by Stop Mike Lupica on January 14 at 8:42AM
So, wait... are you trying to tell me that you saw the 07-08 Knicks team actually blow another team out?
Yes. Yes, I am. I was there.
Before we start, let's meet my favorite random guy in front of Madison Square Garden for a Knicks-Pistons game... that's right, the Golden State Warrior Cowboy:
Snapshot 2008-01-14 09-10-04.tiff
Moving along, we attended our first Knick game of the year (courtesy of the $10 tickets) with the Greek Professor and the GF. You get what you paid for, and for $10 tickets at a Knick game, well... not only do you get subpar basketball that will make you yearn for the Liberty, but you get to enjoy from a cruising altitude of 15,000 feet above ground. Peep the view:
Yes, that is correct... we are above the scoreboard. Just to really bring home the visual of how high these seats are...there was a wall directly behind us. In other words, we were as far away from the court as you get.
Quick pregame notes:
"Yo, you know they must have spent most of Saturday night chilling at like Mars 2112."
"I think Stereo is still the spot, unless it's been shut down."
"Isiah took them all out on the town last night."
The game starts off slow enough. Despite only scoring 18 points in the first quarter, the Knicks are tied with the equally inept Pistons. Zach Randolph was money in the first quarter, even hitting a three pointer at one point (I'm almost positive I saw Zach shoot not one, not two, but three threes in this game, but I refuse to check the box scores to confirm my fears).
Eddy Curry's inability to rebound is very much evident from the nosebleeds. On one particular play, he play nice, tough defense on Rasheed Wallace, faced him up, and got a hand in Sheed's face. Sheed's jumper missed short, and Curry takes off up the court. Meanwhile, the rebound comes directly off the rim in his direction, and Curry decides to run right past it. The ball ends up in Sheed's very confused hands again. Luckily for the Knicks, the Pistons couldn't hit the side of a barn on this night, otherwise that would have been enough for a "Fire Isiah" chant to begin.
Interesting moment in the 2nd quarter: During an official timeout, the scoreboard goes live with the feed from the Giants-Cowboys game, and the crowd goes nuts. It's 21-17 Giants, with about a minute to go. The Cowboys have the ball at the 30 yard line. It's 2nd and 11. The crowd gets excited... and Tony Romo almost gets sacked. He throws an incomplete pass. 3rd and 11. The crowd is pumped, and chanting "De-fense, De-fense".
Meanwhile, the Knicks (with the exception of Crawford and Curry) are all looking up at the scoreboard, watching what's going on. As bad as that sounds, at least they were still within the huddle. Rasheed Wallace was nowhere near his team, walking all the way to midcourt to get a good view of the action on the scoreboard.
3rd and 11 and... incomplete pass again. That brings up 4th and 11, and the crowd is going nuts.
By this point the timeout had already dragged on to record lengths, so the officials set up Curry to take the free throws. While he's shooting, the crowd is going nuts as the 4th down play is going on. Curry bricks it, Romo gets intercepted, and the Giants win. The crowd cheers wildly.
That's how it went down. No, this does not mean Knicks fans do not care, Mr. Ziller. In fact, if the Patriots game was happening during a Celtics game, don't you think the fans in Boston would be paying attention to the Patriots game, too? Or anywhere else. Except maybe in Sacramento, where I think the only other sports franchise besides the Kings is a paint balling team I saw once on ESPN 4.
Moving on... some random MSG-related notes:
"They should just get a bark-o-lounger for Eddy, and park it in the paint. It wouldn't effect his game any..."
Now, I made my feelings on David Lee quite known. I like his hustle, and think he's a solid role player. I love his hands, especially down under the rim. But I think he's incredibly overrated by the media and fans, as sometimes happens with a certain kind of player (hint: white).
The Greek Professor is even tougher than I am. He breaks it down: "His offensive game is the pits. Twice a game, David Lee will get the ball along the baseline. He'll drive to his right, along the baseline, and either get stripped or blocked. Or quickly cornered under the rim, and best case scenario he somehow gets a pass back to the arc. Most of the time he'll end up turning the ball over."
"Also, twice a game, David Lee will shot a terrible 12-18 footer, and miss badly."
On cue, in the first half... David Lee twice drives along the baseline, going to his right, and twice gets stripped by Sheed. We'll call that move "The Lap Dance" from now on, as it almost always ends in Lee getting stripped.
Okay, for the second half, we decide to upgrade our seats a bit:
Walter Herrmann, bitches! Peace to my Argentine peeps, greasy haired NBA stars, don't sleep...
Speaking of which... the Greek Prof: "Crazy story. I went to my regular barber the other day. This Russian dude, been cutting my hair for years. I go in, and he's got two fingers all bandaged up, wrapped together, bloody. I was like, "Dude, you alright? Are you going to be able to cut like that?" I didn't want any blood on me, you know. He then goes on to tell me how he some Argentine stripper guy came in the other day. He's a Chippendale dancer, and he had long thick hair down to his back. Anyway, my barber was trying to cut his thick Argentine hair, and at one point slipped up, and cut off the tip of his finger."
Argentinian hair should only be cut by licensed professionals.
We've come a long way:
You see all the way at the top of that picture? That's where we were.
The Knicks blow it open in the third quarter. Renaldo Balkman was incredible... he was guarding Primo Brezec at one point (a center with a 6 inches on him), then running the point on offense at other times. No joke, on one play he brought the ball up himself, drove into the paint, and did a nasty behind the back dish to Jeffries that he wasn't able to handle.
At another point Balkman stuff someone, then beat everyone up the court for a breakaway opportunity. I forgot whether that's the one that ended in a dunk, or a foul. Doesn't matter... Balkman is incredible. I've said it before, but I can't believe that the rumor is that the Kings wanted to trade Artest straight up for Lee, and the Knicks offered Balkman instead. And the Kings turned it down! That whole thing makes no sense to me....
With the game turning into a blowout, Mardy Collins gets some burn for the first time since like November! I point out to the Greek that Mardy just turned 23 before the season started.
"What?!? He's looks like he could be Malik Rose's older brother. No way he's 23."
"No seriously... he's really 23. Barely 23, too."
"Damn, I can't imagine what horrors he must have seen in his life. He must be from Beirut or Kabul or something...."
Finally, an truly unbelievable sight:
Line of the night: "Dolan is going to give Isiah a 5 year, $10 million/yr extension after this game..."
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Yes. Yes, I am. I was there.
Before we start, let's meet my favorite random guy in front of Madison Square Garden for a Knicks-Pistons game... that's right, the Golden State Warrior Cowboy:
Snapshot 2008-01-14 09-10-04.tiff
Moving along, we attended our first Knick game of the year (courtesy of the $10 tickets) with the Greek Professor and the GF. You get what you paid for, and for $10 tickets at a Knick game, well... not only do you get subpar basketball that will make you yearn for the Liberty, but you get to enjoy from a cruising altitude of 15,000 feet above ground. Peep the view:
Yes, that is correct... we are above the scoreboard. Just to really bring home the visual of how high these seats are...there was a wall directly behind us. In other words, we were as far away from the court as you get. Quick pregame notes:
- David Lee doesn't even hit jumpers in the pregame warmups. Worth noting.
- The Knicks pregame song this year has a distinct 1970's disco sound to it. If anyone knows what it is, let me know. I'm quite curious. It's an interesting direction to take the song... from "Go New York, Go New York, Go" to... "The Hustle". Especially since "hustle" and "the Knicks" have nothing to do with each other.
- After being introduced, the Pistons players all put their arms around each other and dance in circle, like their about to do the Hava Nagili or something. Except for Rasheed Wallace, who trots around like he's riding an imaginary horse. He then jumps into the middle of the circle, and all the Pistons chant while he gets his groove on. This is all going on while the Knicks are getting introduced. It's like an Eastern European wedding mixed with Soul Train and The Haka. Me like, Detroit.
"Yo, you know they must have spent most of Saturday night chilling at like Mars 2112."
"I think Stereo is still the spot, unless it's been shut down."
"Isiah took them all out on the town last night."
The game starts off slow enough. Despite only scoring 18 points in the first quarter, the Knicks are tied with the equally inept Pistons. Zach Randolph was money in the first quarter, even hitting a three pointer at one point (I'm almost positive I saw Zach shoot not one, not two, but three threes in this game, but I refuse to check the box scores to confirm my fears).
Eddy Curry's inability to rebound is very much evident from the nosebleeds. On one particular play, he play nice, tough defense on Rasheed Wallace, faced him up, and got a hand in Sheed's face. Sheed's jumper missed short, and Curry takes off up the court. Meanwhile, the rebound comes directly off the rim in his direction, and Curry decides to run right past it. The ball ends up in Sheed's very confused hands again. Luckily for the Knicks, the Pistons couldn't hit the side of a barn on this night, otherwise that would have been enough for a "Fire Isiah" chant to begin.
Interesting moment in the 2nd quarter: During an official timeout, the scoreboard goes live with the feed from the Giants-Cowboys game, and the crowd goes nuts. It's 21-17 Giants, with about a minute to go. The Cowboys have the ball at the 30 yard line. It's 2nd and 11. The crowd gets excited... and Tony Romo almost gets sacked. He throws an incomplete pass. 3rd and 11. The crowd is pumped, and chanting "De-fense, De-fense".
Meanwhile, the Knicks (with the exception of Crawford and Curry) are all looking up at the scoreboard, watching what's going on. As bad as that sounds, at least they were still within the huddle. Rasheed Wallace was nowhere near his team, walking all the way to midcourt to get a good view of the action on the scoreboard.
3rd and 11 and... incomplete pass again. That brings up 4th and 11, and the crowd is going nuts.
By this point the timeout had already dragged on to record lengths, so the officials set up Curry to take the free throws. While he's shooting, the crowd is going nuts as the 4th down play is going on. Curry bricks it, Romo gets intercepted, and the Giants win. The crowd cheers wildly.
That's how it went down. No, this does not mean Knicks fans do not care, Mr. Ziller. In fact, if the Patriots game was happening during a Celtics game, don't you think the fans in Boston would be paying attention to the Patriots game, too? Or anywhere else. Except maybe in Sacramento, where I think the only other sports franchise besides the Kings is a paint balling team I saw once on ESPN 4.
Moving on... some random MSG-related notes:
- The Greek Prof, on the Knick Child Dancers (a bunch of ten year olds who come out and break dance, jumping around and flipping and stuff): "Yo, they hired 20 kids to break dance, and they couldn't find a single black kid?" For real.
- More Greek Prof goodness: "At halftime of the last game I went to, they had the Murdaball guys playing a game. They were great. Some of these guys were sinking shots from all over the court like water. I remember thinking "The Knicks could use outside shooting like that..."
"They should just get a bark-o-lounger for Eddy, and park it in the paint. It wouldn't effect his game any..."
- Speaking of Eddies... Get to Know Zach Randolph. According to Zach, the person he most resembles is... Eddie Winslow (from Family Matters).
Now, I made my feelings on David Lee quite known. I like his hustle, and think he's a solid role player. I love his hands, especially down under the rim. But I think he's incredibly overrated by the media and fans, as sometimes happens with a certain kind of player (hint: white).
The Greek Professor is even tougher than I am. He breaks it down: "His offensive game is the pits. Twice a game, David Lee will get the ball along the baseline. He'll drive to his right, along the baseline, and either get stripped or blocked. Or quickly cornered under the rim, and best case scenario he somehow gets a pass back to the arc. Most of the time he'll end up turning the ball over."
"Also, twice a game, David Lee will shot a terrible 12-18 footer, and miss badly."
On cue, in the first half... David Lee twice drives along the baseline, going to his right, and twice gets stripped by Sheed. We'll call that move "The Lap Dance" from now on, as it almost always ends in Lee getting stripped.
Okay, for the second half, we decide to upgrade our seats a bit:
Walter Herrmann, bitches! Peace to my Argentine peeps, greasy haired NBA stars, don't sleep...Speaking of which... the Greek Prof: "Crazy story. I went to my regular barber the other day. This Russian dude, been cutting my hair for years. I go in, and he's got two fingers all bandaged up, wrapped together, bloody. I was like, "Dude, you alright? Are you going to be able to cut like that?" I didn't want any blood on me, you know. He then goes on to tell me how he some Argentine stripper guy came in the other day. He's a Chippendale dancer, and he had long thick hair down to his back. Anyway, my barber was trying to cut his thick Argentine hair, and at one point slipped up, and cut off the tip of his finger."
Argentinian hair should only be cut by licensed professionals.
We've come a long way:
You see all the way at the top of that picture? That's where we were. The Knicks blow it open in the third quarter. Renaldo Balkman was incredible... he was guarding Primo Brezec at one point (a center with a 6 inches on him), then running the point on offense at other times. No joke, on one play he brought the ball up himself, drove into the paint, and did a nasty behind the back dish to Jeffries that he wasn't able to handle.
At another point Balkman stuff someone, then beat everyone up the court for a breakaway opportunity. I forgot whether that's the one that ended in a dunk, or a foul. Doesn't matter... Balkman is incredible. I've said it before, but I can't believe that the rumor is that the Kings wanted to trade Artest straight up for Lee, and the Knicks offered Balkman instead. And the Kings turned it down! That whole thing makes no sense to me....
With the game turning into a blowout, Mardy Collins gets some burn for the first time since like November! I point out to the Greek that Mardy just turned 23 before the season started.
"What?!? He's looks like he could be Malik Rose's older brother. No way he's 23."
"No seriously... he's really 23. Barely 23, too."
"Damn, I can't imagine what horrors he must have seen in his life. He must be from Beirut or Kabul or something...."
Finally, an truly unbelievable sight:
Line of the night: "Dolan is going to give Isiah a 5 year, $10 million/yr extension after this game..."Leave a comment
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5 Comments
Comments
and you have to pay to get those seats ?????????
To be there I would ask them to pay me !!!
great pics anyway, thanks, next time I will go to MSG I'll just make sure NOT to get those seats... unbelievable
Great information here, thanks for post.
For some reason I cant view this properly, is it my browser or the site?
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defo. good times. (i continue to believe that the good vibes of the giants win energized the usually somnambulant occupants of the Garden). looks like marbury's m.i.a. wasn't so mysterious after all -- a new marbury/isiah controversy is a-brewin'. oh the humanity.