Is it just me or have the Knicks looked a little different lately?

With the Knicks racking two wins in a row, rumors have really rapidly run rather rampantly.  Is it true that the players’ life-forms have been inhabited by aliens?  How else do you explain wins over a top team like Atlanta, ending Dallas’ 13 game winning streak in a blow-out, and not playing down to Philadelphia’s level last night and losing like we like to do?  We here at Buckets Over Broadway are not afraid to plunge into such hard-hitting journalistic investigations to uncover the truth for you.  Are these the same Knick players we’ve known all year?  Or are they hosts to a possibly hostile race of space creatures who’ve come to slowly yet surely destroy any sense of logic in our world, thus creating chaos, leaving us unable to know up from down, and easy pickings for interplanetary conquest?  At this point, either seems feasible.  Let’s compare what clues point towards being a Knick versus an Alien:

(source: ESPN's "30 On 30")

Last night, ESPN premiered it’s most recent installation in their “30 on 30″ documentary series (inspired & led by Bill Simmons, it’s a look at 30 lesser-known stories from these past 30 years that ESPN has been in existence).  Even for a Knick fan, the Reggie Miller-centric documentary was funny, nostalgic, informative, and moving.  There’s something intriguing and different about a doc that looks back at something you lived through as opposed to introducing you to a new world you knew nothing about (although obviously for many people the doc will fall into the latter category).

First, at the time, New Yorkers (and probably most NBA fans in general) thought of Reggie Miller as the ultimate villain.  Michael Jordan was the guy who you wanted to defeat, but Reggie was the guy who you wanted to see get into an “unfortunate” car accident.  It wasn’t about what he did to the Knicks, it was about who he was and how he played.  He talked smack non-stop, played dirty, and would fake & flop to try to get non-existent calls.  And by dirty, I don’t mean physical, ‘cuz you were allowed to play darn physical at the time.  By dirty, I mean doing things when the refs weren’t looking.  Swingin’ them pointy elbows for sneak attacks whenever possible (by the way, there is no truth to the rumor that he rubbed his elbows with sandpaper to get them particularly sharp).  Read what his own sister, Cheryl, says about him in the doc:

Move over James Cameron! The Pacers try to go for 3 Ds against Patrick Ewing in 1995. (source: ESPN's "30 On 30")

The 30 On 30 series will be premiering the Reggie Miller/Knicks documentary tonight at 9 (Eastern time) on ESPN.  If you miss it, it’ll be on ESPN2 a few hours later, and well, at all sorts of hours and channels forever afterward.  It looks pretty darn good, and for you young fans who’ve gotten used to seeing your Knicks always lose — don’t worry, the winning time refers to Indiana not New York. As they describe it on the film’s site:

Reggie Miller gave New York the finger. The whole city.

If you had told me going into Dallas the Knicks would be up 20 in the 4th I would have called you a fool. Well, the Knicks did just that and absolutely throttled the Mavs. The Knicks won 128-94 in a dominating effort led by Bill Walker and Tony Douglas.

Yes, Douglas was sensational last night along with Walker both adding 20+ points and shot the ball extremely well. Sergio did not even see the court last night, and in a surprise lineup change Duhon was inserted back into the rotation.

The Knicks shot the ball extremely well, and the Mavs couldn’t hit anything all night. The Knicks were able to do whatever they wanted all night and dominated the Mavericks in all facets of the game.

The Knicks travel to Philly tomorrow to take on the Sixers in what should be a winnable game.

As usually happens whenever the Knicks play a team with a big upcoming free agent, that player gets salt and peppered with questions about joining us.  Last night we went up against the Memphis Grizzlies, so it was Rudy Gay’s turn in the spotlight.  He doesn’t sound like someone who wants to stay in Memphis, while owner Michael Heisley is already blaming fans for not being able to pay him.  From a Newsday article:

Forbes magazine recently listed Memphis as the second-most miserable city in the U.S. So you can understand why pending restricted free agent Rudy Gay had to pause when asked if he wants to re-sign with the Grizzlies.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind staying here.”

That kind of apathy should be alarming for a franchise that seems to finally have put together a good team.

You might think, well, Gay’s quote could also be deemed hopeful rather than apathetic.  Not when combined with this follow up:

Knicks lost another road game in Memphis tonight, with the same story found in all Knicks losses. We shot 29% from 3 and dug ourselves an early hole and were down as many as 29 at one point.

One positive note, however, was Bill Walker and leading the 4th quarter charge he put on and brought the Knicks within in 5 in what would have been a miraculous comeback. Walker has certainly made a name for himself since being dealt here and has in my mind earned a spot on next year’s squad.

Gallinari continued his horrid shooting slump tonight shooting 1-8 from 3 and 3-12 overall. The fact that he’s still starting is beyond me, and will hopefully be replaced by Walker in the starting lineup sooner rather then later. I’m not saying I’ve given up on Gallo, but something is certainly wrong and maybe rest will get him back on track because his shooting is killing us.

T-Mac was once again non-existant on offense, which is another killer for this team. McGrady has not taken the shots he should be taking and is being lazy on both sides of the court. McGrady needs to stop recruiting and focus on being a player fighting for a contract. McGrady needs reminded if he doesn’t start performing better there is no guarantee we bring him back.

Lee and Chandler did their thing once again and continue to be the only consistent players on this team.

July can’t come soon enough.

In Part I we talked about what each of the teams competing for free agents had to offer.  In Part II, we went over what factors each of the Big Three (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) would contemplate.  Now we continue onto the other big-name free agents and their likely mindsets.

Joe Johnson – Atlanta Hawks

As we discussed after the recent Knicks/Hawks game, JJ has a nice relationship with Coach Mike D’Antoni from their time together in Phoenix, plus the Knicks have somehow managed to look competitive this year in the three games he played against us.  When JJ was on those D’Antoni Suns teams, although he was huge for them, at the time he was considered to be at best their fourth most important player (after Steve Nash, Amar’e Stoudamire & Shawn Marion).  Joe rightly felt he could be more, a centerpiece, and he wanted to be paid accordingly.  Having achieved all that with the Hawks, he now has reached the point most vets get to: the main thing he wants now is the chance to play for a championship.  He is even one of the few stars who has literally put his money where his mouth is and has stated he’d be willing to take a bunch less money to be on such a team.

Now don’t misunderstand: he knows he has a very good thing going with the Hawks and that they are a really, really good team.  He’s not gonna just leave them to play on a mid-level Knick team.  So ignore this quote in the NY Daily News:

Mike D’Antoni has had a rough history with Spurs head coach Greg Poppovich, and tonight was a prime example of how their rivalry has gone. Popp owns D’Antoni dating all the way back to when D’Antoni was coaching out in Phoenix.

The Knicks effort tonight was really poor. They came out slow and were down 9 after the first and never really recovered. Shooting 11.8 from 3 didn’t help either. Seeing this team live and die by the 3 is getting very frustrating and doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

McGrady was a non-factor along with Gallo. Gallo has been awful since the T-Mac trade and these poor performances from him are really discouraging going forward. McGrady really just didn’t play with any intensity and didn’t attack the Spurs inside like he should of. McGrady has to take more then 8 shots and Al Harrington doesn’t need to take more then 10.

Which brings us to the only consistent player on this team, David Lee. Lee battled Duncan well inside and really kept the Knicks in the game.

On a last note, the Knicks clinched yet ANOTHER losing season with this loss and things are as gloomy as ever. This team needs a makeover, which unfortunately won’t come until after this season.

On NBAPlaybook.com, Sebastian Pruiti writes and diagrams how The Knicks Use Defense To Get A Win:

The title of this post isn’t a joke, as one would assume. The Knicks were up by 1 with the ball and about 20 seconds left, but they turned it over. The Hawks were now breaking down the court with the chance for a win. How did the Knicks stop them? Let’s look:

Wilson Chandler meets Josh Smith at the top of his dunk attempt and gets the block. Now, his physical ability is what allowed him to get the block, but Chandler used his basketball IQ to get himself in position to let his physical tools take over.