Time Out New York calls their new book of NBA analysis of today's NBA "Emersonian." The Times went with, "fabulously eccentric, gloriously illustrated,... phenomenal swag." For those unfamiliar, the blog FreeDarko is the cool hangout spot for smart kids who love the NBA. And their Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac is the illustrated Cliff Notes you need to get up to speed. As a primer, one of the FreeDarko Chief Justices, Dr. LIC, gave us his thoughts on the Knicks, their new coach and the future.
On coach Mike D'Antoni: What I saw from D'Antoni in that first game was the ultimate egotrip statement that also might actually work. He was basically saying, "screw players (Curry and Marbury in particular), it's all about my system."
He knew Curry and Marbury couldn't function within the 7-seconds-or-less system, because Marbury is too dysfunctional and paranoid, and Curry is too fast to run. Mikey D was basically saying, "Give me Chris Duhon or give me Steve Nash, I don't really care because I make things happen either way."
On the Knicks chances this season: I've said this all along, D'Antoni is good for 38 wins, which is enough for the playoffs in the East. At the end of the day though, D'Ant's has never placed enough focus on rebounding, which will ultimately be his demise.
And that's where I'm confounded: The Knicks are still shooting for the (likely) playoffs with the squad that they have, which means that they STILL haven't gone into full rebuilding mode in the post-Allan Houston-era. I guess with all of those Isiah leftover band-aids (Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson) it's tough to really unload players, but still you can't look too far into the future on the shoulders of David Lee, Wilson Chandler, and Danilo Gallinari.
On the Knicks representing New York: I like to use the Knicks as a metaphor for New York as a whole, and I find that it always works: Micheal Ray Richardson sort of represented that really ugly Taxi Driver era. The Patrick Ewing period was all about Wall Street greed that transitioned into pre-Giuliani badassery with Anthony Mason and Starks.
Then you have the late 90s, which was a really weird period of complacency and reorganization; Marbury was all about pining for glory years. And now we reach limbo, which is the D'Antoni reign. He's struggling to realize that if you have Basquiat and James Chance, you also have crack and daytime muggings. And if you have an American Apparel on 125th Street, then you don't have good art being made. Does that make any sense? I don't know. I guess I should just shut up and thank the cosmos that the Knicks are going to be extremely fun to watch this year.
On the future of the franchise: In my opinion, they should pay David Lee, build around him, Wilson Chandler, Galinari, and Duhon (for better or for worse). Then dump everyone else and start fresh. Otherwise, this is a 7th or 8th seed for years to come, which just isn't very satisfying.
The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac is out everywhere November 11th.
