You know, down don?t bother me.?
ALBERT KING
Knicks fans have apparently become so starved for success that O.K. is great and mediocre is the accepted norm.
This is the sense you get from listening to fans and watching the foot-dragging by the Knicks? so-called brain trust over the Carmelo Anthony situation: .500 is O.K.
The Knicks need Anthony. He knows it, the Knicks know it.
They need him at any price, because the price will pale in comparison with what the Knicks will eventually get in return: the chance, at long last, to compete for an N.B.A. championship.
That great day will not happen for the Knicks as currently constituted ? and this includes the coach and team president.
Anthony is one of the N.B.A.?s top 10 players and one of its most productive scorers ever. He would make a good team great and, along with Amar?e Stoudemire, would anchor a Knicks franchise that hasn?t won a championship in 38 years.
Now the Knicks, who are 28-26, have an opportunity to go from O.K. to outstanding. But there is resistance.
?
How can the Knicks? front office hold this up? How can the Knicks continue to play their fans for suckers? The better question is, how can Knicks fans let them?
For two years leading up to the LeBron James sweepstakes, Donnie Walsh, the Knicks? president, and Mike D?Antoni, the coach, told fans not to worry. Ignore the losses, they said, because they were clearing salary cap space for James. When James picked Miami, the Knicks scrambled and got Stoudemire to keep the fans at bay. But now that they can add a superstar who would push the Knicks over the top, Walsh and D?Antoni have opted to dribble, not shoot.
Who is stonewalling, and why?
Certainly not James L. Dolan, the Madison Square Garden chairman, who clearly wants Anthony in the fold. That leaves Walsh and D?Antoni, although the team released a statement Sunday saying Dolan, Walsh and D?Antoni were on the same page.
?We want to make it abundantly clear that we have been in constant communication throughout this process and the three of us are in complete agreement with everything that we are currently working on,? the statement said.
The reality is quite different.
If he hasn?t already, Dolan should summon Walsh and D?Antoni and tell them that if they mess this up, if Anthony is not a Knick by the end of the week (the trade deadline is Thursday), the clock will be ticking on their tenures as Knicks employees.
The clock should be ticking anyway after this foolishness. If they pass on Anthony, the Knicks will once again be steaming toward another port of mediocrity.
What is the Knicks? brain trust thinking? Or better yet, why do they seem to be playing scared?
What are Walsh and D?Antoni afraid of? That expectations will suddenly soar and that Knicks fans will no longer look at the their team as the Little Engine That Could but rather as the Diesel Engine That Had Better?
D?Antoni talks about the future, but is he really talking about his future, his job security? Better to be celebrated for hovering around .500 than being expected to win championships. He can fashion a high-scoring carnival act of a team that scores plenty of points and also allows plenty.
Critics say Anthony does not play defense. But D?Antoni doesn?t coach defense, so it?s a perfect marriage. The Knicks score an average of 106.2 points a game, second in the N.B.A. to Denver. However, the Knicks allow an average of 105.8. Only one team, Minnesota, is worse. The Knicks? system is great for statistics and for players in a contract year but not for players interested in winning championships.
You know, down don?t bother me.?
ALBERT KING
Knicks fans have apparently become so starved for success that O.K. is great and mediocre is the accepted norm.
This is the sense you get from listening to fans and watching the foot-dragging by the Knicks? so-called brain trust over the Carmelo Anthony situation: .500 is O.K.
The Knicks need Anthony. He knows it, the Knicks know it.
They need him at any price, because the price will pale in comparison with what the Knicks will eventually get in return: the chance, at long last, to compete for an N.B.A. championship.
That great day will not happen for the Knicks as currently constituted ? and this includes the coach and team president.
Anthony is one of the N.B.A.?s top 10 players and one of its most productive scorers ever. He would make a good team great and, along with Amar?e Stoudemire, would anchor a Knicks franchise that hasn?t won a championship in 38 years.
Now the Knicks, who are 28-26, have an opportunity to go from O.K. to outstanding. But there is resistance.
?
How can the Knicks? front office hold this up? How can the Knicks continue to play their fans for suckers? The better question is, how can Knicks fans let them?
For two years leading up to the LeBron James sweepstakes, Donnie Walsh, the Knicks? president, and Mike D?Antoni, the coach, told fans not to worry. Ignore the losses, they said, because they were clearing salary cap space for James. When James picked Miami, the Knicks scrambled and got Stoudemire to keep the fans at bay. But now that they can add a superstar who would push the Knicks over the top, Walsh and D?Antoni have opted to dribble, not shoot.
Who is stonewalling, and why?
Certainly not James L. Dolan, the Madison Square Garden chairman, who clearly wants Anthony in the fold. That leaves Walsh and D?Antoni, although the team released a statement Sunday saying Dolan, Walsh and D?Antoni were on the same page.
?We want to make it abundantly clear that we have been in constant communication throughout this process and the three of us are in complete agreement with everything that we are currently working on,? the statement said.
The reality is quite different.
If he hasn?t already, Dolan should summon Walsh and D?Antoni and tell them that if they mess this up, if Anthony is not a Knick by the end of the week (the trade deadline is Thursday), the clock will be ticking on their tenures as Knicks employees.
The clock should be ticking anyway after this foolishness. If they pass on Anthony, the Knicks will once again be steaming toward another port of mediocrity.
What is the Knicks? brain trust thinking? Or better yet, why do they seem to be playing scared?
What are Walsh and D?Antoni afraid of? That expectations will suddenly soar and that Knicks fans will no longer look at the their team as the Little Engine That Could but rather as the Diesel Engine That Had Better?
D?Antoni talks about the future, but is he really talking about his future, his job security? Better to be celebrated for hovering around .500 than being expected to win championships. He can fashion a high-scoring carnival act of a team that scores plenty of points and also allows plenty.
Critics say Anthony does not play defense. But D?Antoni doesn?t coach defense, so it?s a perfect marriage. The Knicks score an average of 106.2 points a game, second in the N.B.A. to Denver. However, the Knicks allow an average of 105.8. Only one team, Minnesota, is worse. The Knicks? system is great for statistics and for players in a contract year but not for players interested in winning championships.
Knicks fans have bought into the Walsh-D?Antoni line that ?we can?t get Carmelo because we don?t want to lose our core; we can?t mortgage our future for one player.?
What core? What future? Who is there not to give up? Stoudemire is the only Knick who is not expendable.
Danilo Gallinari? Wilson Chandler? Fine players, those two, but they are not approaching All-Star status and perhaps never will. They are complementary players, and complementary players, while essential to a team?s success, come a dime a dozen.
Players like Anthony do not.
Look around the N.B.A. Every outstanding team has at least two great players and the subsequent luxury of being able to add complementary pieces each season. If the Knicks put Anthony alongside Stoudemire, they too could be in a position to begin adding complementary pieces ? and maybe another star. The Knicks could finally have a three-headed monster.
But first they need Anthony.
How do you not make this move if you are the Knicks? How do you not demand this move if you are a Knicks fan?
Look around the N.B.A. Every outstanding team has at least two great players and the subsequent luxury of being able to add complementary pieces each season. If the Knicks put Anthony alongside Stoudemire, they too could be in a position to begin adding complementary pieces ? and maybe another star. The Knicks could finally have a three-headed monster.
But first they need Anthony.
How do you not make this move if you are the Knicks? How do you not demand this move if you are a Knicks fan?
this is the paragraph that i like most out of this article:
Knicks fans have bought into the Walsh-D?Antoni line that ?we can?t get Carmelo because we don?t want to lose our core; we can?t mortgage our future for one player.?
What core? What future? Who is there not to give up? Stoudemire is the only Knick who is not expendable.
Danilo Gallinari? Wilson Chandler? Fine players, those two, but they are not approaching All-Star status and perhaps never will. They are complementary players, and complementary players, while essential to a team?s success, come a dime a dozen.
Players like Anthony do not.
ALBERT KING
Knicks fans have apparently become so starved for success that O.K. is great and mediocre is the accepted norm.
This is the sense you get from listening to fans and watching the foot-dragging by the Knicks? so-called brain trust over the Carmelo Anthony situation: .500 is O.K.
The Knicks need Anthony. He knows it, the Knicks know it.
They need him at any price, because the price will pale in comparison with what the Knicks will eventually get in return: the chance, at long last, to compete for an N.B.A. championship.
That great day will not happen for the Knicks as currently constituted ? and this includes the coach and team president.
Anthony is one of the N.B.A.?s top 10 players and one of its most productive scorers ever. He would make a good team great and, along with Amar?e Stoudemire, would anchor a Knicks franchise that hasn?t won a championship in 38 years.
Now the Knicks, who are 28-26, have an opportunity to go from O.K. to outstanding. But there is resistance.
?
How can the Knicks? front office hold this up? How can the Knicks continue to play their fans for suckers? The better question is, how can Knicks fans let them?
For two years leading up to the LeBron James sweepstakes, Donnie Walsh, the Knicks? president, and Mike D?Antoni, the coach, told fans not to worry. Ignore the losses, they said, because they were clearing salary cap space for James. When James picked Miami, the Knicks scrambled and got Stoudemire to keep the fans at bay. But now that they can add a superstar who would push the Knicks over the top, Walsh and D?Antoni have opted to dribble, not shoot.
Who is stonewalling, and why?
Certainly not James L. Dolan, the Madison Square Garden chairman, who clearly wants Anthony in the fold. That leaves Walsh and D?Antoni, although the team released a statement Sunday saying Dolan, Walsh and D?Antoni were on the same page.
?We want to make it abundantly clear that we have been in constant communication throughout this process and the three of us are in complete agreement with everything that we are currently working on,? the statement said.
The reality is quite different.
If he hasn?t already, Dolan should summon Walsh and D?Antoni and tell them that if they mess this up, if Anthony is not a Knick by the end of the week (the trade deadline is Thursday), the clock will be ticking on their tenures as Knicks employees.
The clock should be ticking anyway after this foolishness. If they pass on Anthony, the Knicks will once again be steaming toward another port of mediocrity.
What is the Knicks? brain trust thinking? Or better yet, why do they seem to be playing scared?
What are Walsh and D?Antoni afraid of? That expectations will suddenly soar and that Knicks fans will no longer look at the their team as the Little Engine That Could but rather as the Diesel Engine That Had Better?
D?Antoni talks about the future, but is he really talking about his future, his job security? Better to be celebrated for hovering around .500 than being expected to win championships. He can fashion a high-scoring carnival act of a team that scores plenty of points and also allows plenty.
Critics say Anthony does not play defense. But D?Antoni doesn?t coach defense, so it?s a perfect marriage. The Knicks score an average of 106.2 points a game, second in the N.B.A. to Denver. However, the Knicks allow an average of 105.8. Only one team, Minnesota, is worse. The Knicks? system is great for statistics and for players in a contract year but not for players interested in winning championships.
You know, down don?t bother me.?
ALBERT KING
Knicks fans have apparently become so starved for success that O.K. is great and mediocre is the accepted norm.
This is the sense you get from listening to fans and watching the foot-dragging by the Knicks? so-called brain trust over the Carmelo Anthony situation: .500 is O.K.
The Knicks need Anthony. He knows it, the Knicks know it.
They need him at any price, because the price will pale in comparison with what the Knicks will eventually get in return: the chance, at long last, to compete for an N.B.A. championship.
That great day will not happen for the Knicks as currently constituted ? and this includes the coach and team president.
Anthony is one of the N.B.A.?s top 10 players and one of its most productive scorers ever. He would make a good team great and, along with Amar?e Stoudemire, would anchor a Knicks franchise that hasn?t won a championship in 38 years.
Now the Knicks, who are 28-26, have an opportunity to go from O.K. to outstanding. But there is resistance.
?
How can the Knicks? front office hold this up? How can the Knicks continue to play their fans for suckers? The better question is, how can Knicks fans let them?
For two years leading up to the LeBron James sweepstakes, Donnie Walsh, the Knicks? president, and Mike D?Antoni, the coach, told fans not to worry. Ignore the losses, they said, because they were clearing salary cap space for James. When James picked Miami, the Knicks scrambled and got Stoudemire to keep the fans at bay. But now that they can add a superstar who would push the Knicks over the top, Walsh and D?Antoni have opted to dribble, not shoot.
Who is stonewalling, and why?
Certainly not James L. Dolan, the Madison Square Garden chairman, who clearly wants Anthony in the fold. That leaves Walsh and D?Antoni, although the team released a statement Sunday saying Dolan, Walsh and D?Antoni were on the same page.
?We want to make it abundantly clear that we have been in constant communication throughout this process and the three of us are in complete agreement with everything that we are currently working on,? the statement said.
The reality is quite different.
If he hasn?t already, Dolan should summon Walsh and D?Antoni and tell them that if they mess this up, if Anthony is not a Knick by the end of the week (the trade deadline is Thursday), the clock will be ticking on their tenures as Knicks employees.
The clock should be ticking anyway after this foolishness. If they pass on Anthony, the Knicks will once again be steaming toward another port of mediocrity.
What is the Knicks? brain trust thinking? Or better yet, why do they seem to be playing scared?
What are Walsh and D?Antoni afraid of? That expectations will suddenly soar and that Knicks fans will no longer look at the their team as the Little Engine That Could but rather as the Diesel Engine That Had Better?
D?Antoni talks about the future, but is he really talking about his future, his job security? Better to be celebrated for hovering around .500 than being expected to win championships. He can fashion a high-scoring carnival act of a team that scores plenty of points and also allows plenty.
Critics say Anthony does not play defense. But D?Antoni doesn?t coach defense, so it?s a perfect marriage. The Knicks score an average of 106.2 points a game, second in the N.B.A. to Denver. However, the Knicks allow an average of 105.8. Only one team, Minnesota, is worse. The Knicks? system is great for statistics and for players in a contract year but not for players interested in winning championships.
Knicks fans have bought into the Walsh-D?Antoni line that ?we can?t get Carmelo because we don?t want to lose our core; we can?t mortgage our future for one player.?
What core? What future? Who is there not to give up? Stoudemire is the only Knick who is not expendable.
Danilo Gallinari? Wilson Chandler? Fine players, those two, but they are not approaching All-Star status and perhaps never will. They are complementary players, and complementary players, while essential to a team?s success, come a dime a dozen.
Players like Anthony do not.
Look around the N.B.A. Every outstanding team has at least two great players and the subsequent luxury of being able to add complementary pieces each season. If the Knicks put Anthony alongside Stoudemire, they too could be in a position to begin adding complementary pieces ? and maybe another star. The Knicks could finally have a three-headed monster.
But first they need Anthony.
How do you not make this move if you are the Knicks? How do you not demand this move if you are a Knicks fan?
Look around the N.B.A. Every outstanding team has at least two great players and the subsequent luxury of being able to add complementary pieces each season. If the Knicks put Anthony alongside Stoudemire, they too could be in a position to begin adding complementary pieces ? and maybe another star. The Knicks could finally have a three-headed monster.
But first they need Anthony.
How do you not make this move if you are the Knicks? How do you not demand this move if you are a Knicks fan?
this is the paragraph that i like most out of this article:
Knicks fans have bought into the Walsh-D?Antoni line that ?we can?t get Carmelo because we don?t want to lose our core; we can?t mortgage our future for one player.?
What core? What future? Who is there not to give up? Stoudemire is the only Knick who is not expendable.
Danilo Gallinari? Wilson Chandler? Fine players, those two, but they are not approaching All-Star status and perhaps never will. They are complementary players, and complementary players, while essential to a team?s success, come a dime a dozen.
Players like Anthony do not.