Old Soldiers
Yep. Just like I said. Heat in 6.
Congratulations are in order for Gary Payton and Alonzo Mourning. GP is probably one of the top 10 point guards of all time. Lots of swagger. Lots of mouth. Lots of game. His best years are obviously behind him (and have been since 2003 when he never really fit in with the Lakers). But in his prime, he was good for 22 points, 9 dishes, 2 or 3 steals a night, and a lot of in your face defense. And for me, Zo' is one of those villians that you have to respect. Lots of battles between my Knicks and the Tim Hardaway/Alonzo Mourning Heat back in the 90's. This guys was a true warrior on the court. Gave no ground on defense. He developed a nice 19 foot jumper and became a hall-of-fame type player who was good for 21 points, 10 boards, and 3 or 4 blocks a night. And again, he was a rock on defense. These guys have been in the league for a long time (16 years for GP, 14 years for Zo). They've both come close when they were the stars (GP and Kemp should have had a legit run at MJ's Bulls, until Kemp got mad about money, and Zo was always just a hair short with the Heat). But now they've both got their rings, as role players. Which isn't a bad way to roll.
Dirk and Co. were just a little bit short on stops when they needed to contain D-Wade. Not many teams can slow him down. And Devin Harris/Jason Terry were just a little too small/slow on D to do it. I'm intrigued to see what would have happened had Ginobli not given that terrible foul on Dirk - I think that the Spurs may have gotten it together by the time the Finals rolled around.
Anyway, I wonder if the Knicks can't see what the Mavs did, and put together a blueprint for some wins. Really, if the Mavs can have Terry and Devin Harris start, and get enough shots for Stack, Terry, and Dirk, then I don't see why the Kincks can't have Starbury and Franchise play together, and have Crawford come off the bench. Of course, it sort of helps to have some 7' dude with an outside game to draw other teams bigs away from the hoop, which the Knicks don't have. But, the big thing is defense and effort. We can live with teams that just aren't talented enough. But defense and effort must happen, otherwise Gotham may just take to the streets, and put the torch to MSG and put Isaiah's head on a pike.
And no more hoops for a little while. Now, only hardball will have my attention until Midnight Madness comes around next October.
-Chairman
2 comments:
well, now that you're moving on to hardball for the summer, i thought these Mike Shannon quotes would be quite appropriate: http://www.gavroche.org/blog/archives/001347.php
-jk
I'm glad to see the Heat win too--especially for Zo. Honestly, a few years ago I really thought he was done. But he came back from his health problems and proved me wrong. A true champion.
Roland, I think your Knicks are going to be bad for a long time (3 years at least). Regardless of Curry's physical condition, I knew he didn't have the "heart" of a champion before he became a Knick. Yes, he'll possibly develop into an All-Star center, but there will always be other centers who will outplay him in crunch time. Furthermore, neither Starbury nor Franchise is all that good. If they were, they wouldn't have already played for a combined 7 NBA teams already. And to add insult to injury, the guy responsible for the Knicks current punchline of a roster is still running the show (Isaiah Thomas). But the biggest reasons the Knicks will be bad for at least 3 more years are: Miami, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, New Jersey, Washington, Indiana, Orlando, Milwaukee, etc. (Although, you probably already knew that.)
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