I’ll have you know that that play happened just as Isiah diagrammed. It was the ol’ “Throw an insanely stupid cross court pass, then block the pass from the guy who stole the ball from you then recover the ball then take a crazy-looking 30-foot three pointer” play. I think Thomas learned that play when he was younger. He was a fighter back then. Did you know that? I did not. I wish someone would tell me more about Thomas’ fighting background. Maybe Thomas will talk about it some day.
That was such a crazy play, and the weirdest thing is that it was far from the most bizarre play in Wednesday night’s much needed 109-107 win by the Knicks over the Denver Nuggets (playing without Kenyon Martin). No, that play happened the previous Knicks possession, when the basketball somehow escaped from the Black Hole known as Eddy Curry to find itself in Stephon Marbury’s hands as he released a game-tying three pointer. And Curry was TRIPLE-TEAMED at the time!!
As this is the Knicks we are talking about, they almost blew the lead at the end by somehow allowing JR Smith (who Gus Johnson congratulated for a good game against his former team – do you think Gus thinks JR Smith is DerMarr Johnson?) to run all the way from the outside to have an easy game-tying layup as Carmelo Anthony intentionally missed the second free throw. Luckily, though, Smith (who seems a bit TOO hyper) blew the easy layup, and the Knicks came away with the win.
Still, it was a thrilling game, highlighted by the two crazy three-pointers and Jamal Crawford just lighting it up in the fourth quarter, pouring in a staggering TWENTY points in the quarter!
The Knicks also seem to have found that they really work better when they have a fifth player just to play defense and rebound. That they have decided that that player is Malik Rose is probably not a good thing, but hell, it seems to work, doesn’t it? Although there was a hilariously lame sequence in the fourth quarter where Crawford threw a pass away intended for Rose. What is he doing trying to FIND Rose in a close game towards the end of the fourth quarter?!?!
Also, it’s just about time to bench Channing Frye. Let him work out his problems during practice, because he both LOOKS awful and his numbers ARE awful. And the Najera play early in the game where Frye blocks a shot then just gets the ball yanked from his grip…that is unsettlingly bad.
Just start David Lee. He doesn’t get in the way, doesn’t demand the ball – he just lets the guards do their thing.
Oh, and how much better do the Knicks look without Francis?
Oh, and how the hell did Quentin Richardson reinvent himself as a good player?
In any event, the difference between 1-4 and 2-3 is only a game, but from a “feel good” standpoint, it is GIGANTIC.
What a good feeling. Let’s hope it carries over to Friday.
NEWS AND NOTES
*I love how quickly Zeke broke from “I won’t criticize my players” to “I’ll bench anyone!” Dude even NAMED NAMES!! Even LB didn’t usually name names.
*How the hell did Chicago give up on JR Smith for nothing?
*I like the Larry Brown decision. $18.5 million seems fair to me. I like how the coaches are all acting like this is some huge precedence. Please. This LB situation was a situation that will not be duplicated more than once or twice in the future – it was just too weird.