Wait, what!?

Yo. Nothin much to say today. Head on over to The Basketball Jones to vote for a caption for this Knicks t-shirt. My best effort was "sharing is caring".

Um...woah. I just went to double check what time the Knicks-Nets game was tomorrow...only to realize that it was just now...and uhh...what the hell happened? They lost...which is no big deal...but the score was a mammoth 138-121. And Steve Francis dropped 39, 6, and 6...and then got tossed late in the fourth quarter. Turnovers seemed to be the problem again, along with allowing the New Jersey fuckin Nets to score 138 points. Whatever.

Lawrence Frank tries to tickle Mikki Moore into submission, while Isiah just smiles in the background.


More on this tomorrow maybe. Expect some lookalikes on Sunday, and regular coverage again on Monday.

Inside Hoops vs. Predator

Just throwing out this interview with Predator from Inside Hoops.

Renaldo Balkman: That was my goal, coming in. Work hard. Tough. Go out and do whatever so they can feel my presense out there on the floor.

Sounds like Eddy Curry could use some Predator rubbing off on him. But then again, Eddy probably wouldn't let him get close enough for it to rub off.

By the way, this post was really just an excuse to use that picture above. It's my desktop, and just about my favorite photograph of all time. We can all learn a lesson about intensity and gamesmanship from that baby.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

So, today's biggest Knicks news story is something I'm pretty pleased with. If you haven't heard, Isiah came right out and said that Eddy Curry needs to develop some attitude.
From the NY Times:

"He's a big man, he's a nice man. But there needs to come a time when it's 'Don't play with Eddy.' We want him to really have a presence on the floor."
-Isiah Thomas

God damn, ain't that the truth. Curry's come to camp in great shape, he's clearly worked on his post moves, now he just needs some grit. Often he makes his move or gets a nice pass, and simply gestures towards the basket, expecting a foul. If he can start holding the ball up higher and fearlessly getting off the ground for dunks, he's gonna be a much more succesful offensive player. This goes for rebounding to, where he's been bafflingly reluctant to use his massive body to box out.
Just crack Jamal in the head, Eddy. Don't let him push you around like that.

This may be simply out of Eddy's character. I once read somewhere that Curry has a phobia of people touching him, which is a bit discomforting for a 7 foot, 280 pound NBA center. Less disheartening is this quotation, also from the NY Times:

""I'ts tough, but I've just got to kind of develop two personalities. I've got to be able to go out there and be one person, and once the game is over I've got to be another person."
-Eddy Curry

So I guess that's a good sign. This is the first time that I've heard Eddy address the problem during his Knicks career. Isiah also threw in a statement that the team has to get better at recognizing when Curry is hot, which is also truthful. If you're center's making plays around the basket, then the easiest two points on the court are readily available. Pound that shit inside, kids. Anyway, I hope to see Eddy taking the league's collective lunch money this season. Boo-yah.

In further Knicks news, last year's rookies got exorcised or something. Weird.

The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!

Knicks News

Breaking news at this hour: Your New York Knicks signed C Kelvin Cato away from the Detroit Pistons. Also noteworthy is that four hometown heroes, Milone Clark, Elton "Not Brand" Brown, Paul Miller, and Nikoloz Skeetskeetskeet were cut from the team. Oh well.

Henry Abbott over at True Hoop makes the good point that various veteran free agent centers, including Cato, are readily available because teams are staying small and quick. Somewhere, Felton Spencer sheds a tear.Is it just me or does Felton Spencer look a lot like Ron Jeremy?


A few more notes on last night's game:
- Though it lapses at times, I'm pretty impressed with the Knicks' ball movement
- I liked when they showed Isiah sitting on the floor next to the bench, talking to Eddy Curry. Brown never woulda done that.
- Andre Iguodala is starting to feel like a star. For me, star players always stand out on the court. You always know where they are and expect something when the ball's in their hands. Iggy's beginning to give me that vibe.
- I'm liking 22 turnovers better than 32 turnovers. Especially because a handful of those 22 came from the spastic stylings of those cats who got cut today.

That should be it for today, unless a crushed and reeling Paul Miller comes out of the closet or something. Peace.

EDIT: No, Paul Miller didn't come out yet. Just wanted to point out this Knicks bit from Yay Sports. The Cavalier also wonders if Steph might be hurtin from those shoes.

Also peep this article about John Starks from Hoops Addict. I liked John Starks back in the day, but I'm more concerned with the inarticulate ramblings he currently does on MSG sometimes. Also, I have this vague mental image of him flipping off the entire crowd at center court during a game. Did this happen? Anyone?

Knicks 113, Sixers 101

Some quick notes on the preseason action:

-I understand that the MSG network has a new look and whatnot...but they couldn't even keep the theme song?
- Jalen Rose started, but played only 8 minutes. The man is damn near uselesss now. He's not even trying out there.
- More defensive fouls are being called on penetration, which is good for head-down bull-rush guys like Francis and Marbury
- Eddy Curry is actually better a few feet away from the basket than he is right under it. He has very little sense of where he is and still holds the ball way to low
-Richardson, Francis, and Crawford played like Richardson, Francis, and Crawford. If you don't think that's a big deal, you don't watch much Knicks basketball.
- Marbury missed the game as a precaution for a "foot injury". It's the shoes, baby!
- Balkman and Lee are both better suited for offensive rebounds. Their methods of hitting the boards is spazzing and flailing so the ball gets loose. Good on the O-glass, not so much on the D.
- Isiah keeps wearing this weird blue button that looks like a jigsaw puzzle piece. Who the fuck wears buttons?

"I'll give you $80 million. Why are you smirking?"

Eternal Sunshine of Steve Francis

This comes in response to a comment left by "Shuttlesworth":

What are your thoughts on Zeke's conversation with Francis over the summer. Apparently he was pretty disgruntled and didn't want to come back. How long until he gets a little frustrated and just throws it in? Their schedule in November is pretty tough too, especially with Jeffries out. I could Stevie Franchise being a distraction this year. Thoughts?

One of the shittiest shits that Larry Brown ever shat was the effect he had on his players mentalities. A few guys, including Francis, were left with a bad taste in their mouths heading into the summer. With this in mind, Isiah went out on a quest of sorts, to cleanse his team of any hard feelings. When recently asked about his visit to the home of the disgruntled Steve Francis, Isiah told of how he gallantly rekindled Francis' faltering relationship with the organization.

Hmm.

From today's NY Times (Copied from the print. I think you have to pay or something for the online goods):

Steve Francis said he did not recall the details of his off-season meeting with Isiah Thomas, and he declined to discuss the subject...Asked about the meeting, Francis said, "I don't even remember anything that happened this summer."

Can't remember anything? Several possible problems here. One possibility is that young Stevie didn't dig the meeting quite as much as Isiah did. Perhaps Zeke's tales of a peachy outcome weren't so accurate. Maybe Francis' comments (or lack thereof) foreshadow future turbulence in his Knicks' career.

If this isn't the case, then Francis seems to be suffering from lacunar amnesia. Perhaps our beloved combo-guard has experienced some sort of traumatic experience or head injury we don't know about? In this case, its hard to be mad at Francis. My hopes and prayers are with him.

Hopefully, Francis has suffered neither displeasure nor a blow to the head. With luck, what Francis said was taken out of context or something of that sort. My hope for this year is that we see the talented Francis we all know and love, not the pissy grouch of late. Even more pimportant (sometimes I prefer typos to correct spelling), is that, facing the alternative, Isiah responds correctly, and Stevie is never a distraction. Things like this often seem like bigger deals during the preseason. The media likes to make brawls out of brushes. Let us pray.

Knicks-Sixers tonight at el Jardín. Let's hold on to the ball a little better, please. K thanks. Peace.

Knicks News

Coming from the always interesting New York post...Stephon Marbury wants to do his own talk show

I'd definitely watch this, and not just because I'm a Knicks fan. The idea of one basketball player interviewing another is actually pretty intriguing. Guys might be more relaxed and comfortable in this kind of setting. Plus, I've always wondered what was going on in that bulbous head of Marbury's.

What would you call a show hosted by Stephon Marbury? I can't think of anything.

They're Everywhere

One thing I've always thought of the Knicks was that, no matter their record, the fans would keep coming out. Certainly, their attendance would remain above the Nets', who play in the goofiest arena in the shittiest shithole on the face of New Jersey. More and more, though, the Knicks are trying to get our attention. If you live in the Tri-State Area, you've seen ads on TV, 2 minute commercials before movies, and even the most recent half-page ad in Sports Illustrated. You just can't avoid them.

Yesterday brought the worst of these invasions. Often the Sunday NY Times comes with a little sample; a tea bag, a box of Cheerios, or a cereal bar. Yesterday it came with a multi-page Knicks ad. I first lamented the absence of a delicious snack, then wondered why on earth the Knicks were so goddamn pesky? Could their high-priced players have actually sucked away that much money? Was attendance down that much? I immediately assumed that the Nets had surpassed us in numbers.


A Nutri-Grain bar has 45% more fiber than the Knicks. Both will make you poop.


Obviously, the Knicks have the highest payroll in the league. Hoopshype.com reports $140,595,134 for last season, about 150% of the next highest team.

Their attendance last year averaged 18,931 bitches a game, ninth in the league. Looking at past years, the drop hasn't been THAT significant. As a point of comparison, the Nets were at 16,866 last season.

So what's the deal? Why the sudden avalanche of marketing? Are they that desperate? Or do they really believe that this year will bring a new face to Knicks basketball?

Time will tell.

(P.S...How often do you get to legitimately end something with "Time will tell"? That gave me chills. Later.)

Sunday Lookalikes

David Lee vs. Rex Grossman


Gosh darn!