Quick Reaction: Rockets 97, Knicks 84
January 29th, 2012 by Robert Silverman | @BobSaietta | Comments | Permalink |
Coincidentally, I’d already planned to watch the game with my father and use his responses in the grades/comments before I read Jim’s piece last night. We talked and agreed that I should go ahead anyway, thus making this an an “All-Dad Weekend” for the ‘Bockers. It seems apt considering these days this is is a team only their immediate family members could love. So, for your consideration, here’s my stab at photo-realism — my father’s thoughts about tonight’s game, recorded verbatim.
 |
Amare Stoudemire, PF 36 MIN | 10-20 FG | 3-4 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 23 PTS | -7
DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD |
 |
 |
Bill Walker, SG 22 MIN | 2-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 5 PTS | -2
DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD |
 |
 |
Tyson Chandler, C 32 MIN | 5-7 FG | 4-5 FT | 11 REB | 2 AST | 14 PTS | -12
DAD |
 |
 |
Toney Douglas, PG 27 MIN | 3-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 4 AST | 7 PTS | -1
DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD BOB |
 |
 |
Landry Fields, G 18 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS | -4
DAD BOB DAD |
 |
 |
Mike Bibby, PG 9 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -14
DAD BOB DAD BOB (DAD laughs) |
 |
 |
Jared Jeffries, PF 12 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -16
DAD BOB DAD |
 |
 |
Steve Novak, SF 19 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS | -3
DAD |
|
 |
Renaldo Balkman, PF 12 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS | +2
DAD BOB DAD |
|
 |
Jeremy Lin, PG 20 MIN | 3-9 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 6 AST | 9 PTS | -4
DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD |
|
 |
Jerome Jordan, C 4 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | +7
DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD BOB DAD |
|
 |
Iman Shumpert, G 28 MIN | 5-13 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 11 PTS | -11
DAD (DAD gestures at the TV which is set to the NBA Network) DAD |
 |
Five Things We Saw
- I’m not angry or sad at this point, I’m more just curious to see how this team will lose each night — like lifting a rock to see what particular phylum of maggot, grub worm or yet-undiscovered pestilence one might find scurrying in the slime underneath
- On the other end of the spectrum, one finds Tyson Chandler. Judging by his emotional state during the post-game interviews, ee should probably keep Tyson Chandler away from sharp objects and/or prescription medication.
- Unlike the last couple of games, there was a surrealistic quality to this one. The Chandler-Jeffries-Shumpert-Lin-Douglas (and/or Bibby, Balkman and Novak) unit was a delightful nod the to the Dadaist movement that flourished in French and German cafe society in the 1920′s. If there’s a play that sums up the season so far, it’s Balkman ignoring a Jeremy Lin alley-oop as it sailed into the stands. I half expected Balkman at that point to squat center court, pull out a bowler hat filled with toilet water and a solitary plum floating inside and begin reciting Boccaccio’s “The Decameron.”
- Not that it would have mattered, but I think Kevin McHale gave the refs an under-the-table, Joe Smith-type secret one year extension. The non-goaltending call on Dalembert at the end of the 2nd quarter might have been the most egregious example. WE GOTS HOSED, YO!
- These are the lyrics to the last song from the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Once More with Feeling” (Season 6, Episode 7). I’m humming it right now. And I think y’all should too.
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
The battle’s done
And we kinda won
So we’ll sound our victory cheer
Where do we go from here?Why is the path unclear?
When we know home is near
Understand
We’ll go hand in hand
But we’ll walk alone in fear
Tell me…
Where do we go from here?When does the end appear?
When do the trumpets cheer?
The curtains closed
On a kiss God knows
We can tell the end is near
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE!
Hey, did you know that in addition to banging the keys here and occasionally for the NY Times, Robert is a playwright, an actor and a wand'ring mendicant/gadfly? He also once wrestled a bear...and lost.
Always been a big fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Western Conference scout on whether the Knicks are “fixable”
From ESPN Weekend Dime:
Western Conference scout on whether the Knicks are “fixable”: “The reality is they have a terrible mix of players …
but the dynamic of their point guard situation has made it so much worse.”
Too true
+1,000,000
She was in the 6th grade of my school when I was a senior. So close! Damn that Freddy Prinze Jr.!
Glad I missed this one. Read through the ame thread, tough, and do ave one comment: isn’t it strange how “Melo-lover” Ruruland disappeared right at the exact time that “sarcastic-Melo-Hater” Melo to the Gallos showed up?
That is all.
I thought Lin defended ecently and was able to get into the paint. For a guy that didnt really practice with the unit he was playing with…not bad!
Everything else? Nauseating. We’ve officially reached my 20-game mark where I said we could judge what we have. Prediction? Paaaiiiiiiiiiiin. 10 more games before i change my screen name to something including ‘suicidal’.
I noticed that as well. I actually thought he looked good because he has not practiced with this unit. I think there must be something going on in practice that is sucking the knowledge of how to play basketball right out of these people. I place the blame on the coaching staff.
I asked him if he was Ruru last game but got no response. Creativity write-up Bob.
Damn auto correct should be creative write-up.
Maybe the secret to his success was not practicing with the unit he was playing with — he didn’t pick up all the bad habits and complexes that everyone else is exhibiting. It seems like this team is looking worse and worse with every game, at least on the offensive end. Instead of developing chemistry, they seem to be developing resentments.
But given the way Lin glared at Balkman after that ignored alley-oop, it’d be incredible if he ever tries hitting Balkman again. And so the story goes…
Yao Ming isn’t Asian? Chairman Yi isn’t Asian?
I think you mean that Lin is the first Asian KNICKS player since the ’40s. (Is that true?)
It really is strange. Lin made a bunch of boneheaded mistakes, but I found his mistakes to be a lot more reasonable than Toney’s and Shump’s (as a ball-handler – Shump has continued to excel on D) and while Bibby is not necessarily a mistake-prone PG, he also doesn’t really seem to do anything on 90% of his possessions, while Lin was constantly active.
Here’s another thing about Lin – the dude was a decent NBA back-up point guard last year. It is not like he’s some guy who has never played in the NBA and D’Antoni is wary about giving him a shot. He’s already been a back-up point guard and he’s played decently enough (not good, but not as bad as Toney, Bibby or PG Shump). So giving him more minutes is not some crazy thing.
It is similar to my Balkman criticism (the guy has shown he can be a productive NBA player already), but even more so, because at least with Balkman, there is a similar player in Jeffries blocking his way who is not awful (and with the lack of three-point shooting on the team, another reasonable player blocking him in Novak). Here, you could easily lose Bibby and not notice it in a game. And Toney, while he is more valuable than Bibby (as Toney at least has the potential to get better when he heals), probably just needs to heal that shoulder of his. So let Lin play!
Inspired by the last line of the song above, here’s one, sung by Tyson Chandler, to the tune of Radiohead’s “The Bends”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG-adf3Z7_A
Ironic, since “the bends” is what happens to divers who ascend too fast, while the Knicks are doing the opposite.
Where do we go from here?
The shots are going up all weird
Where are you now, Dirk, when I need you?
Alone in the low post
Falling asleep against the plexiglass pane
Who cares, 3 seconds
I think I need to force a trade
To hide all the dirt and pain
Cause I’m getting scared that there’s nothing on this team
Who are my real teammates?
Have they all got the bends?
Am I really sinking this low?
The Knicks have got the bends, oh no
We don’t have any real point guards, no no no
I’m on the weakside when the isolation’s on
Talking to a random fan
Waiting for something to happen
I wish it was 2011
I wish I could be happy, I wish, I wish
I wish that something would happen
Where do we go from here?
New York is all gummed up in a sea of fear
And where are you, hope?
They brought in Mike Woodson
A “defensive guru” to blow Pringles away
But we keep switching
The Knicks have got the bends
We don’t have any real pooooooint guaaaaards
I’m on the weakside just twiddling my thumbs
Talking to a cameraman
Waiting for something to happen
I wish I was in Dallas
I wish I could be happy, I wish I wish
I wish that something would…
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of a real team
I want to live, breathe,
I want to be part of a real team, team, team
Where do we go from here?
The shots are going up all weird
Where are you now, Dirk, when I need you…
Really, what if D’antoni is just saying I am going to be fired anyway, why not see what it all looks like before I go down. More importantly, his coaching decisions cannot get any worse – I don’t know why he doesn’t just hit refresh during the game and follow suggestions from this blog. We could crowdsource a Knicks victory.