Knicks a Better Team With 'Stars' on the Bench
Five years ago, during my rookie season as a columnist here, I wrote about the potential of the post-Scott Layden Knicks. Layden, Isiah Thomas's predecessor, had created a mediocre, old, capped-out team. The earliest signs of relief came in 2007, when some of the egregious contracts (most notably Allan Houston's 6-year, $100 million deal) came off the books. Until then, I had argued that the next general manager would have to shop the margins and use the draft for talent, and that he should focus on players with good work ethics and defensive abilities. The Garden, I wrote, would embrace an undermanned team that worked hard and played defense. Well, we all know what happened instead. When Layden was fired in December 2003, Thomas was hired amid great fanfare. Instead of working around the margins while the onerous deals of the Layden era aged off the books, Thomas chose to drive the Knicks further into the salary cap quicksand, trading one expiring contract after another for high-profile players with dubious resumes and ground zero-size holes in their games. The result has been a Knicks team that spends like the Yankees and loses like the Clippers (or at least like the Clippers of late-1990s vintage).
I've often wondered what would have happened if the other road had been taken, if, instead of desperate grabs for big money or moderately talented players such as Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Steve Francis, and Jamal Crawford, the Knicks had let the Layden-era contracts age off and fielded a team of hardworking young players. Saturday night, we got the answer and it was exhilarating. The Knicks played without Curry, Crawford, Marbury, and Randolph, and lost a close, exciting game to Portland, 120–114 in overtime. It was a game full of hustle plays and hard work from the outmanned New Yorkers, and the sold-out Garden crowd cheered so loudly that at times I thought Willis Reed had walked onto the floor to take the opening tip.
The Knicks would have won the game but for three occurrences. One, no foul was called on Nate Robinson's buzzer-beating drive to the hoop in regulation. He drew contact before the shot, and it would have been too appropriate to finish a career-topping night (his final tally was 45 points on 16–28 shooting, six assists, six rebounds, and only two turnovers) with the game-winning free throw. Nonetheless, it was a relief almost beyond words to see a close Knicks game where it came down to a final shot and not have the play result in an isolation along the perimeter leading to a 20-foot jump shot. Robinson capitalized on his athleticism and beat the defense down the floor, made a nice fake at the free throw line, and took the ball strong to the hole.
The other two factors in the Knicks' loss owed to Thomas's coaching decisions. The Knicks were out-rebounded 52–41, yet reserve center Randolph Morris sat, practically glued to the bench. I'm not suggesting that Morris is some second coming of Moses Malone, but on a team that is missing its starting center and power forward, it doesn't take too much brainpower to figure that he could be a vital contributor. Also, in his brief NBA career, Morris has been averaging nine rebounds per 40 minutes of action — far more than Curry has been averaging this season. He would have helped in the paint. You would also think that the team's best on-ball defender, small forward Renaldo Balkman, would have received more than 13 minutes of burn. Balkman can defend tall guards, and Portland's Brandon Roy torched the Knicks' smaller backcourt for 27 points on 12–22 shooting.
Lastly, Thomas's substitution patterns, or lack thereof, were mystifying. Robinson played 52 minutes, swingman Quentin Richardson played 50, power forward David Lee played 47, and reserve guard Fred Jones played 41. Was this Game 7 of some playoff series or other? Small wonder the team was gassed in the overtime. The Knicks play in Dallas tonight and in Miami on Wednesday. Although Randolph may return, the Knicks will be just as shorthanded for those games, and in all likelihood, the team will be fatigued as well.
It isn't news that Thomas's coaching blunders are compounding his mistakes as a general manager. Watching a Knicks team play without Thomas's four major acquisitions made me think all the more about his error-laden reign. Like most writers who focus on the Knicks, I've been thinking about the epitaph for this administration. Given that Thomas willingly passed on creating a team like the one that took the floor on Saturday, I've begun to believe that Isiah never really understood New York City basketball.
The Garden is down the street from all the glitzy neon of Times Square, but basketball in these parts isn't about bling: It's about grit, hustle, and determination; it's blue-collar, not nouveau-riche; asphalt-jungle, not luxury-condo. Here's hoping that, sometime in the coming months, Thomas's successor is named and that coach gets to know New York hoops before he starts making moves.
mjohnson@nysun.com
