In the realm of sports, as soon as you lace up you're sneakers, cleats, or skates you are subjecting yourself to judgment. "You suck", is probably the first thing you hear in the fields of action. What separates the strong from the weak is the determination to get better. What separates that from all else is the heart of the individual. Success is not judged by the pay check. It's judged by your peers, fans and spectators. Your hardest critics should be your family. My son for instance, is trying to destroy me at anything he can. He's only 8 and we have a great relationship but he understands the unwritten rule of sports. Kill or be killed.

Where is the killer instinct with todays basketball players? Im not only talking about the highest paid guys. Just players in general. The greater majority have to be in almost perfect situations to succeed. Alot of times it's opportunity and fit. Alot of times it's lack experience. There comes a time when you have to question a persons heart and how they stand for this thing called pride. It doesn't have anything to do with how many shots a guy puts up in practice or how many rounds of p90x they did in the off season. What matters is, when the sneakers are laced and the ball is tipped, who is going to walk off the court victorious? If the team sucks, each individual has to take that with them. All championship squads had hall of fame talent. That hall if game talent would be nothing without cold blooded role players. Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Derek Fisher, Steve Kerr, John Paxson....Even the clubs that came close had guys that had the heart of a champion just the short end if the stick.

Knick fans out there are out there crying. At the short end of our stick the Knicks have name like X-Man, Oakley, Mason, Starks, Harper, Lj, Sprewell....you know the names. Guys never won a thing but earned the respect of a fan base and their peers that will neiver be taken away. Check the knicks roster after their playoff loss to Miami. Where are your champions? Can you name 3 with a straight face? No matter your opinion of this team....i challenge you to pick out 3 warriors. Not guys that you hope to one day become warriors. Be realistic and you will see what we have to do to improve this team. We are not as close as we thought we were.

Still...the motto is always "go knicks". Show us the pride on the court and the fans will show respect on and off the court.

Watching these playoffs with all these new names and heros emerging.....it just makes you sick to your stomach. The Knicks had bad luck with injuries but the talent level was never there. Too many holes and not enough guys willing to step it up. Indiana, Philly are showing and proving what it is to play with heart and a sense of urgency.

I get the point and can agree with the "warrior, kill or be killed" theory but...Tyson Chandler won a championship last year. He is a champion.

It's no wonder people laugh at Knick fans, we constantly reference the Knicks of the 90's and their toughness, now we are placing all our eggs on Jeremy Lin, a player that may have already peaked and whose success occurred under a more offensive minded coach.

Oh New York. You are not serious about "basketball".

TymeLessKnicks wrote:There are no champions here...?

...Tyson Chandler won a championship last year. He is a champion.

That's a very literal interpretation of "champion". I don't think EnySpree was using the term that way.

holfresh wrote:Champions are bore through disappointment and loss then more disappointment...90's Knicks had to grow and evolve together...Oakley worked on his jumper and improved over the years...So did Ewing..There was a structure established to build upon...None which currently exist in this organization...We have A core now..Lets see who uses the offseason to improve and get better ...Let see if Amare worked on his low post game...Lets see if Melo come back in better shape...Let's see if Lin's game is overall better..Heart of a Champion can only be assessed over time and through battles with a common opponent....90's Knicks had lots of rivals..Bulls, Hornets, Heat, Pacers...We have to play meaningful playoff games to see true growth..Today's NBA where everyone are friends with everyone, makes it difficult...Players want to team with each other not beat each other...I could be wrong tho .

Great post.

blackisblack wrote:Talent is there but they play half-heartedly. The only ones I see that play with heart and passion are Shump and Lin. No wonder they are both out.

EnySpree wrote:http://diehardknicks.blogspot.com/2012/05/there-are-no-champions-here.html

In the realm of sports, as soon as you lace up you're sneakers, cleats, or skates you are subjecting yourself to judgment. "You suck", is probably the first thing you hear in the fields of action. What separates the strong from the weak is the determination to get better. What separates that from all else is the heart of the individual. Success is not judged by the pay check. It's judged by your peers, fans and spectators. Your hardest critics should be your family. My son for instance, is trying to destroy me at anything he can. He's only 8 and we have a great relationship but he understands the unwritten rule of sports. Kill or be killed.

Where is the killer instinct with todays basketball players? Im not only talking about the highest paid guys. Just players in general. The greater majority have to be in almost perfect situations to succeed. Alot of times it's opportunity and fit. Alot of times it's lack experience. There comes a time when you have to question a persons heart and how they stand for this thing called pride. It doesn't have anything to do with how many shots a guy puts up in practice or how many rounds of p90x they did in the off season. What matters is, when the sneakers are laced and the ball is tipped, who is going to walk off the court victorious? If the team sucks, each individual has to take that with them. All championship squads had hall of fame talent. That hall if game talent would be nothing without cold blooded role players. Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Derek Fisher, Steve Kerr, John Paxson....Even the clubs that came close had guys that had the heart of a champion just the short end if the stick.

Knick fans out there are out there crying. At the short end of our stick the Knicks have name like X-Man, Oakley, Mason, Starks, Harper, Lj, Sprewell....you know the names. Guys never won a thing but earned the respect of a fan base and their peers that will neiver be taken away. Check the knicks roster after their playoff loss to Miami. Where are your champions? Can you name 3 with a straight face? No matter your opinion of this team....i challenge you to pick out 3 warriors. Not guys that you hope to one day become warriors. Be realistic and you will see what we have to do to improve this team. We are not as close as we thought we were.

Still...the motto is always "go knicks". Show us the pride on the court and the fans will show respect on and off the court.

Watching these playoffs with all these new names and heros emerging.....it just makes you sick to your stomach. The Knicks had bad luck with injuries but the talent level was never there. Too many holes and not enough guys willing to step it up. Indiana, Philly are showing and proving what it is to play with heart and a sense of urgency.

Indiana and Philly have had the benefit of playing against unhleathy teams. Philly faced the Bulls with no Rose or Noah, and The Pacers played the Magic with no Howard and now the Heat without Bosh. More luck than the heart of a champion.

Uptown wrote:

EnySpree wrote:http://diehardknicks.blogspot.com/2012/05/there-are-no-champions-here.html

In the realm of sports, as soon as you lace up you're sneakers, cleats, or skates you are subjecting yourself to judgment. "You suck", is probably the first thing you hear in the fields of action. What separates the strong from the weak is the determination to get better. What separates that from all else is the heart of the individual. Success is not judged by the pay check. It's judged by your peers, fans and spectators. Your hardest critics should be your family. My son for instance, is trying to destroy me at anything he can. He's only 8 and we have a great relationship but he understands the unwritten rule of sports. Kill or be killed.

Where is the killer instinct with todays basketball players? Im not only talking about the highest paid guys. Just players in general. The greater majority have to be in almost perfect situations to succeed. Alot of times it's opportunity and fit. Alot of times it's lack experience. There comes a time when you have to question a persons heart and how they stand for this thing called pride. It doesn't have anything to do with how many shots a guy puts up in practice or how many rounds of p90x they did in the off season. What matters is, when the sneakers are laced and the ball is tipped, who is going to walk off the court victorious? If the team sucks, each individual has to take that with them. All championship squads had hall of fame talent. That hall if game talent would be nothing without cold blooded role players. Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Derek Fisher, Steve Kerr, John Paxson....Even the clubs that came close had guys that had the heart of a champion just the short end if the stick.

Knick fans out there are out there crying. At the short end of our stick the Knicks have name like X-Man, Oakley, Mason, Starks, Harper, Lj, Sprewell....you know the names. Guys never won a thing but earned the respect of a fan base and their peers that will neiver be taken away. Check the knicks roster after their playoff loss to Miami. Where are your champions? Can you name 3 with a straight face? No matter your opinion of this team....i challenge you to pick out 3 warriors. Not guys that you hope to one day become warriors. Be realistic and you will see what we have to do to improve this team. We are not as close as we thought we were.

Still...the motto is always "go knicks". Show us the pride on the court and the fans will show respect on and off the court.

Watching these playoffs with all these new names and heros emerging.....it just makes you sick to your stomach. The Knicks had bad luck with injuries but the talent level was never there. Too many holes and not enough guys willing to step it up. Indiana, Philly are showing and proving what it is to play with heart and a sense of urgency.

Indiana and Philly have had the benefit of playing against unhleathy teams. Philly faced the Bulls with no Rose or Noah, and The Pacers played the Magic with no Howard and now the Heat without Bosh. More luck than the heart of a champion.

Philly practically collapsed towards the end of the season, as well. Very champion-like.

Can someone explain how Tyson suddenly became a heartless loser?

The Pacers? We talking bout the Pacers???

Uptown wrote:

EnySpree wrote:Its true Philly and Indiana caught breaks in the first round....the bulls were without rise all year and still won....Orlando still has enough fire power to compete. Philly and Indiana both are giving the Celtics and Miami heart attacks so so they belong where they are. The knicks had injuries and were favored to lose but they were not suppose to get smacked. Miami exposed the knicks

The Pacers aren't facing the same Heat team that we faced. Also, the Pacers have their entire roster available for the playoffs. We were missing our backcourt, Stat for a game and Chandler was at half strength for the 1st 2.

During the reg season, when we had a healthy team were beat that same Pacers team back-to-back and we took care of the Sixers on their own home court. I'm pretty sure a healthy Knicks team would have taken care of an injured Bulls and Magic team in the first round aswell.

It doesn't matter. We still suck, and Melo is the anti-Christ.

Indiana, the new Denver.