| The Ship (Not) Be Sinking In New York Authored by Graham Flashner - November 29, 2007 - 12:57 pm
I was in New York for the Thanksgiving holiday and decided to drop in on the most dysfunctional team in the city. The choice wasn’t as obvious as you might think, what with Eli Manning throwing four interceptions and the Giants’ coach, Tom Coughlin, looking ready for an extended hospital stay.
No, I wanted to catch up with Madison Square Garden’s in-house circus, otherwise known as the Knicks. After an eight-game losing streak and enough inner turmoil to rival Britney Spears, the Knicks seemed ready for Armageddon.
In the space of a week, Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas had clashed on a team flight (following Marbury’s benching); Marbury threatened to dig up secrets in Isiah’s past; Marbury left the team in Phoenix, then abruptly rejoined the team in Los Angeles 24 hours later; Isiah rewarded this bad behavior by reinstating him to the starting lineup (against his own teammates’ wishes), and a member of the Detroit Pistons dissed Knicks players for not competing on the court.
All that had left the Knicks feeling as secure as a turkey in November. Isiah’s job seemingly hung in the balance. Disaster was temporarily averted when the Knicks ran into a team more woesome than themselves – the Chicago Bulls, who forgot how to shoot in a post-Thanksgiving matinée that snapped the Knicks’ streak.
As one former Knicks guard had famously said, “The ship be sinking”.
Which brings us to Monday night’s game against a Western Conference powerhouse, the Utah Jazz.
I expected to see a lackluster team who hustled only when it was time to run into the lockers at halftime.
Instead, I saw players blocking shots, diving into the stands for loose balls, and creating turnovers.
I expected to see Marbury get schooled by one of the new breed of point guards, Deron Williams.
Instead, it was Marbury giving a clinic, scoring 28 points, dishing out 6 assists, and outplaying his younger rival.
I expected to hear boos and chants of “Fire Isiah.”
Instead, I heard cheers and fervent chants for “Dee-fense.”
I expected to see the Knicks picked apart by a quicker, more athletic Utah team that is murder on the offensive glass.
Instead, it was the Knicks who turned back at the Jazz at every opportunity, and it was Zach Randolph grabbing the big offensive rebound that clinched a 113-109 win, in the Knicks’ best all-around game of the season.
What in the name of Red Holzman happened?
Marbury came out of the gate with fire in his eyes, playing the type of game that Knicks fan would beg to see more often. He dished, he penetrated, he hit the 3. Early on, he went coast-to-coast on a drive, reminiscent of the dash he made in overtime a year ago, when he beat the Jazz on a buzzer-beating layup.
And he finished off one fast break with a no-look flip behind his head to Zach Randolph. By the end of the first quarter, Marbury (9) and Randolph (13) had combined for 22 of the Knicks’ 31 points.
“Number 3 was really good tonight,” said a smiling Thomas afterwards.
But it wasn’t just Marbury. Randolph had 25 points (including 6-6 in the first quarter) and 14 boards. And Eddie Curry, a mostly sedentary figure in the low post, rose up to block two shots, the second a thundering rejection of a Deron Williams layup that Curry batted off the backboard, preserving a lead that had shrunk to 107-104.
“Those blocks were so surprising, they gave us all a lift,” said Thomas.
“If I could do that on a nightly basis, we’d win a lot more games,” said Curry.
Indeed. The Knicks, last in the NBA at blocked shots-per-game, blocked six on this night. They shot 53%. They had 10 steals.
They made you wonder – where has this team been hiding, and why can’t they do this more often?
The Knicks’ sudden revival stunned everyone, not just the fans, who booed during the introductions but cheered for the rest of the night, but even the hardened media horde, including the guy next to me, a columnist for an upstate New York paper. He had come to the Garden in search of a Jazz blowout, prepared to write an epitaph for the season.
Even with the Knicks up four after a quarter, the columnist remained hopeful. “They could be down 20 by halftime,” he pointed out. As the Knicks extended their second quarter lead, he buried his head and closed his laptop. “I don’t know what story I’m gonna write,” he muttered, and left shortly after, never to be seen again.
It helped that the Jazz were playing the second of a back-to-back, having won a tough road game in Detroit. They seemed a step slow defensively and couldn’t match the Knicks’ energy down the stretch. On the other hand, they out-rebounded the Knicks by 10 and never let up, cutting a 10-point lead to 2 in the final 30 seconds.
The crowd waited for the Knicks to wilt, waited for the superior Jazz to wear them down.
But this time – for once – the Knicks made the big plays. “When they made their run, we stood still, we didn’t panic,” said Marbury.
Clearly, the storm clouds have passed over New York, even if just temporarily. To a man, every Knick believes the team has turned a corner.
“Hopefully, our worst basketball is behind us,” said Curry.
And while neither Thomas nor Marbury would cop to it, something has shifted since their standoff, which didn’t help either’s reputation. Marbury lost cred with his selfish behavior and by going AWOL on his teammates. Thomas risked losing control of the team by sending mixed messages by first benching Marbury (a questionable move from the start) and then not disciplining his star for abandoning the team.
Both insist the past is behind them, and Thomas was effusive in his praise for Marbury’s ability to bounce back from adversity.
“You can coach him hard,” said Thomas. “He has the determination and the self-motivation… you just have to keep reminding him how good he can be.”
As the Knicks have to keep reminding themselves. While there are still lots of flaws, there’s also no question the talent is there, and the depth. The nine players who Thomas played Monday night all made significant contributions.
Now the question is, can Thomas figure out how to harness that talent?
“The season is still young,” said Marbury. “It’s November. I’m not panicking at all.”
“It’s definitely the right time for Boston,” said Zach Randolph, pointing to the Thursday night showdown with the Celtics.
On this night, at least, no one would argue. |
