 and 7.8 .He still possesses top notch quickness, power, speed and ball handling ability. The problem with Marbury has always been the Iverson complex: great player +shitty teamates= Malcontent. I look for Marbury to realize the writing is on the wall and to work hard to buy into this system , a system in which I believe a player of his talents can flourish. Backing him up are Duhon and Lil' Nate. I look for Lil Nate to overtake Duhon as the primary backup in the Barbosa mold that D'antoni is used to.The little guy can score in bunches and plays the game with great passion if not always great maturity.He is a year older and its time for him to start showing his potential more often.Duhon has good leadership and won't really piss anybody off which if all my hopes for Marbury fall through is a HUGE upgrade. I think if Steph falters Duhon gets the nod because Nate is so dangerous against a second unit.Joining them in the backcourt is Jamal Crawford , who is basically John Starks with less conscience and less heart.When he is on he's a truly gifted scorer who can be absolutely deadly in this offense.To get him more minutes I see Nate getting some time here as well his speed is going to be a real asset to this team.Quentin Richardson is hoping to reach the level he was at in Phoenix which is a good bet since he has a good season every other year.Following that Schedule look for him to put up about 15 points and 6 rebounds while nailing three pointers on the break.If he falters look for Wilson Chandler to step in and fill the spot nicely. An improving shooter and hustling defender he's gonna end up stealing minutes from the onset and if Richardson can't take the heat I look for him to steal the spot entirely.Not much to expect from Rookie Gallinari , he has a good feel for the game whatever that means , but at this point he's got to get stronger, quicker and smarter which will only come from experience. I like the talent but not this year.In the post you have Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph both of whom we would be better off without , Marbury is poison enough we don't need a crybaby and a black hole to make matters worse.Unfortunately they're on the roster so we move forward. Eddy Curry is a dead mans Shaq. Watching Shaq labor up the court in the Sun's offense last year will look like a Usain Bolt race with this guy. First of all to start a break you have to rebound which he doesn't do, then if you want to get a shot up in seven seconds or less you better have him posting up while the rest of the team is on defense.He really can score with his back to the basket when given the touches but his touches are sure to dwindle with the guards trying to push the ball up the floor. For the sake of this preview I would call Eddy and Zach interchangeable. Neither one of them can block a shot or defend the post.(can't is strong I guess won't works), both can score the ball , Zach has more range, Curry has more size.Either way I look for David Lee to take the lions share of the minutes at forward and Curry and Zach splitting minutes as the token post scorer in case the transition game comes apart. He rebounds , he hustles and he is athletic enough to run in this offense and finish the break as a trailer.Jared Jefferies will contribute the occasional good defensive spurt while Jerome James will contribute to the heartache of Knicks fans every where and serve as a reminder of the Isiah Era.

Expect an improved team over last year, but not enough to make the playoffs. D'Antoni knows how to play an uptempo game and I think he has the bodies to pull it off. For the time being look for 28-32 wins and signs of life as a step up and hold your breath for the future. If we can unload one of the Post Twins for an athletic shotblocker and get these guys on the same page I predict even bigger improvements. Making Stephon Marbury go with the program is gonna be the toughest test and if D'Antoni can pull that off , this might be his best coaching job to date.