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TuPac and NBA Fandom

“It’s not about about East or West. It’s about power and money. Riders and punks. Which side are you on?”
-Tupac Shakur

Whether you think Pac is the GOAT or overrated lyrically, no will deny that he used his talent and charisma to be one of the, if not the, most influential rapper of all time. If you need proof go listen to "Brendas Got a Baby" and think about what you could write at 19. 2pac inspired countless with his rhymes, but he was also an enigmatic and crazy mofo. No matter, fans ate up everything he did. In 1994, he released the mysogynistic “I Get Around” and the touching “Keep ‘Ya Head” as back to back singles, but no one really cared about the contradiction. When he slept with Biggie’s wife and bragged about in “Hit em’ Up,” he somehow gained more fans even though you would side with Biggie if the same thing happened with two of your friends (none of my friends are rappers, so it would have to be cheating caught on Facebook or something). Like most things in life, TuPac was complex, but he worked damn hard to earn the privilege of being embraced for that complexity.

A couple of months prior to his death he changed his name to Makaveli to make the very raw 7 Day Theory. As the legend goes, Pac recorded his verses in less than a week of late night sessions. During the day he was filming the movie Gang Related, so he was operating on fumes and still managed to make a classic rap album. The album opens with a fake news cast poking fun at other rappers who took shots at Pac in rhyme (poor Prodigy) and some rappers who had no idea they earned Tupac’s wrath (see Jay-Z). Then the fake newscast cuts to Tupac reading a press release and the quote at the top. Brilliantly he removes the geography from his feud with Biggie and makes it more polarizing. To him, it’s clear that there is something innately off about his rivals and most of them just happen to be from New York. He didn’t hate them because they were New Yorkers, after all, he could kick it with Boot Camp. Instead, he hated them because they weren’t riders; you couldn't count on them when ish got thick. And in Tupac’s dichotomous world, if you weren’t riding with him you were his enemy, and therefore you were a punk. It was crazy and probably rooted in paranoia, but it was an oddly familiar perspective.

As a fan sometimes there is no rhyme or reason in picking our favorite players. It’s not even tied to game performance all the time. In our heads, we label players as guys we like or guys we hate. Guys Pac would call riders and guys who he would call punks (I'm in no position to call any NBA player a punk, even Reggie Miller, so I will stop with those words). The easiest example of our fan dichotomy would be a couple of forwards named Charles from the 1992-93 that finished with 60 wins and the conference’s top seed. One of them averaged 16.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and 1.6 bpg with a PER of 14.9. The other averaged 6.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg, and .2 bpg (or a block every five games) for a PER of 12.6. Of course the guys are Charles Smith and Charles Oakley, and based on our memories we’d think Oakley was the better player that year. Unfortunately for Mr. Smith our memories of him are seared with pump fakes, stripped balls, and his inability to go up strong in Game of 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

While Smith is probably the least popular player of his era, Oakley is probably the most popular player of his era, and maybe in the running for most popular Knick of all time. Two seasons ago I attended the only Cavs game at MSG during LeBron’s final year with Cleveland. The city was buzzing at the potential of LeBron playing at the Garden full time, and the Yankees World Series victory two days earlier. In attendance were several Yankees, and A-listers like Dustin Hoffman, Chris Rock, and Adam Sandler. Jay-Z was there and he sat next to CC Sabathia and A-Rod. Former Knicks like Anthony Mason and LJ were there, and the crowd went ape shit when LJ’s four point play was shown on the jumbotron. But that applause was nothing compared to the ovation given to Charles Oakley. It was nuts and I probably clapped louder than anyone.

Smith was never forgiven for missing the layups and played five more seasons in the league, including 2 ½ more years with the Knicks. Oakley continued to flourish after that season, even making the All Star game the following year, and ended up playing five more gritty seasons in New York. It was a sad day when he was traded for Marcus Camby. Coach JVG summed it up best: "When guys put it on the line for you and play as hard as Charles did for our team, you feel great sentimental thoughts about the guy. I owe Charles Oakley a whole lot. But I want to make it clear; Charles Oakley does flagrantly foul now." The move was hugely unpopular with fans, but it shouldn’t have been. Oakley was 35 and coming off a season where he averaged 9 and 9. Camby was 24 and the number two draft pick only two years previously. In his last season with the Raptors, he averaged 12 ppg, 7.4 ppg, and led the league with 3.7 bpg. Camby had a well-deserved reputation as being injury prone but even after playing 63 games per season, he had 360 career blocks in two seasons. Charles Oakley only ended up with 384 blocks…for his entire career...in 1282 games. Camby was young, played above the rim, and blocked shots ten times as frequently as Oakley, but he was not warmly welcomed because he was replacing the ultimate fan favorite in Knicks history.

Camby was eventually beloved and there was plenty of unhappiness when he was traded to Denver after only three injury plagued seasons with the Knicks. So there is not necessarily rhyme or reason when determining who deserves our respect, praise, and applause. Some guys will always be cheered like Oakley even if they aren’t playing well, some guys can earn the cheers like Camby, and some guys wouldn’t get an applause even if they found the cure for cancer (sorry Charles Smith). This year’s team might have more potential fan favorites than any team in recent memory. The big offseason move was Tyson Chandler, and his reputation as a cerebral defender (despite the foul problems) and his championship ring make him someone fans want to root for. If the Knicks ever improve defensively, Chandler will benefit from the likely narrative that he is the defensive savior. Baron Davis becomes more popular with each game that Toney Douglas starts at point guard and Mike Bibby’s corpse is DNPed. Josh Harrellson got everyone’s attention on New Year’s Eve with a double and double and four treys in a start for Amar’e at PF. Plus he wears Jorts.

But early on, everyone is trailing rookie Iman Shumpert. Last night in a disappointing loss, the fans in attendance let D’Antoni know that Shump Shump needed to be back in the game. He filled up the box score in 30 minutes, but the team was only +1 with him on the court. He has played in only six quarters in his NBA career and seemingly shoots the ball every team he touches it. But he has irrational confidence (watch his attempted dunk on Biyombo) and plays with obvious passion, while the rest of the Knicks look frightened and disinterested. It’s early but Shumpert should remain a fan favorite no matter what his numbers look like (plus he is a Twitter savant). Does it make sense to unconditionally root for Shumpert after 1 ½ games? Probably not. Does it have to make sense? No. The lines have been drawn and Shumpert is on our side.

Game Recrap: Bobcats 118, Knicks 110

The season is still young, but these are the games that make a difference in playoff seeding, or even whether the Knicks will dance in the second season or be watching ping pong balls on behalf of the Rockets (thank you Jared Jeffries salary dump) come spring. In an embarrassing showing, the Knicks yielded 118 points to the previously clawless Bobcats, losing 118-110 at the Garden. Combined with losing on the road to a Steph Curry-less Warriors team and Monday at home to the Craptors, this is the Knicks 3rd loss that a team with as much talent as the Knicks CANNOT lose, regardless of how banged up the team is or how little time they have had to “gel." It just can’t happen.

The game started off perfectly for the Knicks. Tyson had a great oop from Melo 5 seconds into the action, Amar’e actually corralled a rebound and TD and Chandler had a great pick and roll for the early flush. Then, it kinda got really ugly. The defense was horrendous all night, as the rotations weren’t there or totally puzzling in execution. The Woodson plan apparently involves switching on every pick and roll (ya know, because Tyson Chandler and Toney Douglas are basically interchangeable as far as who they can guard), help never came for a majority of the night and Bobcats had more contested jumpers in warm-ups. The lines for the ‘Cats mediocre cast of characters was alarming: 12-15 for 27 from Boris Diaw, 10-13 for 24 from Gerald Henderson, 5-8 from DJ White for 10 and 6-8 for 16 from Byron “Don’t Call Me BJ” Mullens. Just an absolutely traumatic defensive performance, especially by the front court.

For Mullens’ part, that was a head scratcher if I ever saw one. This is the same guy that was described upon leaving for the draft after his freshman year (where he averaged under 10 ppg at Ohio State) as unable to create his own shot and lacking any perimeter game, but he seemed to be reborn as a shooter against the Knicks porous front line. This leads me to one of three conclusions: 1) dropping the BJ from his name made him an elite shooter 2) his time in the NBDL, Greece and prison league ball really refined his perimeter game or 3) the Knicks defense is a complete and utter failure. Considering the evidence would indicate the BJ moniker led BJ Armstrong to be one of the best shooters of my lifetime, it was either the pick up games in cell block 6 that led to Mullens’ amazing growth, or the NYK defense is really that bad. While it may be worth it to send D12 to a few West Orlando Juvenile detention games (because if Howard developed a perimeter game like Mullens showed last night he’d be the greatest player in the history of man), I’m going to point the finger at the Knicks huge embarrassing failure of interior D here. The perimeter D was no better, as the Bobcats shot 55.3% in all, with 63.6% from 3. Good stuff. In an unrelated note, I have no idea how Corey Maggette was never an Isiah era Knick. He’s selfish, a terrible team player, extremely overrated and overpaid. Zeke really dropped the ball on that one.

Offensively, things were a little more encouraging for the Knicks (how could they be worse?), particularly in light of the defense and what we have seen offensively in recent games. Amar’e had his best game of the young season and actually ventured inside, putting his quest to become the league's biggest 2 guards on hold for the time being and getting over the kryptonite effect the paint has had on him early this year. This team really needs Amar’e to be a big time scorer, even more so than Melo, simply because Amar’e is so much more efficient. Melo is who he is, and there is a place on this team for a high volume elite scorer, but it certainly helps to be flanked by another elite scorer who does so efficiently. Amar’e also rebounded tonight to the tune of 12 boards to compliment his 25 points. Nice performance coming off the injury from STAT.

Chandler didn’t miss a shot, but outside of the first few minutes, he was almost non existent all night, ending up 4-4 with 11 points and 6 boards in 40 minutes. Way to show the ‘Cats they made a poor decision to salary dump you. Melo poured in 32, which was deceptively impressive, as he dropped 22 in the 4th to simply keep the Knicks within shouting distance. He experienced foul trouble all night, and has had better performances. Still, Melo finished with a line of 32 points, 6 rebs, 5 assists and 3 steals, so it’s hard to point the finger at his performance as the killer here. For his part, Toney had a few decent looks for his teammates, but shot terribly, including 1-6 from deep. Again, some encouraging signs offensively as a whole, but given that the paint was prominently defended by Boris Diaw and DJ White, that should be a given.

Shumpert, in his first game since the season opener, provided a ton of energy and effort on both sides of the ball, and sparked the worst bench in the league so far this season with 18 impressive points. He displayed his world class athleticism on both ends, an impressive shooting stroke and tremendous confidence for a rookie. Best of all, he did exactly what we have been missing all year from our SSOL approach: he pushed the ball relentlessly off misses and changes in possession. That set up opportunities for himself and others, which has been sorely missed in the Knick attack. Additionally, his return relegated the aforeblogged-about Mike Bibby to the bench all game with a DNP – Corpse with a Headband. On a semi related note, I just crammed in the first season of Homeland (tremendous show) over the holidays, and I haven’t been able to look at Bibby without thinking “A Knicks Point Guard has been turned!” and wondering whether he’s actually still assisting the Heat by taking us down from the inside. If you’ve seen the series, you get the reference. If not, keep moving, nothing to read here.

The rest of the bench was terrible, and Landry Fields may be joining them shortly. He once again looked lost, posting a horrendous -21 +/- in 25 minutes. Shump Shump may be hunting that starting spot soon. Cult hero Jorts barely got in the game, which is too bad, because in terms of skill set, he could have learned a lot from the clinic Boris Diaw put on against Amar’e. Balkman and Bully Walker both got a bit of burn with Melo in foul trouble. Bully was ok in limited minutes; Balkman was, well, Balkman… completely forgettable and useless.

Ultimately, while the Bockers played with a lot of heart towards the end of the game to try and climb back in it, they were never able to overcome the 14 point lead the Bobcats got out to in the first half, in part due to the complete inability to get a defensive stop or swing momentum at any point. The Bobcats scored around 30 points like clockwork each quarter, and regardless of what NBA retread was taking the shots, the Knicks had no answer defensively. The effort isn’t there, their schemes are lacking and the entire effort looks disjointed. At this point, maybe Melo can teach the rest of the team the Syracuse zone, because I can’t watch another game where so many pick and rolls resulted in a big trying to defend on the perimeter or a guard getting posted inside.

Now the Knicks must go on the road and right the ship against the 0-6 Wizards. A 4th loss in the first 7 games to a team they have no business losing to would be a huge blow. I mentioned after the Lakers game that the Bockers needed to make some headway in this, the easiest part of their schedule, and thus far, it hasn’t been a great start. After the Wiz they have the Pistons on Saturday, followed by a rematch with the Bobcats on Monday. Hopefully the Knick defense scores an invite to that matchup.

Space Cadets

The incomparable Sebastian Pruiti broke down the X's and O's behind the Knicks offensive struggles this season over at Grantland today. He made many of the points we have been making at Knicks Bricks all season, namely, that the addition of Tyson Chandler to the fold has brought a second defender over to help on erstwhile Carmelo and Amar'e isolations (are they isolations when they're not isolated anymore?), leading to a clogged lane and general lack of proper spacing. As Pruiti explains: "So far, the Knicks offense has looked disorganized and random, with players just floating around. Under these circumstances, Chandler naturally gravitates toward the rim, which clogs the lane and forces Stoudemire to rely on jumpers."

We couldn't agree more. However, Pruiti adds two things that Knicks Bricks cannot provide: 1) pictures and video because the writers here have the technological know-how of the average veteran of the Spanish-American War, and 2) some solutions on how to get Amar'e the ball in better positions to score while Chandler is on the floor. This article gets the highest recommendation.

Amar'e and Shump Shump Likely to Return

ESPN New York's Ian Begley is reporting that Amar'e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert are both "likely" to suit up for tonight's game against the Charlotte Bobcats, looking no worse the wear in 3-on-3 drills this morning. This should provide enormous relief to a Knicks roster that appeared to be stretched very thin in Monday's loss to the Raptors.

Stoudemire will bolster the badly undermanned frontline, that saw Steve Novak log some minutes at power forward (a "super duper stretch 4"). Shumpert, who AY noted will give us all 12 embolisms this season (the Vegas Hilton has the over under at 10.5, take the over and thank me later) with his devil-may-care shot selection, is also sorely needed so that the Knicks can stop playing recently departed Walking Dead extra Mike Bibby.

Jorts: Shawne Williams 2, Electric Boogaloo?

Last season, the Knicks were able to get contributions from several unlikely sources, including Shawne Williams. Williams, a former first round pick of the Indiana Pacers when Donnie Walsh was at the helm, was a scrap heap reclamation project who was expected to get extremely limited minutes behind Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Landry Fields, and Billy Walker. He spent the first 17 games of the season racking up DNPs, prompting Will Leitch to ponder whether he was even on the roster anymore in his always-entertaining Knicks Power Rankings.

We all know how the story played out. Williams worked his way into the rotation to become a key cog in the Knicks' first run to the playoffs since 2001 by hitting open jumpshots, spacing the floor, and playing tough defense on the perimeter and in the post. When his contracted ended, Williams warmed Knicks fans' hearts, saying he didn't want to play anywhere other than New York in the 2011-2012 season. Of course, the Knicks front office is only loyal to people who are wildly incompetent (see: Thomas, Isiah), so Williams was left out in the cold as the Knicks played footsy with Jamal Crawford. Ultimately, the Nets swooped in with a bigger offer and Williams signed with New Jersey.

Coming into this season, it was unclear who would provide the production that left with Williams. Walker's defense and decisionmaking are spotty, at best. Fields hit a rookie wall after the Carmelo Anthony trade, leaving significant doubts about his ability to improve upon the flashes of brilliance he showed in his first 50 games. Renaldo Balkman can't shoot a lick. After Saturday night's win against the Kings, it appears that Josh Harrellson - aka Jorts - might be exactly the player who can fill the void left by Williams.

Jorts, selected by the Hornets with the 45th pick in June's draft and then traded to the Knicks, was an afterthought for many Knicks fan, including me. He was remembered as the loveable, lumbering big man from Kentucky's Final Four run. It was assumed that his memory would evaporate into the ether with Kevin Pittsnogle and other shambling college big men who were appeared destined for a life of trailer parks and tales of glory days long past. It was doubtful whether he would even make the team.

When the labor cold war ended and the Knicks opened training camp and the abbreviated preseason, something strange happened: Jorts looked to be a useful NBA rotation player. More impressively, his range extended out the 3-point land where he shot 3-9 in two games against the Nets. Unfortunately, he looked tentative and lost in the first 3 games of the season. However, in the Knicks' win over the Kings, Harrellson had by far his best games as pro, scoring 14 points while shooting 4-8 from behind the arc. He played solid defense, showing the ability to stay in front on John Salmons on the perimeter early in the game.

Then, in Monday's night's disappointing loss to the Raptors, Jorts reverted back to his old ways, clanking all 4 of his three-point attempts, including a shot off the side of the backboard that would have come closer to the rim if he'd kicked it. Encouragingly, Jorts hustled down the floor after two of these misses and drew a charge on the ensuing possession. Generally on the defensive end, he was abused regularly by Andrea Bargnani who beguiled the rookie with upfakes and post moves that you don't see in the SEC.

That said, Jorts has shown glimpses of being a capable fill-in for Shawne Williams this season. He has flashed some range from deep and good hustle and headiness on defense. Right now, he's probably in over his head with Jeffries and Stoudemire injured and is being exposed to a certain extent, as rookies often are. Make no mistake about it, Harrellson is a limited player who can fulfill a limited need, but role players are important cogs to winning teams. As a 3rd or 4th forward at 15 minutes per night, Jorts can provide serviceable relief to Stoudemire and Chandler at both power forward and center, while spacing the floor for the other bigs to work and playing solid, if slow-footed, defense. When a team has committed as much cap space to as few players as the Knicks have, they have to find ways to wring extra value from cheap assets like 2nd round picks and veteran wash-outs. Last year, New York was able to do just that, getting major contributions from Shawne Williams and Landry Fields. As the season progresses and the rotation rounds into form, Josh Harrellson will likely be counted on to help in small but meaningful ways. This will be more by necessity than design, as reserve forwards Jared Jeffries and Jerome Jordan are not viable rotation players for a playoff team. He will suffer some growing pains and the rollercoaster performances that come with learning how to play in the league, but by season's end I think it's possible that the Knicks will be relying on Jorts to come through with substantial performances in signficant minutes and he appears to have many of the tools to do so.

Preview Game Six: Knicks (2-3) v. Charlotte Bobcats (1-4)

The Knicks face-off against the hapless Charlotte Bobcats tonight at the Garden. Their injury plagued squad is coming off an ugly loss on their home court Monday night against the Raptors in which they mustered only 11 points in the second quarter, and spent much of the second half scraping their way back into the game only to fall short in the final minute. On a positive note, injured Power Forward Amar'e Stoudemire appears set to return to the lineup after being sidelined the last two games with a sprained ankle. Knicks fan will be anxious to see what his return might bring to the team's sputtering offense, although if his early season performance is any indication there is reason to believe it won't be a seamless addition. Self proclaimed rookie guard Iman "Shump Shump" Shumpert also appears to ready to return from injury, way ahead of schedule. His athleticism/spark off the bench should be an asset to the team though his liberal shot selection will likely induce as many headaches. 

Meanwhile, the Bobcats are in their own tailspin, having lost four in a row. They showed admirable fight in an early season loss to the presumptive Eastern Conference favorite, the Miami Heat but have since rolled over in embarrassing fashion losing by an average of 15 points per game. The Bobcats have the highest points allowed average in the NBA through five games and appear ill equipped to stop their opponents from scoring. Even the Cavaliers put up 115 against them last night. The Bobcats have a thin front line led by Boris Diaw at the center spot, giving the Knicks front line a lot of room to maneuver down low. Ty Thomas remains listed as day to day. 

Obituary: Mike Bibby's Career

Mike Bibby’s NBA career, (1998-2012) has passed away. It was 14 years old. Although the specific date of death is unknown, it is suspected to have been during last year’s NBA finals, where rumors of him being worked on in the back with a defibrillator during his Game 6 DNP – Coach’s Decision have never been confirmed nor denied. Perhaps it should have been a sign he could no longer be effective when he sputtered despite being flanked by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. That’s like not being able to hit if you were protected in the lineup by Murderers’ Row. His career had dizzying highs and harrowing lows, highlighted by his Arizona state high school career scoring record, leading the Arizona Wildcats to a national title as a freshman in 1997 and not ending up as a personal trainer like backcourt mate Miles Simon. Lowlights included his 2 game stint as Andray Blatche’s dance partner on the 2011 Wizards and getting caressed gently by Josh Smith during a 2010 timeout in Atlanta… it got weird, didn’t it?

In his brief stint with the Knicks, Bibby has zombied his way to +/- of -13, -19 and -18 in the Knicks 3 losses, accounting for nearly a negative 1 point swing per minute he has been on the floor. His PER, in a league with an average of 15.00, is a robust -1.1 so far in ’11-’12, threatening to have the worst recorded single season PER in NBA history. Calls to John Hollinger to deduce exactly what that quantitatively means have yet to be returned, although it would seemingly point to his inability to hit the broad side of a barn with his jumper, as well as his propensity to get beaten like he stole something every time he takes a stab at anything resembling defense.

Truth is, we should have seen this coming during his first introduction to the NY media after his signing, in which he vehemently defended himself against all the "critics", who hadn’t actually appeared in the media at that point. We can speculate he may have been talking about his brother in law Eddie House or his children from their heated lockout family BBQ driveway games when he said “"I don't care what you guys say about me, I don't have nothing to prove.” Way to inspire confidence that you still have something left in the tank.

Sadly, odds are we’ll continue to see his corpse bopping around the Garden floor and bricking treys to the Mecca’s sweet organ music (much like Bernie danced his way along the beach to the steel drum in the legendary “Weekend at Bernie’s” series) until Shump and/or Baron are healthy enough to pry some of the ball handling duties away from his cold, rigor mortis grip. Or until D’Antoni decides to just go with 4 players on the floor when Toney is getting a breather, which is starting to seem like a borderline viable option at this point.

Mike’s career is survived by his father, Henry Bibby (legendary former LA Sparks head coach), his veteran’s minimum contract and his former Vancouver Grizzlies teammates Felipe Lopez, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and “Big Country” Bryant Reeves. Donations can be made to fund research to bring back British Columbian basketball.

Shump Shump is close

Newsday is reporting that I am Iman could be back in action on Wednesday:

Rookie guard Iman Shumpert was dunking the ball at the morning shootaround Monday and could be back on the court Wednesday night.

"I don't think that's too soon," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said before Monday night's game against the Toronto Raptors. "...He could wake up tomorrow and be sore. If he practices tomorrow and wakes up Wednesday and he's fine, then he can play."

This is good news for the Knicks as Shump Shump's motor and dribble penetration has been sorely missed in recent games, in particular those where the Knicks haven't shot well (GSW, TOR).

This Should Make You Feel a Little Better

Presenting, my favorite youtube video of all time.

Too Little, Too Late: Raptors 90 Knicks 85

The Knicks lost tonight's game in the 2nd quarter, getting outscored 29-11 in the period by the Toronto Raptors. Despite making several runs and cutting the lead to one point with less than a minute to play, the Raptors' 17 point halftime lead proved to be insurmountable for New York.

Leading by one after the 1st quarter, the Knicks were lethargic on offense in the 2nd, failing to score in the first four minutes. The Knicks only mustered 11 points on 3 made field goals in the entire period. As has been their wont this season, the Bockers were content to hoist up ill-advised jump shots. When they didn't fall, the Raptors were able to capitalize, relying on sharp shooting nights from Rasual Butler (13 points, 5-12 FG, 3-7 3PT) and DeMar DeRozan (21 points 7-13 FG, 2-2 3PT). Overall, the Knicks attempted 19 shots from behind the arc in the first half, making only 5 and shot a dismal 28% from the floor.

In the second half, the Knicks were able to chip away at the lead by picking up their defensive intensity, making the Raptors look completely out of sorts on offense. Toney Douglas (22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) began to pressure Jose Calderon, who struggles with more athletic guards, and Tyson Chandler (11 points, 10 rebounds, 5 personal fouls) started trapping the Spaniard just over the half court line. This led to two turnovers from Calderon and forced the Raptors to get into their sets much later in the shot clock, leading to several disjointed possessions. Spurred by his excellent defensive work, Douglas' offense picked up in the 3rd period, where he scored 12 points by knocking down 3 shots from deep, including an electrifying 4-point play. The last 3-pointer from Douglas cut the lead to 5 with 4:24 left to play, and the Knicks whittled the difference down to 3 when Josh Harrellson sunk two free throws a few possessions later.

With 1:59 left in the period and the Knicks down 6, Mike Bibby and Bill Walker checked in and the Knicks' momentum screeched to a halt. Unable to stay in front of a one-legged toddler at this point in his career, on back-to-back plays Bibby fouled Leandro Barbosa to set up a three point play and sent Jose Calderon to the line, a man who once made 151 of 154 free throw attempts for an NBA single-season record of 98%. Bibby also bricked a three to close out the quarter and was utterly incapable of achieving any semblance of penetration, meaning the Knicks offense degenerated into half-assed high pick and rolls and lazily passing the ball around the perimeter until someone jacked up a jumper like a game with the middle-aged lawyers at your local YMCA. In related news, Mike Bibby found a nice warm seat on the bench for the rest of the game.

In the final period, the Knicks hung tough, cutting the lead to 3 several times and then to 1 after a Carmelo Anthony (31 inefficient points on 13-31 FG) basket with 1:04 left in the game. However, the Knicks were unable to get over the hump, plagued by some inopportune misses at the charity stripe (Douglas, Chandler and Fields were the culprits) and an inability to recapture the defensive success that held the Raptors to 16 points in the 3rd quarter. For some reason, Mike D'Antoni abandoned the game plan that had allowed the Knicks scrape their way back into the game, putting Fields on Calderon and Douglas on Butler for most of the period. Butler was able to convert a key jumper over the much shorter Douglas with 3:18 left in the game and Fields struggled to defend the pick and roll between Calderon and Andrea Bargnani, with the former first-round pick tallying a 17-foot jumper over Fields on the switch with 45 seconds remaining and then drawing a foul with 17 seconds on the ensuing possession, crucially extending the Raptors' lead to 3 on both plays.

This was a disappointing loss for the Knicks who hoped to get above .500, even without star Power Forward Amar'e Stoudemire. This season's Raptors return many of the same players from a disastrous 22-win 2010-2011 campaign and the Knicks simply should not be losing to teams like this at home. The blame for this loss can be squarely placed on poor shooting, a terrible bench and the injury bug. As with their other losses this season, the Knicks couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat, shooting 28% (10-35) from deep and 36% (28-78) from the field. This is going to be a recurring theme all year, as the Knicks seem to live and die with the three-ball, but lack the consistent shooters to maintain any semblance of regular success doing so. The bench played an extremely weak game, scoring only 10 points and getting trodden upon by the Raptors every time Steve Novak (-10 +/-), Bill Walker (-13 +/-) and Mike Bibby (-18 +/-) stepped foot on the floor. However, part of this can be explained by the string of injuries the Bockers have suffered in this young season. A healthy Stoudemire means Jorts goes back to the bench and Steve Novak assumes the Inaugural Andy Rautins Business Casual Shooter Who Can't Do Anything Else role. Shump Shump's return and Baron Davis' debut probably mean we never have to watching the shambling undead that is Mike Bibby for more than the most sparing minutes (please God, let that be soon). Finally, when Jared Jeffries comes back we will no longer be exposed to Jerome Jordan's impression of a person who has never played basketball before.

Until the Knicks are healthy though, it's probably best to avoid getting too overwrought about losing to crappy teams like this. This is going to be a topsy-turvy lockout-shortened season. Making the playoffs is paramount, but once a spot in the postseason is secured it's going to be crapshoot. Knicks fans don't need to be reminded that the 1999 vintage of the Bockers made the NBA Finals as an 8 seed. Up next, the Knicks will host the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night and hope to bounce back from tonight's loss against another unimpressive opponent.

Preview Game Five: Knicks (2-2) at Toronto Raptors (1-3)

The Knicks return to the garden tonight to face the Toronto Raptors (1-3) after finishing their West Coast trip with an impressive win at Sacramento. As of early afternoon Monday Amar'e Stoudemire remained a game time decision but he did not participate in the morning shoot around and reports seem to indicate he is unlikely to suit up. The Raptors have lost three in a row (at Orlando, at Dallas, and home to Indiana ) by an average of 8 points. The Knicks swept the season series last year against Toronto, averaging 114.5 points per game. The Knicks should have little trouble scoring early and often tonight against Toronto's porous defense if they continue to move the ball like they did against the Kings.

Key Matchup: Ball Movement v. Isolations. If the Knicks remain active, avoid their lazy ways, it should be a pretty easy victory.

Injury Updates: Stoudemire and Shump Shump

The bad news: ESPN is reporting that Amar'e Stoudemire, nursing a sprained ankle suffered in the Knicks' loss to the Lakers, did not participate in this morning's shoot-around and is a game-time decision for tonight's tilt with the Toronto Raptors. However, Coach Mike D'Antoni admitted that Stoudemire is "more on the doubtful side." As such, Knicks Bricks is officially listing him as doubtfulish. If Stoudemire is forced to miss his second straight game with the ankle injury, Jorts will likely take his place in the starting lineup.

The good news: Rookie Guard and Third-Person-Self-Referencer Iman "Shump Shump" Shumpert appears to be progressing well from the sprained MCL he suffered in the first game of the season, reportedly looking spry and dunking during the shoot-around. The original prognosis was that Shump Shump would be out 2-4 weeks, but it looks like he might come back on the early side of that range. This is a relief as the injury looked like it could be a season-ender on first glance. Shumpert's return won't put an end to the Knicks' offensive distribution woes, but he should provide depth, explosiveness and solid perimeter defense to a roster that has been slammed with injuries in the first 4 games of the season.

The neutral news: Jared Jeffries.....eh, who cares.

West Coast Road Trip: A Retrospective

I'm probably the one millionth person to offer this insight, but the Knicks will not play another game in the Pacific or Mountain time zones for the rest of the season after the New Year's Eve drubbing of the Sacramento Kings.

The Knicks' lone West Coast swing was disappointing overall. The loss to the Warriors on Wednesday night was a truly lackluster performance. It might have been the hangover from the sweet vengeance on Christmas Day against the Celtics, the affects of the cross-country flight to the Bay Area, or looking ahead to the next night's match up with the Lakers, but the Bockers came out completely flat against the Warriors. They built a smoke and mirrors lead at halftime, but their poor shooting and inability to get any movement on offense let the Warriors back in the game. Tyson Chandler was a total non-factor and Melo and STAT shot a combined 8-27 from the floor against a porous Warriors defense, leading to deep sadness and much panicking from Knicks fans everywhere.

Knicks aficianados went from mild alarm after the Warriors game to full-on Threat Level Midnight after the Knicks pooped the bed against the Lakers the following night. It was more of the same from New York on Thursday night, as the offense consisted on one pass, two jab steps, no movement, and a long jumpshot. Amar'e couldn't get out of his own way, shooting a woeful 4-17 from the field before spraining his ankle.

On New Year's Eve, the Knicks managed to avoid the ignominy of an 0-3 road trip by notching a desperately needed wire-to-wire win against the Kings. With Stoudemire out, Josh "Jorts" Harrellson filled in capably, tallying 14 points (5-11 FG, 4-8 3PT) and 12 rebounds, including a bank shot that he totally called. Amazingly, Harrellson was the lowest scoring player in the starting lineup, as Anthony, Chandler, and Landry Fields' Amazing Hair Product scored 23, 22, and 21 points, respectively. It was hard to get too excited about this game after witnessing firsthand the human atrocity that is the Kings' roster, but good teams have to handle bidness against bad teams on the road, which is precisely what the Knicks did.

What can we take away from these games?

First, when the Knicks are connecting from behind the arc, they are a dangerous team. In their two wins, they have shot 40% from three (19-48). Conversely, the Bockers were laying bricks (like the title of this blog!) in their losses, shooting 23% (10-43) from the deep end. It's not rocket surgery to say the Knicks are more likely to win when they shoot well, but with this particular team it is crucial. The three best players all like the ball in the high post or on the block. If defenses aren't forced to respect New York's shooting out to 24 feet, the floor gets clogged and they end up with the stagnant morass of ugly isolation plays that we suffered through on Wednesday and Thursday night.

Secondly, this team is painfully thin. Certainly the injuries to Stoudemire, Jared Jeffries and Shump Shump have pressed Steve Novak, Renaldo Balkman and Jerome Jordan into action more than the Knicks might be comfortable with, but only one bench player (Billy Walker) mustered a double digit point total in the win to the Kings. I'll reserve judgment on the roster as a whole for the next few weeks, as a rotation of Baron Davis, Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby, Landry Fields, Anthony, Stoudemire, Chandler, Jorts, Shump Shump, Walker, and Jeffries will look a hell of a lot better than the current version. That said, this compressed schedule will favor teams with deep benches and the Knicks are playing shorthanded for the foreseeable future, which showed in the last three games.

All in all, it was the loss to the Warriors that was key. I can't rend my clothing or gnash my teeth too much about losing to the Lakers on the road in the second night of a back-to-back, but the Knicks should be eating small, young, undisciplined teams like the Warriors alive if they are going to credibly assert themselves as championship contenders. Up next, the Knicks are coming up against the soft underbelly of their schedule with the Raptors, Bobcats, Bullets (I'm not calling them the Wizards, sorry), Pistons, Bobcats, and Sixers on the slate in the next two weeks. They should win all of those games, but will probably suffer a "schedule loss" in that Detroit game on Saturday night.

About Last Night....

You're pregnant.


Just kidding. But now that we have your attention, here are some random hangover-addled thoughts from last night's game:

• It's hard to take too much away from trouncing a bad and unexperienced defensive team that completely gave up in the 2nd half, but the offense looked much better last night. The spacing was vastly improved, allowing Chandler to run the pick and roll and Melo to dominate in the mid-range game. Some of this probably had to do with the Knicks' scorching start from behind the arc (8-11 to start the game after Jorts' bank shot), but having Amar'e out of the lane certainly didn't hurt either. I am not going to say that this team is better without Amar'e on the floor, but it still feels like Melo and STAT are totally redundant and limit each other more than they enhance each other. Constructing an NBA roster is not really about amassing as much talent as possible; it's about asset management and it's a waste to have 60% of your resources (in this case, cap space) devoted to two players who functionally do the same thing. Doing so leaves very little room to round out the roster with players who perform other crucial tasks to winning basketball games, like long range shooting, defense, and ball distribution. The Knicks are better with Amar'e than without him, but I think their ceiling is limited by having both Amar'e and Carmelo on the roster. Imagine having the team that was on the floor last night, with another $15 million to fill in the rest of the squad.
  

• JORTS!!!!! I love that guy. During the Warriors game, my wife came into the family room and said, "Who's the plodding, pasty white guy?" I lovingly explained the Legend of Jorts. She watched a few more plays and added, "He looks a lot like you." Thanks, Mrs. Mike. On the one hand, she thinks I look like a professional athlete. On the other hand, she described the player as "plodding" and "pasty." We'll call this one a push.
  

• Boy, the Kings are a really depressing team. They remind me a lot of the equally sad Detroit Pistons. Both teams are full of: 1) players who are under 6'4", but have no idea how to run an offense (Tyreke Evans, Jimmer, Marcus Thornton, Ben Gordon, Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum), 2) 'Tweener forwards whose love of shooting is only outstripped by their aversion to rebounding and defense (John Salmons, Donte Greene, Charlie Villanueva, Austin Daye), 3) Undersized centers who can't protect the rim (Chuck Hayes, JJ Hickson, Greg Monroe, Jason Maxiell). That team is a hot mess.
  

• If there were an All-NBA Scowling/Sneering team, DeMarcus Cousins would be a first team lock every year, right? Even if he has just converted a perfect alley-oop to set up a three-point play, he still makes a face like somebody just told him he's going to have to spend the rest of the game in a fart chamber doing long division while listening to Enya's Greatest Hits. Examples of this can be seen here, here, and here. He must be a miserable player to have to root for. Smile, dude. You're living the dream.

• And finally.... JORTS!!!!!
  

Down on the Farm: Bayhawks 98 Charge 92

The Bayhawks vanquished the mighty Canton Charge last night 98-92, improving to 6-9 on the season. The win was the result of a dominant fourth quarter in which the Bayhawks outscored the Charge 36-22, turning an eight point deficit into a six point victory. Here are the lines:

Chris Daniels: (Texas A&M - Corpus Christi - 27 years old - 7'0" C): 13 points (3-8 FG, 1-1 3PT), 4 reb., 1 assist, 5 blocks ---- 5 personal fouls led to limited minutes for Knicks Bricks favorite, Chris Daniels. However, he is still showing potential as a big body off the Knicks' shallow bench. It might be worth looking into having him fill in the Jerome "Foul Machine" Jordan spot on the bench, sending the young big down to Erie and letting the kid get some seasoning.

Devin Green: (Hampton - 29 years old - 6'7" SG): 14 points (6-13 FG, 0-2 3PT), 6 reb., 1 assist, 4 steals ---- Again, I'm not quite sure what the Knicks' front office sees in this guy. He's 0-8 from deep since signing with the Bayhawks after being one of the final cuts in the preseason. I can't imagine what useful role he could possibly play on the big club.

Kyle Spain: (San Diego State - 24 years old - 6'5" SG: 17 points (4-12 FG, 1-6 3PT), 8 reb. (all defensive), 2 assists ---- G-g-g-g-g-gunner. This guy takes a lot of threes and doesn't make nearly enough.