Knicks sleepwalk to franchise's worst start
Photo credit: AP | New York Knicks' Nate Robinson (2) is fouled by Golden State Warriors' Anthony Morrow (22), as Robinson takes aim for the basket during the second period. (November 13, 2009)
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Nov. 13: Golden State 121, Knicks 107
The Knicks should only know the dysfunction the Warriors know. At least amid that epic state of chaos, Golden State has managed to win a few games along the way.
So while several players are at odds with coach Don Nelson and the team plays mostly an undisciplined brand of basketball loaded with me-first strategy, the Knicks were bad in a most boring way in a 121-107 loss Friday night at Madison Square Garden that clinched the worst 10-game start in franchise history at 1-9.
"It's bad,'' Mike D'Antoni said after his team's sixth straight loss. "There's no doubt about it.''
Stephen Jackson, who has demanded a trade, had 23 points in 47:25 and Monta Ellis, Kelenna Azubuike and Corey Maggette had 22 each for Golden State (3-5). Danilo Gallinari led the Knicks with the quietest 19 points one can possibly score in an NBA game. He had 10 rebounds.
The Knicks may get up as many shots as the high-octane Warriors, but there was little chance they could keep pace with the scoring. They also, despite the Seven Seconds or Less moniker D'Antoni brought with him here from Phoenix, don't run nearly as much as the system requires.
D'Antoni said more than anything fundamental, what the Knicks lack is the simple, raw element of determination. "When we get our backs against the wall,'' he said, "we kind of concede and don't fight through it.''
So even as Anthony Randolph fumed and Anthony Morrow grumbled and rookie Stephen Curry (2:35) simmered most of the night on the bench, it didn't take long before the Warriors pulled away in the second quarter with a 20-8 run in a 5:39 span.
And with Curry - the one that got away from the Knicks in last June's draft - inexplicably planted on the Warriors' bench for most of the game, the Knicks got a spark out of the consolation prize, Jordan Hill, who started the second half after the Knicks gave up 36 points in the paint in the first half.
"We just had some zombies out there,'' D'Antoni said, "so I just wanted to see Jordan. I thought he was OK . . . I'd like to keep playing him and see what happens.''
The rookie brought energy on the offensive end - he even ran the floor hard and was rewarded with a fast-break dunk - but he also was whistled for four fouls in nine minutes.
D'Antoni was so cognizant of his team's awful interior defense against the driving Warriors that he even dusted off Darko Milicic, who was benched the past two games, after Hill got into foul trouble. Hill finished with 10 points, three rebounds and a blocked shot in 14:25.
Even with the added size in the second half, D'Antoni once again had to employ a 2-3 zone defense to try to protect his team's exposed soft underbelly. But gimmicks aside, he stated the obvious about the problems on defense: "We have to play better man-to-man . . . We haven't shown the fight to do it.''
With Eddy Curry on the comeback trail and possibly ready for the next game Wednesday in Indiana, are David Lee's days playing the role of the undersized center over?
The better question would be is D'Antoni - as he hinted about Hill - finally ready to turn the desperate season over to the future of the franchise?
With four days to reconsider everything before the next game, D'Antoni wouldn't dismiss it any more:
"I think we need to practice and we need to regroup and see where we are,'' he said. "We've got to figure out something better and see who steps forward.''
