It's been over 30 years since the New York Knicks hoisted the NBA championship trophy. With Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Dave Debusschere, and Red Holtzman merely memories with banners hanging from "The World's Most Famous Arena," championship aspirations have always become pointless dreams.
The drafting of Patrick Ewing only served to torture Knick fans because management refused to surround him with anything more talented than glorified CBA players. Thanks to Michael Jordan's baseball dreams, the team snuck in the NBA Finals only to subject fans to watch John "My Arm Never Gets Tired" Starks unsuccessfully trying to hit the ocean with shots after shot.
Years of being strangled by the salary cap turned into second-round exit after second-round exit in the playoffs during the Jeff Van Gundy era. Van Gundy threw the NBA in reverse for years with his "let's throw the ball in the post and stand around" offense. This offensive scheme made it easy to defend the Knicks and kept scores at pre-shot clock lows.
The Stephon Marbury era started in earnest last year and gave hope to a generation of fans that were as deprived as New York Ranger fans. New Yorkers always complain about not winning, but I'd rather be a Knick fan than a cursed Red Sox or Cubs mental patient.
A look at NBA history reveals a startling trend: teams with selfish point guards never win! By selfish, I mean they look to shoot before they look to pass. The Knicks' GM, Isiah Thomas, knows this better than anyone else -- he looked to shoot first most of his career – when, and only when, he decided to sacrifice himself for the team, that's when the "Bad Boys" won a few championships.
Can the great Isiah convince his young disciple to move the rock around and shoot the open shot to keep the defense honest? It's possible if they can surround with un-Gerald Wilkins-like talent. Big whispers about a sign-and-trade deal for the Warriors' Eric Dampier are promising. The other rumor has the Knicks acquiring point guard Jamal Crawford from the Bulls.
The Knicks need another point guard like Michael Jordan needs to make another comeback. The team has a history of playing people out of position, and sticking Crawford at shooting guard as Allen Houston insurance is a bit dicey. Watching the skillful, 6-11 Charles Smith playing small forward for a few years was painful enough.
The Knicks are probably a few years away from talking about a championship. With the Pistons keeping together their determined championship team and Miami turning up the heat with Shaq, the New Yorkers will be strained to impress their Woody Allen-led fan base. After all, there's no place better than New York ... just ask the people who live there.
January 9, 2006
timmy fakorode:
i think the knicks are good they would have a chance if they would drop stephon and bring sprewell back so i would say championship team