Friday, November 03, 2006

One Crazy Start

Some random thoughts about the Knicks after one crazy long game..

1. A win is a win, that is true. But I hope somewhere behind the scenes Isiah is showing his players why they lost a 19 point lead.

2. With 9 minutes to go and the Knicks up by 19, at that very moment I was so excited about what I was seeing. The Knicks were playing great and doing everything right, even with Marbury and Francis having bad nights up to that point. If we can play this way and lower our end of game meltdowns, this team will win alot more games this year.

3. Channing Frye looks lost and appears to have taken a step back this year. I remember over the summer he said he had beefed up and was a lot stronger. I remember thinking I hope the added bulk doesn't have a bad effect on his game. Emeka Okafor did something similar last season and ended up being a disappointment along with being injured the whole season. I really hope Frye is just in a bad funk right now.

4. David Lee has been much more effective in preseason and in the Memphis game. He seems to be the better player to have in the lineup right now instead of Frye. I predict he will be in the starting lineup very soon.

5. Has anyone noticed how much Marbury and Richardson have been high fiving and chest bumping in the games so far? Whatever happened to the theory that Marbury didn't like Richardson and thus the reason Isiah was trying to trade him. The fact that they seem to be on the same page now, has me feeling good too. Richardson could be the big beneficiary of this new offense the Knicks are running. If he could get back to his Phoenix form, it would bring a whole new dimension to the team.

6. The fact that the team stuck together and got this win, in triple OT no less, almost feels like an omen of things to come. Can you imagine the media and all the Knick bashers if they would have lost this game? It could have damaged the players psyche right out of the gates and we saw what happened last year when they started off poorly. But with a win, it becomes a great building block and gives the players confidence that everyone is together on this thing and will give meaning to some of the things Isiah has already been preaching about team unity. Even though its one game, I could defintely see the team latching on to that feeling and possibly making there way through this rough first month as a .500 team. That would be a huge victory for this team. Let just hope all these good vibes don't go down the drain tonight against Atlanta.