Sportsmeat

The Positive Knicks Fan Post, Vol. 1

Isiah Thomas has been told that the Knicks need to improve, or he's gone. Seeing as the Knicks won 23 games last year, I figure for Isiah to make his case, he has to win 24. Last night, in triple overtime, he got win number one, and while I'm no fan of Thomas, I'm trying to stay positive. Here's what I liked about last night:
-- Isiah seems more equipped to deal with the mistakes of young players. When Channing Frye decided to jack up a three with 20 seconds on the shot clock, he looked annoyed, but he did not look like someone had just jammed a meat thermometer in his ear, as Larry Brown did last season.
-- Steve Francis was horrible, which means more court time for the dynamic, always entertaining Nate Robinson. Actually, in overtime number two, after Marbury fouled out, the Knicks had one of their most likeable lineups on the floor: Robinson, Crawford, Lee, Curry, and Q. Richardson.
-- David Lee seems to be cutting down on mistakes while maintaining his energy. Granted, it's one game, but it was a long game, and he was solid under the basket. Richardson spotted him alone for an alley-oop dunk in OT3 that helped the Knicks stay alive.
-- Isiah is, if nothing else, imaginative. Look at the plays he drew up for the three times that the Knicks had the ball with a tie score and between 5 and 15 seconds remaining.
Fourth quarter: Crawford dribbles around near the top of the key, chucks up a fadeaway three and misses.
OT1: Crawford dribbles around, tries to chuck up a 20-footer, gets blocked, and then floats a fadeaway prayer that falls short.
OT2: Crawford dribbles around, leans in, and throws up a 12-foot, off-balance brick.
Whoops, I drifted out of "positive Knicks fan" mode. Apologies.

One more lesson learned from last night's MSG broadcast: Memphis guard Kyle Lowry, despite having a "mundane" stat line, is "ubiquitous," "pugnacious," and "intrepid," according to Walt "Clyde" Frazier.