An interesting unsung history addendum to this would be what the Knicks would have done had they LOST this game, and failed to make the playoffs. There’s a good chance they would have rebuilt faster and more efficiently, rather than prolonging the notion that they were contenders for another couple of years. Could this game have been the moment that sparked the disasterous 2000-2009 Knicks??

Statistically that’s an interesting team; I think things would have been done differently if advanced stats had been more prominent. For example Houston shot nearly the same % on 2-pointers and 3-pointers but took like 4 times as many 2′s as threes. Ward and Childs both got way too many minutes and Camby way too few — Knicks would have been better off going big and letting Spree run the point more (Spree-Houston-LJ-Camby-Ewing, for example, and more minutes for Kurt when Ewing was out).

In the playoffs Ward’s minutes went from 31 to 25 per game; Childs’ went down as well, Camby went from 20 to 25 and even without Ewing, they got better. I think with tools like free throw rate and TS% more readily at their disposal, the Knicks mightve caught onto this earlier in the season.

Of course then they’re not the 8 seed and we don’t get the Heat series or the demolition of the Hawks so it’s better this way. That is, after all, my favorite Knicks team ever. Great job writing it up Brian.

T-Moz has a new blog post up (translated from the Russian) and it’s fricking priceless. New favorite Knick for me, no question about it. This is the best thing I have read from an athlete in a long time. I am actually going to hang a must read on it, it’s that good.

http://chernykh.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/mozgov-blogs-about-his-double-double-and-whats-next/

Some favorite snippets:

During last quarter the 20,000 people in the stands of MSG were chanting my last name. You know, it was really like madness. It’s hard to describe those feelings. To tell the truth, it’s even hard to imagine those feelings. Right now I try to recall how it was, and just can’t believe that it was real. It’s like a dream. You can only feel it when it’s happening.

Later I heard that journalists compared me to a bear that broke out of the cage. And a TV announcer even suggested that our arena be renamed as Mozgov Square Garden))) This is funny, if course. Like I say, it’s like a mass madness.

But star fever doesn’t threaten Mozgov, that’s for sure. Only if stats like this becomes a norm for me, then maybe I will think and start to enjoy the extra attention))) But anyway I promise not to turn my nose up))) Speaking seriously, right now there’s nothing to pride myself upon – there’s a lot of work to do. I know that, on the one hand, it was a game that is hard to repeat. Those are good numbers for a rookie. But, on the other hand, I didn’t do anything outstanding. I scored 23 points not in 10 minutes. For this amount of playing time, this is a normal result in the best league in the world. At least, these are the goals I set for myself.

Like a true athlete Moz knows to refer to himself in the third person. But like a true statistician, he understands he needs to look at his numbers on a minute adjusted basis. A rare blend…

I wonder how many Anthony Randolph comments this one will inspire.