Recently on my way to play basketball at the basketball courts at Hamilton Fish Park, I passed by one of the biggest graffiti banners in the city celebrating Barack Obama's election victory—on Avenue C in the East Village. Obama has made his basketball prowess known at various campaign stops along the way. Apparently he prefers to play basketball to stay in shape rather than work out in the gym, jog, or ride bicycles as other presidents have done. As a huge basketball fan who supports the New York Knicks, it strikes me as more than coincidental that the team has for many years been down on its luck, caught up in on-court and off-court squabbles, failed policies, and personnel changes, only to completely undergo a regime change at the top in an attempt to give the Knicks a new glimmer of hope in the coming years. That's basically what's been happening with the Bush administration in Washington over the same period of time and what's happened with the recent election. So now there's a new coach in in Madison Square Garden and a new coach in the White House Garder: Coach Obama. Here's to hoping that with new leadership, new forms of team play, defense, hard work, and commitment to a goal-oriented approach, new team Obama and new team D'Antoni will both lead us out of our recessionary basketball blues—and sooner rather than later.
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2008 election, barack obama, basketball, dantoni, graffiti, new york knicks
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Posted on 11/17/2008
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For those Knicks fans who will be heading to Madison Square Garden this fall to see what Walsh, D'Antoni and Co. have put together there are some new official and unofficial rules to understand in terms of the game we love.
First of all the NBA Board of Governors approved the expanded use of instant replay for the 2008-09 season. This year the team of referees working a game will be at liberty to review the instant replay to determine whether a field goal was a 2- or 3-point attempt or to decide whether a foul was committed inside or outside the 3-point shooting arc (and thus warranting 2 or 3 shots at the line.) Although this should lead to better decision making accuracy for the refs, it also could easily lead to a game with too many stoppages.
That's the only official rule change I've read about—but the other night during the Knicks game one of the TV announcers mentioned that this year referees will allow a player to express a single emotional response following a call he disagrees with-- but it cannot be directed at a referee or another player. Apparently the refs got together and agreed that Rasheed Wallace should not be given technicals for smirking this year. As far as I know this a soft change, with no Board of Governors approval.
I think if a bad call is made in the Garden during a game this year, the Jumbotron should light up with the words "EXPRESS YOURSELF!" and maybe they sample Madonna saying it in her song at the same time. That would really give the situation of a bad call a collective psycho support factor to go along with the more traditional boo. It would also be hilarious.
If anyone has heard of any more rule changes, please follow up to this blog.
Tags:
instant replay, NBA 2008, NBA Board of Governors, review, Rule changes
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Posted on 11/4/2008
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After a somewhat uneven and sketchy preseason, backgrounded by the ominous cloud coverage overhead in regards to Isaiah Thomas's alleged suicide attempt, the Knicks season opening win came as a godsend to Madison Garden, and for more reasons than the one just mentioned.
New Coach Mike D'Antoni knows all too well that the criticism and boos from Knicks fans come hard and come early, so winning game one against the Miami Heat probably felt like the levy holding off the incoming storm waters, at least for a day or two.
Equally surprising was the well-rounded contributions made by the new rotation of Knicks up on the white board, headlined by the wonderful shooting prowess of Jamal Crawford, supported by great big man work from Zach Randolph and David Lee, and punctuated by solid role player performances from the likes of Nate Robinson, Qentin Richardsonand others.
There are still a lot of doubts and concerns hovering over the franchise at the start of this 2008-2009 NBA season. Does D'Antoni's offensive style suit the Knicks? Are consistent victories possible? Will Starbury and Curry find a way back into this team of talented, but raw and largely untested mix of players and coaching personnel? And what can we expect from the young athletic 1st round draft pick from Italy? It would be great news for the Knicks if Gallinari blossomed early this winter and made significant strides in his first season in a Knick's uniform.
In general, I think team president Donnie Walsh's billboard statement outside the Garden really summarizes what the Knick's organization needs to do, and what New York Knick fans would also love to help make happen. Ultimately a successful season and a shot at the playoffs can only happen if everybody comes together.
Tags:
DAntoni, David Lee, Donnie Walsh, Donnnie Walsh, Heat, Jamal Crawford, Knicks, Nate Robinson, NBA, offensive style, Zach Randolph
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Posted on 10/30/2008
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For most of Friday night's game in Madison Square Garden against the Nets, the Knickerbockers looked like a team without an identity. Granted this is a pre-season game and the idea for Coach D'Antoni at this stage is to give as many players as possible a chance to show him and the Knicks fans what they are going to bring to the floor this upcoming season-- shooting skills, leadership, energy, passion, defensive prowess.
But for the first three quarters of the game none of that was in evidence. It was also glaringly obvious that while Jamal Crawford's silky shooting touch on the offensive side was nicely on display, on the defensive end of the floor the Nets cut into the paint like a hot knife through orange butter. Nobody put a body on Nets players taking it to the rack. Nobody blocked shots. Nobody rebounded. David Lee seemed to be the only Knick making at least an attempt to do something down low-- but he really didn't do much on the defensive end.
Enter Patrick Ewing Jr. Not only did he electrify the crowd with a couple vicious dunks, but he brought a physical presence and energy down low that was sorely lacking and had a hand in a number of defensive stops that helped bring the Knicks back to almost winning the game. They came up one point short, but let's hope D'Antoni recognizes who brought the energy and the team back into the game. His name is Ewing and he deserves not only a spot on the roster-- he deserves playing time from game one on . . . .
Tags:
DAntoni, David Lee, Knicks, Madison Square Garden, Nets, Patrick Ewing Jr
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Posted on 10/27/2008
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