Knicks vs. Cavs: A WIN!

Of course, the night that I sell my tickets they finally win. The past two games I've been to are lost at the buzzer, but tonight they go ahead and win.

Dos Billetas, Dos Billetas

It being a Friday night, the team in the midst of a Mets-esque freefall, and Lebron James sitting this one out with a bum wheel, I decided that I would rather not go to tonight's game. However, I'm still in possession of the two tickets that I had bought several months ago (on the first day tickets went on sale as a matter of fact) while under the clearly mistaken impression that this matchup would be an important one between two teams vying for the Eastern conference crown.

So, I asked around the office. No one was interested in the tickets. I asked my buddies. No one was interested in the tickets. I asked my brother. My brother asked his buddies. No one was interested. I put the tickets up for sale on Craigslist, and a few people seemed interested. However, when it came to arranging a time for them to buy the tickets, all of sudden, no one was really interested. As I left the office burdened by the extra weight of two tickets, it seemed there was only one available course of action. I would head over to the Garden and try to scalp the tickets. I didn't want to go the game. Still, I would rather go to the game by myself, inevitably spending another $50 on beer, temporary tattoos and novelty foam hands, than just let the money go entirely to waste. Not that I've ever sold tickets like this before, but how hard could it be...

Stepping onto the sidewalk at the corner of 33rd and Sixth the familiar chorus washes over me.

Need Tickets? Need Tickets for tonight's game? Need tickets?

It seems like this corner is taken, and, honestly, this has always struck me as a bad place for a scalper. I would never buy tickets an entire block away from the Garden. If I've learned anything from shopping with my mom (and to a lesser extent with my sister), it is that there could always be better deals ahead; never buy the first thing you see. I have the feeling that the guys selling outside the Manhattan Mall have been ostracized from the fraternity of impromptu ticket sellers for some unforgivable trespass. Trudging on through the slush I realize that I'm out of uniform if I'm hoping to join the army of scalpers: my jacket, while dark, is not puffy.

Arriving on the steps of Penn Plaza around 6:15 there is a light crowd milling about. Most of the scalpers congregate at the bottom of the stairs. Most of the teenagers too nervous to approach said scalpers pace around in attempts to look busy at the top of the stairs. Several of the scalpers ask me if I want to buy tickets. I decline. Apparently, I don't seem like competition. Being white, relatively young, and not the least bit intimidating I look more like the kids without tickets than the burly gentlemen selling them. I quickly decide that I need to use this to my advantage.

I move inside the Garden and head towards the ticket office. I find the long line, surprisingly long considering, people waiting to try to buy the last remaining tickets to tonight's game. The second half of the line is outside of the main box office area in the foyer where bags searched, where unsavory characters and attractive young women are frisked, and unnecessarily high-priced programs are sold by a guy old enough to have remembered when "Knickerbocker" was a topical reference. Unlike the area just outside this area has been cleared of competition by the purple-jacketed Garden staff. With a captive audience I go to the head of the line.

"I've got two tickets in the 300 level for face value. Anyone want two for face?"

A momentary silence, guys glance at girlfriends for approval, girlfriends look around for security, I look around for security....

"How much? Where are the seats?"

Two girls near the front of the line step forward and ask how much. I am asking for $70 each (face value plus all charges). They offer $60. They are smug and British, and tell me that I should take what I can get. I tell them that I've got plenty of time before tip-off and will come back if I don't get any better offers. Next up, some guy offers me $50 for the seats. I make my way towards the back of the line repeating my offer.

"I've got two 300 level tickets for face. Anyone, two for face?"

A young lady unhappy waiting in line drags her overwhelmed boyfriend out of line and towards me.

"Are these good seats?"

"They're in the 300 level, which ain't the top. They're pretty good. I like 'em"

"How much?"

"I'm just trying to get back what I paid for them, so $70 each."

The look at her boyfriend is as much a plea as it is a demand, but to no avail...

"Uh, I think that is a little bit more than I wanted to spend. Honey, I think we're going to just get the cheap seats."

I don't know who was more disappointed with this guy, me or his girlfriend. Regardless, there is another fella right behind him stepping up to inquire about the tickets. He walks up, stops about a foot in front of me, and just sorta stairs. I look at his girlfriend, she just looks back.

"No speak english. Speak Spanish?"

A smile crosses my face, and I decide this is too funny of situation to walk away from. Time to dust off the high school Spanish.

"Yo tengo dos bilettas para esta noche, setenta dolares"

The couple clearly enjoying my horrific spanish, seems grateful that I'm at least making an attempt to speak to them in their own language. They step out of the line and after about ten minutes of trying to communicate that it is $70 for each ticket, and this is, in fact, how much I paid for them, they buy the tickets for exactly $140. After pocketing the money, I attempt to wish them well, but by the looks on their faces did not succeed.

Knicks vs. Cavs: Knicker-Blogger Game Angles

you know the drill....
--The King and the Court: it's no secret that a lot of people bought tickets to tonight's game to see Lebron. Will he play despite injury? Will Jay-Z be disappointed at courtside if he doesn't?
--In the Knick of time: Will the return of Allan Houston and Penny Hardaway help stop the losing streak? How will they play? Will the crowd support them?
--Revenge Factor: all the numbers tell us that the Cavs should roll the Knicks tonight, but will the Knicks be extra (and by extra what I mean to say is "at all") motivated by the beatdown Cleveland handed them last time these two teams met?
--Battle of the Super-Subs: in my opinion the most exciting matchup of the game is between the Junkyard Dog and the brash Brazilian youngster Anderson Varejao. Who will hit the floor more? Who will take the greatest charge of the game?
--IS TONIGHT THE NIGHT?

Fantasy Rankings

FoxSports.com ranked the Top 200 players in the NBA according to their fantasy values. Here's how the Knicks (current and former) ranked:

Knicks
18. Steph
71. Nazr
82. K. Thomas
83. Jamal Crawford
105. Sweetney
148. Ariza
165. Timmy Thomas

notables
45. Camby
146. Lee Nailon
151. McDyess
153. Spree
180. Van Horn

There weren't any real surprises, as the upper echelon was made up of the usual suspects (sorry fantasy owners, but no hidden gems). And, of course, the top name on the list was a certain player, who doesn't need anyone else prostating themselves before him, from a certain team that will be visiting the Garden tonight.

No Knick with Knack for Leadership

Former New York Knick point guard and current basketball commentator, Greg Anthony has a column up on ESPN.com that dissects the Knicks utter lack of leadership.

Knicker-Blogger Fact of the Day

On Christmas day in 1960 the Knicks suffered their worst defeat ever, losing 162-100 to Syracuse.

As the Knicks current losing streak grows (possibly one day to become its very own Fact of the Day), it seems only appropiate to commemorate one of the team's most memorable losses.

AARP for Allan?

His ability to misdirect his opponents made him impossible to defend, and now it seems that Isiah Thomas is using that same ploy to hide his horrendous team up his sleeve. The Knicks are currently mired in a strech just as ugly as anything that happened under Layden's watch, their lack of effort is defenseless and their defense is clearly without effort, yet all anyone is talking about today is Allan Houston's retirement.

Isiah just happened to mention the possibility of Allan retiring sometime soon during a conference call with the media that was alleged to be about the return of Penny Hardaway to New York (he's been rehabbing in his hometown of Memphis) and hopefully to the court. Next thing you know, virtually every Knicks story in today's papers is about Houston.

Should stay or should he go? Is he selfish for staying, for trying to get back?

Meanwhile, where is the righteous indignation at the team's recent play? Where is the mob calling for Isiah's job? Who is questioning the effort of Brooklyn's golden child, Stephon Marbury?

NY Post: Retire Talk;

NY Daily News: Houston's Exit; Hou A Burden

*for those of you who didn't get the joke, AARP stands for the American Association of Retired People and this is the quasi-cult trying to convince your grandfather to take Viagra and never give up his driver's license.

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.

TONIGHT: KNICKS vs. SUNS

Check out the game on MSG @ 7:30pm (or head down to the Garden and grab yourself a free Knicks ski hat). Then, let me know what you think the Knicks did well, what was just awful, and which of the Knicks City Dancers you think would ever give you her number.

Email knickerblogger@gmail.com

Larry vs. Phil:

Larry Brown or Phil Jackson? Coke or Pepsi? Hamlet or King Lear? McDonalds fries or Burger King Fries? Speed or Crsytal Meth? Let the debate begin. After the awkward brilliance that was Phil Jackson's televised interview from the Australian Open it seems that the floodgates have opened. Every two-bit hack, from the dispicable Peter Vescey to one up-and-coming Knicker-Blogger, has felt compelled to weigh in on the subject.

Here goes.....I would definitely rather have Larry Brown. He coached Steph in Greece, and although the team didn't play well, all reports said that the two of them got along great. Steph came home talking about Wins and Losses being the stats to judge him by, and although he seems to have lost the plot here, it was a great idea. The Knicks need a guy who can flat-out coach. They need X's, they need O's, and they need someone to get them in the gym and remind them how to play D. They don't necessarily need a flashy name (not that Larry Brown doesn't have a certain luster about him) and leather-bound copies of The Art of War.

Knicks vs. Suns: Knicker-Blogger Game Angles

If the Knicks are going to turn this thing around it might as well happen against the Phoenix Suns, the league's best (as long as Nash is playing) team. After all, it wouldn't have been much fun--and way too obvious--to break the slump with a win over the lowly Bucks last Sunday.

--The Best vs. What We've Got: Tonight Steph, three weeks removed from dubbing himself the best point guard in the league, will go up against Steve Nash, the guy who everyone else thinks is the best point guard in the league. Now, we all know that Steph is stronger and will be able to get into the paint (for that floater that is quickly becoming his signature shot), but if he really wants to prove anything to anyone the Knicks need to beat Nash's Suns.
--The Speed of Light: For all of Isiah's talk about putting together an athletic team, the Knicks plodding style will need some fast-forwarding to keep pace with Phoenix. Herb Williams should start Trevor Ariza regardless of Tim Thomas' status because he is the only man on the roster that is consistently quick and explosive.
--The Cold Chill of Defeat: Everyone at the game tonight will get a free ski cap courtesy of Met Life, and I bet it will be way better than the useless crap they were handing out before the Rockets game.
--DEEFENSE: Herb says this team will put a greater emphasis on defense while he is patrolling the sidelines.....well, let's see how they handle the Suns who are currently the league's most prolific offense with about 108 per.
--Terrible Two's: What kind of production will the Knicks get from the 2 guard spot tonight (when they will probably need to score more than usual)? Will Houston sit? Can Crawford improve upon the criminal 28% that he's been shooting since returning from turf toe?

Knick Notoriety

With the Knicks in the midst of one of the franchise's worst stretches in recent memory they are finding the bright lights of the big city to be harsher than ever. With two stories on ESPNs homepage today about the team, it seems that the national media finds the bad Knicks to be big news. Of course, it's much more of story if a team from New York is struggling than if they are playing well....

Phil-ing the Job

The whispers have turned to whailing and the rumours are now masquerading as reportage. It's official the "Phil Jackson for Coach" train has left the station and will be making daily stops at a back page near you.

and so it begins....
NY Daily News
NY Post

Recap #2: Knicks vs. Bucks

Honestly, I caught about two minutes of this game during the third quarter. I was still a little upset by Friday and just wasn't emotionally ready to watch this team lose (which they eventually did) again. Also, there was football to watch.

So here's the news....
NY Daily News: Herb's debut; Same Problems
NY Post: recap; supporting Herb
NY Times: recap; rebuidling
ESPN
AP/Yahoo