Collapse, by the New York Knicks

Knicks--choking in final moments--lose to the Kings, 116-115

This one hurt, this one was like skinning your knee as a kid. Maybe you see a little blood, but you know that it's not so bad; you know you're ok, and yet you just can't help but cry at the surprise and indignity of it all.

NY Knicker-Blogger Game Preview: Knicks vs. Kings

The Kings have been hot as of late, but it is possible that Webber, Peja, Bibby, and Mobley could all be on the bench with injuries tonight. So, can the Knicks' starters beat the Kings' reserves?
--Fighting Words: apparently Steph and Kurt had a few heated moments at practice yesterday; do they hate each other or do they just hate losing?
--Steph stepping up: Steph hasn't played well in a while; can he score more than the 10 he put up in Denver?
--the King's Court: the Knicks haven't won on the road since 2004 and a Friday night crowd at Arco isn't exactly the best-case scenario to the break that trend.
--Doubting Thomas: Timmy should be back in the lineup tonight, but will he take back his starting job from Ariza.
--DEEFENSE: I know the Knicks don't seem to play any, can Herb get them playing some tonight?

Calling All Coaches

Is Isiah going to LA? Is Larry coming back home to New York? Did Phil just beat Marat Safin in a three-set tiebreak at the Australian Open? Confusion, rumor, and innuendo have not been this rampant in the NBA since the 1994 Sonics cheerleaders forced the team into those paternity tests.

It seems that so far everyone is denying everything, well, except for Phil Jackson who is open to coming to New York, open to returning to LA, and according to the Tuscaloosa Herald will be opening a home for wayward small forwards (his first guest will be Timmy Thomas).

After Larry Brown saw how bad the team was last week, I wouldn't think that he would be jumping at the opportunity to clean up this mess. Taking over these Knicks isn't exactly like heading to the Piston's; a team that had made the Eastern Conference Finals the season before he pulled the rug out from Rick Carlisle. Still, Larry Brown is the NBA's version of Kung Fu's Caine, roaming the open plains of the association looking for teams in trouble, and you can never count out his wanderlust.

However, if Larry leaves Motown I don't see him coming to New York. I think he would go coach the Lakers. I know that all the talk in the papers is about Phil Jackson returning to LA, hugging Kobe, tussling what's left of Mitch Kuptchek's hair, and taking back his job. I also know that few things can guarantee an event's occurrence better than the Larry Brown denial of aforementioned occurrence. Nevertheless, I really see Brown taking the Lakers position before Jackson does. Don't forget that Larry has lived in LA and been part of the city's basketball culture, having coached UCLA all the way to the NCAA championship game in 1979 (I think it was '79). Furthermore, the weather is a hell of lot nicer in LA than it is in midtown Manhattan, (since Brown grew up around here, we know that he knows that) and these sort of things matter to a guy in his late 60s who just had hip surgery.

More importantly, Jackson just left LA and wrote an entire book about how awful that last season was. Granted, Jackson seems like a megalomaniac and would probably write a trilogy of books containing his thoughts on the virtue of the double-knotting of shoelaces. Still, the mere fact that the Lakers want to bring him back does more for Jackson's cachet and reputation than anything else he could accomplish if he actually does go back. Having those guys come crawling back to him, begging his forgiveness for firing him, will do wonders for Jackson's ego. So obviously he isn't going to stop them from putting his name in the papers; each time an "unnamed source within the organization" floats his name to a reporter it gives Phil another I told ya so in the bank. Lastly, the best case scenario if Jackson goes back is that he turns the team around and in two seasons they win another title. Sounds good, right? Not really. Do you think Jackson really wants to legitimize Kobe as one of the all-time greats? Do you really think that he wants to let him within walking, or leaping, distance of the hallowed ground thus far only tread by Jackson's first love, MJ? I don't.

On the other hand, if Jackson comes to the Knicks he would actually have the chance to enhance his already mammoth reputation. The biggest knock against Jackson is that he has always coached guys who would make the First-Team All-Forever Squad; everyone (including the NY Knicker-Blogger) has at one point said something along the lines of

"Anyone could have won coaching Jordan."

or

"Hell, if I had Shaq and Kobe, I could coach that team blindfolded and high and still win at least one title."

For better or worse, the Knicks have no one on that level. This team gives Jackson a real chance to flex that brain of his that we all hear so much about. He would be able to give Bill Belichick a run for his money in the overrated, over-hyped coaching genius department. Also, coaching the Knicks would allow Jackson to take the job of his mentor and hero, Red Holzman. Jackson has long championed Holzman's place in the pantheon of greatest coaches.

Of course, coming to the Knicks carries with it the risk of sullying Jackson's pristine resume. This is a team that needs work, a lot of work, and someone as image conscious as Jackson would never let himself go out a loser. I don't know if the allure of having Holzman's job is enough to make him run the risk of it not working out on the biggest stage.

Now if we could figure out a way to trade Isiah and Bruno Sundov to the Lakers for the rights to Larry Brown's next erratic move, everyone would win, and Phil would have the time to get started on that shoelaces thing.

And onto the coaching news.....
NY Post: Knicks vs. Lakers for Phil; Post vs. News over Isiah; Vecsey
NY Newsday: Knicks over Lakers for Phil (I can't tell if it is good or bad to have Newsday agree with me)
Detroit News: Larry to stay, Isiah to LA
ESPN: Ric Bucher wants to watch while Phil and Kobe kiss

Ariza for Dunk Contest

The lone bright spot over the past few weeks has been the play, and more specifically the dunks, of Trevor Ariza. We need to get this kid entered in the slam dunk contest immediately. Someone track down Kenny "Sky" Walker and let's get the two of them working weekends to come up with something. I can't wait to see, and hear, Dikembe Mutumbo jump out of his seat and make the craziest Cookie Monster squeal when Ariza throws down All-Star weekend.

Rocky Mountain Low (or What Would Oakley Do?)

Knicks bow to Nuggets, 96-7

Another road game, another okay start, another awful finish, another loss. Once again, things started well, just like the Clippers game, but eventually fell to pieces.

In the early minutes, when teams feel each other out, the Knicks' talent always keeps them close and usually even gives them the lead. However, towards the end of the first quarter most teams usually move to a higher gear and really start to compete. This is the point, as soon an opponent decides to assert itself, that these Knicks fall apart. This point came last night after a Marbury shot gave the Knicks a 21-20 lead: the Nuggets went on a 5-0 run to end the 1st quarter.

The second quarter was predictably horrendous, no one was getting their hands up on defense, no one was getting back in transition, and no one could even manage to post up the diminutive Early Boykins. The Nuggets were driving to the basket at will and their dunks were as common last night as Knicks losses were in January. And oddly enough no one seemed more perturbed by the lack of defensive intensity than MSG announcers John Andariese and Mike Breen. Every time K-Mart would throw down another dunk and pound his chest as he skipped up the court, Andariese would get infuriated. Moreover, he kept making clear that he wasn't upset with Martin, rather he kept calling out the Knicks big men for letting themselves be embarrassed. Possibly with the exception of Tommy Heinshon up in Boston, I don't think I've ever heard an announcer who wanted to see someone get knocked to the floor so badly. In spite of his growing dementia, you just knew that Andariese was right on the money when he asked,

"How do you think Charles Oakley would have reacted to that?"

And let those be our watchwords from now on, some people ask themselves what would Jesus do, others what Oprah would do, but here at the NY Knicker-Blog we will always ask ourselves What Would Oakley Do?

With a little over ten minutes left in the game, just after Martin scored his 26th and 27th points of the game (on another dunk), with Mike Breen blasting apart the Knicks effort, I ask myself

What Would Oakley Do?

I believe Oak would have turned this game off and seen what was playing on Cinemax. So, I turned off the game, and, not having Cinemax, went to go check out ESPN News.

NY Post: Worse than Ever
NY Daily News: Last Place

ESPN

WELCOME TO FEBRUARY!

January 2005 is officially over! Celebrate, bring on February on Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, and hooray for Black History month! Good riddance to January, the worst month in the history of the New York Knicks.

Knicks vs. Clippers

This post was lost to the ether, as the NY Knicker-Blog short circuited when it was revealed that the inimitable Gerald Wilkens will be competing for his own show on ESPN. And you know what, I think it was a sign: from here on out, this game never happened.