Too Much Love?
I've been hearing a lot lately about how the New York media has gone soft on the Knicks. Even Scott Skiles hinted to it with his sarcastic post-game remark, “From everything I hear, the Knicks are on the verge of becoming a great team." In some cases there is some truth to it.
There's been a great deal of accentuating of the positives, whether it is Eddy Curry's so-called breakout season (as I've said before, it's been a grand arrival, let's hope the breakout one is a little more consistent and well-rounded) or Isiah Thomas' coaching (let's not forget this is the team he also built as the team president) or Stephon Marbury's metamorphosis, David Lee's development, improved selection on the MSG concession menu or maybe the pregame video, etc.
One point made that really concerned me was the idea that this team really gets along great. Really? Well, to me, a team that gets along despite being under .500 all season is a major concern. Where's the accountability? Where's the competitive fire?
Where's the leadership in a locker room that allows guys to not take the losses so seriously?
Isn't anyone ticked off about this?
Losing sucks. It absolutely sucks. It sucks to watch. It sucks to be around. It should make you mad. It should make you frustrated. It should make you want to call out the guys who aren't doing their part. It should create competition for minutes. It should make the guys who care separate themselves from the phonies who only care on the first and the 15th each month. Or when Slam Magazine's photographer is there or ESPN's camera is nearby.
Are we supposed to show sympathy for a team that right now is riddled with injuries and missing four of five starters? No. We're supposed to point that out and we do. But we can't point that out without also pointing out that while Isiah is starting an inexperienced backcourt of rookie Mardy Collins and second-year guard Nate Robinson, he's doing so with $15 million veteran Steve Francis, albeit hobbled some by an ankle sprain, sitting on the bench. He's doing it with his previous two mid-level exception signings, Jerome James and Jared Jeffries ($60 million in contracts between them), ready and able to play. He's doing it with the No. 8 overall pick in last year's draft, Channing Frye, ready and able to play.
But you've read about everything else. You've read that Isiah should "take a bow" after the Knicks got into the eighth spot after the buzzer-beating win over the Wizards. One usually shouldn't take a bow until the performance is over. But it was said. Take a bow, Isiah. You've done enough. Never mind the month or so games that were still left to play in the season.
I don't blame Isiah for any of this. It's his job to deliver the daily rhetoric. On game days, he has to talk with the media three times. Trust me, it gets monotonous for us, just imagine how it gets for him. Eventually, you just start spewing B.S. just to get through the day and the inane questions from people looking for stories to carry the early edition.
It's up to the media - Newsday included - to keep it real, sift through that BS and not allow the rhetoric to influence the coverage of a team that is 14-games under .500 and headed toward yet another season without a playoff appearance.
The fans shouldn't accept it, either.
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Comments (17)
I agree, but not completely. I do think that the NY sports media must be more careful about not jumping onto bandwagons. But at the same time, the sports media is there to report what happens in the games. Having Mike Lupica vocally complain about Isiah Thomas more isn't going to make a difference on the court, and I personally wouldn't mind if the NY sports writers wrote a little less of their own opinion.
If not the media, then who would call Isiah on his bulls**t?? Because thats all it is. He thinks hes coaching in Phoenix or Minnesota where the fans are just going to gobble up anything the coach says. Its INSULTING to the fans' intelligence that he would repeatedly BS them about horrible play. I don't remember VanGundy spinning so many records..he just gave you that death stare and told you defense wasn't played and even blamed himself for things...the guy was near morbid. But he was honest, for the most part. THREE IS A REASON ISIAH ISN"T LOVED IN THIS LEAGUE. He has many enemies here and in other organizations, ie the CBA.
I think that sports writers and fans in New York have to be as vocal as possible about the Knicks. The Knicks are awful, overpaid, non-performers from the management down.
PUT YOU HANDS UP IN THE AIR FOR STARBURY LIKE YOU REALLY DO CARE
AND SCREAM
GO STEPHON, GO STEPHON, GO STEPHON
Show more love. Today is the last home game of the season and I think we need to give Stephon all the praise and props he deserves.
I would say give him a standing ovation, but I would agree slightly with my critics that to give a standing ovation for this season is perhaps a little too much praise. But I would stand up for him because his transformation was phenomenal, this was a career year, at least in terms of his growth and his leadership. It is because of him that we have hope for next season.
Smart New Yorkers love people that overcome adversity and themselves. They usually love them more after they are retired (Ewing) or win a Championship. But they also love them after they come to grip publicly with their failings and admit their frailties.
A little over a year ago Frank, with an assist from Micheal O’Keefe, called Stephon the most reviled athlete in New York. “Reviled” is a pretty strong and nasty word in terms or civilly describing someone negatively. Usually, political leaders and terrorist (yeah I know, same thing, same difference) are reviled, hated. But I don’t think New Yorkers hated him – they were disappointed in him and the Knicks. With good reason.
Anyway, Marbury publicly overcame that media invention and reinvented his public image by opening himself up to us. As Frank pointed out, Marbury didn’t open up to him, but he did open up to New Yorkers. He eventually took that towel off of his head and smiled back; a closed mouth smile, but evident progress. He smiled at us by giving us hope with a shoe that symbolized that Athletes can play a game and care about the community at the same time. Remember how much we complained about Michael refusing to stand up for any cause publicly while playing ball. Marbury showed it could and should be done. He smiled at us when he tried to step out of himself and be himself in a television show. He gave us a players show where we could see the nice stuff – none of that contrived , moralistic pseudo news interviews. He was criticized for being hard hitting – so what? That’s not what we needed. I wanted to hear that he irons his uniform sometimes and that Kobe shops. Man they’re human not just media foils.
This was the most exciting season in a long time. Very enjoyable because Marbury decided to change and open up. And he played some of the best defense he has ever played from our point of view. He was the man.
So you may not want to stand up with me and give him a standing ovation, but you should at least praise and encourage him by PUTTING YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR AND WAVE THEM LIKE YOU REALLY CARE........ STARRRRRBURRRRRY. LGK. 2007-2008
Looks like someone drank the Dolan Lool-Aid.
Mr Hahn, I just have a quick question for you... What would you say if they did not get along in the locker room and still were losing this season (kind of like last year), would you than revert the argument to being that they suck b/c there is a lack of team morale/chemistry? It seems like no matter what meager positive aspects of our team are apparent, you beat writers would still consider it a negative trait.
I'm still searching for an intelligent, reasoned disagreement to my praise of Marbury. Anyone capable of stepping up or am I 100% right.
I already know the answer.
In response to the above, I offer up a little logic from the world of Bill Parcells, "You are what your record says you are"
Despite Marbury's improved public perception (the shoes are awesome), he still has the following stigmas to overcome before I start yelling his name on the streets of Manhattan...
A. 32 wins this year. Even when the team was at full health, it was a less then .500 team.
B. Has never been on a team that has advanced past the first round of the playoffs
C. Have been on a team that has won 50 games.
D. The two teams that have traded him away in the last few years are going to the playoffs (Nets, Suns).
Marbury is a winner at life. He is a role-model for inner-city kids looking to make a better life for themselves. His sneaker line is awesome and his charitable endeavors have been tremendous ($1 mill to Katrina relief fund).
However, he is still a 'loser' in the NBA until he wins some meaningful NBA games.
I love Bill Parcells . . .
I think we fundamentally agree that Marbury should be praised for his recent play and accomplishments. That is my major point.
Jon, However, I will point out that your use of his "logic," which is really a cliche not logic, is a bit misleading. First off, Parcells made that statement in reference to the team not an individual. A critical distinction because if you really want to analyze a player and the team you need to look beyond the win-loss stats and look at the detail to have an accurate view.
With that said, Marbury is not the teams reoord, no more than Bo Jackson, Kevin Garnett, Ernie Banks and Don Mattingly were their teams record.
Marbury ia also not his past any more than you are yours. I am simply saying that we should celebrate and encourage who he has become and who he can be -- beyond the Knicks record.
A winner in life, but a loser in the NBA. Even if that were true, he gets my cheers for having his priorities straight.
Look past the details of wins and losses? Who are you, the son of Charles Dolan? Sorry, I don't do backflips over the starting point guards play in a 32 win season. Maybe next year it'll click with Craw, Lee, Balkman, etc and you'll be right. Until then Marbury is the leader of a 32 win team.
Last nine games out of ten sold out.
Isiah keeps his job. (Make that 33 wins Jon.) And forget the details.
At least, somebody understands a rebuilding season in New York. Your backflip is not required.
I'm sorry.... 33 wins. How long is this rebuidling process going to take? Is it smart to rebuild around an aging point guard with knee, ankle and foot woes?
I wholeheartedly agree with Lives in NJ. Marbury not only deserves a standing O, but also all defensive team honors. Marbury's play this year was inspired and beautiful to watch... after the Nuggets game.
Which brings me to my 2nd point. Many people on this site just haven't really thought it through. This year was 2 seasons rolled into 1. Season one was an utter fiasco - they lost a ton of games, brawled with Denver, and Marbury was playing awful tentative basketball, because, lets face it, Larry Brown and the NY media utterly devasted the guy.
Then- since the huge stretch after the Denver Brawl in which the Knicks beat Utah and Detroit, there was the second season, in which the Knicks were easily capable of being a playoff team, played nearly .500 ball and showed a ton of promise. They have a great nucleus and Marbury really did play like an MVP at times. He was incredible after the Denver brawl.
Then there was the last month. Make no mistake about it, people want to be tough, and say that everyone has to play with injuries, but that's BS. No one can play when their top 4 of their top 5 players are out. No one.
Question - how many injuries did Dallas have to deal with this year? Detroit? Washington lost Arenas and Butler, but only after they had clinched (they didnt' squander a month recovering from the Brown fiasco) but they didn't lose Jamison and two other studs.
The equivelant of what happened to teh Knicks would be if the Bulls lost Heinrich, Deng, Wallace, and Nocioni, only to be left with Gordon and a bunch of rookies. Even Balkman, the rookie energy guy, was lost to the flu over the last week.
Yeah, teams have to deal with injuries, but four of your top 5 players? Come on. This team, once Isiah began to get through and imprint his personality and get his message across, played awesome, with grit and heart. Its a shame they started off so poorly, but you know what, it takes time. Next year, it will have been worth the wait. I happen to think they're going to get Rashard, Jermaine or Garnett. See you next season.
Oh, and to add one more point. Besides Richardson, who we all know has a faulty back, did you notice who was injured?
Marbury - played a gazillian minutes after the Nuggets brawl.
Crawford - played a gazillian minutes after the Nuggets brawl.
Lee - played a gazillian minutes after the Nuggets brawl.
Let me tell you something, those crazy minutes those guys played during that stretch may have caught up to them later when they got injured.
Also, Curry clearly ran out of gas in March, and he played a ton of minutes during that stretch also.
For all intents and purposes... this was our first year together. Worse than our first year together. Because when Brown came it stalled all progress made before because it was not a match.
Isiah built the team to be young athletic and to run and the brought in a coach that wanted to do the opposite.
Then we lost the year Brown was here, obviously. He could still couch but his goal that year in my opinion was to proove he needed a whole new cast, it was NOT to win or to develop the team he had.
Then this past year as a result was not only like starting from scratch, it was worse than that with the mental handicap we had from the year before. Man you can't underestimate how far behind you start out after an experience like that.
I think we did great for a team in it's first year together.
We might get one more piece this offseason, we could get something from Randolph over the next couple of years, and we have sooo much youth and talent. Man you could really expect some big things from the Knicks over the next 2 years.
Media! Fans! Give it 2 more years!
One of the things I think the team will have learned from this year is, don't give away games when you're healthy, thinking you have all year because you never know what could happen.
Team chemistry is vital and we are getting there. It's great they are getting along better if that is true. It needs to continue. AND we need to have accountability for not performing and not winning games. Loosing can't be acceptable to the players.
How that essential attitude will be aquired I don't know. Maybe that's a part of a young team growing together. Maybe it will come as a result of loosing so much.
Summary: Patience is a virtue. Media guys you do enough Knick bashing. You absolutely do not need to be concerned with beeing TOO positive.
You need to get your apologies together, so when we do start doing a LOT better very soon, you have multiple ways of getting on your knees and begging for forgiveness for all your short sightedness.
...Yeah right!
Win or Loose: Knicks B-ball was excting this year... imagine next year when we're winning.
One more thing: Steph, KOODOS! Love the D man! Loved it! Man it was EXCITING to see you playing that kinds D!
Isiah develop Mardy at the point Steph stays at shoot guard more and it's on.
CAN'T WAIT TO HAVE THE WHOLE TEAM HEALTHY!!! LOOK OUT!
Jamaal, can't wait to have you back man! David!
Balkman, Collins, great end of the year! Man, it's gone be fun!
We need Veteran leadership. Along with Richardson, Malik and Steph ... Jermaine your boy Isiah is calling!!!
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