Friday, December 21, 2007

It's Alive: Knicks versus Bobcats in real-time

Preamble: It's a Friday night. It's the start of the holiday break for students and white collar workers alike. And, I'm sitting at my desk with the television on ready to live-blog the Knicks/Bobcats tilt getting set to tip off in Charlotte.

The Knicks are coming off their most impressive win of the season (it is more impressive than the home win against Denver because of all that has transpired since then) against the reigning EC champs, the Cavs. David Lee was dominant. He put up 17 in the first half off the bench and finished with 22/11. Q actually made all those shots that he is force fed in the early going. Nate actually saw some playing time and comported himself well. And, of course Jamal scored some points. Win or lose, that kid will score some points. Waking up the morning after that game the questions abounded for both teams. Was this a significant win for the Knicks? Was this a significant loss for the Cavs? Or was this just a largely meaningless regular season NBA game? For their part, the Cavs assuaged some concerns last night be beating the Lakers in a game where Lebron contained Kobe in the fourth quarter.

Now, it's the Knicks turn. This team hasn't won a game more than 20 miles from the Garden. They are 1-9 on the road with their only road victory coming at the Nets in NJ.

1st Quarter

Tip-Off: And, we're off. Bobcats control.

The B'cats are all springs and speed and the Knicks are all cotton balls and bricks so far. It is amazing how complacent this team can look in the early going of games. Whether after the big loss against the Celtics a few weeks back or after the big win against the Cavs the other night, both games were followed up with sluggish first quarters. They are clearly not mentally prepared when they take the floor.

And, yes, David Lee is on the bench. Nazr Mohammed and Okafor each have offensive rebounds already.

Jamal Crawford has gotten the Knicks to the first timeout with a one-point lead thanks to 9 quick points in the early going.

20-19

The teams are just trading baskets right now. Defense amounts to defensive rebounding, which the Knicks aren't doing. I probably feel good about a just trading buckets because we've got better shot-makers. But they are getting too many offensive boards for that to really work out in our favor. We are trading buckets but they're getting two shots for our one per trip.

Ah, David Lee finally checks in with about 3 to go in the quarter.

And, the Bobcats counter by bringing in their white guy, Matt Carroll of Notre Dame.

Okafor is calling for the ball inside. The B'cats have several straight buckets in the paint and lead 22-30. In other words, things are going right to script. It's so frustrating watching teams attack us this way so consistently. It's like being a fan of the Major League version of the Indians and watching pitchers just throw curve after curve to Cerrano. Or, actually it is like watching the Cardinals throw curves to the 2006 Mets in the playoffs.

Jared Dudley checks in, finally, with about 30 seconds left in the 1st!

2nd Quarter

Dudley, the rookie out of Boston College who looks soft but plays harder than most, starts the second and hits a bucket to give the B'cats a 24-36 lead.

28-42

Yup, it's happening again. One-dimensional jump shooters (Matt Carroll) are killing us because the Knicks can't seem to rotate on defense or cover the open man. Meanwhile, the B'cats bigs are 8-12 and Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson are quietly working towards their averages.

Jeff McInnis is popping (and hitting) jumpshots early, early in the shot clock. Jason Richardson is trying to posterize Curry (who thankfully fouled him) and Isiah is subbing 4 at a time. Thankfully he went with the pull everyone but Lee strategy.

There is house-bottle of "Christmas" whiskey downstairs and a reason to drink up here. This "live-blog" could be short-lived.

Insult/Injury = Knicks missing easy shots/Nazr cleaning up the glass with 8 early boards.

Salt in wound (from previous overstylized metaphor) = Nazr quick turnaround jump shot over Curry. Nazr has 8 and 8.

31-49

With about 3 left in the half the only important question is whether or not the Knicks fall behind by 20. There are such things as moral victories.

36-58

There are also actual, literal losses. The Knicks already have many of these.

So, Isiah predictably calls a timeout after the lead balloons to 22. And, then the best part of the night occurred. MSG goes to commercial and their is Alien versus Predator commercial that has David Lee offering some commentary. His money is on the Predator.

Halftime: 44-67
Gus Johnson informs me (and the other seventeen folks watching) that this is the worst defensive half of the Knicks very, very bad defensive season. They gave up 67 points. I guess I'm taking Alien. Sorry. David.

3rd Quarter

"That's the advantage he has in the matchup. Nazr can face the basket and hit a bucket. Eddy can't do that."
-John Andriese on the ways in which "The Franchise" pales in comparison to a journeyman center.

44-70

Q just got pulled from the game and started jawing at Isiah as he walked over to the bench. He was clearly angry and letting his coach hear it. In a less than respectful manner. Isiah got up to walk down to Q at the end of the bench and Herb was quickly up to stay between them lest this encounter get any friskier.

And, with the Knicks in Nate Robinson and Fred Jones Survival Mode (NRFJSM is where these guys just try to keep scoring to keep the route from being too embarrassing) there is no sign of David Lee and we're about halfway through the third quarter. Isiah seems bent on alienating every single one of his players but Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph.

51-75

There was a time a few seasons back when I was campaigning hard for Nazr to be a reserve on the All-Star team. His knifing-through-the-lane finger roll makes me remember that. He's got a double-double already.

David Lee finally checks in with less than four to play in the third. He's in for Zach Randolph who just picked up another foul. Would he have come in at all if Randolph had stayed foul free? Why are we even conserving fouls at this point?

Lee has a putback dunk that gets the score under 20. It's Lee's first bucket. Of course, the Bobcats score immediately to put them back above the twenty-point threshold.

62-83

4th Quarter

The Knicks are down 19 to start the fourth. They real question is whether they lose by 27 or by 9? They third unit, lead by Nate, has brought some life to the squad. Losing by 9 is actually a possibility!

77-90

OK. They're two buckets and two stops from being right back in this game. 4 plays. They're also four plays from being down and out in another laugher.

77-94

The Bobcats make two plays. Their lead is comfortable again considering there is less than five to play yet they've got the starters on the floor. The Knicks have Malik Rose on the floor.

But the Knicks do have Nate Robinson out there with Malik. He grabs a defensive rebound, flies down the floor and hits a three. It's a ten point game. With three and a half to play.

84-94

Nate flies down the floor and gets fouled going to the hole. He's got the team on his shoulders right now. He misses both free throws and we're all reminded that Nate's shoulders aren't that wide. He's actually kind of small. Still, he's the best we've got right now. He's got 20 points in 26 minutes. Meanwhile, Curry, Randolph and Q are all on the bench.

Whenever a team is trying to come back late in a game I always remember something I heard Reggie Miller say many years ago when he was the best endgame player around not named MJ. He said that if a team could just cut the deficit to six points at the two-minute mark that they were on pace to come all the way back. For whatever reason I have always believed this.

The Knicks are down by 11 with 2:45 to go.

The Knicks are down by 13 when the game goes under 2 minutes remaining.

The Knicks do cut the lead to 10 and Nate is pinballing around the floor with the sort of energy that some of his teammates seem impervious to.

91-101

And, they're right on target for my "losing by 9" call of about an hour ago! This is a good thing. Remember moral victories?

93-103

Gus and John are impressed by the unit on the floor (Nate, Lee, Crawford, Chandler and Jones) and with good reason. They've brought the team within 9 and even if that is meaningless they've played with heart and passion and intensity.

Argh! Lee just missed two free throws when he could have sewn up my 9 point prediction!

Final Score: 95-105

The Budweiser Play of the Game involves Nazr Mohammed. Of course it does.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

"They Were the Champions (of the Eastern Conference), My Friends"

And, the Knicks beat them down last night, 108-90

I am ashamed to admit that I watched the Knicks thoroughly outplay the Cavs with only faint amusement and even less enjoyment. Actually it was more like b-musement than a-musement. There was no high-fiving or extra-rounds-on-me drinking or any such jubilation. I was eating a sandwich and drinking some inexpensive red wine. There was a kitten biting my foot and I really wanted to watch the latest movie to come from Netflix.

It was actually frustrating to sit and watch this game knowing what tomorrow likely brings. It was frustrating to sit their with non-Knicks fans and say, "see, we are good!" knowing that they didn't believe me. And shouldn't believe me. Because on a nightly basis this team isn't actually good. Even though it could be. I swear it to them.

For all the brief moments of exhiliration, there were longer, more thoughtful periods of exasperation as I watched David Lee score 17 points in the first half. He is the most active player on the court and makes Lebron's 15 points in the first half seem quite pedestrian. To put it simply, David Lee is playing like a star. Again, he had come off the bench and again he was the player who brought the most potential onto the floor. And, I'm not talking about Curry-type potential, the sort of potential that a real estate mogul sees in a pristine piece of undeveloped property that they can erect condominiums and golf courses on. I'm not talking about potential that needs wealth and resources and time to potentially extract if your risk/reward investment pays off. I'm talking about the sort of potential that exists in a battery or with a J. Crew gift card that you recieve as a Christmas present from your boss. There is a specific and very practical potential in those objects and it is the responsibility of the person who holds the object to make use of that potential. Use the battery in your television remote and enjoy a long, lazy college bowl season without getting off the couch. Or use the gift card to go buy a nice cable-knit sweater to keep warm through the long winter. However, how many wallets have old gift cards stuck between CVS discount cards or Border rewards cards or whatever else fills our Costanza-esque appendages? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? Businesses love the invention of the gift card because so many go unused, meaning that they are taking in money in exchange for no goods and/or services. David Lee is that unused gift card, wasting away on the bench.

Seeing Lee lead the team in a win like this is all the more reason to fire Isiah Thomas. A win like this shows that there might be something salvageable here if we remove Isiah from the equation. This team has the horses to compete on any given night with almost any team and if you got them to the playoffs (and up to a 6 seed) then who knows what could happen in the AAA league that is the Eastern Conference. At the very least you buy some time and some goodwill for the new coach and the new general manager. You might also get a chance to really test the mettle of this group (under better conditions) before you hold the fire sale that we all know is coming and will cost us our better players along with our bad ones.

And even if the team doesn't turn it around after Isiah is removed they will still be better off. We'll be in line for a top pick in the draft and can draft one of these frosh phenom guards to be Steph's understudy for one season before taking over when his contract comes off the books. We'll be at the front of the line in the coach/GM searches when the season ends and every coach and exec out in the world will have all season to ponder if they want to throw their hat in the NY ring. Moreover, we'll have a chance to give Herb Williams a shot at coaching the squad and hopefully the sample size (if Dolan acts soon enough) will be enough to make a yay/nay decision on him for next year. We'll have the same chance to evaluate these players anew as well. What happens to this team if Isiah is gone and Lee and Balkman start? What happens to this team if Eddy Curry becomes a one-dimensional scorer who is deployed strategically off the bench? Who knows what could happen with a different coach and a different approach? I don't know. I hope it could be better and I think it is important to find out before we blow this whole thing up.

Therefore, a win like this shouldn't be something that "saves" Isiah's job or stays his execution. A win like this is all the more reason to fire him. Immediately.

The Recaps:
ESPN
The Times
The Post
The News

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Tick...tick...tick....

"We don't grind and we don't compete like we should for 48 minutes and I've never ... a lot of things that can be said about me and teams that I've coached and the way I played, but I've never been accused of not having heart or competing. Tonight was very discouraging to me because we didn't collectively play with heart and compete like I know I do."
-Isiah Thomas on the Knicks performance

....Boom!

These comments from Isiah immediately following the latest debacle at the Garden (full write-up to follow in the AM with links to the papers) make it seem like there is a chance that the "Fire Isiah" chants are still off the mark. Listening to these sentences spill forth in monotone it seems like Isiah might not be fired tonight (but he sure could/should be), but he just might quit tomorrow instead. Six of one half dozen of the other. I'll take it either way.

He sounds like he has finally stopped his (good) habit of accepting blame for his team's poor play. Tonight he pointed his championship ring wearing finger right at the team that he put together. Unequivocally he called them heartless and gutless. By and large he is right. Tonight was a debacle. In the search for absolute zero we have a new benchmark.

Regardless of his robotic and colorless delivery (this was no Denny Green or Jim Mora post-game talk) the words are clear and they will be indelible in the papers tomorrow. They will not be the glue for this fractured squad. And since this team clearly isn't about to be shamed into playing better (as someone who has been at the Garden a lot thus far I know this because we've tried) it would seem like Isiah might be poised to dump this team before he can be dumped.

And, I couldn't really imagine his departure going any other way. Isiah is too egomaniacal to let Dolan even get a line in edgewise during his protracted death scene. When that scene comes it will be a monologue. Arduous and delivered with a wink and smile as if it is a victory rather than defeat. Meanwhile, Dolan is too inept and spineless to turn up with any sort of definitive action. If he were a man of action he would have acted. If he were a man who built things he would not have stood as more scaffolding was erected around such a shoddy frame. But he is not a man accustomed to action or to building, rather he is just someone who oversees what has already been built and holds in trust the gains of those who have acted on his behalf and that is why it is likely that he will just sit slumped in his courtside seat and let history happen around him.

Monday, December 10, 2007

The Fantlantic

Or, A Fantasy Basketball League that Simulates the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference

One of the many (legitimate) knocks against Isiah Thomas and the current incarnation of the New York Knickerbockers is that they've been built like a fantasy team rather than like an actual team. The team starts five scorers and has no defensive-minded role players in that first unit. The team has no chemistry and is chock-full of me-first fellows. Every single player in the starting lineup could put up thirty points on any given night. And, they all want to every single night. Yep, that does sound like a fantasy team to me.

And, perhaps if the NBA somehow bent the rules and allowed the Knicks to start Balkman and Lee every night along with the other five guys in some sort of "Utility" positions then, just maybe, the team would be able to compete like they were truly intended.

Scouring the world for such illogical means for hope and burdened with an overabundance of free time when not at work I set about creating the Fantlantic. The Fantlantic is the Fantasy Atlantic Division and it includes all five teams from the Atlantic Division (Boston, NY, NJ, Philly and Toronto) of the NBA's Eastern Conference. Each team is composed of the players currently on their roster and all players are active nightly so that all stats count.

The Fantlantic lives on the Yahoo Fantasy Sports website and is a rotisserie league, meaning that rankings are tabulated by comparing the stats accumulated by each competing team in a variety of categories. The categories being scored in this league are field goals made, field goal percentage, free throws attempted, free throws made, free throw percentage, three-point shots made, three-point shooting percentage, points, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and turnovers. This is the maximum number of categories that Yahoo allows.

The Fantlantic has been accumulating and compiling stats since the season tipped off last month. I waited until now to share this with the home-viewer because the "conference season" for the Atlantic didn't really kick off until this past week. The Knicks played at NJ last Wednesday and then had the double-dip with Philly this weekend. Meanwhile Boston also played Toronto on Friday. We've now got enough of a sample-size to see what this all looks like.

Standings
1. Celtics (55.5 points): The C's lead the fantasy league in FG%, DReb and steals. They are second in FTM, FT%, 3PTM, 3PT%, points, and assists. They are not last in any category and are the most balanced and consistently dominant team.

2. Raptors (48 points): Toronto ranks first in more statistical categories than anyone else, leading the Fantlantic in FGM, FT%, 3PTM, 3PT%, points, assists and turnovers. However, they show weaknesses in the other stat categories with last place rankings for FTA, FTM, OReb, Reb and blocks. They actually have fewer blocked shots than the Knicks. Impressive.

3. Nets (45.5 points): Oh, mediocrity. Thy home is the Meadowlands. Thy smell is tire fires. The Nets hold, or share, 4 first place ranks (FTA, FT, DReb and Reb) while being last in four other categories (FGM, FG%, steals and turnovers). And, not surprisingly, they rank right in the middle (3rd) in every other category.

4. 76ers (39 points): They're bad at most everything. They have a safe lead in the blocked shot department and that's about it. They're also last in all the 3PT shooting categories showing that offensively and defensively their strength is closer to the rim.

5. Knicks (37 points): The Knicks aren't much worse off than the Sixers from a fantasy standpoint, no matter what happened this past weekend. However, they are currently at the bottom of the Fantlantic. Most embarrassingly they rank last in points scored. For a team that starts five score-first players with offensive (in both terms of the word) reputations this must be particularly galling. The only bright spot is their top ranking in offensive rebounding. However, the fact that they miss so many shots (2nd worst FG%) probably helps make this possible.

Thus far, everything has played to form. The Celtics are good. The Knicks are bad. No surprises yet.

Therefore, the most interesting aspect of the league has been the ability to see the rankings of the individual players and how they compare to one another from a fantasy perspective. The Celtics have three of the top four fantasy ballers in the Fantlantic and their entire starting lineup figures in the Top 25. Conversely, the Knicks don't have anyone ranked in the top ten. Jamal Crawford is the highest rated Knick at 13 and David Lee isn't too far behind him. Meanwhile the Nets have two players in the top five and they still are an awful underachieving team.

Top 15 Fantlantic Players (overall NBA rank according to Yahoo):
1. Kevin Garnett (3)
2. Richard Jefferson (21)
3. Paul Pierce (31)
4. Ray Allen (34)
5. Jason Kidd (41)
6. Andre Iguodola (44)
7. Jose Calderon (50)
8. Carlos Delfino (56)
9. Chris Bosh (57)
10. Anthony Parker (66)
11. Samuel Dalembert (69)
12. Vince Carter (71)
13. Jamal Crawford (93)
14. Jamario Moon (94)
15. David Lee (99)

..and other notable players include...
18. Louis Williams (118)
20. Andre Miller (126)
23. Stephon Marbury (146)
29. Quentin Richardson (186)
30. Eddy Curry (190)
33. Nate Robinson (213)
35. Zach Randolph
36. Fred Jones (220)
48. Jared Jeffries (318)
52. Mardy Collins (362)

The battle for the worst fantasy baller in the Fantlantic is currently being waged between two NJ Nets big men: Jason Collins and Jamal Magloire.

Each week I'll give an update on the latest standings in The Fantlantic to see how much of a correlation there is between fantasy sports and reality sports. We'll find out if Isiah Thomas is any better as a fantasy sports manager than he is a reality sports manager. So far, it doesn't look like it.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

"You see ethics are...business ethics can be seen as..."

The death of a family member reminds all the fans and reporters out in The City that Stephon Marbury is a man just like any of us. He may be wealthier and taller and less educated than some of us but he is just a guy who gets paid to play basketball. I get paid to edit and write and make occasional photo copies. One of my roommates gets paid to appraise real estate. The other roommate, he gets paid to cook. Stephon gets paid to play basketball. For certain, it is good work if you can get it but on a fundamental level it is just a job the same as ours. Even if those in the stands (myself included) fail to bear that in mind most of the time. You always hear from the players and coaches that "it's a business," and for them that's exactly what it is. It is a career. Same as yours. Just harder and easier and more demanding and probably more fun and, oh yeah, much better compensated. This will never fully make sense to fans. The things we see them do nightly seem so amazing to us at home that we struggle to relate to them.

In the wake of Sean Taylor's tragic murder and with the Jimmy V Classic playing on the television right now it reminds me that it is really only in moments of tragedy that we remember athletes are actually like us. They come from somewhere. And they'll likely go back there once their amazing physical skills dull with age and over-use. Stephon Marbury is from Coney Island, New York. The spot where all those subway lines end. It's the wrong side of four sets of tracks and Stephon was the youngest of seven children raised by Don and Mabel Marbury. He was named the National High School Player of the Year by Parade Magazine during his senior year at Lincoln High. He was a member of the 1994 US Junior National Team that won a Gold Medal. He wore number three at Georgia Tech because all of his older brothers wore the same number. Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Don's baby son went on to put up historic stats as he showed himself to be one of the more impressive players in the professional ranks. Stephon also signed up to play for his country again in 2004 when so many of his peers were avoiding the commitment at all costs. Up until his numbers took a hit in NY during the last few seasons, Marbury was the only player in league history other than Oscar Robertson with career averages over 20 points and 8 assists. In spite of his much publicized demise, his career averages have only "sunk" to 19.8 and 7.9 per game.

Off the court Don and Mabel's youngest child was also named to The Sporting News's prestigious "Good Guys in Sports" list in 2001, 2002 and 2005. He also teamed up with a discount clothing retailer to release an affordable basketball sneaker. He was the first big-name basketball player to buck the trend of over-priced shoes marketed at inner city kids. Steph came from the neighborhoods were kids were killed for Air Jordans and parents, like Don and Mabel, worked night and day to get their children such shoes.

Now, we can be sure that Stephon's charitable work does not make him a saint. In testimony (painfully and naively honest testimony) during Isiah Thomas's sexual harassment trail Marbury revealed that he had an extramarital tryst with an MSG intern. Barry Bonds is now facing federal jail time for choosing to be less forthcoming when asked for such embarassing honesty. In addition, Steph has had confrontations with former coaches and teammates but so have Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant and innumerable players whose maturity didn't yet equal their talent. A man with works both bitter and sweet, he is just as conflicted and contradictory as the rest of us. He just takes his bows and his brow-beatings on a larger stage and with larger stakes.

In spite of any missteps in his personal life, Marbury has been an NBA ironman. He came from hard-working people and brought that work ethic to the basketball court. He didn't miss a game due to injury from April 2001 until January 2006. He couldn't lift his arm over his head but it was still a struggle to get him out of the game where he finally gave in to the pain. No matter what anyone thought about his performance he kept showing up night after night. But that is not enough. It never is. He isn't as good as we want him to be. And he probably never will be. He falls short of our expectations. And he always might. He hasn't lead a team to postseason success. And it seems like he might never "lead" a team in June. He has had some high profile problems with coaches and teammates. He hasn't turned into a pass-first point guard that we wish he could be and hasn't made the teammates to whom he should be passing more often any better. He hasn't replaced Walt Frazier in the hearts and minds of New Yorkers liked everyone said he might when he was a teenager. But let's not forget that Zach Randolph is no Dave DeBusschere. Eddy Curry is not Willis Reed. Jamal Crawford is not Bill Bradley. And Isiah Thomas is not Red Holzman.

Isiah Thomas is just the man who kept Stephon from his dying father's side. The coach who has allowed Marbury to become the scapegoat for the mess that he created is the man ultimately responsible for the fact that Stephon continued to play in an early December basketball game while his beloved father was suffering and being rushed to the St. Vincent's Hospital where he would expire.

Can you imagine if your boss knew that your father (or mother or brother or sister or spouse or best friend) had been rushed to the hospital and was having a heart attack and this boss neglected to tell you until you finished the project you were working on?

If my father was been taken suddenly to a hospital in an ambulance would it be strange to think that I would drop what I was doing to accompany him? Would it be wrong? Even if Steph's presence couldn't have kept Don Marbury's well-worn and well-used heart beating, he still could have been there during those last moments. Lives and relationships are defined and fortified in such moments. Old wounds are mended, bonds reaffirmed. They can provide solace for the grieving and perhaps peace for the fading.

Considering the hectic life of a professional athlete it is remarkable that Stephon was even in the same state when his father's heart failed. But he was in the same state. He was in the same city. He was even in the same building and the same gym. But he had no idea. I can't even begin to comprehend how miserable and helpless and isolated it would make someone feel to know that a loved one who needed you was within bounce passable distance and that you had no idea. This is the worst sort of pain that I can imagine adding on to an already awful situation.

The fact that no one told Stephon Marbury about what was happening is far and away the most despicable and selfish act perpetrated by this wretched Garden hierarchy. This is worse than an inappropriate firing of an employee. This is worse than creating a hostile workplace. This is worse than mismanaging the finances of an organizations because of ineptitude and ignorance. This is worse than turning your back on a tradition that was never yours to begin with. This is worse than treating lightly that for which others toiled tirelessly for a lifetime, yet was gifted to you. This is worse than insulting the very people upon whom your livelihood depends. This is worse than anything that has happened to anyone at the hands of the Garden.

How can Stephon ever trust Isiah Thomas? How can he ever trust any single member of the coaching staff? How can he ever trust any member of the security staff? Some person or persons in that group knew what was happening. Someone had called the ambulance. Someone had helped Stephon's suddenly stricken father from the arena. Someone fielded the call from either the ER or another member of the Marbury family. Someone had to do those things. That person likely asked their own supervisor what to do. Perhaps that person subsequently asked theirs. Perhaps that person asked MSG President Steve Mills. And maybe Mills got word to the head coach. Or, maybe this news never made it up that far in the chain of command. Frankly, I don't know. And I don't care. If someone felt like this news to be kept from Steph than likely they were doing what they thought that their boss (Isiah Thomas) would have wanted.

I can't imagine many things more devastating than having a parent need me and not being told until it was too late. And, all of that pain and doubt and self-recrimination for what? For a win in December? To play in the fourth quarter? This is not the case of the athlete making the sacrifice of family and selfhood during the Finals. This isn't heroic. It is tragic. Marbury was never given the choice to make any sort of sacrifice. That choice was made for him. His last moments with his father weren't sacrificed, they were stolen.

Friday, November 30, 2007

"You don't just come out and quit. You have to have a reason or someone has to make you quit."-Kevin Garnett

"Patrick Ewing is rolling over in his grave."-Charles Barkley

A Game in Quotations
Part 2 of 5


Second Quarter

"You can't make this stuff up...which has to be a first in NBA history."-Marv

"The Big Baby out of nowhere diving on the floor!"-Reggie

"...and the Knicks shooting has been brutal."-Marv

"Oh! Nice move by Allen. The second effort, Balkman thought he had him but Allen kept coming."-Marv

16-32

"That's two free layups off the same play that the Celtics have gotten."-The Czar

18-35

"The Celtics have outscored the Knicks 10 to 2 in the second quarter."-Marv

"When your #1 and #2 options, the Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry, are not going then you start to press and start to shoot outside shots."-Reggie

18-37

"Garnett out hustling two Knicks and it pays off. Eddie House from downtown!"-Marv

18-43

"There is no excuse for this. This is unbelievable."-Reggie

"Fred Jones has come on the floor for the first time."-Marv

22-44

"With the talent we brought in it's like 'wow,' it's like a breath of fresh air."-Paul Pierce in pre-taped interview

"What Pierce just said about a breath of fresh air. Is that what the Knicks have been going through? It has been six seasons since Jeff Van Gundy being the last coach when they won 48 games seven seasons back. Since that time 30, 32, 39, 33, 23, 33 wins, a stretch of futilty that they have to deal with."-The Czar

"Nice move by Robinson!"-Marv

29-48

"Pierce for THREE!"-Marv

29-52

"Right now the effort that the Knicks have given is subpar. I look at the body language on the Knicks bench, I'm looking at Mardy Collins and these guys and I don't even think they're...the body language doesn't look good."-Reggie

"For the Knicks a season low for a half with just 31 points."-Marv

31-54

End of the Second Quarter

"I've never even someone get beat at darts this bad." -Kenny Smith

A Game in Quotations
Part 1 of 5


Pre-Game
"Stephon Marbury and the Knicks have won their last two but are winless on the road. They'll try to change that in Boston where Kevin Garnett and the Celtics haven't lost en route to the NBA's best record. Kevin Garnett and the Celtics are eleven and two. It's time for TNT NBA tipoff presented by autotrader.com"--Ernie Johnson

"And this is a matchup of two teams that are going in opposite directions. This is a Knicks team that is 0-6 on the road while the Celtics at home, 7 and 0...The Knicks have been a team in utter chaos and it's tough to consider this a rivalry if both teams do not excel. As the Celtics control the opening tip..."-Marv Albert

First Quarter

"Rando takes it to the rim."-Marv Albert

0-2

"Right now New York has three possesions, three jump shots. Something Isiah Thomas really did not want to see. They need to establish Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph down low."-Reggie Miller

"That's Richardson for Three!"-Marv Albert

3-4

"Their record really doesn't indicate how good they good be and they're a joke because they should be much better than they have really indicated so far."-Reggie Miller

"This is a team that is very poor at the defensive end and they'll turn the ball over. Their is a lack of chemistry. If you look at it in terms of a fantasy league team, yes."-Marv Albert

"But, Marv, I really like their talent. I think they've got talent. They've got size, uh, they're strong at each position. I really like they're second five. While they miss a layup right there, but I like their size and I think their big problem and question mark is going to be with the Knicks is chemistry."-Reggie Miller

3-8

"Allen pulls up. Yes!"-Marv Albert

3-10

"Since we're jumping on the Knicks right now to start out the game, one of the problems right now is chemistry. Chemistry right now because of all the scorers."-Mike Fratello

"And this is a Boston Celtic team that was horrendous."-Marv

"You can immediately tell that New York is going to have to get back in transition. The Celtics are running the floor hard and pull up and spot up behind the three point line and there is no one there to challenge the shooter."-The Czar

"So, the Knicks are 1 of 9 here at the start."-Marv

3-12

"Right now if I'm Isiah I'm scratching my head because this is a big game and you've won two in a row against Chicago and Utah. This is a chance on national TV to come out and make a statement and right now they're not doing that."-Reggie

"Well, Reggie, this is a very good offensive unit, this, as Curry turns for the turnaround jumper and misses it, it's a very good offensive unit. It's a very bad defensive unit."-The Czar

5-16

"The Knicks open up 2 of 13...and Kevin Garnett already has 7 rebounds."-Marv

"Welcome back to Boston, the Celtics have a 16-7 lead. I'm Craig Sager with the Lincoln Sideline Report. The last few months have been very difficult times for Isiah Thomas...He said last night a personal grudge was renewed between he and Boston and the Celtics fans. He checked into his [hotel] room [last night], went to a spin class and he said that when he went back to his room he was locked out. They had changed the lock."-Craig Sager

7-18

"How about the Knicks now? 3 for 16 from the field and it's not like the Celtics are going at a blistering pace with their shooting."-Marv

"Randolph rarely gives it back once the ball goes down low to him"-Marv

"Their is no ball movement for the Knicks right now on offense. You gotta have some kinda system where the ball moves a little bit from side to side."-Reggie

"Randolph! It is deflected. He is Oh for Six here at the start."-Marv

"Here's Brian Scalabrine who just came on, that's a THREE, off the bench to give the Celtics a 23-98 lead"-Marv

8-23

"The guy who made the play is Scalabrine, who settles, puts it on the floor, dribbles hard and gets a wide open look for Rondo."-The Czar

"Randolph! So Randolph with his first bucket, he had missed his previous seven shots."-Marv

14-25

"So the Celtics with a 27-16 lead after one."-Marv

End of First Quarter

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving

Things I'm Thankful For Today:
-That I'll be sitting down for a meal later today with all four of my grandparents who are still running around and having a fine time.

-Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Game 5 of the 1998 Eastern Conference First Round Playoff Series.

-The POSSIBILITY that Isiah Thomas could be fired soon. Maybe even tomorrow. Even if it is not likely it is still possible and for that I am thankful.

-Endy's catch. I was there.

-That David Stern rigged the NBA Draft Lottery in 1985.

-The Dunk.

-The chance to attend so many Knicks games when I was kid. I'm very thankful for all those nights that started out with dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called The Print Room in Hackensack, NJ. Hamburger with fries. The hamburger was usually a little over done and the fries were those thick "steak fries." And, then off to MSG with my dad, my grandfather and my uncle.

-The 4-point play.

-That for one afternoon all of New York and New Jersey and Connecticut will be rooting for the same football team: The Jets. As a Jets fan in a family full of Giants fans it will make the day go a bit smoother. Of course, they'll all be blaming me after the 'Boys roll over Gang Green.

-That Guillermo Mota is history. The Mets traded this horrorshow yesterday for the artist formerly known as Johnny Estrada. Addition by Subtraction.

-That Trent Tucker hit that shot to beat Chicago before they invented the Trent Tucker Rule.

-That my sister, Sarah, made it home from New Mexico for Thanksgiving.

-Anthony Mason, Xavier McDaniel, Kurt Thomas and every crazy-eyed and hard-nosed player who has donned a Knicks uniform.

-Game 5 of the 1990 NBA Playoff Series between the Knicks and the Celtics. Ewing and Bird each scored 31, but Patrick lead the Knicks over the C's with a memorable three-point shot in the deciding game of this series.

-That the Knicks found Gus Johnson after they shamefully fired Marv Albert. The only way Thanksgiving could be better was if Gus was at our table and announcing the meal. And, "Marilyn PASSES the sweet potatoes! OOH! This IS Thanksgiving!"

-Gerald Wilkens, Kenny "Sky" Walker, Johnny Newman and every other good Knick who gets forgotten.

-All of the food that I'll be eating in a few hours and the great nap that I'm going to take afterwards.

-And of course, I'm thankful for June 27, 1988. On this day the New York Knickerbockers traded Bill Cartwright and some draft picks for Charles Oakley and some draft picks. Oak was three seasons out of Virginia Union and the inside presence that the Knicks needed to pair with Ewing. Say what you want about Rick Pitino as an NBA coach but this was an inspired move. It is one of the best days of an era that is finally starting to be recognized for how good it actually was.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Oakley would fire Isiah

And, whoever runs the video screen at MSG

Apparently, Charles Oakley was in attendance at the game last night. My roommate, who caught some of the game on television, told me that. What? Those of us at the game had no idea that one of our most beloved heroes was sitting in the same auditorium and breathing the same vitriol as we were. We had no idea because Oakley was never shown on the GardenVision screen at any point. Of course, I could tell you that the scourge of ESPN Classic, Robert Wuhl, was there. Because he merited some screen time. They give us Wuhl and no Oak? This is a travesty and has to be an intentional slight against the team's past. Someone, somewhere in that building hid him from us. Perhaps because Oakley would remind us of a time when hustle and heart and passion where the hallmarks of the players who donned the home uniform in that building. Perhaps because he came from a team that was perpetually in contention for a title on the basis of their brute strength and force of will. Perhaps because he would have brought each and every fan to their feet and only bad things could happen for Isiah if that ever happened.

Monday, November 19, 2007

One Thing I Think Really Bores Me

In case you didn't know, Peter King (of SI) watches games in a fancy room at NBC, regularly exchanges text messages with Trent Green or just about any other white veteran in the league and enjoys a latte while traveling around the Mid-Atlantic states where he occassionally watches game from inside of a stadium. This is apparently news. About football.

What used to be a fine column (Monday Morning Quarterback) is now the cult of no-personality every week. It is a shame. And I think it bores me. I still go back and read some weeks but am almost always greeted by passages like this now infamous excerpt from a few weeks back:

"Is it my imagination, or does Romo lead the league in smiling?"

I gave it another try this morning (because of the Jets) and was predictably underwhelmed. Surprisingly, I'm not interested in Peter's trip to Albany to see Springsteen this weekend. And I'm from Jersey and like Bruce. A lot. King went to the show with a producer from HBO. Did you know that Peter King does television? Oh, you didn't? Well, he does. And, you don't.

Clutch [kluc - h]:

transitive verb
1. to grasp, seize, or snatch with a hand or claw
2. to grasp or hold eagerly or tightly

intransitive verb
1. to snatch or seize (at)
2. to engage the clutch of an automobile, etc.

noun
1. a claw or hand in the act of seizing
2. a device for gripping or clawing, as in a crane
3. a woman's small handbag with no handle or strap
4. Matt Ryan, quarterback of the Boston College Eagles

You can have Tim Tebow for the first three quarters and ten minutes of the football game. He is a man-child powered by faith and gatorade. But with the game on the line there is no one else on the Earth who I would want leading my team down the field than Matty Ice.

On Saturday night Ryan lead the Eagles to a come-from-behind victory in Death Valley against the 15th-ranked Clemson Tigers by throwing a 46-yard touchdown pass with under 2 minutes to go, clinching BC's first appearance in the ACC Championship Game.

Additional Reading: The Aura of Matt Ryan [ESPN.com]

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

"In-House" for the Out-house.

Isiah Hates Me and Thinks I'm Not Very Smart

If the last 24 hours in Knick-land have taught us anything it is that Isiah Thomas does not care what you think and he doesn't think you are very smart. With his cheshire smile beaming forth last night before the game against the Suns, Isiah repeatedly referred to everything involving Steph as being an "in-house matter." Meaning, he wasn't going to answer any questions with any certainty. He wasn't going to tell anyone what happened. He wasn't going to defend his player. He wasn't going to castigate his player. He wouldn't comment on whether Steph had been sent away from the team or if he had fled from the team. He wouldn't confirm Steph's claim that he had permission to fly home. Nothing.

By refusing to deal plainly with the media and by extension the fans of the team, the coach has again shown that he has no respect for the people who root for the Knicks. He believes that we have no right to know what is happening and that we are too slow-witted and trusting to think that things are other than he says they are. It's a method of conflict resolution that he seems to have picked up from the Bush administration.

Yeah, Iraq is doing awesome. And the Knicks are too. Now, go out and have some fun, kids.

Hanging wih Carmen Sandiego

Where in the World is Stephon Marbury?

Apparently he is back in NYC this morning. Maybe eating breakfast right now. Maybe packing a bag to fly out to LA to play against the Clippers tonight. Maybe packing a bag to fly to Italy to play against La Fortezza tonight. Maybe he is just driving around in his truck thinking about old times. Who knows? Not me. And, not any of the intrepid writers who are on the case.

Is this just about Marbury being benched because of his play at the end of the Miami game? Is this about Dolan brining the hammer down on Isiah who is scapegoating his former pupil? Is this about an underachieving player who has just lost his desire? Is this a coach's teribbly executed plan at motivating one of his most gifted players? Is this about a sexual harrasment case in which Marbury's testimony didn't do anyone at MSG any favors?

Whatever it is about it isn't about winning basketball games. That much is clear after watching last night's game. Even if Steph's defense is porous he is still a better player than either Nate or Mardy. That is just a fact of the game. Nate is more exciting to watch and Mardy could, at some point, be better at keeping opposing players from getting into the paint, but neither is going to give the team a better chance to win tomorrow. Neither is likely to average 19 and 7. Oscar Robertson did that. Magic Johnson did that. Isiah Thomas did that. Stephon Marbury does that. And, lest we forget, almost every other player in the rotation prior to last night is subpar on the defensive end. Only Lee and Balkman are nominally considered D-oriented. And Lee still has a ways to come with his one-on-one defense. Q can play defense (and frequently does) but he is still a scorer first. So, that leaves Marbury with plenty of company in ineptitude.

According to Isola in the NEWS, Curry was also set to start last night's game on the bench before Steph flew back to NY. That makes a bit more sense. For all of his shortcomings as a player, it is hard to pin the team's defensive woes all on Steph. This move makes more sense if it were part of a larger move by Isiah intended to send a message to the team during a game that they would have been hard pressed to win even if they were playing well. Still, even if one were to give Isiah the benefit of the doubt regarding his intention there hasn't been a plan executed this poorly since Cobra Commander and Destro thought they could take over the world by controlling the weather.

All of that being said, there are number of ways in which the team could be better off with lesser players in Marbury's spot and we'll get into that later today.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Happy Birthday Vincent Frank Testaverde!

44 years ago today the world was blessed by the birth of an American treasure: Vinny's right arm.

The Brooklyn born, Testaverde currently laces up his cleats and dons his well-worn leather helmet for the Carolina Panthers. He is already the oldest quarterback to win a game in the NFL (doing so at the tender age of 43) and looks to break his own record this week when the Panthers take on another NFL graybeard, Brett Favre. Vinny had already thrown 96 interceptions before everyone's favorite denim-wearing riverboat gambler had even donned a Packer uniform.

The winner of the 1986 Heisman trophy and the number one overall draft pick in the following year, Testaverde would play for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers in less than auspicious fashion over the course of six seasons. Throwing an epic 35 interceptions in '88, he would endure a bumpy tenure down in Tampa before departing for Cleveland.

Moving along with the equipment to Baltimore prior to the 1996 season, Testaverde would put together a Pro-Bowl campaign for the new team. Landing with Jets in 1998, Vinny would finally live up to his potential in his eleventh season in the League. Throwing for 29 touchdowns against only 7 picks he would stake the Jets to a lead in the AFC Championship game before succombing to Elway and the Broncos in the second half of that game.

A freak achilles tendon injury in the opening game of the following season halted hopes of a Gang Green return to the postseason and lead the team to draft Vinny's future replacement, Chad Pennington out of Marshall.

Notable Accomplishments:
1986 Heisman trophy winner
1987 number one overall pick in the NFL draft
1988 threw 35 interceptions
1996 became first starting QB in history of Baltimore Ravens
1996 selected to Pro Bowl as member of Baltimore Ravens
1998 lead New York Jets to AFC Championship Game
1998 selected to Pro Bowl as member of New York Jets
2000 orchestrated the "Monday Night Miracle" as Jets came back to defeat Dolphins after falling behind 30-7 going into 4th quarter
2005 threw last touchdown pass (to L. Coles) on ABC's version of Monday Night Football
2007 threw touchdown pass for the 21st consecutive season (to S. Smith)

Notable QBs replaced by Vinny:
Steve DeBerg
Bernie Kosar
Glenn Foley
Quincy Carter
David Carr

And another reason why Vinny is better than your team's QB: the man who gave us the "Vinny-Face" after so many poorly thought-through interceptions is also one of the original investors behind the extremely successful Outback Steakhouse chain. The guy is loaded beyond comprehension.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Stan, Jeff and Patrick: A Band of Brothers

Those Van Gundy brothers really love themselves some Patrick Ewing. The Big Fella was back in the Garden this past Friday evening as a member of the Orlando Magic coaching staff. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy brought Patrick on board during the offseason to serve as a mentor to young, big-man Dwight Howard. With his rangy, muscular build, defensive prowess and relative offensive ineptitude Howard does resemble a college-aged Ewing.

Seeing as how Ewing was able to develop one of the best outside shots ever for a low-post player, he does seem an ideal candidate for the gig. Stan hired the former #33 at the recommendation of his brother, Jeff. The former Knicks coach and recently deposed headman in Houston was fiercely loyal to Ewing during their shared Knicks days and hired him to work with a young Yao Ming once he got the coaching gig in Houston.

Patrick has never been shy about his aspiration to someday coach the Knicks, but he likely won't be offered any sort of coaching position while Isiah is still running the show.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Drew draw Rutgers-Camden in Finals

Double OT win over #1 Ramapo College Sends Rangers to ECAC Finals

Minutes into the second overtime period, Drew freshman midfielder Matt "Greenie" Greenberg sent a pass across the goal mouth that found teammate Adrian Kawuba amidst the crowd of Ramapo defenders. Recieving the pass, Kawuba calmly stayed with the ball, even after his first stab goalwards was thwarted, to slot home the winner.

Drew Athletics

Friday, November 9, 2007

The Heat is Off (and they're out of Diesel fuel)

One year ago the Miami Heat were defending champs, bringing back the NBA Godfather in Shaq and a young Michael Corleone in Wade. Now they are the losers of 16 games in a row (going back to the end of last year) and are heading for a season that may be remembered in South Beach less kindly than third installment of that famous film trilogy. Here's how it went down:

2006-2007 Regular Season
L 89-91 Boston
L 68-94 Orlando
These two games can be excused because the Heat had qualified for the playoffs. At this point, the defending champs couldn't be blamed for mailing in the last two games of the season. Still, the streak has begun...

2006-2007 Playoffs
First Round Series versus Chicago Bulls
L 91-96 (Shaq's line: 27 min, 19 points, 6 rebs, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 6 fouls)
L 89-107 (31 min, 17 points, 8 reb, 1 assist, 7 turnovers, 3 fouls)
L 96-104 (32 min, 23 points, 13 reb, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls)*
L 79-92 (16 points, 7 reb, 0 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls)
This performance was shocking even though everyone knew this team was getting old and that they had coasted through stretches of the regular season. Wade lead the team in scoring in every game of the series and Shaq's only effort worthy of his playoff history came in a game three loss. He then turned in a 16 and 7 clunker in the elimination game.

2007-2008 Preseason
L 86-103 Detroit (Shaq DNP)
L 100-106 OT Atlanta (16 min, 10 points, 1 reb)
L 69-102 Orlando (DNP)
L 76-92 Charlotte (6 points, 3 reb; he left after 1st quarter with injury)
L 85-92 New Orleans (DNP, injury)
L 98-104 Memphis (DNP injury)
L 87-104 San Antonio (17 points in 1st half but left with injury)
Obviously you can't get too worked up about the NBA preseason. In a league where the regular season is largely meaningless then what is there possibly to say about the pre-season? These games generally fall under the "if a tree falls in the woods..." category. However, given the struggles of this team that bookend these games they are worth noting. And, you'd have thought that if this team (and Shaq) felt like they had gotten raw deal in the playoffs last year that they would come out guns-blazing before settling into cruise control. Teams with something to prove showed up in the preseason this year. Surprisingly. There was even a tilt between the Knicks and Celtics that felt like a playoff game because both teams were trying to send a message. The message sent by Miami was decidedly different.

2007-2008 Regular Season
L 80-91 Detroit (29 min, 9 points, 7 reb, 2 assists, 4 turnovers, 5 fouls)
L 85-87 Indiana (28 min, 8 points, 7 reb, 1 assist, 4 blocks, 6 turnovers, 6 fouls)
L 88-90 Charlotte (32 min, 17 points, 9 reb, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 5 fouls)
L 78-88 San Antonio (31 min, 17 points*, 3 reb, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 fouls)

And, here we are. 16 losses on the bounce. The sky is falling. The jet boats are sinking. While Wade could have made the difference in all of these games it looks quite clear that Shaq is no longer capable of doing that. Focusing on the middle two ball games, 2 points losses to Indiana and Charlottte, it is clear that the Diesel is running out of gas. No matter how much better either Indy or Charlotte are than anticipated these are the sort of close game that Shaq used to take over down the stretch. Instead of totaling 8 points in 28 minutes against the Pacers he would have scored 8 in the final 3 minutes a few seasons ago. He was too powerful and determined to lose a game like that very often.

All-Star pitchman and All-World player Dwyane Wade is still sidelined after undergoing knee surgery. His first full-contact practice was earlier this week and there is yet to be a solid return date. Meanwhile, Pat Riley's hair badly needs an oil change and the acquistion of Ricky Davis is a short-sighted, stop-gap solution to replacing Wade's offense and not an actual plan to reconfigure this roster in such a way so that it can compete for a title. Honestly, I think they'll be hard pressed to make the playoffs.

It seems to be the end of an era. Someone needs to replace Dwight Howard's Bible with rhyming dictionary if he has any chance of being the Next anything. Of course, Shaq may break out a big game here or there once Wade is back to take some pressure off of him, but unless he can find that Fountain of Youth, which Ponce de Leon did believe was located somewhere in Florida, it seems that the Heat are in trouble. And, with the Phoenix Suns coming to Miami tonight it doesn't look like they'll be turning things around just yet.

Additional Reading: Ian Thomsen over at SI doesn't think that Shaq is done just yet.

What If....NCAA Champions League

Given the fact that Kansas could very likely be shut out of the BCS National Championship game even if they can run the table and remembering that Boise State was held out last year with an undefeated record it is clear that most teams in the country are entirely prohibited from playing in the BCS National Championship game.

And if that is the case then I say we embrace that insular reality and play America's favorite game: let's figure out a better and more exciting way to determine a National Champ within the small pool of teams that could actually win the whole thing. If the regular season doesn't really matter as much as we say (meaning a one-loss team from the right conference can jump ahead of an undefeated team from the wrong one) then let's institute the NCAA Champions League that emulates the UEFA Champions League in Europe. This annual, extended soccer tournament pits the very best professional teams from each of the separate domestic leagues against one another in the most compelling sporting event on the earth. It is like March Madness but even better because there is more of it and the level of competition is higher. And we have nothing like it in America. Here's our chance:

The current college football season lasts approximately 18 to 20 weeks for those teams who make it to a New Year's Day bowl. These are the teams that we're talking about so let's work within that timetable and remember that no one likes the obscenely long lay off between the last regular season game and the NC game.

Each team currently in a BCS affiliated conference (since we should stop pretending that the rest factor into the NC conversation) would have 10 weeks to play a 7 to 8 game conference season. At the conclusion of this conference season the top two teams from each of the six BCS affiliated conferences would send their two best teams to participate in the NCAA Champions League just the way it works when each of Europe's top soccer leagues send their top teams to vie for the title of the Champions of Europe.

If the Champions League of College Football were to exist in lieu of the BCS bowls and other top tier bowl games (and there wasn’t any more shuffling in the conference rankings from today to the end of the season) then we would be looking at a mini-season of games between these 12 teams.

PAC 10:
Oregon
Arizona State

BIG 10:
Ohio State
Michigan

BIG 12:
Kansas
Oklahoma

ACC:
Boston College
Virginia Tech

BIG EAST:
West Virginia
UConn

SEC
LSU
Georgia

These NCAA Champions League participants would be broken into two groups for a round-robin group stage. This could be done via seeding, geographically (ACC, BIG EAST and SEC/PAC 10, BIG 10 and BIG 12, which I think actually works from a competitive standpoint) or it could be done via random drawing like the UEFA Champions League.

Each team plays every other team in their group. The top two teams from each group after the five weeks would advance to the next stage. Rankings within the group would be determined first by number of wins and losses. In the event that two teams finish with the same record the team to advance would then be decided by margin of victory over the course of all five games just as it is in soccer (goal differential). This would ensure that no team would take a single play off during any game. This also eliminates the "well if X beat Y and Z beat X but lost to Y then [insert SEC team] advances!" arguments that always crops up as the BCS rankings harden.

These games would be amazing. A week one schedule could look like this:

LSU vs. Kansas
Boston College vs. Michigan
West Virginia vs. Arizona State
Oregon vs. Virginia Tech
Oklahoma vs. UConn
Ohio State vs. Georgia

There would be five whole weeks of games like this. Fans would get to know these teams and to love and to hate them. And even if a team were outclassed in a particular matchup late in the five-week season they would know if their opponent needed to win by a specific number of points to jump up in the standings and suddenly the difference between losing by 13 or 21 becomes as exciting as a close game would have been. In effect, this would make the over/under and the point spread an actual on-field factor in every game.

After two winners emerge from each of the two separate groups then the remaining four teams would either be seeded one through four or chosen at random in the manner that it is done in soccer. Each team would then play a home-and-home series with the team they are matched with. Each team gets to sell out there stadium, showcase their fans and their atmosphere for high school recruits and the television time is sold twice over as we get two weekends of great football in which these teams have enough time to develop a rivalry. The winner of each match-up is decided first by wins and secondly, only if necessary in the case of a series split, by aggragrate point total. In the event that the points totals also match up then the team who scored more points on the road moves on. Same as with the soccer version of this event.

The incorporation of margin of victory into the decision again means that each game will be exciting and compelling. Even if a team looks certain to lose the opening game of the set you can't throw in the towel because a "garbage" time touchdown could make the difference. Every play counts.

More importantly, the home-and-home format prevents a team playing at an unexpectedly friendly or hostile “neutral” site. Every year in the NCAA basketball tournament certain teams end up playing before a home crowd for the first two weeks. In this scenario, each team plays before their home crowd and there is no possibility for an unintended advantage. The two-game format also eliminates the “any given Saturday” logic that muddies the picture and can be used to cast doubt on any winning team. In a two-game series, potentially using aggregate scoring in case of a split, the better team is far more likely to advance consistently than in any other scenario. It’s not a lock but death and taxes have the monopoly on sure things.

And, then once the two better teams advance from each semifinal pairing there is a single National Championship game between the last two standing after a seven-week mini season against the best teams from the various power conferences. At this point college football fans will be very familiar with all of the players after having watched these games over the preceeding several weeks. Every team will have a national following at that point and there will be NO boring matchup in a National Championship game. It just isn't possible because no one can be considered unworthy after making it this far and no one can claim to have been railroaded after playing a group stage and a home-and-home series. There can be no controversy.

The National Championship game will now be held at a neutral site that is selected from a pool of four sites on standby at the outset of the NCAA Champions League season. Having four potential hosts each season allows the governing body to pick a site that is as neutral as possible. While one school will always be somewhat closer this system prevents LSU from playing a national championship game in the Superdome because it was selected as host site a few years in advance of the game. And just so the people at the Superdome don’t get too upset, in the event that they are in the pool of potential host sites in a year that LSU looks like the may make the final then they will just go back into the pool for the following season.

Wherever the game is played it is simply four quarters of football between the two teams with an unimpeachable right to be there. They have survived their conference season and then played the toughest possible out-of-conference schedule possible in the form of the NCAA Champions League. To make it through, a team must have talented athletes but it also must have the fortitude and maturity to show up and perform each and every week.

And, yes, this is the most far-fetched college football scenario that I’ve ever seen. It is not even within the realm of possibility for so many reasons that it doesn’t even pay to go into all of them. But this should have provided some non-soccer fans a pretty good tutorial on how the UEFA Champions League works in Europe. And you didn't even know you were learning!

It should also convey the unbridled awesomeness that is the UEFA Champions League and the complicated and wonderful inconvenience that it presents for those teams involved. It is the best of the best playing a separate season to pit the two very best teams against each other in a match after which no one can contest the winner. That sounds simple enough, but clearly it isn't.

*In case you were wondering, this NCAA Champions League scenario would last exactly as long as the current college football season and requires the athletes to play at most (if they make it the NC game) one or two more games. Also, in this imaginary system the teams who do not qualify for the NCAA Champions League would then be able to accept invitations from all of the dozens of other bowl games that proliferate. Those folks at the Meineke Car Care Bowl could still have their party and invite the 4th best teams from whatever conferences they are nominally associated with.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Mullets and Newark, just like oil and water

Apparently the Canada-coifed Barry Melrose is not a fan of Newark, commenting during an ESPN broadcast - with a national (or at least regional) television audience (although neither "national" nor "audience" accurately describe anything pertaining to hockey these days) - he cautioned viewers who were planning on coming out to the Devil's new arena "Don't go outside if you have a wallet or anything else, because the area around the arena is just horrible."

Someone should tell ol' Barry that it's been a while since the six days of rioting in '67. Newark is nicer. For one, it's not on fire. It's just another stop on the PATH train. Needless to say, the Newark Tourism Board might not necessarily be feeling pleased about all the money the city put into that new arena.

"In-famous, Is When You're More than Famous"

In, who would've thunk it news, yesterday's "Charles Oakley says Stay in School" piece (scroll down) has been getting some nice attention out in the wider world, most notably at:
The Sporting News
(which apparently gets picked up by MSNBC)
The Big Lead

[note: scroll to the bottom of all articles to find Oakley says, "Stay in School"]

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Charles Oakley says, “Stay in School”

Or, how a lack education may be keeping the Knicks from winning:

At one point during Sunday night’s home opener against the T-Wolves, Eddy Curry turned to David Lee in the moments immediately following another uncontested Craig Smith lay-up and just threw his hands in the air as he stood their in the paint. The look on his face was one of resigned confusion.

As I was reminiscing about watching Craig Smith terrorize similarly weak zone-defenses while he was at Boston College it dawned on me why the Knicks might be so horrendous playing anything other than a straight man-to-man (which they’re still not exactly great at): Few of these guys ever went to college for more than a season or two. Virtually everyone on the roster was eying the NBA draft from the moment they accepted their high school diploma. And, their coach had done the same thing. Maybe this is why they are so undisciplined. Maybe this is why they can’t seem to sustain effort or focus over the course of a game, let alone over the course of a season.

I started wondering whether this sort of team composition was in line with the rest of the league and how it might compare with those teams that have won championships the past few years. Has a winning team been built largely without players who played much basketball in college? How flawed is the construction of this Knicks team? Nature? Or nurture?

Coincidentally (or perhaps not…), as I set about calculating the average number of collegiate years for players who played on the past few NBA championship teams I noticed that the numbers I was coming up with were on a four-point scale just the same way that grade point average is commonly displayed. Therefore, next to each team’s average years spent in college you will see the letter grade that would accompany an equivalent GPA. Not surprisingly, the grades meted out in this manner reflect quite accurately the dominance of each given team.

(NOTE: Including the foreign-born players was not actually as tricky as it seems. Most of these guys were pros for several years before they debuted and made it through their rigorous National training programs. I have counted their professional experience to be equivalent to college ball.)

2007 San Antonio Spurs:
Bruce Bowen / 4 years at Cal State Fullerton
Tim Duncan / 4 years at Wake Forest
Francisco Elson / 2 years at Kilgore (Texas) Junior College and 2 years at Cal
Michael Finley / 4 years at Wisconsin
Tony Parker / attended the National Institute for Sports and Physical Education (INSEP) in Paris and played for the French Junior and Senior National team before debuting in the US in ’01-’02.
Robert Horry / 4 years at Alabama
Manu Ginobli / made professional debut in 1995; played for the Argentinean National team since 1998 and was MVP of the Italian League in ‘01 and ‘02 before coming stateside.
Brent Barry / 4 years at Oregon State
Fabricio Uberto / played professional in Europe from ‘98 to ‘05 before becoming the oldest rookie in the Spurs’ history
Beno Udrih / played first professionally in 1999 in Slovenia and played for Macabi Tel Aviv in Israel before moving on to the Russian and Italian leagues before signing with the Spurs in 2004.
Matt Bonner / 4 years at Florida
Jacques Vaughn / 4 years at Kansas

Average years spent in college: 4.0 (A+)

2006 Miami Heat
Gary Payton / 4 years at Oregon State
Dwyane Wade / 2 years at Marquette
Udonis Haslem / 4 years at Florida
Antoine Walker / 2 years at Kentucky
Shaq / 3 years at LSU
Jason Williams / 3 years at Florida
Alonzo Mourning / 4 years at Georgetown
James Posey / 3 years at Xavier
Jason Kapano / 4 years at UCLA
Michael Doleac / 4 years at Utah
Shandon Anderson / 4 years at Georgia
Derek Anderson / 4 years at Kentucky

Average years spent in college: 3.4 (B+)

2005 San Antonio Spurs
Bruce Bowen / 4 years at Cal State Fullerton
Tim Duncan / 4 years at Wake Forest
Nazr Mohammed / 3 years at Kentucky
Tony Parker / attended the National Institute for Sports and Physical Education (INSEP) in Paris and played for the French Junior and Senior National team before debuting in the US in ’01-’02.
Robert Horry / 4 years at Alabama
Manu Ginobli / made professional debut in 1995; played for the Argentinean National team since 1998 and was MVP of the Italian League in ’01 and ’02 before coming stateside.
Brent Barry / 4 years at Oregon State
Tony Massenburg / 4 years at Maryland
Beno Udrih / played first professionally in 1999 in Slovenia and played for Macabi Tel Aviv in Israel before moving on to the Russian and Italian leagues before signing with the Spurs in 2004.
Rasho Nesterovic / He was voted the MVP of the European Under-22 Championship in 1996 and played professionally in Italy before coming to the US.
Glenn Robinson / 3 years at Purdue
Devin Brown / 4 years at University of Texas, San Antonio

Average years spent in college: 3.75 (A)

2004 Detroit Pistons*
Richard Hamilton / 3 years at UConn
Chauncey Billups / 2 years at Colorado
Tayshaun Prince / 4 years at Kentucky
Rasheed Wallace / 2 years at UNC
Ben Wallace / 4 years at Virginia Union
Elden Campbell / 4 years at Clemson
Lindsey Hunter / 4 years at Jackson State
Corliss Williamson / 4 years at Arkansas
Mehmet Okur / played five professional seasons in Europe before sailing over the sea
Darvin Ham / 4 years at Texas Tech
Mike James / 4 years at Duquesne

Average years spent in college: 3.5 years (A-)
*Coached by Larry Brown, who got his start coaching in college

And, now introducing your 2007-2008 New York Knicks:
Stephon Marbury / 1 year at Georgia Tech
Jamal Crawford / 1 year at Michigan
Quentin Richardson / 2 years at DePaul
Zach Randolph / 1 year at Michigan State
Eddy Curry / 0 years of college
David Lee / 4 years at Florida
Nate Robinson / 3 years at Washington
Renaldo Balkman / 3 years at South Carolina
Fred Jones / 4 years at Oregon
Wilson Chandler / 2 years at DePaul
Mardy Collins / 4 years at Temple
Malik Rose / 4 years at Drexel
Jerome James / 3 years at Florida A&M
Randolph Morris / 3 years at Kentucky

Average years spent in college: 2.5 (C)
Average years spent in college by players who have appeared in game thus far: 2.1 (C-)
(Percentage of those years that belong to Fred Jones: 21%)
Average years spent in college by players in the starting lineup: 1 (D)


So, it seems that perhaps the Knicks look so bad playing zone defense because they don’t know how to play it. This is a C student team with D student starters. Unlike the previous four championship teams, who had a combined zero American-born players with less than 2 years of college basketball experience, the Knicks have four key contributors with either 1 or zero years of college hoops. The only players that will see regular playing time and have at least 3 years of college experience are David Lee, Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman. These are the spirited, hustle guys but these are not the orchestrators, these are not the men upon whose shoulders this team must climb the standings. Still, these three players comprise the second unit, the unit that has been on the floor during the few positive stretches this team has put together in the first two games.

Meanwhile, the central figures of Marbury and Curry (I’m leaving Randolph out for the time being) considered themselves the finished project by their high school graduations. That is nonsensical. With the talent and size that such players have there is no way that they really learn how to play the game at the high school level. They are bigger, faster and stronger than most everyone else and just dominate. Scoring at will against high school kids does not necessarily equate to knowing how to play the game. There was a time that Kwame Brown dominated high school kids.

But Brown passed on college and gave up the chance to develop his considerable natural gifts. Now, I don’t want to tar and feather Marbury and Curry with the same brush that should be used on Brown but both Knicks are clearly lacking something and whatever this evasive quality is it has kept them from reaching their potential. After all, potential isn’t success no matter what Isiah tries to tell you.

And, when it comes to transforming high school potential to NBA success the catalyst has historically been 3 to 4 years of running suicide sprints with bricks in each hand and playing close games night after night from the start of a collegiate conference season through a conference tourney and into the Big Dance or the NIT.

Perhaps someone in the Knicks front office should make the connection between the energy and sustained interest that players like Lee and Balkman bring over the course of an entire game and the fact that they played college ball over the course of several seasons. They played in tough games. They made runs deep into tournaments. They were drilled in the fundamentals and taught not to take plays off. They were taught that a season is a marathon and every possession counts. They had coaches who had absolute authority over them and insisted that they learn to play the game a certain way: the “right” way that Larry Brown was always talking about.

If you have to learn how to win just like you have to learn calculus then perhaps there is a simple reason why so many players on the Knicks never learned.

For all of the noise kicked up about double standards in colleges and the existence of football factories in the SEC and their basketball equivalent in the ACC there is one thing that gets lost in the shuffle from an NBA perspective. Even if these young men are not learning anything of academic merit in their athletes-only General Studies classes they are still learning how to play basketball every day in practice. They are majoring in basketball. They are learning the necessary skills to prepare them for their chosen profession. In this case those skills are the pick-and-roll and the proper way to set a screen. In the same way that English majors aren’t asked to take statistics classes basketball players shouldn’t be looked down upon for not worrying about English literature. The Princeton offense is their Proust.

And based upon the level of education that seems synonymous with winning in the NBA recently, someone needs to send the Knicks the CliffsNotes before it is too late. Oh, and that person should probably fire Isiah while they’re up*.

*The full-length to-do list for fixing this team and making the playoffs is still on the way. I wanted to see a couple of games in person before recommending that anyone lose their jobs. In any case, I should be ready to make such proclamations after tonight’s game versus Denver.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

An Introduction: What? Where? Why? Oakley?

What: Sport. Athletic Competition. Unbridled Enthusiasm. Masochistic pessimism. Unbridled pessimism. Masochistic optimism. Most notably, involving the New York Knickerbockers, who will be featured in this space over the course of the 2007-2008 NBA season. The ups. The downs. The downs. And, did I mention, the downs? From the opening tip-off of Friday night’s game in Cleveland and all the way through the team’s shocking appearance in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals (full predictions to come). Of course, there will news and notes and such on other teams in the NBA. And on other sports that most people like far more than basketball: Baseball, College Football, Professional Football, Soccer (which is actually a third kind of football), and even more.

Where: Madison Square Garden, Jersey City, East Rutherford, Flushing, New York City, North London, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and, most importantly, our television screens.

Why: You know how Kevin Bacon’s character in the film "Footloose" just really wanted to dance? And how Superman’s character in "Superman" just really wanted to help people and fight crime? Well, that’s like me and writing about sports. I can’t really help it.

Oakley: Charles Oakley was drafted out of Virginia Union University in 1985 by the Chicago Bulls. He was traded to the New York Knicks in 1988 and gained a fearsome reputation while polishing the floors of Madison Square Garden with his elbows and his opponent's faces. He was selected as an All-Star in 1994 and ranked in the top ten in rebounds per game five times between 1987 and 1994. He currently ranks 14th in Games Played in NBA History, 17th in Rebounds and 3rd in Personal Fouls.

So, now that we’re all acquainted, what are 10 things you should be expecting from What Would Oakley Do?

1. More Knicks coverage than you thought you wanted, well, until this site made you realize how much Knicks coverage you actually wanted. I’ll be posting something each day of the season and covering the team just like any other reporter. I’ll be spending money that I don’t have to go to a lot of games but will be doing most of my viewing from the couch, where I’ll be writing about this team and this season and just about anything else from the perspective that each fan shares.

2. Oakley. Remember that time when he kept starting fights with Tyrone Hill (former 76er) in 2001 because Hill allegedly owed Oak over fifty grand from a dice game? No. Oh, don’t worry, you’ll be hearing all about it.

3. Links to other great writing and commentary out in the world. There are lots of people out there doing this whole sports-writing thing better than me and I will point you in the right direction.

4. Oakley. He has made it clear during the summer that he feels ready to contribute to an NBA team this season. If the Knicks can let Allan Houston suit up for a few days then they've got to let Oakley come back. Right? If you put him in a small enclosed room with Curry, Randolph and Jerome James it would be like one of those "Scared Straight" tv shows.

5. Weekly Columns: You’ve already seen the “IF…THEN” statements: BCS Edition that I posted. Each week there will be a new “IF…THEN” statement about whatever is in the news. I’m coming up with a few more ideas for recurring columns. They’re still very top-secret but one involves tracking down former NBA players (I mean who hasn’t wondered what happened to Richard Dumas), another involves old basketball cards and another involves my Yahoo Fantasy Basketball simulation of the NBA’s Atlantic Division.

6. Oakley. The man owns a car wash in Yonkers. My car is dirty.

7. Conversation, debate: Here’s where you, the prospective reader, come in. It seems like most of my free time is spent talking/debating/heatedly arguing about all of the minutiae of sports. Should the Mets attempt to sign A-Rod? Should Matt Ryan win the Heisman Trophy? Why is no one talking about how Marbury slept with an intern in the back of a truck? I hope that this site and these posts can become a jumping off point for those sorts of arguments and opens up the floor to people who don’t frequent my living room.

8. Oakley. It is very well publicized that he is BFF with Michael Jordan. What does this mean to a Knicks fan? Discuss.

9. Short(ish) articles on the many things going on that you sort of heard about but then something came up and you had to go meet that guy about that thing with the girl and the car. I know that most people out there don’t have the time to do background reading on the news of the day. And that even fewer of the people who have the time to pay attention then have the time and antisocial habit of really just thinking about this stuff all-the-livelong day. Well, I’m going to make the time and I’m just the right sort of crazy for this type of thing. You’re welcome.

10. Charles Oakley and lots of him.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

"IF...THEN" Statements: BCS Edition

IF a one-loss team (like LSU) from the SEC can bypass an undefeated team from another BCS-affiliated conference (like BC) who has a road win against a highly-ranked foe (like VT) and a win in a conference championship game (which BC will have to do in order to stay undefeated) THEN won’t the past two seasons have shown that most teams are categorically barred from the National Championship game no matter how many games they win?

After all, Boise State ended the 2006 regular season with a record of 12 wins and 0 losses, yet was not even in the discussion for the NC game. Even after their stirring victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl they rose no higher than fifth in the final rankings put out by the Associated Press. Meanwhile, their performance in the Fiesta Bowl was so impressive that Boise QB Jared Zabranksy graced the cover of EA Sports' college football game. Darren McFadden is not on the cover. Troy Smith is not on the cover. John David Booty? No. Colt McCoy? Nope. Some funny looking red-haired guy who played for a school in Idaho? Yes!

In spite of such success, Boise State’s exclusion from the National Championship Game (and the inclusion of one-loss Florida) seemed logical given that BSU hails from the WAC, a conference with no ties to the BCS. The Western Athletic Conference and its member schools were granted no automatic berths prior to the 1998 season when the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl; and the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pacific 10, and Southeastern Conferences and the University of Notre Dame (read: NBC) joined hands across America to create a system bent on determining the national champion of college football.

Any debate over the Bronco’s title shot were further quashed after Florida ran roughshod over Ohio State and left everyone convinced of their worthiness. And, ultimately, Florida seems to have been a very worthy champ because they steam-rolled the previously unbeaten and top-ranked team from the Ohio State University. Lee Corso slept peacefully and all was seemingly well in the world of college football.

However, the door had been quietly closed to non-BCS schools when the OSU/Florida match was set. At that point, there were two undefeated teams in the country: Ohio State was dubbed the team-to-beat while the zero-loss team from the mid-major conference was not invited to party even though the one-loss picture (the standard SEC favoritism versus the potential for a Ohio State/Michigan rematch that nobody wanted to see, least of all Jim Tressel and Lloyd Carr) was murky at best.

From that moment on every small conference school had to surrender their dreams of a magical run to the national championship game (this is in contrast to NCAA basketball when this very dream is what everyone finds so enthralling). All they could hope for was a magical run to an at-large bid in another of the BCS bowls. And, for most of those schools that is all that they could ever hope for anyway so no one complained too loudly or for too long. And, even though the story at the time was that the Boise States of the world had delivered a gut-punch to the old-money in college football (represented by OU) what really happened was that the SEC (represented by one-loss Florida) survived what seemed to be the best challenge that a non-BCS school could muster to their status as the best by default. For all of the fanfare that Boise State rightfully raised over their Fiesta win, their win still took place in a game other than the National Championship Game. Florida’s didn’t.

Now, I don’t mean to say that any undefeated season should automatically be awarded with a berth in a national championship game. No matter what happens, with the exception of some cataclysmic event on the mainland that affects only the members of division 1-A football teams, Hawaii should not play for this year’s national championship. Colt Brennan can throw for 650 yards per game and his squad can win each game by no less than 650 points. I don’t care. They will not be the National Champion. Their school is on a faraway island and this prevents them from participating in a slate of games that is comparable to anything we have in the contiguous 48 states. This is not their fault. This is their punishment. They get to live in Hawaii and the rest of us get winter and a chance to occasionally see our teams play for a national title. It sounds pretty fair to me.

So, I do not blindly advocate a win-and-your-in system and I do realize that a pairing of BC and OSU (or any combination of BC, OSU, KU and ASU that finish the season with perfect records) does not necessarily (although it might) represent the most talented two teams in the country. However, I am convinced that they are the teams who have earned a right to play for the national championship as it was created by the Bowl Championship Series in 1998.

The formation of the BCS was predicated on the competence of all member conferences and their constituent athletic programs. Teams within those conferences cannot be penalized if some of their rivals are having down years. And while BCS-conference teams must make good-faith efforts to schedule tough out-of-conference foes it is too much to ask that they all be top-ranked. These games are scheduled so far in advance that it is a coin-flip if the “tough” foe a team schedules represents a quality win in the season the game is played (compare a win vs. ND in '06 versus a win in '07 and consider that both games might have been scheduled in '01).

IF Ohio State (who would have to beat a resurgent Michigan) and Boston College are the only two teams to finish the season without losing a game THEN these two teams need to play with the 2007 National Championship on the line. Whatever legitimacy remains in this BCS process depends on it. And while an undefeated Hawaii (or Boise State) will perennially be left out in the cold, it is too tricky a business to be bumping defeated BCS-conference teams ahead of their peers who have won every single game that they played. If LSU is allowed to jump ahead of a team like Boston College or Arizona State then the nation's sportswriters and computers will be announcing that the pool of applicants for the position of national champ is even smaller than it appeared after Boise State was kept out last year. Northeasterners and Southwesterners need not apply. Southeasterners? Come on in, pull up a chair. Chris Fowler is making sweet tea.

Being the best needs to again be equated with winning on the field rather than with having the most NFL-ready talent in your locker room. There is a difference no matter what Mel Kiper says.

Well, that is unless we want to surrender to anarchy: abolishing the BCS, establishing that the pre-season number one will always play the SEC champ in January and declaring that it is totally acceptable for cats and dogs to live together.

Monday, October 29, 2007

"We Must Do What We Must and Call It By the Best Names"-Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was the first night of February in 2005 when the New York Knickerbockers found themselves playing in Denver against the Nuggets. It was a Tuesday and the Knicks were coming off a January in which losses had collected as thick as pine needles beneath a Christmas tree. Not surprisingly they fell behind the Nuggets early in the second-quarter; they were demonstrating a listlessness that was becoming their trademark. MSG announcers John Andariese and Mike Breen were showing more spirit than the Knicks and were growing increasingly incensed with the lacadasical play and the timid way in which Kenyon Martin was being escorted to the basket by the very men charged with defending him. Every time K-Mart would throw down another dunk and pound his chest as he skipped up the court, Andariese would become further infuriated. He kept explaining to the home viewer that he wasn't upset with Martin, rather with the Knicks big men for letting themselves be embarrassed. Possibly with the exception of Tommy Heinshon up in Boston, I don't think I've ever heard an announcer who wanted to see someone get knocked to the floor so badly. In spite of his growing dementia, you just knew that Andariese was right on the money when he asked, "How do you think Charles Oakley would have reacted to that?"

And, then, for the first time in my life, I wondered aloud "What would Oakley do?"

Oakley would have sent K-Mart six rows deep as soon as he started skipping back down the court. He woud have given Martin six stitches and gotten himself a six-game suspension. All would be right with the world. The Knicks might still have lost the game but the Nuggets would most assuredly tread lightly in the paint during the next few meetings between the teams.

From that moment on, "What Would Oakley Do?" became my watchwords whenever dealing with Knicks.