DEE - FENSE(less)

Knicks pummelled by Suns, 133-118

Not satisfied with merely losing their seventh in a row, the Knicks made history last night. The 133 points scored by the Suns is the most allowed by any Knicks team since 1989! They allowed the Suns to sink a season-high 16 three pointers, which was good for all-time worst in the history of the franchise. Clearly, the Herb Williams Doctrine of Defense has yet to take hold. Instead they are just hoping that their plan of defending poorly and scoring less than the other team will eventually pan out.

Although the Knicks held a lead at the end of the first quarter it was clear that this was going to be a high scoring affair; it was inevitable that the Knicks couldn't keep that pace. Their only hope was that they could put the clamps on Richardson, who hit 7 three point shots, and Stoudemaire who was just too quick and too strong for our Kurt and Sweets.

The perimeter defense played by Marbury, Crawford, and company was just horrible. Given, the Suns make a ton of shots from distance, but 16 three-point goals is inexcusable. Marbury couldn't defend Nash of the dribble, and the defensive rotations along the perimeter couldn't have been slower if the teams had been playing at the bottom of the Hudson.

Nevertheless, with about 3 and a half minutes left Trevor Ariza provided a moment, albeit a brief one, of hope that they could pull this one out. After a great put-back dunk the Knicks were a few stops away from giving themselves a chance. However, they predictable couldn't get a stop when they needed one and the Suns regained their momentarily lost composure and pulled away.

It was during those brief moments of hope that the clearest sign of how far this team has fallen were revealed. When the Knicks needed a stop, Herb Williams brought in Jamison Brewer to defend Nash. While surprising and totally the right move at the time, it also showed that not even Steph's coach believes his claims to be the best point guard in the NBA (coincidentally, or not, the Knicks are something like 1-11 since he made those remarks). Steph hadn't been able to defend Nash off the dribble all night, and at times looked thoroughly overmatched on the defensive end of the floor. The final insult came when Nash drove, was turned away from the paint by a combination of Brewer's brawn and dreadlocks and then kicked the ball out to Quentin Richardson for another three. Marbury had been guarding Richardson. That basket sealed the loss.