I've been piling on the Knicks lately and quite frankly why not. The Knicks along with the Lakers, are interesting topics in the NBA that doesn't involve tanking (though the Knicks perfrmance last night could be interrepted as tanking but more on that in a bit). Last week the Knicks announced that they had agreed to terms with Phil Jackson (5 years $60 million) to become the team president of basketball operations or something. Jackson has ties to the Knicks team that last won a championship in 1973. Jackson's coaching record puts him as a lock as a coaching legend winning 11 titles (6 with the Bulls and 5 with the Lakers). The thing is, Jackson is not coaching. He's 68 years old and in declining health, he just can deal with the physical grind of an 82 game schedule. The only thing that isn't on his resume is builing a championship caliber team (a la Red Auerbach). Not that that should make a difference to his legacy but he's a smart guy and I can't think of anyone who would turn down that kind of money.
Jackson has a tough road ahead of him. A possible bright spot is that owner James Dolan, who's made some bad basketball decisions, vows to stay out of the way. Like most people, I'll believe when it happens. Jackson was quoted as saying that embattled star Carmelo Anthony "has another level in him." Melo has gone on record that he would like to test free agency (he can opt out of his contract at the end of the season). ESPN's Stephen A. Smith has said that sources have told him that Melo is gone. I won't go into detail about the horrendous conditions the Knicks are in but here's a quick run down:
The Lakers, essentially the West Coast version of the Knicks, with a worse record than the Knicks, playing without any star players (Nash, Gasol and Kobe were all out) and with Phil Jackson in the building, lay an absolute egg in a 127-96 drubbing. See if you recognize any of the names on the Lakers...
The Lakers scored a team record 51 points in the 3rd quarter. Let that sink in for a minute. A franchise that has had the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Magic Johnson and a host of other legends had never scored that many points in a quarter...EVER. The Knicks looked good after the 1st quarter but then just disappeared. Vanished without a trace. Outscored by 37 points in the 3rd & 4th quarters. Something like that had not been seen before. Allegedly Phil Jackson left the Staples Center with 9 minutes to go. Apparently he'd seen enough.
Now I did not watch the game (trivia on Tuesday nights, so I'm occupied) but from what I gather it became a dreadful embarrassment not too long into the 2nd quarter. To say the Knicks didn't play a lot of defense would be the underest understatement of the season. These no-name Lakers were running fast break drills, draining 3s and just making the Knicks look like they didn't belong on the court. Mike Francesa of WFAN really laid into the Knicks pretty heavily. The Sixers are being accused of tanking, last night the Knicks just plain quit. This is a team that doesn't care. None of them do. Good luck Phil, you're going to need it.
Jackson has a tough road ahead of him. A possible bright spot is that owner James Dolan, who's made some bad basketball decisions, vows to stay out of the way. Like most people, I'll believe when it happens. Jackson was quoted as saying that embattled star Carmelo Anthony "has another level in him." Melo has gone on record that he would like to test free agency (he can opt out of his contract at the end of the season). ESPN's Stephen A. Smith has said that sources have told him that Melo is gone. I won't go into detail about the horrendous conditions the Knicks are in but here's a quick run down:
- No draft pick in this year's allegedly deep draft.
- No cap space for the 2014-15 season (a lot of bad contracts).
- Guard Raymond Felton's status, is he going to jail.
- What will Melo do?
- What to do with the coach.
- The fact that no free agent wants to play in NYC (or with Melo if he stays).
The Lakers, essentially the West Coast version of the Knicks, with a worse record than the Knicks, playing without any star players (Nash, Gasol and Kobe were all out) and with Phil Jackson in the building, lay an absolute egg in a 127-96 drubbing. See if you recognize any of the names on the Lakers...
| New York Knicks (29-42) | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| field goalsrebounds | ||||||||||||||||
| pos | min | fgm-a | 3pm-a | ftm-a | +/- | off | def | tot | ast | pf | st | to | bs | ba | pts | |
| C. Anthony | F | 38:15 | 10-21 | 1-4 | 8-8 | -16 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29 |
| A. Stoudemire | F | 27:24 | 7-14 | 0-0 | 2-2 | -30 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| T. Chandler | C | 28:43 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 2-2 | -7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| J.R. Smith | G | 29:01 | 4-6 | 1-2 | 3-4 | -13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| R. Felton | G | 20:13 | 3-7 | 0-3 | 0-2 | -8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| I. Shumpert | 19:26 | 0-6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | -15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| P. Prigioni | 21:30 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | -16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| T. Hardaway Jr. | 24:04 | 5-7 | 2-3 | 5-7 | -16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | |
| C. Aldrich | 10:55 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| J. Tyler | 07:19 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | -5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| S. Brown | 06:53 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| T. Murry | 06:17 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 240 | 36-74 | 4-15 | 20-27 | 8 | 24 | 32 | 23 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 96 | ||
| 48.6% | 26.7% | 74.1% | team rebs: 7 | total to: 16 | ||||||||||||
| Los Angeles Lakers (24-46) | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| field goalsrebounds | |||||||||||||||||
| pos | min | fgm-a | 3pm-a | ftm-a | +/- | off | def | tot | ast | pf | st | to | bs | ba | pts | ||
| W. Johnson | F | 15:14 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| J. Hill | F | 14:02 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | +7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| C. Kaman | C | 22:40 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 3-3 | +7 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| J. Meeks | G | 25:04 | 5-11 | 4-7 | 0-0 | +15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | |
| K. Marshall | G | 23:24 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-0 | +14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| N. Young | 18:37 | 6-10 | 5-6 | 3-3 | +15 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 20 | ||
| K. Bazemore | 32:46 | 7-14 | 2-4 | 2-2 | +22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| R. Kelly | 33:58 | 3-6 | 3-5 | 0-0 | +24 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| X. Henry | 23:20 | 8-11 | 3-4 | 3-5 | +16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 22 | ||
| R. Sacre | 25:20 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +24 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| M. Brooks | 05:35 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| P. Gasol | NWT - Vertigo. | ||||||||||||||||
| S. Nash | DND - Nerve root irritation. | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | 240 | 48-83 | 18-28 | 13-15 | 8 | 30 | 38 | 32 | 23 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 127 | |||
| 57.8% | 64.3% | 86.7% | team rebs: 5 | total to: 17 | |||||||||||||
Who the hell are Ken Bazemore, Nick Young and Xavier Henry!?
With the exception Chris Kaman, who was an All-Star, the other 10 players who saw action for the Lakers are either role or bench players at best (make no mistake, I am not taking anything away from them talent wise). This no-name Laker group shot 57.8% from the field and put on a 3-point shooting clinic to the tune of 64.3%. Check this out...
Scoring
| |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
22
|
20
|
31
|
23
|
96
| |
14
|
36
|
51
|
26
|
127
| |
The Lakers scored a team record 51 points in the 3rd quarter. Let that sink in for a minute. A franchise that has had the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Magic Johnson and a host of other legends had never scored that many points in a quarter...EVER. The Knicks looked good after the 1st quarter but then just disappeared. Vanished without a trace. Outscored by 37 points in the 3rd & 4th quarters. Something like that had not been seen before. Allegedly Phil Jackson left the Staples Center with 9 minutes to go. Apparently he'd seen enough.
Now I did not watch the game (trivia on Tuesday nights, so I'm occupied) but from what I gather it became a dreadful embarrassment not too long into the 2nd quarter. To say the Knicks didn't play a lot of defense would be the underest understatement of the season. These no-name Lakers were running fast break drills, draining 3s and just making the Knicks look like they didn't belong on the court. Mike Francesa of WFAN really laid into the Knicks pretty heavily. The Sixers are being accused of tanking, last night the Knicks just plain quit. This is a team that doesn't care. None of them do. Good luck Phil, you're going to need it.
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