Reading comments from NBA insiders about the Knicks can be depressing. From Stein, to Hollinger and even NY sports media seem to believe the Knicks are an outright mess and Isiah is clueless.

Its easy as a Knick fan to dispell the medias rhetoric as pure hate. Hollingers was the latest to snipe some lethal projectile words in the direction of the Knicks and Isiah. And it got me thinking. Are all of the sports media on a strict diet of Haterade? Or are we as Knick fans just delusional to be optimistic about the immediate future of this team?

I ask all of my fellow Knick fans to put the Kool-aide down and give an honest assessment of our beloved Knickerbockers. Step outside like the media who has no affiliation with this team and look inward.

SIP Of Optimism:
I think the Knicks do have somewhat of a future with Curry, who I think in time will develop into one of the best low-post forces in the east.

Frye will be a starter next year and will compliment Curry' interior game by dominating on the exterior. eventually, we an count on Frye to give us 17 and 8 which are pretty good numbers for a PF.

Marbury will turn into a similar leader like Billups. Marbury has similar skills as Billups and one could argue he's a little more skilled.

Lee will be a valuable role player similar to camby in 99 when he came off the bench and provided, energy, slashing rebounding, great help D, crisp passing and crowd pleasing dunks.

SWALLOW of pesimism:

We'll have the 29th pick in this years draft which is actually pretty deep with good talent. By the time we pick, the well of talent will be dried up. Chicago has our pick which will turn into a top three pick this year and we as Knick fans will choke on our Kool-Aide as we realized we could have had Morrison or Gay to fill our much needed hole at SF.

We'll struggle next year and watch te Bulls switch picks with us. We'll lose another Lottery pick and end up with a pick in the teens. Utah will claim our pick in 2010 aswell.

We have no money to sign any top freeagents either.

NOW I pass this 40oz on the my fellow Knicks fan. Remember, no Kool-Aide..........



[Edited by - bigbeast on 01-06-2006 10:26 AM]

I was watching the TNT post game last night and they were talking about the rookies who have been having a good impact so far. Frye was the second guy mentioned and both Barkley and Kenny Smith raved about him. Lee was like the 5th or 6th guy mentioned, Smith raved, Barkley said he's good but it's too soon and he needs more minutes, Ernie said, "and of course Lee just played 51 minutes in the knicks 3OT win against Phoenix and had 23pts and 15rebs..."

then Barkley looked at Ernie and said, "the Knicks are awful, just awful." then they all laughed and went to commercial.

that pretty much sums up the season for me. Isiah isn't clueless. We have three rookies who've each scored 20pts in a game in the first third of the season in limited minutes and who bring a heck of a lot of other things to the table. We have a potentially dominant young center. We have two borderline all-star guards running the offense. We have a guy who is acknowledged to be the best coach in the game.

I think calling Zeke clueless is a bit silly. Sure, it's been ugly but there's a reason they play the last 50 games of every season - things change.

Posted by crzymdups:

Also, the Bulls may get a late lotto pick from us this year. But I have a feeling we'll be better than them next year and won't be swapping that pick.

i agree with that. The reason why most of the media are haters is because they all know this is typical of LB type teams when he first comes in. They know his teams struggle before they become great, and they know that LB is one of the best. I truly believe many in the media just hates on isiah no matter what, and it makes them quiver to give him credit for anything. Whenever they mention something Isiah did that worked out, they will always end it with a cheap shot.

Now evaluating the team, I dont know if Marbs can do what Billups is doing, even though Marbs is more talented. But i am optimistic. It took Chauncey 9 years before he turned it around, or maybe it was because in his 9th season his coach was LB. You can definately tell JC is learning, and that he is getting it. His FG% is the best this year, not including year 2 when he played only 23 games and took 187 shots. All he needs to work on is getting better at his end-of-the-game mistakes. Curry is a good center, and can eventually be great. He has also shown the willingness to learn and grow. Frye is a great offensive weapon, and always will be. Nate is an extreme hustle player, but needs to work on not being overly aggressive when driving. Often he misses the open guy because he is trying to posterize someone. But, with his ability to get to the hoop, i believe one day he can be a very good combo guard, he just needs to work on his court vision. Lee, another great hustle player, always goes for every rebound, a great team player. But until he does this consistently, or until i see more of him, I dont know what to expect besides a bunch of rebounds. Ariza was a nice find in the 2nd round, but until he gets better, he doesnt deserve many minutes if any. But brown has challenged him and only time will tell if he will respond the right way. Butler was also a nice find. Last year i would have said he is garbage and has zero value whatsoever. But this year he has shown flashes of being a competent backup C. He has been very productive in what little time he has recieved this year. I think the most positive thing is that our core players, frye Lee nate butler JC marbs, have all shown that they want to learn and get better and arent content with staying where they are.

No Kool aid

How about this:

Shoot I LOVE Wild Turkey!