Before the ball goes up …
There’s been another lineup shift.
Jamal Crawford isn’t playing. He got the bruised right hand x-rayed before the game, and no break showed up. Even so, Crawford isn’t playing. Eddy Curry is also headed to the bench.
So the lineup is, Jared Jeffries, David Lee, Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson.
It’s going to be a long day unless Randolph and Curry both find a way to contribute something.
Stephon Marbury was here early, getting some conditioning work in. He’s inactive, and will likely stay that way until the wind is re-established. Marbury is likely a couple of days away. He’s not speaking to the media yet, either, which is fine. Nobody should be forced to recount an emotional struggle in front of cameras and microphones.
And in case you were sitting at home worried, Jerome James passed his fitness test. But the surgically-repaired foot swelled up shortly thereafter, so it’s going to be a while longer before he shows up in uniform.
December 30th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
It’s almost half time as I write this. Curry has good numbers, nine points, seven (yes, 7!) rebounds. But the numbers are deceptive. When he came in the game it was tied. Now the Knicks are down 11, their biggest deficit.
It’s like this, when Curry comes in the game the Knicks try to force it in to him, they change from a loose, movement team into a force the ball inside team. This ends up inflating Curry’s numbers, and Isiah can say we’re happy with his play, but the whole team suffers.
Isiah won’t give up on Curry until he’s fired because his legacy is tied to Curry. He’s emotionally attached—to his detriment and the Knicks’.
The Knicks will not move forward until Isiah is gone or he admits Curry is not a plus for the Knicks or unless Curry turns into a different player.
December 30th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Completely agree Ken, but I’ll take it further and say that Isiah needs to realize this team will do its best with an uptempo guard oriented offense. Randolph is a black hole and his stats dont really help the team. Too bad him and curry are basically untradeable. The taem would look a lot less lazy and would at least appear to play harder on a consistent basis if randolph and curry were no longer a part of the team. If Isiah doesnt realize this, he needs to go. Hopefully the next gm can find a way to buyout or trade the two.
December 31st, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Is it any wonder that Zeke won on a guard oriented team?
That is what he knows. That is what he does. But you still need an inside game. You still need to play D.