Jive Talk

We have a lot to talk about.  Supposedly.  First, from Frank Isola in today’s Daily News:

"Carmelo Anthony is patting himself on the back for the way he’s handled the ‘Melo-drama, which is kind of amusing since he’s the one who created the mess in the first place.No one has more to lose than Walsh, the Knicks president who is probably gone no matter what happens between now and next Thursday’s trading deadline."

These are two very bizarre claims to casually drop into the first and third paragraphs of a column titled, “Walsh should make the deal for Anthony despite steep price tag.”  Let’s tackle these trademark tabloid one-sentence paragraphs one at a time.  Before we begin I’d like to note that in typical tabloid fashion, this article is run with a picture of Frank Isola next to it, just so the reader is aware that the piece was written in a universe where journalistic standards do not exist, and you can just spit out any opinion you please without backing it up.  Those are the ground rules.

Let’s work backwards: the second sentence-paragraph makes me think Isola knows something we don’t.  Sure, there’s been much speculation over Walsh’s future, and James Dolan’s refusal to grant him a contract extension, but until now we haven’t heard anything that paints Walsh as a lame duck.  The phrasing leads us to believe Isola would have at least an anonymous quote to corroborate this stance; why would the man who’s turned this franchise around not get his extension?  Dolan may be unpredictable, but he seems as likely to give Walsh a lifetime contract as fire him tomorrow.  Of course, there’s nothing to back up the claim – apparently we’re supposed to take this revelation in stride.

The first sentence/paragraph is even stranger: it’s a casual aside that oh, by the way, Carmelo isn’t just complicit in all this, he “created the mess.”  In what way he’s at fault, of course the article is under no obligation to say, but I’m baffled that anyone could poke holes in a guy who is simply playing out the contract he signed four years ago.  Oh, and by “playing,” I mean he’s throwing up 25, 8 and 3.  He appears to have made his destination known, yet he is fulfilling his obligation to his current team until he becomes a free agent – emphasis on “free,” meaning he has earned the right to go wherever he wants.

Also, Carmelo is “patting himself on the back”?  When did this happen?  I feel like Lois Griffin reading this: Peter, we don’t have time right now but when we get home I’m going to tell you everything that’s wrong with that sentence.

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But wait, journalists aren’t the only people bringing the jibber-jabber!  From Mark Hale in today’s Post:

"When Stoudemire was asked yesterday about [Al] Horford’s antics last time, he reminded Horford of tonight’s locale.“He feels good. His team was winning [it was 60-43 at halftime]. He had a couple baskets [he was 8-12]. He hit a couple jump shots [5, actually]. But he felt good. He felt like he was doing something [dropping 19-14-6, embarrassing Amar’e Stoudemire, ensuring at least the fifth seed in the East, that kind of thing],” Stoudemire said. “But welcome to New York [where the Hawks were up 56-38 at halftime in November].”“I told you before he doesn’t want to see me, man, [Ok…]” he added. “Horford, I watched him play in Florida and I’ve seen him play a few years in Atlanta. We have two different games [Horford is about 5% worse at basketball than Amar’e]. We’ll see how it plays out.”"

I felt the need to annotate that excerpt with my own comments, for a little perspective.  It’s absolutely asinine to me that Amar’e would have any words for an All-Star center – and in my opinion, the Hawks’ best player – who is really just a notch below Amar’e overall, and whose team has twice embarrassed the Knicks en route to locking down a higher playoff seed.  It’s one thing if some never-will-be jabroni wants to front; Al Horford has earned the right if he so chooses.

Amar’e went on to state, “I think we feel that we could have played a lot better than we did after watching film [yesterday].”  Well thank you, detective.  I’m imagining Amar’e in the film room dissecting those two games and deducing that, yes, they could have played better.  Did the 35-point combined halftime deficit tip him off?

I have nothing but love for Amar’e.  The production, the energy, the passion – you can’t put a price on it.  But talking about Al Horford like he’s a journeyman nobody who felt big, when the Knicks haven’t shown up to either Hawks game, isn’t his M.O. and isn’t what he was brought here to do.  Nobody talks more during the game than Stoudemire – and to his credit, he doesn’t appear to be showing up his opponents – so he ought to understand better than anybody the way guys talk during the game.  Especially when, like Amar’e – and, whether Amar’e knows it or not, like Horford – the guy in question is really, really good.