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A father, a son & three Knicks trips to the Finals – Posting & Toasting
Ranking Every Dumb Move That Helped New York Knicks Reach the NBA Finals – BleacherReport
The brilliance of Leon Rose, and how he built the best Knicks team of the millennium – Posting & Toasting
Karl-Anthony Towns confident Knicks will be able to weather Mitchell Robinson’s injury however it plays out – SNY
Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson has surgery on broken pinkie, hopeful for NBA Finals: Sources – The Athletic – The New York Times
Karl-Anthony Towns Shouts Out Jeremy Lin in Video, Talks His Impact on Knicks Fandom – BleacherReport
The Knicks’ Playoff Run Has Brought a Peculiar Harmony to New York – The New York Times
Knicks vs Spurs NBA Finals 🏆 | Rapid Reaction – Knicks Fan TV
Artist’s Journey: From Knicks Nostalgia to In-Culture Art #shorts – Knick of Time
3 Biggest Questions For Knicks vs Spurs | NBA FINALS PREVIEW | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
Pod Strickland Episode 598 feat Kris Pursiainen – The Strickland
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99 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.05.31)”
Spurs it is… but let’s keep our feet on the ground… they’ll want revenge from the NBA Cup, and they’re good. But if we play like we’ve been playing, i think we have a good chance of ending our championship drought! 🧡💙
And we didn’t chase superstars, go figure that, Jimmy! 😛
Anyone remember when you were blaming the NBA Cup on our prospects for the season? Hilarious! 😀
People, how can we get old posters to come here for the Finals, it’d be amazing to have them back even if it is for a single comment… just a “i’m here for the Knicks in the Finals, mom/dad” LOL
Which posters do you miss most? I’m going to think about this. 🙂
Chet Holmgren. That was awful.
Saw some comments that the Thunder leaving was lame, but how about dunking when you have a 6pt lead, there’s 4 seconds left and no opponent is bothering you? I hope it brings them bad karma… LOL
If you’re OKC, you have to be petrified at Holmgren’s complete mental and physical breakdown against your biggest rival.
Pray for Mitch.
I have believed all along he’s our secret weapon against the Spurs and the best player in the league to deploy against Wemby.
He can give him fits on defense with his immense strength and agility, and on the other side he can dominate him on the offensive glass.
He has the opportunity to make himself a fortune in this series if he proves it. Everyone’s going to want a Wemby stopper now.
15-20 mins a game. Let’s hope he can do it with a broken metacarpal.
In terms of persona, carriage, and general cut of jig, Wemby does next to nothing for me.
Apparently OG is our best weapon against Wemby based on some twitter poll someone posted.
Chet is catching so much heat I feel bad for him
Nah, he’ll be playing for Milwaukee next season anyway 😛
I thought Chet did some great stuff on defense. Total zero on offense though.
The thing that scares me most about the Spurs is that there’s nowhere to hide Brunson on D against them.
I guess if Fox isn’t shooting well, that helps, but if they bring in Harper, that’s a lot tougher.
A lot of their guys happen to be shooting well right now, so I’m hoping for some reversion. But they’re also very athletic, so we can’t just run them off the floor.
The thing most in our favor is our veteran coach and player savvy.
I think KAT is a good matchup against Wemby, too, if he limits the dumb fouls. This is a guy who guarded Durant and Jokic effectively before. And on offense he has so much confidence I think there’s a 0% chance Wemby can do to him what he did to Chet.
Disagree. In fact I think they’re poorly equipped to hunt Brunson.
Fox has been very limited with his high ankle sprain, and I imagine whatever he did to gut through last night made him worse.
Castle is a turnover machine. I know a lot of that was OKC but he’s just not ready to handle the ball as much as you need to hunt Brunson.
Champagnie is a catch and shoot guy. I think we stuck Brunson and Kolek on him the day he hit 11 threes, largely bc they stopped keeping track of him. That shouldn’t be an issue again.
What’s Devin Vassell going to do, post him up?
As for Dylan Harper, who I love, good luck with Mikal & OG, kid. Remember when your dad used to beat you up in the driveway?
Sochan will tell us all we need to know
I know OKC won the championship with this squad last year, but maybe they wouldn’t have if Haliburton didn’t go down. If the Pacers won (and I don’t think they were anything special), we’d probably be having a different conversation.
IMO OKC needs a legitimate 2nd option. IMO, Jalen Williams is a good player, but he’s not what they need. They need a guy that can shoot and make 3s and a high rate, handle the ball and score in other ways. And after this series, it seems clear Chet is not that player either.
Their offense is very good, but it’s not elite. They are too dependent on generating TOs unless they are hitting their 3s, but they are not a high volume or high percentage 3 point shooting team.
Mitch’s injury is so freaking unfortunate. Oh well.
I don’t see the Spurs ball pressuring all Knicks ball handlers like the Thunder would do. Wemby will guard Hart, so he will probably have an unimpeded time getting the offense set.
The Knicks have a huge edge in shooting. Vassell and Champagnie are the only guys you really worry about shooting from deep in the starting lineup, and there are no great shooters on their bench. Castle and Fox shot 33% from deep this season, Harper shot 34% and Wemby 35%.
Given how many 3PAs the Knicks allow, I feel like this could be a big advantage.
It’s the other way around.
They have the players to defend Brunson well just like they did with Shai and Anthony Edwards. They can guard the perimeter well and even you beat that, Wemby is waiting at the basket and in mid range.
It’s also going to be tougher to use Mikal and OG cutting to the basket to get everyone else involved around the rim.
To win, we are going to have to run with them and shoot and hit a LOT of 3s with ball movement.
As for OKC, according to Spotrac they are projected to me 28m above the second apron. I assume they will decline I-Hart’s option, and so they keep Dort at 19m? How much are their owners willing to pay in tax without finals windfalls?
“Sochan will tell us all we need to know”
I was wondering to myself whether having him with his knowledge of the Spurs’ inner workings and stuff could help. But probably not much.
Our best resource is the game film from the last series. We played them 3X during the regular season so that helps too. We did kick their asses at MSG on a matinee game to end a long winning streak, so there’s that, but they have evolved considerably since March and so have we.
I think the biggest advantage we have is that playing the game through KAT and him being a constant elite threat from 3 just forces Wembanyama to stay on him. Castle, Harper and Champagnie are all very good man to man defenders but if we keep running cuts and screens we cut thay advantage away significantly.
Without Mitchell and Williams OKC was down to just Shai as a competent ball handler, while we have Bridges and to a certain extent Hart who can initiate offense too. I’m confident we’ll present a whole different set of challenges for their defense.
Yeah. The two regular season games against the Spurs are 4th and 6th in the season terms of 3PAs by the Knicks (52 and 48). And they shot 40 3s in the Cup final. Funnily the one time they hit over 40% is the game they lost.
They will deploy Wemby against Hart, not KAT, like they did with Caruso. In a way, it will be a maxed out version of the Cavs series, but with Vassell on KAT instead of Mobley. That might open things up for KAT’s passing game, as he can pass over Vassell, but I’m confident Wemby will be parked in the paint.
Zach Lowe noted in his podcast that the highest number of screens Hart set this season was on one of the Spurs games, so they’ll try to put Wemby in the action. But I assume they will force Hart to shoot over and over again.
While I do think that OKC needs to make some changes, they were missing 2 of their best 5 players for most of the series. That put added pressure on other role players and freed up SAS all the more to attack Shai.
In any case, it’s pretty clear that OKC is not going to own the West without competition for the next few years like so many folks thought up until recently. Even if one thinks that the Spurs got a bit lucky with the OKC injuries, they are certainly for real. But teams in the West are now going to try to neutralize Wemby and the Wings with personnel moves, including OKC. I could see Mara going to a WC team like the Clips or Kings, or maybe OKC trading up to get him.
All I know is that if we don’t beat these guys, I’m blaming Brian Cronin.
This was a good tactical read on the matchup:
https://shaxnba.substack.com/p/the-finals-san-antonio-spurs?r=5jsbb9&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
This will also be a good series for mid range artists Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges.
The main advantage the Spurs have over us is positional size/length. Their smallest rotation player is De’Aaron Fox. Everyone else is at least 6’5″.
Brunson, Deuce, and Alvarado are all shorter than anyone that plays for the Spurs.
We make up for that a bit with OG and Mikal having enormous wingspans and Hart playing bigger than he is. But Wemby’s rim protection is a nuisance, and Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell, Keldon, and Champagnie are all high-octane players.
The key for us will be making shots, especially 3’s. I also think we have some advantages on the boards. And we definitely have the best closer by a country mile.
If by mid range you mean 15 feet that’s possible, but when Wemby is roaming the paint you aren’t getting into that 6-12 foot range. You dribble in, see that long armed monster and dribble right back out.
I wonder if the unemployed Morey is wistfully thinking cutting Champaignie in Feb 2023 was really a good Idea so Mac McClung could wear a Philly jersey in the slam dunk contest?
IMO, they were probably missing Ajay more than Williams. McCain had his moments, but I’d way rather have Ajay out there.
They were great all year without Williams (in fact arguably better because he was less than 100% most of the year). Williams is a good player and can get better, but I think he’s overrated.
Exactly. We have many options on offense we can employ against this team. We might lose one or two games due to shooting variance, but we can score on them. We also have better rebounders despite their height advantage.
I’m more worried about defense. But if we end up trading 2s for 3s with them, we should be able to win.
Contender for most overrated ever.
He talked a great game and fit nicely into the advanaced stats trend, but he make a LOT of huge errors throughout his career.
I wonder whether we will see any of Huk, Mo, or Sochan on the floor in other than garbage time.
Huk seems the most likely to play due to Mitch’s issues.
Mo provided X-factor defensive length and perhaps some shooting.
Sochan practiced against these guys and knows their tendencies. Maybe he is deployed to eat some minutes as a disruptive defender.
Obviously I hope that we don’t need any of these three, but it does feel like they could have some situational value.
“Contender for most overrated ever.
He talked a great game and fit nicely into the advanaced stats trend, but he make a LOT of huge errors throughout his career.”
I never liked the guy, especially when he was in Houston. That said, Philly was a really bad choice for Morey. Considering how bad some executives around the league are, I could see a bottom-feeding team taking a chance on him at the right price, but anyone who pays him top dollar is making a mistake.
LOL!
This season Brian gets what he wants from the basketball Gods, so it’s done!! 😉 😀
I am so excited to see the Knicks in the Finals again. Last time in 1999 I remember feeling a sense of hopelessness as Tim Duncan was simply too much against a Ewing-less Knicks and despite Spreewell’s heroics, we lost to a freaking Avery Johnson jumper in Game 5.
This time around we have 2 incredible shooters in Brunson and KAT and while Wemby can look dominate at times, I don’t feel the same sense of dread like I did with Duncan.
They wouldn’t have made it past the Nuggets without Jalen Williams.
Robinson was still a great player that season. He lead the league in DBPM and WS/48. He bested Duncan that season in TS%, OBPM, DBPM, BPM , VORP, and WS/48.
One of my in-laws became a OKC fan a few years ago. Before the Spurs series, I asked her if she was worried about them. She said, “nah not really” and then actually said that Chet is similar to Wemby 🤣🤣
The clowns at the hoops collective just had a serious conversation about whether or not the Knicks will hang their eastern conference champs banner
As usual, a lot of insightful commentary here this AM.
1) I completely agree with marechal that our path to glory might run through the midrange. When you watch Wemby, including against OKC, what really stands out is how many guards/wings drive towards the paint, see the behemoth, and then turn back around and essentially blow up the possession.
Unfortunately Wemby is so god damn big he can recover out to the midrange area and still impact/block a shot, but he’s not quite as comfortable there as he is under the rim.
2) We really, really, really need Mitch. He’s one of few guys in the NBA who can legitimately keep Wemby off the glass. If I was 100% sure he was healthy I might even say this is a 30 MPG series for him, barring foul trouble and hack-a-Mitch issues. I mean, look at this!
3) The Spurs are sneakily a mediocre shooting team, so to the extent possible we should try to win the math war. This somewhat contradicts my first point, but given the presence of Wemby we really might need to win from the midrange and 3 as opposed to the rim.
4) I’m not terribly worried about Brunson on defense. My guess is we start him on Fox, though I could also see us trying to hide him on Vassell. If either of those guys try to cook, that’s probably a possession we’re happy with.
5) Would we dare start OG on Wemby? I’m torn between him being likely our best single option and the fact that doing so would seem to be tempting the injury gods. I also am already anxious about early KAT foul trouble. In any event, I’m very glad we have OG.
I’m excited. This is gonna be such a good series. You have a young team with an all world player and an outstanding coach vs a team in the middle of their prime with an top 7 player, great wing defense, and an underrated coach looking for his own title. This is probably gonna be a better series than it would be against OKC because there should be much less foul baiting and play stoppage. I’ve heard that this is gonna be an easier series for the Knicks since we aren’t playing OKC. Lies. This version of San Antonio is SCARY. But so is this version of the Knicks. I almost feel like Tracy Morgan at the end of the Cleveland series in anticipation for the Finals. This is incredibly dope to me…but of course I’m getting side eyed and eye rolls from the missus LOL
She just better be ready to see me streak down the street should we win this chip
One of the things that’s (foolishly) surprised me is the amount of media stupidity coming at me. I’m definitely going to carefully curate my intake. At this point, until Tuesday night, there’s not a lot of new and interesting takes that are liable to show up.
Edit: Discounting this site, of course. Where smart and insightful is the norm…
They should come back to the Garden up 2-0 and then hang the Cup banner instead.
Hey so this next post is gonna be long. It’s my Knicks fan origin story, and to be blunt, I’m about to share some real personal shit with yall that not too many people know. Please read at your leisure:
I didn’t have too much interest in sports as a kid until I reached junior high. My earliest memories of being a Knick fan was talking sports with my 8th grade science teacher after class. I followed the team, but it wasn’t until I got to Stuyvesant HS in fall ‘92 (I was an incoming sophomore) that i began to watch Knick games. I was 15.
My brother and I had spent most of my elementary and junior high years living with my mom in Yonkers, visiting dad in the Bronx on wknds, some holidays and split summers. My parents split up in ‘82, and things had pretty much always been tumultuous btwn them, with my brother and I always thrown in the middle. The summer of ‘92 was when dad convinced my brother and I to move in with him full-time. If I gave yall the details of that plan my dad hatched, we’d be here all day. But let’s say the decision was difficult and my mother wouldn’t speak to my brother and I after the move for at least 6 months.
We made the move, and at the same time my dad moved out of his apt in the west Bronx (the Promenade if anyone’s curious) and bought a row house way across the Bronx not far from the southern end of White Plains Rd. Dad made a lot of promises bc he had a better job and more financial means than mom, but really it was my brother who saw the bulk of that for reasons I would not fully understand until my dad explained to me after my son was born. But dad and I clashed during my first year at Stuy: imagine adjusting to a new and difficult school while adjusting to a new home life while dealing with an antagonistic father who actually tried to kick you out of the house because “i reminded him too much of my mom”*
So that year, I didn’t have much to hang onto other than 4 hours of homework every night, and watching the Knicks religiously. Ewing’s story of overcoming ridicule and insults in his college days resonated with me because I had great difficulty socially growing up and always felt like an outcast.** I loved the toughness of Oakley and Mason, loved Starks overachieving story and heart. I could never in a million years turn my back on them. In many ways, they were ugly ducklings, I was an ugly duckling – I loved it.
* last year I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism, and this has begun to answer a LOT of whys going back to childhood. I was bad at sports, especially basketball (compromised fine motor skills, you should see how long it takes me to tie shoes lol). To the point I didn’t want to play, which puzzled my dad to no end. He couldn’t understand why I enjoyed watching games on TV and playing video games (NBA Live) but not play for real. I’ve come to realize over the past 5 years there was a lot about me he either couldn’t understand or took for granted because I did well in school.
**my diagnosis also began to explain why I struggled mightily with social skills. I do feel a sense of vindication on this, because a Black kid growing up in New York City back then who couldn’t play bball and had little friends was difficult- and that was mainly bc my dad made it difficult (my mother, in her own way, was more understanding).
This Knicks’ run, with a real chance to win it all… the emotions that go back to high school year-old me watching those early/mid 90s teams… so many, many emotions.
My 23-year-old son couldn’t be bothered with ball sports for 22 years.
As a dad that played and loved ball sports, it was an adjustment.
But this year he got the basketball bug and the Knicks.
And not as a bandwagon, but early in the season because his old man loved Knicks ball.
And they get to the finals.
Lol
howdy raven…pretty sure we all need to find frank’s feed for the chance at a little untarnished truth…
I’m resigned to the thought that wednesday’s game is gonna be a tough one for us…once that game is over I’ll reframe my thoughts maybe…
thank you very much frank o and cdiggy for sharing stuff…appreciate it and wishing you both the best…
Nice story, C-Diggy. Thanks for sharing.
I’ll take a shot at HistoryBlogger.net, see if I can shorten it to something readable.
Was the WORST athlete as a kid, picked last after everyone, too socially inept as well even to realize I shouldn’t bother showing up (raised by hyper-unathletic academic parents and two unathletic academic sisters, so no role models, not that it would have helped I suspect). Actually struck out at kick ball, where they roll the big red rubber ball at you. Kind of breathtakingly bad. Hung out with social bottom-feeder kids, some still my friends today.
Then puberty hit, and I grew to almost six feet by ninth grade, developed mad eye-hand coordination, and became the fastest kid in town (four middle school sprint records). Joined a scrum of guys at lunch each day who hung out under the basket, grabbing rebounds and dribbling out to shoot before someone stole it. Since I was reasonably tall I could get rebounds, and I learned how to shoot that way. Started going to the nearby university to play pickup games, discovered the secret cheat code — if you play defense against their best guy, even if nobody else plays defense on your team, you’ll probably win — and winners stay on the court. Made no friends on opposing teams (who plays defense in pickup games?), but often played two hours straight, almost every night.
Started watching the Knicks, loved it, and haven’t stopped since, outside of a couple of years stuck out near Stockbridge, MA (lovely place, but this was back in the day and all I could get was Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce…).
Not sure when I found Knickerblogger, a work colleague turned me onto it, Ruru was still around, lurked for a while, now you can’t shut me up, for which I apologize. Best group of people to enjoy this team with that I could ever imagine. LFGK!
My origin story isn’t very interesting (my best friend liked the Knicks, so I did), but I really appreciate everyone sharing theirs. Win or lose, I love all you goofballs. Well, most of you.
Thanks for the moving story Cdiggy. That Oakley, Mason and Starks team was the ultimate underdog love story for me as well. It’s great to root for a top dog team like this version of the Knicks, and hopefully they erase that 1994 heartbreak.
Beautiful story, C-Diggy. Really looking forward to the shared experience of the Finals on KB. Hoping those recently missing will hop aboard.
Per Katz. “Individual stuff” is also the name of Mitch’s OnlyFans.
Ahh ruruland. The ultimate Melo stan. I wonder what he’s been up to since Melo retired.
Great stories, Cdiggy and Raven!
I became a Knicks fan pretty organically in the ’60s as a little kid that loved sports in general and basketball in particular. Listened or watched virtually every game since 1966, except during my college years in the mid ’70s to early ’80s. I vaguely remember Jim Gordon and Don Criqui doing TV but mostly remember Bob Wolff from those days. But Marv on the radio was the man. I would act out the games with a ball of sweatsocks and a lampshade while listening.
I remember how the Celts were on a long run but the Chamberlain Sixers finally won by assembling what at the time was considered to be the greatest team ever. Then Wilt went to the Lakers and the first great big-3 was formed. Wilt was injured all year with a ruptured patella but came back in time for the playoffs. The Knicks were heavy underdogs going into the finals. I remember being a nervous wreck of a 12 year old going through the finals, especially terrified of Jerry West, and being shocked when he drilled that 3/4 court shot to put game 3 into OT. I remember Willis going down and thinking the ride was over. I guess we all know how that turned out!
I probably loved the 1969 Mets close to as much, as they had gone from laughing stock to underdogs beating the heavily favored Orioles in the World Series. But nothing in my life, before or since, compared with that Knicks championship run.
This would only top that one because my whole family are rabid Knicks fans and have known nothing but disappointment. I would be way more happy for them than for myself. And for all of you here that were too young to experience that amazing event in 1970.
My daughter graduated high school yesterday, it made me think of my own high school graduation ceremony. It was at the end of May, 1993. I delivered the commencement address. I’m sure I said some incredibly poignant shit that all my classmates still remember today, but all that I personally can remember talking about in it was the Knicks, who had just gone up 2-0 on the Bulls in the ECF thanks to The Dunk. It must have been at least half of my speech, and I’m sure I did not tie it in neatly.
Btw Raven I’m jealous of you lol. You hit puberty and gained height and athletic prowess. I hit puberty and gained… weight.
J/k…
Here’s Nate Silver’s reasonably optimistic take on our team and its chances.
Hadn’t been posting much here for several years. I think I started in 2004, where our great hope was Jamal Crawford maturing into a great SG, and could Starbury lift the franchise. Now Crawford is calling games, with he and Trevor Ariza eventually turning into decent role players.
Passionate arguments about a 33-49 team.
Seems like a much more civil group these days.
Took three or more years off, mostly lurking from time to time.
Fun to see some of the original crowd still contributing.
What a joy this playoff run is.
It’s experience.
This is a final of men against boys.
There is simply no fucking way this Spurs team is winning a chip in its first playoffs.
The Thunder are a brute force team that come at you in waves. The Spurs were built to survive that.
The Knicks are problem solvers.
And when the Knicks begin to solve the Spurs’ problems — and they will — we will see the Spurs inexperience show up in ways it never did against the Thunder. Their shooting will fail them. They’ll turn the ball over. The spotlight will prove too bright.
I like Knicks in 4. Maybe 5 if they’re rusty in game 1.
Every time one of these young teams gets to the finals earlier than anyone thought and plays a competent veteran team, the same thing happens: they get their asses kicked.
There was Shaq & Penny in ‘95 against the Rockets, LeBron in ‘07 against the Spurs, the KD/Westbrook/Harden Thunder that so impressively beat the Spurs in ‘12 and then got throttled by the Heat after stealing game 1.
And now it’s going to be Wemby in ‘26. These children may grow up to win a lot of titles, but they are not winning this one.
Cdig — class of ’97 here. Were you in the old building your first year?
Hey GoldClub! My first year at Stuy was the first year of the new bldg down in Battery Park, fall of ‘92. Our pool wasn’t even ready til the following fall, and I was in the very first gym class that used it.
Mitch got a lot on his plate this finals. Hope he’s able to cope productively.
If any of you look real close at my avatar, my son is holding a picture I made of #lolKnicksSupv in a Brunson jersey. He doesn’t want to admit
Also, it’s insane that there’s multiple Stuy High alums on here. Just crazy.
Let’s go win this fucking chip!
I’ve told this story before but I became a Knicks fan once we got cable summer of 1989. I would watch MSG network for Yankees games and the monthly WWF shows but would see commercials for the Knicks and started watching them mainly cause of Patrick Ewing since every advertisement about the Knicks featured him.
Watching them beat the Celtics in the 1990 playoffs cemented me a Knicks fan for life even though we moved down to Miami that summer and I’ve lived down here ever since. For many years this century I was mocked by my bandwagon Heat friends but hopefully I’ll get the last laugh when we finally win it all this month!
nice…y’all making me wanna just sit back and listen…reminisce…
keep it comin’ luv
My story actually has a lot to do with the Spurs in 2 different ways, as coincidental as it seems.
Here in Brazil we only really got late playoff games on TV, that was before ESPN arrived here, but the Michael Jordan 90’s boom got us games on regular TV, so everyone around me became Bulls fans… and trying to be different from my cousins and brother I decided I liked the blue and orange team facing the Bulls and always losing… that went on and off until I was 14, in 99, when we had transmissions of the ECF and the finals against the Spurs and it was the first time I really suffered watching the Knicks.
Then I had the opportunity to study in New York for a while in 2008, and i managed to get tickets to watch Knicks vs Spurs, when the David Lee, Jamal Crawford, Fred Jones and Z-Bo led Knicks took the Spurs with Duncan and Ginobili to overtime (and obviously lost eventually). Iirc Michael Finley hit a 3 at the buzzer to take it to overtime.
That was the experience that really cemented I was a Knicks fan for life.
I actually cemented my Knicks fandom after a stretch of pseudo fandom when I moved to the Upper East Side in my late 20s; I would go out to a nice dive bar and have a burger and read a book and flirt wildly with the extremely cute waitress and watch each game while drinking copiously until I couldn’t focus on the book’s words anymore, at which time I would go home to watch the end of the game.
Not really recommended, and I didn’t even get a date with the waitress.
But it’s been nonstop Knicks ever since.
The graduating class before mine (2013) at Stuy tried to get Jeremy Lin to speak at the convocation. It didn’t work, but if IIRC he did send a video.
fell in like with the knicks through the sports’ pages of the times…bernard king really caught my attention…
liked to follow saint johns and the big east back then, so when patrick got drafted it sealed the deal for me…
no question though had I not become engaged with KB, my knick fandom would have drifted away big time during all those shitty years…you all made the years of horrible basketball viewing not so terrible 😳
watching the yankees play at the sacramento athletics…
the athletics are basically homeless…surprised vegas is letting them come there…maybe they have new management or something…
C-Diggy’s origin story made me reflect on the length of my Knick fandom-62 years*. Went to the old Garden, with Nedicks on the corner and watched the likes of Len Chappel, Johnny Egan, Emmet Bryant, and Paul Hogue. Truly horrendous teams. A few years later, Willis was drafted and the metamorphis began. I guess the wait from my initiation to 1969 was 5 seasons and the championship was serendipity. ( Crude analogy: as memorable as my first orgasm)
* Another reminder that I’m fucking old.
I’m guessing I’m the only Evander Childs HS alum here…
watching the SNY youtube channel, they have a bunch of recent knick press conference interviews…
did not know KAT was a huge jeremy lin fan…said it is what made him a serious knick fan…
interesting choice on his behalf…
I obviously didn’t graduate high school in NY but I do remember attending catholic school thru 4th grade at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Astoria!
The Knicks getting this far and getting a weaker opponent in the Finals was as far as I think the universe owes me this postseason. They have already made me very, very happy.
As I’ve said a bunch of times, the Knicks getting to the Finals was my goal for the Knicks this season, and they’ve achieved that. And they now face an easier opponent (FOR THEM) than the Thunder, so I am thrilled.
A victory would be gravy at this point. So if they lose, I’m still very happy.
But yes, with that all being said, the Knicks should definitely kick the Spurs’ ass. You can’t play off KAT like you could Chet in those big games. And all of the Knicks’ veterans are, well, you know, veterans. They all know what to do, and they’re all tough as nails. This is a young, sloppy Spurs team. I’m not saying the Knicks will sweep them, but the Knicks should have this series (and a Knicks sweep honestly wouldn’t shock me).
The Knicks are underdogs in this series and actually I wouldn’t have it any other way. Let the pundits count them out, it’s music to my ears.
okay, I’m guessing we go down by 15 at some point in the first quarter…
not saying the spurs will win the game, just that they are going to come out very aggressive…
and, well, we haven’t really played a lot of basketball in the last few weeks…
they did it to the thunder a few times…
My brother moved to NYC in 1990 and I started casually following and rooting for the Knicks then. But my real Knick fandom began in 1999.
I spent the second semester of my junior year in college and that following summer living in NYC and studying at an acting conservatory. Lived in an apartment building on waverly place right off Washington square park (above boo radleys if any of you remember that bar.)
The day I moved to NYC was when the strike ended and I started watching Knicks games on the regular during that time.
Then the magical playoff run of 99 happened. I watched every single game either at bars or house parties. I remember going to a SoHo loft party during the pacer series. This party was quintessential late 90s NYC house party with all sorts of cool downtown artsy cats and a DJ but half of the party was huddle around a small TV when we saw Larry Johnson’s 4 point play. Sprewell was my favorite player.
I went back to my college for my senior year and then moved back to NYC in the summer of 2000. I was so excited to move to NYC and get to follow the Knicks full time.
Then the Knicks fell into their long dark nightmare.
I found knickerblogger I think right before the 2010 summer. This place has been a bastion of hope and humor and light for me through many darks days as a fan. It’s a glorious moment for us all.
If Sochan was the type of guy who could tell anyone anything, he’d still be a Spur. 😉
I know everyone here has watched a lot of basketball, but I watched every game of the Western Finals and I really feel like we should be the favorite. I think our defense is going to cause boatloads of turnovers from the Spurs. Time will tell, but I have a strong feeling about it. We feast off turnovers and I think they’re going to give them to us.
Yeah, the Spurs are sloppy as FUCK.
I’m giving +1 to everybody, so cool to read the stories about how you’ve become Knicks diehard fans.
I’ve already told mine when i joined the group, i think.
And yeah, KB does wonders for my Knicks fandom, i wouldn’t stop rooting for the Knicks because that’s for life, but it would’ve been a lot more hard to endure the dark years without reading you all. I don’t remember if i joined in late 2019 or late 2020, but i remember reading KB since the Donnie Walsh days when we prepared to welcome Lebron for, i don’t know, 2 seasons? Seems like a century ago now. LOL
Thank you so much to each and everyone of you.
Now, let’s f*ck*ng win the LOB !! 🧡💙
My origin story is very easy. It started the day the Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing. I was 10 years old. And in his first season, I went to my first Knicks game at the garden. I got to go for free through the community center in my neighborhood in Forest Hills Queens. I was playing in a basketball league at the community center, and they took a bunch of us to our first Knicks game and Rangers game that fall. Fall of 1985. I was in fifth grade. I’ve been hooked ever since.
Brian, now is not the time to give the universe a pass!
I totally understand what you’re saying, because our local team (FC Porto) has won everything (european cups, world cups) but my son is yet to see that, so now i root hard for that to happen again for him to experience what i’ve experienced many years before. Funny stuff, parenting… we put their happiness above ours. 😉
It has done SO much for me this postseason so far! I think it would be greedy to ask for a Knick Finals win.
I think it’s a good thing that I don’t even NEED to rely on its desire to please me to get a Knicks win, though. They are just the more complete team right now than the Spurs. Who wins a title in their breakout season? No one does. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe the Showtime Lakers, but they had a little guy named Kareem Abdul Jabar on that team, too.
I like the strategy, Brian.
As long as everyone remains healthy, I am grateful, too.
But please, universe, keep the boys healthy for the next two weeks. The Spurs have had enough breaks — Anthony Edwards, Ayo Dosunmu, Donte DiVincenzo, Jalen Williams, and Ajay Mitchell was enough.
Just a wild guess here…I think Mitch will at best have a 5-10 minute cameo in game 1 and more likely will sit. If he “sits” in game 1 and we win, he will definitely sit game 2.
By game 3, assuming no complications, he will be fully cleared to play with a protective device of some sort, even if he isn’t truly medically ready. That would give him almost 2 weeks post surgery, which would be enough time for at least partial healing to take place. I don’t think the risk of further damage/complications would be great enough not to give him a shot, ready or not.
I was born in 1990 and the Knicks love was omnipresent even though I didn’t follow the team or watch any games.
In 2nd or 3rd grade Sewing came to my school and walked down the hall to give everyone high fives. I think he gave a talk to the older students but that was pretty cool.
My father was a diehard Yankee fan and we’d watch every game. So growing up I became obsessed with baseball and the stats obsessed baseball culture, eventually parlaying that into fantasy baseball just as the advanced stats revolution was taking place.
In high school I suffered from severe depression and was sent to a therapeutic boarding school where one of the only things we’d do everyday was go to the local 24 hour fitness or rec center and play ball. From there I started following basketball more closely and my Yankees fandom cascaded down to the rest of New York sports. KB was featured on ESPN’s true hoop network and my love of New York sports and advanced stats found it’s home circa 2008. Baseball felt solved and sussing out how to assign value in basketball seemed more interesting. I lurked for a long, long time and today, as you all know, post obnoxiously often.
The Knicks and the NBA are the only team/sport I follow now. I’d probably have left sports entirely if it weren’t for this blog.
“I’m guessing I’m the only Evander Childs HS alum here…”
My Dad went there, so there’s that.
It’s genuinely touching to read all you guys’ Knicks origins stories. As a long-time lurker and occasional poster, you guys have been a pretty much daily presence in my life for the last fifteen years and have made this team so much easier to stick with. I’ve never even been to NYC; I became a Knicks fan in high school partially because I really liked the pre-Melo Amar’e team and partially because I was too much of a contrarian to be a Bulls fan like everyone else around here. It’s been a hell of a ride, gentlemen. Hats off to all you.
On a blog whose entire existence is predicated on hyperfixating on advanced statistics and salary cap numbers, I suspect you’re not alone in going through life with undiagnosed autism
My dad started taking me to Knicks games in the early 80’s. Somehow he had a 1/2 season he split with a friend first row behind the Knicks bench. He wasn’t a rich guy so the relative cost of tickets was pretty cheap back then. But what an intro to the sport. My dad loved to yell at the refs and the opponents. One time the Knicks were sucking and he got into a shouting match with Hubie Brown. Remember it clear as day. I was at Ewing’s first game as a Knick too. Then once they got good the guy he split them with who owned the seats kept them all for himself and that was that. Haven’t sat that close since lol.
Zman, my mom graduated from Evander Childs.
Thank you all for the luv… EB, I don’t I am either.
Obviously I can’t speak for anyone else, but my diagnosis and coming to terms with it has been deeply personal. I’ve only told a handful of trusted people, and I’m always evaluating when and how to tell a few others. None of my coworkers know, but not exactly for the reasons you think:
1. there’s nothing i really need in terms of workplace accommodations that I don’t already enjoy. As much as I rag on #lolKnicksSupv for his trolling, he and I have a really strong work relationship and he doesn’t sweat me at all about my comings and goings as long as work gets done.
2. I need nothing to change with anyone I work with. Coaches will always be coaches (read: hard-headed), and the relationships I have with them and the other trolls are just fine as it is.
I have to say, I am pretty neutral on this one. The Spurs are extremely good, but their three best players are 22, 21, and 20. It’s unfathomable that they are championship material already. So advantage Knicks.
That said, they just beat the juggernaut defending champs, including two in a row facing elimination and game 7 on the road. So, obviously, their age and lack of center stage experience doesn’t mean shit. So advantage Spurs.
That said, the Knicks are good too. Who really knows how this will play out. So pick ‘em.
Could be fun. I’ll tune in for game 3 if they split in SA.
This is one of those rare times when I think starting on the road is actually a BENEFIT to the Knicks, because even if they lose BOTH, they’d just be essentially holding serve, home/away, and if they win even ONE, the Spurs are likely toast.
I read here every day so I’d like to introduce myself and comment on this great time for the Knicks . moved to New York in 1985 worked with a guy from the Bronx. It was a big neck fan in 1999 and fell in love with the team. Went to a lot of games afterwards in the dark years. Raise my son inBrooklyn a knick fan . has the picture hanging up on his wall from Clyde’s restaurant with me him and Clyde. I have a family reunion in Austin Texas starting tomorrow. It just so happened so I’m going to drive to San Antonio and my son and watch the first game. Happy to be alive. Happy to be a kNick fan right now and always . I love the writing here I read almost every day ,great sub way reading LETS GO