With less to a second to go against the Seattle Sonics last night, the Knicks were down by 2. Stephon Marbury, already with 39 pts, was at the line for two FTs that would tie the game. The only player who showed any signs of life last night made the first, and missed the second. Final Score 100-99, Sonics.
What can you say to that? Marbury has been playing out of his mind in the past few weeks, he even hit 8 three's in this game. You can't blame him for going to the line and missing ONE FREE THROW that would have tied it. If anything, it represents how the entire Knicks season has went. It all comes down to Marbury. The guy that got you to this position in the game is expected to seal the deal (or at least send it into overtime), and he can't. How Ironic...
If you were the type of person who was looking to place the blame on someone, you could start with Jared Jeffries, who went 0-4 from the line. There's 4 points. While we're at it, you might as well fault the whole team performance from the line, going a horrendous 24-38. The Sonics only made it to the line 10 times, but they made 9 of them. It's simple basketball right there. Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, and Earl Watson did most of the damage for the Sonics, even taking shots on a prayer that were well defended at times.
I'm not going to say "this is the end of the season" again. We should know by now that this kind of crap is just going to continue. The Knicks are now 10th in the East, one game out of 8th. Indiana continues to collapse at 7th, and Orlando seems likely to fall out of the 8 spot. New Jersey is the wild card at the 9 spot, but they don't seem like they want to live up to the talent on their team. David Lee (and hopefully Nate Robinson) will be back this Saturday to travel to Washington to take on Agent Zero and the Wizards. After beating a few bottom-feeding teams, and losing to a few as well, it's a real test for the Knicks. I don't feel very good about the game.
The good thing about Lee coming back is that Channing Frye's minutes will be limited once again. I can't express how frustrated I am watching this joker on the court. All he does is take those damn 18-footers, and even when he could dribble up a few feet because he is open, he refuses to! His defense is pathetic, he is always a step behind, and he is soft. If you look at our top pick the past two years, Balkman is so much more intriguing than Frye. It seems as though Frye has hit his ceiling, while Balkman continues to impress every game. His defense has been stellar, and he is slowly integrating himself into the offense. Hopefully he can go into the gym this summer and shoot 1,000 jump shots a day. He'd become deadly.
You have to give a guy like Malik Rose credit. He has been such a quiet yet important part to this team all year. His energy and defense off the bench last night really helped spark a comeback. I'd like to see some of Frye and Jeffries minutes go to him.
The Garden won't be quiet even though the Knicks won't be there for a while. The Big East Tourney starts today...GO 'CUSE!!!
Later.
No comments:
Post a Comment