Vor den Augen der Öffentlichkeit sind Spieler, Trainer und Manager der NBA kaum einmal ehrlich und deshalb durfte man auch skeptisch über die Aussagen Nate Robinsons, Mike D’Antonis und Donnie Walshs sein. Die harmonische Co-Existenz von Kryptonate und seinem Trainer, der ihn mittlerweile hat neun Spiele hintereinander auf der Bank schmoren lassen, ist ausgeschlossen und dennoch machen alle Beteiligten gute Miene zum bösen Spiel. Zwar forderte Aaaron Goodwin, Spielermanager von Robinson, die Knickerbockers öffentlich dazu auf, zumindest darüber nachzudenken, ob es nicht im Interesse aller sei, wenn sein Klient aus seinem Vertrag ausgekauft oder getradet werden würde. Doch in der Folge brachte Nate Robinson zum Ausdruck, er wolle unbedingt in New York bleiben. Auch Donnie Walsh gab sich diplomatisch, räumte zwar ein, man würde über eine Lösung nachdenken, ließ jedoch auch anklingen, man wolle zunächst teamintern versuchen das Problem zu lösen. Dass Mike D’Antoni keinerlei Absichten hat Nate überhaupt nochmal einzusetzen, das wissen scheinbar alle, nur laut ausgesprochen werden darf es nicht. D’Antoni beharrt auf seiner Position, er würde Mephisto selbst spielen lassen, wenn es im Interesse des Teams wäre, aber Nate Robinson trage momentan nicht dazu bei, dass die Knickerbockers gewinnen. Vor einigen Spielen konnte er noch auf die Ausrede zurückgreifen, dass Rookie Point Guard Toney Douglas ein entscheidender Grund dafür sei, warum das kleine Energiebündel aus Seattle den Bankwärmer mimt, doch der ist längst selbst Opfer der Rotationskürzung des Trainers geworden.

Zu diesem Zeitpunkt sollte man sich an die Monate vor Saisonbeginn erinnern, als sowohl David Lee als auch Nate Robinson ohne attraktive Vertragsangebote dastanden und sich letztlich entschlossen, einen Einjahresvertrag bei den Knicks zu unterschreiben. Interesse an Lee bestand, der Sparkurs vieler Teams, die der Free Agency 2010 entgegenblickten und immer noch blicken, verhinderte seinen Wechsel. An Robinson schien indes keiner Interesse zu haben, auch nicht Mike D’Antoni. Bloß Walsh war der Meinung, Robinson würde eine wichtige Rolle für den Erfolg der Franchise spielen. Auch die Portland Trail Blazers dachten 1984, dass Sam Bowie besser als Michael Jordan sein würde und drafteten diesen vor MJ. Der Vergleich soll im Grunde nur zeigen, dass sich die General Manager der Liga immer wieder irren.
Für die Knickerbockers ist nicht einmal entscheidend, ob Robinson nun spielt oder nicht. Die Siege, die New York im Dezember hat einfahren können, scheinen D’Antonis Entscheidung, ihn aus der Rotation zu streichen, zu rechtfertigen. Dass Nate Robinson keine Spielzeit bekommt, könnte für ihn jedoch durchaus folgenreich sein. Er befindet sich in einem Vertragsjahr, so dass ihm diese Saison zur Verfügung steht, um sich anderen Teams zu empfehlen. Ohne Einsatzzeit fehlt ihm aber gerade dafür jegliche Grundlage. Sollte Mike D’Antoni an seinem Kurs festhalten, ist es für Nate unabdingbar, getradet oder aber vorzeitig aus seinem Kontrakt ausgekauft zu werden.
Gespräche zwischen Walsh und Goodwin brachten bisher keine konkreten Ergebnisse hervor, finanzielle Sorgen muss Robinson in der Zwischenzeit jedoch nicht haben. Sein Vertrag bei den Knickerbockers bringt ihm diese Saison $ 4 Millionen ein. An dieser Zahl könnte auch ein potentieller Buyout scheitern, sollte Nate nicht bereit sein auf einen nicht ganz unerheblichen Teil dieser Summe zu verzichten. Realistisch wäre, wenn ihm Donnie Walsh $ 2 Millionen anböte. Auch wenn es auf den ersten Blick drastisch klingen mag, die Hälfte des Gehaltes an die Knickerbockers zu spenden, so würde sich für Nate die Möglichkeit ergeben, bei einem anderen Verein wieder Spielzeit zu bekommen. Kommt ihm ein neues Team mit einem Vertragsangebot von $ 1 Million für den Rest der laufenden Spielzeit entgegen, so hielten sich seine Ausfälle in Grenzen. Auch die Knicks wären sicherlich nicht abgeneigt weitere $ 2 Millionen an Gehältern zu sparen, wollen sie doch im nächsten Sommer gleich zwei Stars in den Big Apple holen.
Und auch wenn solch eine Regelung äußerlich alle zufriedenstellen könnte, so komme ich nicht drum herum mich zu fragen, was bei dieser Franchise in den letzten Jahren alles schiefgelaufen sein muss. Der Umgang mit den eigenen Spielern ist zumindest fragwürdig und wer gehofft hatte, dass nach den endgültigen Abgängen von Isiah Thomas und Stephon Marbury wieder Ruhe einkehren würde, der ist berechtigterweise enttäuscht. Für Nate Robinson wünsche ich mir, dass er so bald wie möglich wieder die Gelegenheit bekommt, jene Kritiker verstummen zu lassen, die es für richtig halten, dass er in New York auf das Abstellgleis rangiert wurde, sei es nun bei den Knicks oder bei einem anderen Verein in der NBA.

Knicks fans are well aware of what Mike D’Antoni’s banishment of Stephon Marbury last year. But as well we all know now Marbury was an albatross to any and every team he ever played on and well….he’s kind of crazy too. But is D’Antoni’s benching of Nate Robinson personally motivated too? Maybe. As much as he is a crowd-pleaser, Robinson’s celebratory antics (often while the team is losing)  and out-of-control style shouldn’t be tolerated by any coach, including D’Antoni. But in this case I honestly feel that Coach D’Antoni has finally found a group of guys who are not only willing to play within his system, but more importantly win some ballgames. And Robinson, just like fellow benchtard Eddy Curry, just doesn’t fit within those plans. So yeah, as long as the Knicks keep winning, people need to shut up about playing Nate. Then too, Nate is talented player who can come off a good team’s bench and score in bursts, so when the time is right Donnie Walsh should look to trade him….but only if he can get equal value in return.

Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks has not seen the floor the last nine games by head coach Mike D’Antoni.  During this time the club is 6-3; DNP-CD has been the norm next to Robinson’s name in the boxscore.  I watched the Knickerbockers beat the Charlotte Bobcats last night 98-94.  Robinson shows a lot of enthusiasm during timeouts and seems to keep his head in the game.  Not sure if D’Antoni is going to play him in the near future. Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times on Robinson.

“I’m just trying to win basketball games,” D’Antoni said. “We’ve been winning lately. I’m trying to keep the formula going and trying to get as many wins as we can. That’s my job. His job is to do what he’s doing, and that’s good.”

Freshman Ater Majok makes his debut at UConn and plays 16 minutes.  NY Times on 6′10″ Sudanese hooper.

I’m sure you have heard about Bob Knight and his comments on John Calipari. William Rhoden of the New York Times chimes in…

“We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking, and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching,” said Knight, now an ESPN commentator. “You see, we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.”

DRIVE-DETERMINATION-DESIRE

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Nate Robinson’s agent revealed Saturday that he has asked the Knicks to trade his client, who has been buried on Mike D’Antoni’s bench for eight straight games. “I can’t allow Nate to rot on Mike’s bench and not do anything about it. I can’t allow this to happen to his career,” Aaron Goodwin told the Daily News in a telephone interview. “It’s clear that Mike D’Antoni doesn’t want to play him.”

Robinson’s diminished role has been a brewing controversy since D’Antoni first benched the point guard against the Magic on Dec.2, a game the Knicks lost, 118-104, in Orlando. But it may not be the only personnel problem on the coach’s hands.

“When he says that he’d play Satan to help him win, I don’t know what type of message he’s trying to convey,” Goodwin said. “But clearly this is personal.”

The 5-8 Robinson, a two-time slam dunk champion, is a fan favorite at the Garden. But some of his antics have been a source of frustration for Knicks coaches past and present. Even Chris Duhon complained after the second game of the season that players were fooling around – and even dancing – during pregame warmups. Duhon didn’t mention Robinson by name, but D’Antoni has cited Robinson for his poor preparation and silly behavior.

“I’m going to continue to try and be ready if my name is ever called, and just go from there. I’m happy we won, I’ll just leave it at that,” Curry said Saturday afternoon at the Knicks’ practice facility in Greenburgh. “Nobody is ever happy not playing at all. …I stopped trying to understand things and I just kind of roll with the punches.”

New York Daily News

In the wake of last week’s streak of four successive victories and with a series of games coming up against some of the NBA’s more mediocre teams, there was some talk about the New York Knicks becoming a legitimate playoff contender by extending their streak to five, six, maybe even seven games. But the streak ended at four and the Knicks only have themselves to blame.

The Knicks carried their good form through more than three and a half quarters at Charlotte only to collapse in spectacular fashion down the stretch. Leading by double figures in the fourth quarter and by six points with less than four minutes to play, the Knicks surrendered a 15-2 run to lose 94-87. It was a game they should have won.

What precipitated the collapse? It’s no coincidence that the Knicks were in command until Jared Jeffries fouled out of the game with around 3:40 left. The hustling hero formerly known (mainly by me) as Mr Fumbles had filled the stat sheet (again), totalling  11 points, six steals, two blocks, five boards and three assists. Not to mention his trademark defensive intangibles (this was the game where it was revealed that Jeffries has taken more charges than any NBA player this season to date). Without Jeffries, the Knicks fell apart, surrendering a three point play to Stephen Jackson. Flip Murray tied the scores at 85 with a three and then guard Raymond Felton iced the contest with a couple of lay-ups and a pair of free throws.

Much like the overtime loss to the Bobcats earlier this season, this game was a horror-show for the Knicks. They turned the ball over 21 times. They were out-rebounded by their opponents. They could not stop Felton driving the lane in crunch time. And, in a sadly characteristic move, committed a bone-headed move (in this case Wilson Chandler’s charging foul) that gave life to their opponents. They lost after having the game under total control.

Two nights later came a loss that was far more difficult to take. Along with the 76ers and the Celtics, the Chicago Bulls form what I like to refer to as the “axis of evil” for Knicks fans. I hate losing to the Bulls – especially in embarrassing fashion – and this 98-89 loss, in which – to paraphrase De La Soul – three became the tragic number, was bad enough to make any Knicks fan red-faced.

The Knicks drained seven three pointers in the first quarter on their way to an early 17-point lead. As it turned out, this was the worse thing that could have happened. Missing the injured Larry Hughes’ mid-range game and buoyed by their early success from long distance, the Knicks fell in love with the three-ball to such an extent that they set a league all-time record for three-pointers attempted in a first half (29). In the end, they drained just 16 of the 47 threes they shot. They also set another dubious landmark in shooting more threes than twos, the first time any NBA team has done that in over three years.

Could Mike D’Antoni have done anything to quell the long range brick-fest? Calling Nate Robinson’s number might have helped yet. The little man’s ability to drive to the hoop might have varied the offense and helped create better three point attempts for those on the perimeter. But Robinson remained firmly on the bench. With Eddy Curry and Toney Douglas getting three and four minutes respectively, D’Antoni used a six-man rotation and then appeared surprised when his players were out of gas down the stretch.

Presumably forced to involve Curry in another vain bid to drum up trade interest, D’Antoni’s decision to give the big man a brief cameo caused disruption to the offensive flow as finding the open man was discarded in favour of dumping the ball down low. By the time the Knicks went back to their original gameplan, their shooters had cooled off and their momentum was gone. All that remained was a struggle towards a hideous defeat.

There are a lot of reasons to like the LA Clippers. The main one is that, unlike the often unpredictable Knicks, they only tend to win games they should win and lose the games they should lose. Far away from their left coast home, in the middle of a road trip and without their No 1 pick Blake Griffin, they were the ideal opponents for a Knicks team looking to rediscover that winning habit.

Things didn’t start well for the Knicks. They trailed 26-8 late in the first quarter when they were spurred into action by an unlikely source. Free agent signing Jonathan Bender entered the game and kickstarted a fightback. Having recently compared Eddy Curry to Futurama character Flexo because of his new chin fluff, I felt it only fitting the Knicks signed Bender. It gave the roster a nice pop culture symmetry.

I couldn’t recall having seen Bender play in his Indiana days but, while it’s stupid to judge anybody on a single 14-minute performance, it looks like he’s an excellent fit in D’Antoni’s offence. While Curry’s entrance into the Chicago game caused stagnation, Bender’s introduction against the Clippers sparked the Knicks into life. The seven-footer drove athletically to the basket for two, then drained and open three and finally swatted a monster rejection away from his own basket. In between, he hammered Eric Gordon with a flagrant foul, making him the first Knick to officially attempt to intimidate anyone in the last five years. Depending on what his body allows him to do, Donnie Walsh’s left field addition of Bender could prove to be a master stroke. In 14 minutes, he showed Darko Milicic what he should have been doing for the team.

Bouyed by Bender’s burst, the Knicks dragged themselves back into the game. With Hughes still resting his groin and Al Harrington limited by flu-like symptoms, it was the pick and roll duo of Chris Duhon and David Lee that allowed the Knicks to get back on level terms. Continuing his improved form of recent weeks, Duhon had 17 points (including a clutch fourth quarter three pointer that was massive in both literal and figurative terms), 10 assists and eight boards. His partner-in-crime Lee dropped 25 points and 11 rebounds and arguably made the play of the game down the stretch.

With 36 seconds remaining, the Clippers led 91-90 after a huge three from Baron Davis. They Knicks looked to retake the lead but Harrington’s shot careered off the rim. Lee outhustled everyone on the inside, tapping the rebound back up into the air before tipping the ball in with his second touch. Rasual Butler had a chance to steal the game in the dying seconds but his shot fell well short. Duhon claimed the rebound, was fouled and iced the game 95-91 from the line.

The win was the Knicks’ fifth come from behind victory of the season and was the biggest deficit they have recovered from in any game this season. It leaves them 9-15, a record that still looks relatively dismal on paper but, in the context of an Eastern Conference containing only five teams with winning records, keeps them within spitting distance of the playoff places. With four more home games coming up over the Christmas period, D’Antoni’s men may have got off the schnide at exactly the right time.

New York Knicks point guard Nate Robinson has asked the team to trade him. The request was made on Saturday after he was benched for a couple of games. Robinson hasn’t played in the last eight games.

“We’re trying to win,” Mike D’Antoni said. “I can’t explain exactly every second the ins and outs, and we were on a roll and that roll doesn’t quit just because you lose a game. You see over time if this works or not.”

Krypto-Nate is averaging 10.9 points per game after a career-high 17.2 just last season. Robinson is also a two-time dunk champion.

More to come later of this….

Im Gegensatz zum gestrigen Anfangsviertel gegen die Chicago Bulls, in dem sich die Knicks von ihrer besten Seite zeigten, misslang dem Team um David Lee der Start gegen die Clippers nach allen Regeln der Kunst. Überflüssige Ballverluste und  eine schlechte Quote aus dem Feld führten dazu, dass die Zuschauer im Madison Square Garden unruhig wurden.

Außerdem resultierte die frühe 26-zu-8-Führung der Los Angeles Clippers in der Einwechslung von Jonathan Bender, der das in ihn gelegte Vertrauen mit fünf konsekutiven Punkten und einem unsportlichen Foul zurückzahlte. Kurz vor dem Ende des ersten Spielabschnitts entschied sich Bender kurzerhand noch schnell den Schuss von Baron Davis zu blocken. Das Foul, das man ihm ob seiner langen Auszeit einfach verzeihen muss, außer Acht gelassen, hätte JB keinen besseren Start erwischen können. Auch Donnie Walsh und Mike D‘Antoni muss an dieser Stelle Respekt dafür gezollt werden, dass sie – mit Verlaub – die Eier hatten Bender zu verpflichten und ihn auch einzusetzen. Bis zu seiner Auswechslung nach fünf Minuten im zweiten Viertel führte er die Knicks mit sieben Punkten in Sachen Scoring an. Während Jonathan Bender (9 Pkt., 2 Reb., 14 Min.) für Energie und eine positive Überraschung von der Bank sorgte, spielte das Team weiterhin eher enttäuschend. Zugute halten konnte man den Knickerbockers zu diesem Zeitpunkt indes, dass sie versuchten alles anders zu machen als gegen die Bulls. Anstatt, wie im Rausch, einen Dreier nach dem anderen abzufeuern, versuchten sie via Zug zum Korb wieder in die Partie zurückzufinden. Die Knicks bemühten sich, zeigten jedoch Schwächen im Abschluss, was den 16-Punkte-Rückstand zur Halbzeit zu erklären vermochte. Desweitern dürfen wir nicht vergessen, dass die L.A. Clippers  entscheidenden Anteil an ihrer eigenen Führung hatten, wobei vor allem ihre Defense eine gute Offensivleistung katalysierte.
Die zweite Halbzeit fing ebenso an, wie die erste begonnen hatte, diesmal jedoch mit vertauschten Rollen. Das Momentum kippte, die Clippers leisteten sich drei leichtsinnige Ballverluste und den Knickerbockers gelang es ihrerseits den Abstand innerhalb der ersten drei Minuten des dritten Quarters auf neun Punkte zu verkürzen. Mit 2:23 noch zu spielenden Minuten waren es dann nur noch drei Punkte, die die Knicks vom Gleichstand trennten. Am Ende des Viertels stand es 72 zu 72 und anstelle der „Buhs“ bekamen die Knicks Standing Ovations. Zu verdanken war dies allen voran David Lee, der im dritten Spielabschnitt elf Punkte zur Aufholjagd beitrug und Danilo Gallinari (14 Pkt., 6 Reb., 3 Stl.), der seinerseits zehn Punkte hinzufügte.
Es war also nur eine Frage der Zeit bis sich die New York Knicks ihre erste Führung des Spiels herauszuspielen vermochten. In der Folge kämpften beide Teams mit offenem Visier. Mit 2:55 Minuten auf der Uhr leistete sich New York einen kostspieligen Ballverlust, als es Chris Duhon nicht schaffte innerhalb der vorgegebenen acht Sekunden aus dem eigenen Halbfeld zu dribbeln. Ein paar Ballbesitze später folgte ein weiterer Turnover aufgrund eines sehr umstrittenen Offensivfouls, das gegen Jared Jeffries gepfiffen wurde. Doch damit nicht genug, denn nachdem Baron Davis einen Dreier traf, lag New York wieder mit einem Punkt zurück. Die Knicks ließen den Kopf nicht hängen und so gelang David Lee (25 Pkt., 11 Reb.) ein Tip-In und die Knicks holten die Führung wieder zurück. Mit 15 Sekunden auf der Uhr zog Gallo dann ein Offensivfoul gegen Al Thornton. Einwurf Knicks, Duhon bekommt den Ball, Los Angeles mit dem Foul. Chris Duhon trifft nur einen der zwei Freiwürfe, die Begegnung ist noch nicht vorbei. Auf der anderen Seite verschießt Rasual Butler von jenseits der Dreierlinie. Rebound New York, die Clippers foulen abermals Duhon. Der trifft diesmal beide Freiwürfe. Spielstand 95 zu 91 für die Knickerbockers. Mit 0,9 übrigen Sekunden in der Partie brannte nun nichts mehr an. Die New York Knicks holen sich nach einer katastrophalen Anfangsphase und einem zwischenzeitigen 20-Punkte-Rückstand doch noch den Sieg vor heimischem Publikum. Spieler des Abends auf Seiten der Knicks war Chris Duhon, der 17 Punkte einnetzte, sich acht Boards griff und zehn Assists austeilte.

Das Zitat des Tages lieferte Knicks-Kommentator Mike Breen, der sich wie folgt über Danilo Gallinari äußerte nachdem dieser seinen zehnten Punkt im dritten Viertel erzielte: „He seems to play better when he’s mad. His teammates should slap him before the game“.

Die Partie der New York Knicks gegen die Chicago Bulls mutete abschnittsweise einem Videospiel an, denn wer kennt dieses Phänomen nicht, die eigene Mannschaft trifft zunächst alle Würfe, egal welch abartigen Schuss man sich zu nehmen entscheidet, und auf einmal ist der Korb wie versiegelt. Mit jedem Fehlwurf steigt der Frust und man hält nur noch von jenseits der Dreierlinie drauf, in der Hoffnung jenen Fehlversuch zu kompensieren, den man beim vorherigen Ballbesitz abgefeuert hatte. Währenddessen spielt der Gegner einfach cleverer, verlässt sich nicht nur auf die Würfe von außen, sondern zieht zum Korb, um das Spiel in die Zone zu verlagern und Bonuspunkte per Freiwurf einzusammeln. Am Ende kann man nur noch zusehen, wie einem das Spiel aus den Händen genommen wird und man nach einem Zwischenspurt des Gegners die Niederlage hinnehmen muss. Die Einsicht, dass man auch hätte anders spielen können, um die Führung, die man sich nach der Anfangsphase herausgespielt hatte, zu halten, kommt zu diesem Zeitpunkt zu spät. Auf diese Weise lässt sich die Niederlage der Knickerbockers gegen die Bulls, die spielerisch keineswegs überlegen waren, zusammenfassen.

Zwischenzeitlich lagen die Knicks im ersten Viertel der Begegnung mit 17 Punkten vorn. Immerhin elf Zähler waren es noch nachdem der Buzzer das erste Quarter beendete. Zwölf von 20 Field Goals versenkten die Knicks im ersten Spielabschnitt, davon sieben Dreier. Bemerkenswert dabei war vor allem die Assist/Field Goal-Ratio von 91,7 % als Indikator für das hervorragende Passspiel (11 Assists) des Teams von Coach D’Antoni. Doch auch in der Defensive hinterließ New York zunächst einen starken Eindruck. Die Zone wurde weitestgehende abgeriegelt, was Chicago dazu zwang sich mit langen Zweipunktwürfen zu begnügen.
Ein erster Bruch im Spiel ließ sich mit der Einwechslung von Eddy Curry beobachten. Die Knicks versuchten fortan ihr Spiel auf den Center auszurichten und ihn im Lowpost in Szene zu setzen. Nach nur 1:26 Minuten im zweiten Viertel sah auch Mike D’Antoni ein, dass Curry den Offensiv- und Defensivbemühungen seiner Mannschaft schadet und wechselte ihn wieder aus.
Den Rhythmus hatte New York verloren und so schmolz die Führung langsam dahin. 29 (!) der insgesamt 53 Korbversuche in der ersten Halbzeit kamen von jenseits der Dreipunktelinie und lediglich zwei davon fanden im zweiten Spielabschnitt ihr Ziel. Im Vergleich dazu versuchten die Bulls lediglich fünfmal per Dreipunktwurf zum Erfolg zu kommen. Auch das zuvor gelobte Passspiel der Knickerbockers kam beinahe zum Erliegen. Lediglich zwei Korbvorlagen konnten sie im zweiten Quarter verbuchen.
Das dritte Viertel war für den Ausgang des Spiels unbedeutend. Zwar legten die Knicks einen 7-zu-0-Lauf hin, doch so schnell die Führung ausgebaut war, so schnell war sie auch wieder verspielt. Weder die Chicago Bulls noch die Knicks konnten sich in der Folgezeit absetzen.
Spulen wir vor in das letzte Viertel und sehen zu, wie jeder Schuss der Knickerbockers lediglich die Frontkante des Rings erreicht, die Bulls einen 10-zu-0-Zwischenspurt einlegen und die Partie entschieden ist.
Ein Blick auf die Box Score lohnt und man kann nur hoffen, dass die Knicks sich alternative Wege überlegen, um zu Punkten zu kommen. 47 Dreier feuerten sie gegen die Bulls ab, doch den Rekord für die meisten Dreier in einem Spiel halten die Dallas Mavericks mit 49 Versuchen.

Anfang dieser Woche verpflichteten die New York Knicks den fünften Pick des 1999er NBA Drafts, doch so hoffnungserweckend diese Nachricht im ersten Moment erscheinen mag, so irrelevant ist sie bei näherer Betrachtung. „With the fifth pick of the 1999 NBA Draft the Toronto Raptors select – Jonathan Bender.“ Jonathan wer? Keinem kann wirklich übel genommen werden, wenn man den Namen Jonathan Bender nicht richtig einzuordnen weiß, und doch galt er damals, als er sich dazu entschied direkt von der Picayune Memorial High School (Mississippi) in das Profigeschäft einzusteigen, als eines der größten Talente des Landes.

Am 25. März 1999 feierte Bender seinen nationalen Durchbruch, als er beim McDonald’s All-American Game 31 Punkte erzielte und damit den Rekord brach, den zuvor Michael Jordan gehalten hatte. Auch seine NBA-Premiere glückte. Im Dienste der Indiana Pacers stehend, gelang es ihm, der erste direkt von der High School kommende Spieler zu werden, der in seinem Debut zweistellig zu punkten wusste. In 13 Minuten Spielzeit erzielte er zehn Punkte gegen die Cleveland Cavaliers. Schon bald darauf begannen seine Knieprobleme, die ultimativ dazu führten, dass er am 5. November 2005 seine bislang letzte Partie in der National Basketball Association absolvierte. Kurz darauf gab er seinen jähen Rücktritt bekannt, um fortan an seinem Rücktritt vom Rücktritt zu arbeiten.
Bereits im vergangenen Juli hatte es Gerüchte darüber gegeben, dass Jon Bender ein mögliches Comeback anvisiere und schon damals bekannte sich Donnie Walsh dazu, Interesse an der Verpflichtung des 2,13 Meter großen Forwards zu haben. Walsh kennt Bender aus seiner Zeit als President of Basketball Operations bei den Indiana Pacers. Er war es auch, der Bender kurz nach dem Draft im Austausch für Antonio Davis nach Indianapolis holte.
Dass Jonathan Bender vor seiner Verletzung Talent hatte dürfte geklärt sein, doch was kann er in der Gegenwart zum Erfolg der Knickerbockers beitragen? Nun, man darf sich nichts vormachen, denn auch wenn Bender wieder zu 100 % genesen ist, wie die medizinische Abteilung der Knicks angeblich hat feststellen können, ist es über vier Jahre her, dass er auf höchstem Level Basketball gespielt hat. Indes passt er in das so oft zitierte Spielsystem von Mike D’Antoni, denn für einen Big Man verfügt er über einen sehr guten Schuss und die entsprechende Reichweite, um den ein oder anderen Treffer von jenseits der Dreipunktlinie einzustreuen. Es könnte jedoch noch einige Zeit dauern, bis wir ihn auf dem Spielfeld zu sehen bekommen, denn D’Antoni setzte in den letzten fünf Spielen, von denen die Knicks vier gewannen, auf eine 8-Mann-Rotation.
Ohne auch nur ein Spiel im Trikot der N.Y. Knicks absolviert zu haben, steht fest, dass die Verantwortlichen mehr Vertrauen in Bender haben als in Darko Milicic, der nach dem Spiel gegen die Charlotte Bobcats am Dienstag auf die Liste der inaktiven Spieler gesetzt wurde. Milicic verriet daraufhin gegenüber der New York Post, dass er sicher sei, seine Karriere nach dieser Saison in Europa fortzusetzen zu wollen.
Heute Nacht sind die Knicks zu Gast bei den Chicago Bulls und allem Anschein nach wird Jonathan Bender, wie auch beim Spiel gegen die Bobcats, nicht mitwirken.

Things at Madison Square Garden have been so bad over recent seasons that, if you’d said the phrase “streaking Knicks” to me, I would have immediately thought that Stephon Marbury had been making more lurid advances to club interns. But now, after a truly woeful start to the season, the New York Knicks, with four successive wins under their belt, are indeed streaking and, happily, in a wholly appropriate, wholly positive sense.

Cynics will point to the fact that there were mitigating circumstances surrounding New York’s victories over Atlanta (Josh Smith’s second quarter ejection), New Jersey (the one team in the league that, on form, the Knicks should regularly beat), Portland (a team absolutely ravaged by injury) and New Orleans (a fourth quarter salvo of six straight three-pointers that will only happen once in a blue moon). But closer inspection of all four of these games suggests the Knicks may have turned a corner. Whether by design or by chance, Mike D’Antoni appears to have finally settled on a suitable rotation to execute his schemes, his team are playing with coherence, greater effort and fewer errors and the results are starting to come.

Since starting 1-9, the Knicks have won seven of their last 13 games. Aside from one awful performance in Sacramento, the losses have only come against the league’s finest squads: Orlando (twice), Denver, Los Angeles and Boston.

So, how have the Knicks started to shake off the stink of being one of the league’s poorest teams?

Shortening the rotation
As coach of the Phoenix Suns, D’Antoni was famous for seldomly using more than eight players in his rotation. After ploughing through numerous starting fives and incoherent 10 and 11 man rotations in season’s opening weeks, the Cliff Claven of the NBA has finally settled on the men able to run his system most effectively. He has been able to do this primarily because Chris Duhon has shaken off his funk. While he will never trouble the upper echelon of NBA guards, Duhon’s re-emergence as a facilitator (and, against New Orleans, a scorer) has given the Knicks a solid base on which to build.

D’Antoni’s eight man rotation has also provided offensive focus. As Bill Simmons always notes, every team needs an alpha dog, the go-to scorer who always gets the most shots. Once that player is in place, the rest of the team understands their place place in the scheme of things. Al Harrington is the Knicks’ most potent offensive force and, in the last four victories, has taken the most shots in each game. David Lee and Larry Hughes slot in behind him, then come Gallo, Duhon and Wilson Chandler with Jared Jeffries and Toney Douglas chipping in around the fringes. Everyone has started to understand their role. Contrasting this with the opening 10 games of the season where the offensive focus switched on a nightly basis from Harrington, to Lee, to Hughes, to Nate Robinson and back to Al shows the new coherence in the Knicks’ play.

Benching Nate Robinson
Whether D’Antoni got sick and tired of Nate’s showboating antics or worked out that his lack of discipline and defence was continually outweighing his scoring punch off the bench, it can’t be coincidence that the Knicks’ overall play has drastically improved with the Slam Dunk champion rooted to the pine. Nate scores buckets in bunches but is constantly abused on the defensive end. Maybe Nate is one of the few players for whom plus/minus is a relevant stat. Regardless, the reliable defence Douglas provides makes him, in D’Antoni’s eyes, a more useful first guard option off the bench. To Robinson’s credit, he hasn’t sulked over his demotion and, in all four Knicks victories, has reached 1980s ML Carr levels of bench support for his teammates.

The redemption of Mr Fumbles
A limited offensive game has made Jared Jeffries a target for derision at MSG. Jeffries’ game is all about hard work and intangibles and, over the course of the last few games, the New York crowd has started to see things his way. When he took to the court against Portland, he was positively serenaded from the second he left the bench. Jeffries may have been the biggest victim of D’Antoni’s continual line-up changes early in the season. He rarely played more than 20 minutes a game and regularly found himself in spots almost guaranteed to make him look bad.

Now Jeffries has found some form, possibly his best spell since coming to New York, and he’s providing the things that New York crowds always loved: blocks, steals, hustle and solid defence. Against Portland, he drew three charges, blocked two shots and led the defensive effort that laid the foundations for a comfortable win. Jeffries has played 20+ minutes in the Knicks’ past six games, five of which have ended in victory. A much maligned figure, Jeffries has set the example in finding a way to fit into the team that help win games. Let’s see if he can keep it going.

Team defence, team offence
Ball movement, sweet shooting, sharing the ball, offensive efficiency. All hallmarks of a Mike D’Antoni offence. All absent for the season’s first 10 games. All features of the Knicks’ four successive wins. Watching the Knicks repeatedly find the open man for a bucket was what we expected their offence to look like when D’Antoni took charge. It’s more 17 seconds or less rather than seven, but it’s working.
On the defensive end, the Knicks are obviously short-handed. Darko remains their only true shot blocker and he’s stuck to the bench. What the Knicks seem to have discovered is that it’s possible to defend effectively as a team. Against New Orleans, Gallinari and Chandler joined Lee crashing the boards and helping to disrupt shots. This collective effort caused a strong of important fourth quarter stops before the sharpshooting of Harrington, Duhon and Gallo secured the win.

Despite all the talk about the Knicks now looking like a playoff team, their 8-15 record suggests otherwise. The will for this team to achieve something, anything, is so strong that every win threatens to take on greater significance than it actually merits. They’ve still lost almost two thirds of their games and are a long way short of the .500 mark that should guarantee an Eastern Conference playoff spot. That said, standing only a couple of games outside the eighth spot, and with seven games against mid tier Eastern opponents coming up before the new year, they could, if they can maintain the form of the past week, put themselves in a position to make a serious push for the post season in the new year.

Tiger Woods has been in the news the past couple of weeks.  Allen Iverson is back in the league.  Ron Artest mentioned that he used to drink liquor at half-time. (Interesting to hear ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy state the league should fine him) Let me not forget Tim Donaghy, the former NBA official who spent time in jail for gambling is also in the news.  I watched his interview with 60 Minutes this past Sunday.

One thing is certain, everyone has an opinion on all these stories.

This has been going on for hundreds of years…people expressing their opinions.  You have Op-ed’s in newspapers, you have the internet with blogs and websites and you have sports talk radio.  And oh yes, you have around the clock sports coverage via cable.

I know he was wrong and he made the choice, but I feel for Tim Donaghy.  The guy was addicted to gambling.  He paid the price.  I have seen people lose everything beacuse they loved to gamble.  Donaghy is in his 40’s, I don’t know what else he will do to earn a living.  Sure he messed with the integrity of the game, we all know that. He broke a serious rule in sports. Donaghy also lost his family.  I’ll say it again, I feel for the guy.

As for Tiger Woods-I don’t feel for him; he’ll be fine regardless of what people think. He commited adultry. Not sure if his wife will leave him or not.  There have been other women who have had their spouse cheat on them and they have stayed.  Tiger, like Donaghy has an addiction; he is addicted to sex.  A few women have come out publicly and stated they slept with Woods.  Some have been accused of hooking up with the guy who hits a ball and walks after it; if you’ve been following this story, the media is out of control.  Not only the sports media but the TMZ’s, NY Post, and National Enquirer.  They will not let this go away…

Each day you can count on picking up the newspaper or logging onto a website to hear about a professional athlete doing something to tarnish their image.  Do you think they really care? The public seems to care a lot more than the people involved, that I do know.

Allen Iverson’s come back tour sparked a ton of energy and excitement at the Spectrum last night (oops, the Sixers don’t play there anymore, my bad). I watched it on NBA TV and I thought he looked ok.  I like it when he runs the club and doesn’t look for his shot first.  His ‘on the ball defense ‘is bad, but we always knew that. he gets beat off the dribble and relaxes when his man doesn’t have the ball.  The Sixers lost to the Nuggets and I’m sure there will be more L’s on the way for Philly. My overall grade for Iverson last night is a C+.  Sixers play the Pistons Wednesday night; a team A.I. could not fit in with last season. By the way, I was trying to figure out who the back-up point guard is for the Sixers?

Ron Artest admitted he used to drink Hennessey at half-time of Chicago Bulls games. I’ve seen a lot of guys drink booze at half-time, before games and of course afterwards.  No surprise there.  I have heard of players playing after snorting cocaine; when I was an Ironworker in New York City, guys would drink booze at 8 o’clock in the morning before they climbed the iron. Again, no surprise there.  But like JVG mentioned, the NBA fines platers for tweeting at half-time.

Who said the players run the NBA? Mike D’Antoni has benched Nate Robinson…and the Knicks brass is fine with it…but the fans aren’t.

As head basketball coach at Jackson Community College I have coached 62 games in two and a half years; I am proud to say I have not been whistled for one technical foul by the officials.  Why do coaches and even players get T’d up?

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

I’m on Facebook and you can follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

We are a little over a month into the NBA season, so I think it’s time for a progress report on the New York Knicks’ season so far. After beating the worst team in the league (New Jersey Nets) earlier today, they are now a dismal 6-15. It is pretty clear they are just waiting for time to pass until next year.

After starting the season 1-3, they went on a six-game losing streak. Then, after recording back-to-back wins, they went on a five-game losing streak. Out of their 15 losses, 10 of them were by double digits. They are actually seventh in the league with an average of 103.8 points per game, but they are allowing an opponents’ points per game average of 109.0.

I think they accepted the fact that they are not contenders and won’t be for a long time. I am not really sold on the whole “get LeBron in 2010″ idea because I don’t think it will happen. I think they need to be more realistic in their plans to rebuild. They clearly should have drafted Brandon Jennings and built the team around him. By the way Jennings is playing in Milwaukee, it is clear he would have thrived in Mike D’antoni’s run-and-gun system. But they don’t have him, so there is no point guard of the future to attract the big-name free agents of 2010.

The Knicks are clearly in reconstruction, but that doesn’t give them an excuse to be performing so horribly. In the famous words of Herm Edwards, “You play to win the game!” They should be making moves to win now, especially since it is a farfetched idea to think LeBron James will come to one of the worst teams in the league and lead them to a championship. Without another star player to help James, there is no incentive for him to come to New York. Hopefully they test the trade market or draft a player to build a team around instead of relying on the fantasy of getting James next season.

Hands up who expected the Knicks to be swept by Orlando and Phoenix in their first three games of the week? Yep, me too. And, true to form, the Knicks got nowhere near the Magic in two attempts, even though Stan Van Gundy’s team sleep-walked their way through the first two quarters of Sunday’s matinee match-up at Madison Square Garden.

Superior shooting from Rashard Lewis sparked a 14-4 third quarter run that the Knicks from which the Knicks could not recover. A one-man fourth quarter rally from Nate Robinson got New York within six points at 92-86 but the Magic’s depth ultimately told and a 114-102 final score didn’t flatter Stan Van Gundy’s men.

The teams faced off again four nights later, this time in Orlando, and the outcome was all too familiar. The Knicks were already trailing when Lewis and Michael Pietrus each drained four 3-pointers in the third quarter to extend the Magic’s lead to 22. Six Magic players scored in double figures including former Maverick Brandon Bass, who had a season-high 17 points. The Magic shot 55% for the game and cruised to a comfortable 118-104 win.

Aside from 20-point games from Danilo Gallinari and (at long last) Wilson Chandler, the only other story of note for the Knicks was Mike D’Antoni’s decision to leave Nate Robinson on the bench for the whole game. The embattled coach cited a “search for consistency” as the reason for Robinson’s omission in the post-game presser but did not elaborate further.

In between twin beating at the hands of the Magic, the Knicks surprised everyone with a stellar performance at Madison Square Garden against the Phoenix Suns. With shots falling and a concerted team defensive effort, the struggling Knicks transformed themselves into an entertaining fluid force as they handed the Suns a shocking 126-99 beatdown. It probably helped that the Suns turned in a performance flatter than roadkill and played next to no defence. The loss ended the Suns’ four-game winning streak and was the first time all season they’d been kept to under 100 points.

Stand-out performances for the Knicks included David Lee’s 24 points (10-13) and Gallinari’s 27 points which included six sweet threes. The much-maligned Jared Jeffries filled the box score with a 25-minute burst that comprised 10 points, four blocks, four asssists, five rebounds, a steal and, most amazingly, no turnovers. Jeffries best moment came when he faked out a charging Amare Stoudemire and drove baseline to score at the hoop. He also guarded Steve Nash for much of the game and kept the free-scoring playmaker in check. Maybe it’s just Jared’s bad luck that he, as a more-than-servicable defensive player, finds himself stuck on an offensively-obsessed team in a system that hardly ever showcases the things he does well.

For most struggling teams, this win would have been hailed as a turning point in the season. However, the Suns were so insipid that not even Mike D’Antoni would label it as such. Combine that with the Knicks’ developing trend for only putting in the required effort once a week (last week it was the road game in Denver, the week before it was the home game against Boston) and you can see why no-one was getting too excited. As it turned out, in view of their loss to Orlando 24 hours later, it was wise to keep the hyperbole in check.

Short of jumping back into Doc Brown’s DeLorean and bringing the Garden greats back to the future, it’s tough to see how the Knicks can change things until July 1, 2010. The team is so used to losing at this stage that every rare win threatens to take on greater significance than it actually has.

The Sports Bloke’s jury is still out on D’Antoni. When he was flying high with Phoenix, nobody stopped to wonder whether his system needed elite players to work. Now, with Chris Duhon and Larry Hughes running the show instead of Nash, it doesn’t look anywhere near as effective. The truly worrying thing is that, deified as an offensive genius, D’Antoni has failed to come up with any alternatives more suitable to the inferior talent on his current roster. Or maybe he, like everyone else, has decided to switch off and see what gifts Donnie Walsh brings him next summer.

Note: this week’s season on the sofa is split in two parts as the Sports Bloke will be away at All Tomorrow’s Parties watching My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Primal Scream this weekend. Part two will follow on Monday

Nachdem die New Jersey Nets mit 16 konsekutiven Niederlagen in die neue Saison gestartet waren, haben die Verantwortlichen entschieden, dass es an der Zeit sei Headcoach Lawrence Frank mit sofortiger Wirkung zu entlassen. In Folge dessen wurde gegen die Los Angeles Lakers die 17. Niederlage eingefahren.
Die Spieler nahmen die Schuld auf sich und gaben an, den Coach habe es zu Unrecht getroffen, denn sie hätten einfach nicht das umsetzten können, was ihr Trainer von ihnen verlangte. So nahmen das auch die meisten NBA Beobachter wahr.
Parallel zu den New York Knicks sind auch die Nets eine Mannschaft im Umbruch, die ein Auge auf den Free Agent Markt 2010 geworfen hat. Doch während Mike D’Antoni bei den Knicks als Trainer für 2010 gesetzt ist, beschlossen die Nets, dass Frank nicht in das Zukunftsmodell der Mannachaft passt.

Während es angesichts der Erfolgslosigkeit natürlich schwer ist an einem Trainer festzuhalten, so muss man auch beachten, dass die Nets von einigen Verletzungen heimgesucht wurden. Devin Harris, Courtney Lee und Yi Jianlian verpassten zehn, sieben und 13 Spiele respektive, wobei der chinesische Forward nachwievor verletzungsbedingt ausfällt.
Nichtsdestotrotz ist Lawrence Frank aus seinem Amt enthoben worden und mit Kiki Vandeweghe steht sein Nachfolger bereits fest. An ihm ist es nun zu verhindern, dass die New Jersey Nets alleiniger Halter eines traurigen Rekordes werden. Zuvor gelang es lediglich den 1988-89 Miami Heat und zehn Jahre später den 1998-99 Los Angeles Clippers mit null Siegen und 17 Niederlagen in eine Spielzeit zu starten. Die nächste Partie bestreiten die Nets vor heimischem Publikum gegen Dirk Nowitkis Mavericks und es ist zumindest wahrscheinlich, dass sie auch in diesem Spiel unterliegen.

Despite the pain of depriving myself of sleep in order to watch the Knicks slump to their worst ever start to an NBA season, week 4 gave me reason for hope. Why? Well, the Knicks only had two games on their schedule meaning, even if they lost both, their streak of losing three games every week would definitely come to an end.

As it turned out, the Knicks beat both the Indiana Pacers and the lowly New Jersey Nets on the road to creep towards the cusp of semi-respectability with a less-embarrassing-than-we-are-used-to three wins and nine losses.

The key to victory in Indiana was so clear even I, watching bleary-eyed in London at 2am, was able to spot it. Trailing by 19 points in the third quarter, the Knicks finally started to play consistent defence and make some shots.

In a picture-perfect reversal of their loss to the Pacers on November 4, the Knicks sparked a heartening rally, outscoring their hosts 27-7 in the final seven minutes 30 secnds of fourth quarter to record a much-needed 110-103 win. They forced the Pacers to shoot a miserable 25% in the game’s final stanza, stifling and frustrating Danny Granger to such a degree that the Pacers’ chief scorer fouled out.

On the offensive end, the Knicks bench outscored Indiana’s second unit 65-22 with Al Harrington firing a team-high 26 points, including three fourth quarter 3-pointers that instigated the game-winning comeback. Larry Hughes’ player of the game performance featured 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The Indiana victory also marked the return of troubled center Eddy Curry who, having shed 50 pounds, literally looked like a shadow of himself. I’m not wholly convinced it was actually Curry on the court.

The slimmed-down big man claiming to Curry looked exactly like Eddy Curry except for the addition of a thin goatee on his chin. It reminded me of Bender’s nemesis Flexo in Futurama, a robot who looked identical to his rival save for a tiny piece of chin-hair. Either way Curry/Flexo Curry looked surprisingly good in a 12-minute cameo that yielded 10 points and four rebounds. The big man has a long way to go to get back to maximum match fitness but , after all his problems, it was good to see him back and looking able to provide an inside scoring punch.

The three-day gap between the Pacers and Nets games was filled with speculation surrounding the potential signing of free agent Allen Iverson. After an initial flirtation, Donnie Walsh surprised most observers by passing on the former MVP. It’s a good job he did this. After preaching patience and the need to development his core of young players, the addition of AI would not only have robbed the likes of Wilson Chandler and Toney Douglas of minutes and shots but would have made Walsh look indecisive, panic-ridden and, at worst, a hypocrite.

Saying no to The Answer allowed Walsh to stick steadfastly to his long-term plan and show a degree of faith in his young stars. Iverson bringing his me-first ball-hog act to the Garden may have given the Knicks a handful of extra wins this year but the potential for locker room disruption – as witnessed in Memphis – would have been huge. To my mind, Walsh made the right choice.

When a team is on a historically bad losing streak, no-one wants to be their first victim. That fear placed pressure on the Knicks as they faced the 0-12 New Jersey Nets, who were boosted by the return of their best player Devin Harris. With a West Coast swing looming, playing the Knicks at home offered the Nets their best chance of recording a victory before they approach 0-17, the league’s worst ever start held, somewhat predictably, by the 1998 LA Clippers.

The usual deathly silence of the Izod Center was replaced by some relatively raucous travelling Knicks fans who witnessed a fairly comfortable win for their team.

The Knicks shot 45% to lead 52-43 at the half. The offence was balanced with Harrington, Danilo Gallinari and Larry Hughes mixing drives to the hoop with outside shooting. It wasn’t such a good night for Nate Robinson who raised the ire of Mike D’Antoni by jacking up a three point towards his own basket at the end of the first quarter. With only half a second left on the clock, Nate launched the shot just after the buzzer. The shot swished home and a beaming Nate returned to the bench. The smile was wiped off his face by a raging D’Antoni who, after berating Robinson, benched him for the rest of the game. Was it an overreaction from the coach or a way to instill the need to focus into all his players? Probably both.

The Knicks extended their lead to 15 points by the middle of the third and, save for a Chris Douglas-Roberts-inspired fourth quarter 16-2 rally that bought the Nets within two, held on fairly comfortably for a 98-91 win. A 3-point dagger from Harrington, who seems to save his best performances for games against the Nets, sealed the deal. David Lee, who combined with Chris Duhon for some crucial baskets down the stretch, finished with 16 points and 12 boards.

A record of three and nine certainly isn’t anything to boast about but, with a home match-up against Boston and road games in Los Angeles and Denver coming up, winning  both games this week provides D’Antoni’s men with a much needed boost. They’ll need all the confidence and luck they can muster over the next seven days.

 11:59 pm

Hey Dumb Ass. Wrong Basket! – NBA -  Remember back when you were just a lad, way back when you were playing midget football and little league baseball with your best pals?  You didn’t know squat about the game and you were about as coordinated as that kid with polio shoes, but you still had fun.  However, it seemed like whenever you screwed up, the coach, who had no patience for stupidity, lost his freaking mind.  In basball, if you popped up on a 3-0 count, he bitched you out in front of everyone in the stands, but good.  In football, if you threw an interception on 4th and 15, instead of punting, he was waiting for you on the sidelines to knock your ass silly.  But did you ever score two points for the other team in basketball, at the end of a quarter, when it really didn’t matter?  Nope?  This dumb ass did.  And his coach told him all about it.

With just 0.5 seconds left in the first quarter The New York Nickerbockers inbound the ball to clueless guard Nate Robinson who had his head in the clouds.   For whatever ridiculous reason Robinson throws up an ugly air bomb and bam!  He made it…… in the wrong basket.  Next thing you know out comes coach Mike D’Antoni in an uncontrollable rage. (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Nate-Robinson-shoots-on-wrong-basket-D-A?urn=nba,204081)

In Robinson’s defense, the shot was made after the buzzer sounded, but that didn’t stop the  coach from losing his goddamn  mind.  D’Antoni was  way beyond livid and it showed, over and over again, in Sports Center highlights.  He’s had it up to his eyeballs with stupidity and is about to get canned unless he climbs out of the dungeon with that 3-9 record.  To add insult to injury, Robinson’s response:  “What?  What? What the hell did I do coach?”  You made an ass out yourself on national TV Nate.

The Knicks beat the Nets today. Surprisingly, actually. If I thought the Nets could beat any team to snap their 0-13 start, it would be the Knicks. Alas, it was not to be.

However, the game did not come without its obligatory ridiculousness from the Knicks. After receiving a sideline inbounds pass with his Knicks holding a 29-24 lead with .5 tenths of a second left in the first quarter, Nate Robinson, well, he, um…how about I just show you.

Now, I don’t claim to be a basketball genius. But that’s a pretty stupid play. Unnecessary, irresponsible … And coach Mike D’Antoni knew it. He lit into Robinson in the ensuing quarter break.

Here’s what Nate told the AP: “He (D’Antoni) was like, ‘What if it went in?”’ Robinson said. ”I was like, ‘My bad.’ I waited to the buzzer went off. He talked to me about it and to be ready to play.”

Seriously. You can’t make this stuff up.