Knicks (97) - Pistons (101)

Note: this is only for just in cast Barnesgasm puts up his own recap of the game tonight. I will keep my recap here for the sake of not losing my work.

Hey guys, I'm sitting in for Seth today. Great game played by the Knicks, they really put up a gasp great effort and kept it close down the stretch. I like seeing efforts like this. Anyway:

Anyone else find that stupid T-Mobile starting line-up thing to be confusing? It's too... unorganized for me.

Glad to see Chandler get another start. He made a few poor shot choices, but he has tons of potential.

'DOLPH SIGHTING! No points, but he did get one rebound in 9 minutes. Really, Morris? That's all you could do in 9 minutes? You get your freakin' chance and you don't even capatialize! Oh well, there's more chances.

It seems like Eddy Curry has gotten the memo that some people are going to be gone after the off season, because he played like a beast tonight, 23 points and 7-9 from the free throw line!

Marbury was out there watching the team, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but there. Wouldn't blame him. It must suck knowing that Fred Jones was starting in the spot you'd be at normally.

Speaking of Freddie, he had a great shooting night, getting key shots in the 4th, including a big three pointer to keep the Knicks in the game.

Rasheed Wallace was out for the Pistons tonight, so Theo Ratliff started in his place, and proved why he never deserved any of those big money contracts that he got. He blew EASY shots, made stupid turnovers and even got some bad goaltends. Way to impress, Theo. I'm sure Flip Saunders is glad you're his one back-up when 'Sheed gets hurt.

David Lee had a nice double double, 12 points and 15 rebounds. He really has begun to pick it up a lot more lately. Nice to see him playing well, considering he's one of the few Knicks that gave a shit early on.

Crawford made a nice shake and bake move in the 2nd, only for Lee to get his lay-up blocked. Damn, that would've made Sportscenter highlights too.

I'm too used to Amir Johnson having long hair. He looks off without his dreadlocks.

Speaking of off, Tayshaun Prince was anything but that, hitting huge shots down the stretch to put the game away for good. He had a nice night, shooting 9-17 and hitting a huge runner to put them up by 4 with 19 seconds to go.

No idea how he did it, but Richard Hamilton got two quick technicals and got tossed. Jeez, who shit in his Trix? Methinks someone wanted a night off. He also had the same temper tantrum in the triple overtime thriller from 2006, and it cost them the game that time, and almost did tonight.

Renaldo Balkman had one of his worst games in a long time. He had two straight fast breaks, got called for a charge on both of them. He was later called for a goaltend, too. Ouch. Isiah got rid of him after that for a while.

In a funny moment, Mike and Clyde were discussing how the MAAC tournament was continuing on MSG at 10 P.M. live, which I agree is WAY too late for those poor kids. Clyde said, in typical Clyde fashion "When do those kids study?!"... on second thought, you had to be there.

Both Crawford and Nate got banged up in the game. Crawford left for a short while due to something involving his shoulder, and Nate was limping for the final few minutes of the game. Let's hope it doesn't mean anything bad...

The Knicks kept getting SO close to tying the game and overtaking the lead, but then they'd fall apart again. They'd go on 10-0 runs, but then go ice cold. It's frustrating, a bit in a way.

Malik Rose scored 9 points in 8 minutes, including a three pointer! WTF?!

No Walter Herrmann sighting, therefore JoshL is not happy. I need my three point shooting Fabio fix, DAMNIT!

All in all, the Knicks played great, just fell apart at the end and could never fully gain momentum. Oh well, one more extra chance at gaining Derreck Rose, so no complaints here. See you guys later!

Why is Randolph Morris even there?

This would qualify as a rant.

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed how pointless of a pick-up Randolph Morris has become? I bet you didn't even know that he actually PLAYED in two games this year, let alone the handful he played in last year. I mean, seriously Isiah, what the hell is wrong with you?

Morris showed in the Summer League that he has nice potential to be a nice role-player... so why does Isiah refuse to give him the minutes? Why does he keep putting him in garbage time every once every 20 games, and why does he keep putting 'Dolph on the inactive list, while total garbage like Mailk Rose sucks up his minutes? Rose has shown that he can put up good numbers every once in a while, but he's an absolute shell of his former self. The guy who had a chair pulling reputation with the Spurs is now the guy who looks old and fat.

In fact, why is Wilson Chandler even there?

Why is anyone even there?

I just can't understand why Isiah doesn't just say "Screw it" and call it a season. It's blatantly obvious that the Knick's aren't making the playoffs this year, plain and simple. What's wrong with playing all the young guys, like Balkman, Lee, Chandler, MORRIS?! And plus, why waste the chance of getting a GOOD point guard in the draft? It's obvious that Stephon Marbury is gone over the summer, Isiah. Your continued proverbial crap you take on him in the media has proven that countless times. Why not just call it a season, let the young guys get some good playing time, and hope for the lottery balls to work in your favor?

Is there something about getting a 35-47 record and sneaking into the playoffs as the eighth seed, only to get SLAUGHTERED by the Celtics in four painful for the fans games, that's just so appealing to Isiah? We can't even say that he's doing this to keep his job, anymore. If he wanted to keep his job, he would've shopped around harder during the trading deadline. We would be seeing new faces on the squad right now, not Eddy Curry playing 15 minutes, on 5 fouls, with 0-6 shooting. We wouldn't be seeing Jamal Crawford take a mind boggling 25 shots, make 8 of them, while going 1-9 from downtown. We wouldn't be seeing Mardy Collins take the point guard position and make it look like the hardest thing in the world.

I mean, the team would probably still suck if they made the deals, but we'd see SOMETHING. Some sort of progress.

Progress.

That's certainly a word Isiah Thomas has a hard time proving that the Knicks have made this year.

Listen Isiah, I'm BEGGING you: Call the season a wash. Give up. Play the young guys. Give them tons of minutes. Tell Eddy Curry to take a damn hike, his fat ass should be GONE after this year. Try and hope the lottery balls work in your favor. It's flat out obvious that if you try and make this team work hard to gain victories, all you're going to get is a higher draft pick, more disgruntled fans, more people begging for the young guys to take the floor as the old fat asses chug up and down the lane for 30/40 minutes a time.

Then, Isiah, maybe James Dolan won't throw down such a hard hammer when he announces that you've been relieved of coaching and managing duties. Then again, Dolan will probably let Isiah keep his job. It wouldn't surprise me.

Just another day as a disgrunted Knick fan...