Trin_Starr
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http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/
It's about time man!
Damn...starbury fan or hater - everyone has to agree that he plays the 2 better than JC right now...Jamal just looks lost out there...
If Jamal Crawford keeps up this deer-in-headlights look in this offense, the Knicks are going to have a major dilemma to figure out with a week to go before the real games begin.
Meanwhile, five games into the seven-game preseason, Stephon Marbury has slowly started to figure out how to make himself most effective in the D'Antoni system. In fact, D'Antoni went out of his way to point out that Marbury's play in tonight's win over the Nets was "really good" . . . OK, usually 9 points and 6 assists (and two turnovers) isn't a typical Marbury statline, but he did it in 16:23. And he did it with a bounce in his step we haven't seen much of in the preseason thus far.
And earlier in training camp D'Antoni seemed uncomfortable to discuss Marbury in public. Now it seems he's allowing himself to believe....maybe, just maybe....
[Bloghost note: gulp]
Meanwhile, as I wrote in the print edition for the Tuesday paper, there are indications that the coaching staff is getting impatient with Crawford, who had another troubling night with four points and three assists with a turnover in 25:58. Worse than anything was that Crawford shot 1 for 6 from the field and, ironically, the only shot he did make was one of his trademark fall-aways contested at the shot clock buzzer.
The kind of shot that makes D'Antoni cringe.
Crawford is averaging just 6.8 field goal attempts per game in the season, which is a huge drop from the 17.4 FGA's he averaged last season, when he led the team with 20.6 points per game. He is averaging exactly 9 points per game in five preseason games. And, yes, he looks lost in an offense that D'Antoni initially thought he would thrive in as a scorer.
So....could Lazarusbury be rising from the dead? This is a precarious situation for D'Antoni and the coaching staff, because there is great trepidation in putting too much faith -- not to mention emphasis -- in Marbury. Still, with Crawford struggling, D'Antoni knows he needs a scoring guard at the two. Chris Duhon has quietly shown he has command of the offense and can also hit the open three. Nate Robinson is a valuable energy boost off the bench who really knows how to find his shots in this offense (26 points against the Nets on 8 of 13 shooting). Mardy Collins has earned a fringe spot in the rotation as a versatile player who can fill in anywhere from the 1 through the 3-spot.
So do they dare dance with the devil in the pale moon light?
With a back-to-back situation in Tuesday's game against the Celtics at the Garden, it wouldn't be out of the norm for D'Antoni to rest some of his starters and give a different lineup a look. And at shooting guard, from Georgia Tech, No. 3, Steph-onnnn Marrrr-bury....
Sigh. Please pass the Adobe. I'd like to at least season my words before I eat them.
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I don't imagine this is a long-term plan, nor do I believe this means they are giving Marbury back the keys to the franchise. But somebody's got to score at that position and if Crawford can't get it done, Marbury is the next qualified person on the roster. While he's still on the roster.
And at $21.9 million, which the franchise decided not to eat just for the purposes of the "addition-by-subtraction" philosophy, Marbury is immovable. But Crawford, who has an opt-out after this season, does have some market value, especially for teams in need of scoring.
Worth monitoring this situation closely. Now if you'll excuse me, my meal of words awaits....
It's about time man!
Damn...starbury fan or hater - everyone has to agree that he plays the 2 better than JC right now...Jamal just looks lost out there...
