Free Agency, the Home Opener, and the Second Coming of Charles Smith

The faithful have been waiting. They showed up on opening night ready to believe, to gasp, and to raise glasses as dribbles crossed-over. They were not discouraged by the team’s disastrous debut against the Celtics—the franchise’s worst defeat in a home opener—and did not give up in the face of maddening inconsistency. Yes, they have decried shot selection, derided the defense, and at the mere mention of Tim Thomas (who for the length of November must have felt like the second-coming of Charles Smith as the boos fell around him as thick as autumn leaves in Central Park) muttered unrepeatable things capable of making a Pistons’ fan blush. Still, they have been waiting.
Then, finally, it happened with 3 minutes and twenty seconds left in the first quarter of the 19th game of the season: at long last, the Knicks became whole again. When the long-ailing Allan Houston took the floor (his first time as a sub in 582 games with the Knicks) at the MCI Center in D.C. the New York Knickerbockers regained a confidence—albeit a tempered one—that has been missing since Patrick Ewing left town.
Houston's first trip down the court: he gets the ball on the right wing, lobs an entry pass into Kurt Thomas on the block, and Thomas faces up and drops in another mid-range jumper. Jogging back down the court, Thomas nods in Houston's direction; he's been back only for a matter of moments and the Knicks are already getting better. Thomas' shot might not fall if the entry pass doesn't come to him from Houston. If Penny or Crawford makes that pass, the defensive player on the wing immediately collapses on Thomas (because everyone else around the league is beginning to catch on to the fact that Kurt Thomas is as consistent as the trains below the Garden at Penn Station), but most defenders won't play help defense if it means having to leave Allan Houston open. His presence on the court and the respect his shot commands around the league will open up things for his teammates.
Even though they would lose on the night of Houston’s return, they find themselves—with the holiday season kicking into high gear—in the designated driver’s seat atop the inebriated Atlantic Division. The architect of the this castle-in-the-sand, Knicks president Isiah Thomas, has been watching this barely-legal first place team from his usual perch just behind the scorer’s table (seemingly close enough to coach Lenny Wilkens that Thomas could yank him off the court at any moment). Isiah can’t conceal his hall-of-fame smile whenever Marbury slashes through the paint and drops another impossible shot in off the glass. Thomas has spent every minute since he was hired shaping this team in his own meticulously maintained image. He spent the summer courting free agents, shaking the right hands despite being handcuffed by undesirable contracts, and splashing the city’s back pages with big names. The two goals for the summer were former Golden State center Erick Dampier and Jamal Crawford, late of the Chicago Bulls (Thomas also allegedly had a hankering for whatever it exactly is that the defensively-challenged Antoine Walker does). Alas, Dampier is grazing the greener pastures grazed by the Mark Cuban All-Stars; he may have been swayed by guarantees of inclusion in Cuban’s next reality show. Looking back, not being able to land Dampier was a blessing in disguise because he has been abysmal this season in Dallas. Although in Dampier's defense, he has certainly distinguished himself as one of the greatest contract year players of all-time (at some point, there'll need to be an All-Contract Year Team put together; they could play during All-Star Weekend, before the Rookies Game, for the chance to win a gift certificate the NBA store). The only way a player like Dampier should ever be allowed to put on a Knicks uniform--or any uniform for that matter--is if he is signed to a series of ten day contracts over the course of the season.

Nevertheless, Isiah, who woud not be denied twice, worked tirelessly to broker a deal with the Bulls. To get Crawford (and everyone's new favorite, Jerome "Junkyard Dog" Williams") the Knicks further complicated their already Euclidian budget. Still, Crawford gets the Garden "ooh"ing and "aah"ing ever time he takes the floor. Unfortunately, he also gets the Garden screaming words not fit for print every time he takes the floor because his shot selection is about as discriminating as your college roommate's choice of women at 3am.

Clearly, Crawford, with his dynamic slashing style, inimitable cross-over dribble and penchant for last-second heroics, was an infinitely better pickup, but it would seem that Isiah saw the acquisition of Dampier as the marquee move for the Knicks. Instead, Thomas is counting on Nazr (Na-zee) Mohammed and Michael Sweetney, the young buck from Georgetown with the thick frame and the silky game, to form a solid combination in the paint. So far, Nazr has been playing surprisingly well; he is good for a quite double-double every night. Still, if the pivot plan doesn’t pan out in the newly Diesel-powered Eastern Conference, inside sources claim the Knicks will send Croatian bench-warmer Bruno Sundov, 2 surly leftovers from persona non grata Shandon Anderson’s entourage, and Moochie Norris to General Mills for a Sea Monkey with advertised low-post moves.
Expectations are optimistic but necessarily muted because previous front office administrations couldn’t help but sign undeserving players to mammoth contracts. It seems like they’ll be good enough to keep us interested, but probably bad enough not to reward us in the end. Well, once again into the breach dear friends…. I’ll see you at the Garden, my seats are in section 302.