Eddy Money

I took a seat next to Eddy Curry at his locker after the Wizards game and said, "What's up with you and the foul line lately? Suddenly you're Larry Bird."

Curry smiled. "I know."

"Seriously," I said, "are you doing anything different?"

He raised his eyebrows as he gathered his stuff and said, "The leather ball."

The numbers supported his theory.

Curry is shooting 48-for-66 from the line, which is a respectable 72.7 percent, in the seven games since the New Year, when the leather ball was reintroduced.

In the 33 games prior to that -- and using that synthetic ball the NBA implemented at the start of the 2006-07 season -- Curry made just 143 of 248, which is a 57.6 percent clip.

Gotta be the ball.

Posted by NYKBocker:

3 Way?

Posted by babyKnicks:

this article seems like it was written by Bippity...now I agree with Bip 100%!

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/489972p-412697c.html

James Dolan still has not explained exactly what he means by "evident progress," that vague term the chairman of Madison Square Garden has used since last June when discussing Isiah Thomas' future employment.

With tonight's game against the Nets, Thomas will have reached the midway point of his make-or-break season. Regardless of the result, the Knicks (17-23) will have a losing record after 41 games. But they do seem to be making progress.

Under Thomas, the Knicks clearly are better than last year's disastrous 23-win team and likely will exceed that victory total by 10. But is that good enough?

Thomas, now the Knicks' president/coach, set the bar high for himself by firing Hall of Fame coach Lenny Wilkens two years ago despite Wilkens' 40-41 record. And the team Wilkens inherited didn't have nearly the talent Thomas has at his disposal. Plus, the Eastern Conference was stronger two years ago.

Thomas should be held to the same standard. But that's where things get tricky. Larry Brown now becomes Thomas' strongest ally because Thomas is being judged against his predecessor.

Barring an unforeseen collapse and taking into account how smitten Dolan is with Thomas, once the Knicks crack 30 wins, Thomas is a lock to receive an extension. Some believe that Dolan already has made the decision to keep Thomas.

There are many reasons why the Knicks have enjoyed more success under Thomas. I'm just not buying the theory that it all comes down to better team chemistry. The Knicks opened 2006 with a six-game winning streak, beating Phoenix and Dallas along the way. Stephon Marbury had bought into Brown's system and was playing at a high level before suffering a left shoulder injury.

Marbury also sat out with a bum knee. From Jan.18 through the end of the season, the Knicks' best player missed 22 games and the team went 5-17 without him.

Chemistry had nothing to do with Eddy Curry showing up grossly out of shape and missing 10 games due to injury and illness. The Knicks went 3-7 without Curry. Is chemistry the reason why David Lee is so valuable to the Knicks or is it that he is stronger, better and a year wiser? Obviously if Thomas knew what to expect from Lee, he never would have given Jared Jeffries $30 million.

And it is impossible to measure how much easier it is for a coach to perform his duties when he has the full support of management. The mistrust between Thomas and Brown first surfaced in November 2005 and the situation deteriorated from there. Neither one handled himself well.

All that matters now is where Thomas takes the team from here. The Knicks, owners of the league's highest payroll, should be one of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference. Right now you can rank them anywhere between third and sixth, with Detroit and a healthy Miami the only clubs that are head-and-shoulders above the rest.

Thomas' strength thus far is that his players give him effort every night. That is the least you should expect from millionaire ballplayers, but that is not always the case.

The jury is still out as to how far Thomas can take this group. With the Pacers, Thomas' teams never advanced out of the first round of the playoffs despite being the higher seed in two of the three series.

Defensively, his team still has a lot to prove. Yes, the Knicks shut down Gilbert Arenas on Wednesday, but they also gave up a go-ahead layup to Antawn Jamison with 20 seconds left, followed by Caron Butler's uncontested dunk with 2.2 seconds to play. That is something you rarely see. Who knows if the Knicks will ever be an above-average defensive team?

Perhaps the single greatest task facing Thomas is finding a bona fide superstar within the next two to three years. Think about what Ray Allen could do for the Knicks. Kevin Garnett is probably a pipe dream. But there must be someone out there who can take the Knicks deep into the playoffs and maybe even to a title.

Now that would be evident progress.

81-93. Which is bad, but not as bad as people are making it out to be.