The Knicks fell to the New Jersey Nets last night 111-110, concluding a piddling preseason for both teams who finish 3-4. But while the Knicks continue to look like non-contenders, there is a palpable sense of hope emanating from Madison Square Garden these days. The NBA regular season appetizer has served Knicks fans the emergence of Wilson Chandler, the freeing of David Lee, and even the return of Stephon Marbury to the starting lineup-- at small forward no less. Indeed, the times they are a changin'.
But the biggest difference from last season, both in terms of the starting lineup and team ethos, is that former franchise player Eddy Curry appears to be out of coach Mike D'Antoni's rotation. Last night the coach started Lee and Zach Randolph -- which appears to be his favorite, and most talented, frontline pairing -- while Curry came of the bench for eleven minutes. In that time he put up a line fans have gotten used to booing: zero field goals, zero rebounds, zero blocks, three turnovers and two fouls. Not helping the team, but hey, at least he got to stay in an Holiday Inn Express last night.
Isiah Thomas made a number of questionable moves, but none weighed the franchise down more than the acquisition of Eddy Curry because the first mistake (that of acquiring Curry) was compounded by constantly playing him to justify the move. Not only was The Big Zero unproductive, but he helped make players around him less productive as well (cf. David Lee, Zach Randolph).
So if nothing else, the fact that D'Antoni has no allegiances to the decisions of the previous regime and will therefore not force fans to stomach such foul play is a gateway to liberated fandom. The Knicks may not have the best players in the league, but at least the best players on the team will get to, uh, play. And that's a good first step in the right direction.
For the Knicks, not for Eddy Curry.
