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SugarRayRichardson
Posts: 21557
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Joined: 8/28/2006
Member: #1169
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Ken Berger
NBA
Curry, not Kidd, will be the man
January 20, 2007
It should be easier to figure out than the source of that foul, gas-like odor that drifted over Manhattan almost two weeks ago: As long as the Nets have Jason Kidd and the Knicks don't, New Jersey has the better team in this quasi-rivalry between franchises separated by 12 miles, a body of water, wafting vapors, and other things.
Like past playoff sweeps and NBA Finals appearances.
Not Friday night, certainly, and not overnight, either. Kidd, who turns 34 in March, is still at the top of his game. And he is always on top of his game against the Knicks, having gone 16-2 in regular-season games he's started against them since New Jersey got him in a trade that sent Stephon Marbury to Phoenix in 2001.
After Friday night's 101-100 victory over the Knicks, orchestrated not by the surgeon-steady hands of Kidd but by the 40-year-old right arm of Clifford Robinson, the Nets are 21-4 against the Knicks since getting Kidd, including a 4-0 sweep in the 2004 playoffs and five straight wins at Madison Square Garden.
But Kidd will not have Marbury and the Knicks to kick around much longer. From now on, the Nets vs. the Knicks will stop being about which side Kidd is on.
Instead, it will be about which team has Eddy Curry and which team doesn't.
It didn't look that way Friday night, when Curry - who had boldly called this a "must win" for the Knicks - managed only 14 points and 11 rebounds and attempted only seven field goals, making four. This was largely because the Nets had more people shadowing Curry than Joumana Kidd has had tracking her soon-to-be-ex-husband's movements and cell phone calls.
With 2.8 seconds left, Curry also gave up the winning tip-in to Robinson, a man nearly twice his age. His coach, Isiah Thomas, said Curry was victimized by "old veteran know-how ... That's a rebound we have to secure."
"We've got to find a way to beat that team," Curry said.
They will. If the Knicks have been forced into second-class status by the Nets these past few years, primarily because of Kidd, then the opposite is about to happen because of Curry.
In their four meetings last season, Curry averaged a Bambi-soft 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds as the Nets went 3-1. He is a different player now, and at 25 has his best days ahead of him.
The Nets have lost center Nenad Krstic for the year with a knee injury, but have much bigger problems than that. Vince Carter is widely expected to opt out of his contract after the season. Kidd has two years and $41 million left on his contract, and there's no telling how long he will be able to continue his artistry.
More likely than not, Kidd will be gone before the Nets ever dribble a ball in Brooklyn, where they are scheduled to open the 2009-10 season, when Kidd will be 36 going on 37.
Lawrence Frank? Kidd, who some have suggested is the real coach of the Nets, is more likely to be strolling the sideline in a suit at the Barclays Center than Frank.
"The landscape in the NBA and everything else [three] years from now will be totally different than what it is today," Thomas said.
Who knows what will become of the Knicks by then? Marbury is four years younger than Kidd, who he outplayed down the stretch Friday night. But it's hard to imagine him sticking around here beyond his contract, which like Kidd's, has two years and more than $40 million left.
Thomas' status was day-to-day when the season began and has progressed to no better than year-to-year.
"We're taking some licks right now," Thomas said, "but we're standing in there and we're fighting ... As we continue to build this team and move on down the track, we'll understand better how to handle these situations."
So will Curry, who couldn't see through the disappointment Friday night that he is the new face at the center of this awkward rivalry. The story soon will be that the Knicks have him and the Nets don't. Despite the familiar result last night, that is the way the wind is blowing.
I LOVED how Curry just exploded in the 4th, speaking as a fan of the Raptors, Curry looked well, scary I think is the word. Or Shaq-like
Curry: 19.1ppg-7.3rpg-58%fg
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1/22/2007 12:01 PM