Adding insult to injury, the Knicks lost the tie-break with Toronto and will pick 8th instead of 7th, unless they manage to sneak into the Top 3:

1)Atlanta............0.159
2)New Orleans.....0.220
3)Charlotte.........0.220 (lost tiebreak to New Orleans)
4)Utah..............0.317
5)Portland..........0.329
6)Milwaukee.......0.366
7)Toronto..........0.402
8)New York.......0.402 (lost tiebreak to Toronto)
9)Golden State....0.415
10)L.A. Lakers.....0.415 (lost tiebreak to Golden State)
11)Orlando.........0.439
12)L.A. Clippers...0.451
13)Charlotte.......0.512 (this was Cleveland’s pick)
14)Minnesota......0.531

This is the second to last update - there will be another when the tie-breakers are announced, and then after the draft lottery, I'll probably post the draft order.

1)Atlanta............0.159
2)Charlotte.........0.220
2)New Orleans.....0.220 (+1)
4)Utah..............0.317
5)Portland..........0.329
6)Milwaukee.......0.366
7)New York.......0.402
7)Toronto..........0.402
9)Golden State....0.415
9)L.A. Lakers......0.415 (+1)
11)Orlando.........0.439
12)L.A. Clippers...0.451 (-1)
13)Cleveland.......0.512
14)Minnesota.......0.531

The Knicks won last night, moving them into a tie with Toronto at 7th worst overall. I hope that they at least lose the tie breaker with Toronto and actually claim the 7th lottery spot. We'll see.

Interestingly, the Garden was as loud as its been in some time. Why, I can only imagine.

Stupid Celtics. They were posting updates in the Garden, but after leading for most of the game, the Nets shot out to a 12 point lead the Celtics couldn't close it. Sorry LeBron, maybe next year. Fucking Nets. I hate them so much.....so much!!!

It will be interesting to see what becomes of the Knicks.


Penny and TimThom come off of the books AFTER next season, Allen Who? comes off the books AFTER the 2006-2007 season. Looking at this list, it makes me want to gag when I realize how much Stephon Marbury will earn before his contract his up. Talk about an over-rated, overpaid, GOAT.

Marbury has offically replaced Ewing as King of the Goat-Squad.

As long as they sign Ariza to a reasonable long-term contract, I'll be happy with no other moves but patient ones - signing draft picks and waiting for these contracts to expire. I just hope they don't do what they've done in the past - trading expiring contracts for bad, long contracts for overpaid players.

1)Atlanta............0.160
2)Charlotte.........0.210
3)New Orleans.....0.222
4)Utah..............0.321
4)Portland..........0.321 (+1)
6)Milwaukee.......0.366
7)New York.......0.395
8)Toronto..........0.407 (-1)
8)Golden State....0.407 (-1)
10)L.A. Lakers.....0.420
11)Orlando.........0.444
11)L.A. Clippers...0.444 (+1)
13)New Jersey.....0.506
13)Cleveland.......0.506
14)Minnesota.......0.531

**** I've accidentally been leaving out the 14th team until today - lousy NBA expansion - anyway, here's a more accurate list with all 14 eligible lottery spots ***

I was watching the Knicks at Chicago last night. I was so impressed, once again, by the Knicks' bench effort. Mo Taylor, JYD, Ariza and Crawford were getting it done, and Stephon sat for basically the entire 4th quarter. I was thinking about the Knicks blog and what nice things I was going to say about Crawford, who genuinely has gotten better this year.

But then it happened. Clinging to a one point lead, Crawford missed two big free throws with 11 seconds left. The Bulls got the rebound and Ben Gordon, noted Knick-killer, of course made a basket at the other end with 5 seconds left. So the Knicks call timeout and seemingly diagram a last minute play. Everyone in the arena knew the ball was going to Jamal, he was double teamed, missed his shot, and the Bulls won 92-91.

Another game - same outcome. It really is amazing. Having really watched the NBA this year - it really does come down to how a team plays in the final two minutes of a game. And the Knicks have blown it almost everytime, the same way, regardless of the opponent. This is why they will have a new coach next season, more than any other reason.

The Knicks lost to the 13-67 Atlanta Hawks last night. You read that correctly. By the way, the Hawks had lost 17 of their last 18 games before this one.

Yet, Atlanta had scored 62 by the end of the first half, and 118 by the end of regulation. The Knicks set a franchise record for 3 pointers last night - a tell tale sign that the Knicks were settling for jumpers and not driving to the basket - as was the fact that Atlanta shot 15 more free throws than the Knicks in the game.

The Knicks really struggled to keep it even all night - but managed to build a 7 point lead in the 4th quarter. But then Herb Williams pulled Ariza for TimThom. Sure enough he made a stupid foul and Stephon made his just-in-time game-killing 4th quarter turn over and the Hawks got back into it.

Even still, the Knicks had the ball 3 times in the last minute of the game - and failed all 3 times to break the tie, so the Knicks would have to wait until overtime to lose.

Stephon Marbury on the Knicks' defense last night: We just weren't doing it. We weren't getting it done tonight. We were ready for everything they did.

Steph sucks - seriously! Tyronn Lue ABUSED, Steph in overtime with a cross-over fake, step-back 3 pointer to clinch the game. Tyronn Lue.
Good job Stephon, you get the MCP award for the 2004-2005 season.

1)Atlanta............0.163
2)Charlotte.........0.213
3)New Orleans.....0.225
4)Utah..............0.313
5)Portland..........0.325 (-1)
6)Milwaukee.......0.375
7)New York.......0.400 (+1)
7)Toronto..........0.400 (+2)
7)Golden State....0.400
10)L.A. Lakers.....0.425
11)Orlando.........0.438
12)L.A. Clippers...0.450 (-1)
13)New Jersey....0.500
13)Cleveland......0.500 (-1)

1)Atlanta............0.154
2)Charlotte.........0.218
3)New Orleans.....0.231
4)Utah..............0.321
4)Portland..........0.321 (+1)
6)Milwaukee.......0.372
7)Golden State....0.392 (+1)
8)New York.......0.397 (-1)
9)Toronto..........0.410
10)L.A. Lakers.....0.436
11)Orlando.........0.449 (+1)
11)L.A. Clippers...0.449
13)New Jersey....0.487

4th quarter: JYD, Mo Taylor, Malik Rose: 12-0 run and a Knicks win. 0 points from Stephon Marbury, TimThom on the bench.

Uh-huh.

But this win allowed Golden State to slide into the 7th spot for the lottery. Doh!

I took a moment to re-read some the earliest posts on this site, dating back to mid-December.

Then, we were lamenting Lenny Wilken's inability to draw up a last minute play, or get the Knicks to safely inbound the ball; we were calling for more minutes for Ariza, JYD and Sweetney and less minutes for TimThom.

Its mid-April and nothing has changed except for the coach.

Here's to the 2007-2008 New York Knicks!!!

The worst part of last night's loss to the 31-46 Raptors was that Trevor Ariza, the Knick most worth watching, did not play a single second of the game.

According to ESPN's recap:

rookie Trevor Ariza did not play in an absence that Williams declined to explain.
"You have to ask (Williams). He made the decision, not me," Ariza said.


What the fuck? Ariza is the best hope for the Knicks future, one would think that they'd give him as many minutes as possible at this point.

This is why the Knicks were outscored 28 points in the second half to a team that was 15 games under .500 entering the game.

1)Atlanta............0.156
2)Charlotte.........0.208
3)New Orleans.....0.234
4)Utah..............0.312
5)Portland..........0.325
6)Milwaukee.......0.377
7)New York.......0.390
8)Golden State....0.397
9)Toronto..........0.410
10)L.A. Lakers.....0.436
11)L.A. Clippers...0.449 (-1)
12)Orlando.........0.455
13)New Jersey....0.494

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Stephon: never makes clutch 4th quarter free throws, frequently throws bad passes when it matters most, nearly always takes 2-3 very bad shots early in the shot clock when what the Knicks need most is a quality possession

TimThom: is the offspring of Gerald Wilkins and Charles Smith, never scores any points that matter, is the softest 6-10 player since Charles Smith

And yet once the Knicks had built a 16 point half-time lead on the efforts of Jermaine Jackson, Crawford, JYD, Mo Taylor and Malik Rose, Herb Williams put Stephon, TimThom and Kurt Thomas back in for the second half where they were outscored by 18 points in the 3rd quarter and 10 more points in the 4th quarter.

Good job Herb Williams - if you were deliberately trying to lose the game that is.

1)Atlanta............0.158
2)Charlotte.........0.197
3)New Orleans.....0.237
4)Utah..............0.316
5)Portland..........0.320 (-1)
6)Milwaukee.......0.382
7)New York.......0.395 (-1)
8)Golden State....0.403
9)Toronto..........0.408
10)L.A. Lakers.....0.442
10)L.A. Clippers...0.442
12)Orlando.........0.461
13)New Jersey....0.494

The Knicks finally did it to someone else. Kurt Thomas makes the end-of-regulation 3 pointer to tie the game. Sweetney makes a buzzer beater in OT to win by a point.

Go Knicks, F the Pacers.

1)Atlanta............0.147
2)Charlotte.........0.200
3)New Orleans.....0.240
4)Utah..............0.320
4)Portland..........0.320 (+1)
6)Milwaukee.......0.387
6)New York.......0.387 (+1)
8)Golden State....0.408
9)Toronto..........0.413
10)L.A. Lakers.....0.447
10)L.A. Clippers...0.447 (+1)
12)Orlando.........0.461
13)New Jersey....0.494

The Knicks went up 11 early, let Chicago back in and were tied in the third. Right on cue in the 3rd quarter, the Knicks squandered their chance to seize the game. Then on three consecutive possessions the Knicks went shot-clock expiration, bad pass out of bounds, shot-clock expiration.

And sure enough, when they seemed to inch towards Chicago late in the 4th, noted Knick-killer Ben Gordon made sure they didn't.

Lot-er-ree!!

1)Atlanta 0.149
2)Charlotte 0.203
3)New Orleans 0.243
4)Utah 0.311
5)Portland 0.324
6)Milwaukee 0.378
7)New York 0.392 (+1)
8)Golden State 0.4 (-1)
9)Toronto 0.405
10)L.A. Lakers 0.44
11)L.A. Clippers 0.447
12)Orlando 0.467
13)New Jersey 0.487

1)Atlanta 0.149
2)Charlotte 0.205
3)New Orleans 0.247
4)Utah 0.315
5)Portland 0.329
6)Milwaukee 0.384
7)Golden State 0.392
8)New York 0.397
9)Toronto 0.411
10)L.A. Lakers 0.446
11)L.A. Clippers 0.453
12)Orlando 0.473
13)New Jersey 0.48

Well that's it folks. As Stephen 'Psycho' Jackson nailed his 6th wide open 3 pointer last night, it became abundantly clear that most of the Knicks have quit on the season. The last time I saw such apathy was Michigan-Penn State in 1996.

The worst part is JYD played less than a minute, and some early foul trouble (I guess) kept Trevor Ariza on the bench. Okay Herb Williams, pop quiz. Your team is getting killed by open perimeter jump shots and you keep your two best perimeter defenders on the bench. Good move.

TimThom must go. Crawford must hit the weights. And Steph? Steph needs to go to the basketball version of Outward Bound or whatever. Because the Knicks are stuck with him and he needs to do a better job of playing basketball and leading this team. You'd think Isiah would have him in his office every day teaching him how to be a fucking point guard. Either that or the Knicks should move Steph/Crawford some place else in exchange for a real point guard.

Last night was Reggie Miller's last game at MSG. Good riddance.

He was mostly contained - with the exception of early on, when his teammates were busy setting illegal screens for him. Stephen 'Psycho' Jackson killed the Knicks, but that's another story.

What was worst was the end of the game. What was left of the crowd (the Knicks were down 18 or so for most of the second half) began to chant "Reg-gie, Reg-gie". I can't believe that 1) there were that many Pacers fans in the crowd or 2) that many Knicks fans forgot all of his bullshit antics throughout the years. And to top it off, he and Spike Lee met for a half-court hug after the game. Pussy. I wanted to vomit. I can't belive Spike of all people would lower himself as such.

I heard on ESPN this morning a post-game with Reggie and he was surprised by the "Reg-gie" chant, but noted he heard plenty of "Sucks!" also. Good - that was us.

With 10 games left in the season, the Knicks are comfortably settled between the 6th and 11th worst teams in the NBA as per Winning percentage.

Worst gets: 13
2nd gets: 12
3rd gets: 11
4th gets: 10
5th gets: 9
6th gets: 8
7th gets: 7
8th gets: 6
9th gets: 5
10th gets: 4
11th gets: 3
12th gets: 2
13th gets: 1

So if things stand where they are now, the Knicks get, I guess, 6 ping-pong balls chance of getting in the top 3. Excellent. Add to that the pick from San Antonio that they picked up and the youth movement is on its way.

Knicks-Nets tonight. Yessir!

Good thing I've had a week off of home games. My throat is healthy and my voice is loud and I am ready to BOOOOOOO the Nets.

The Knicks may be playing inconsistent ball right now, but the Nets suck always.