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playa2
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http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/38260.htm
STEPH INFECTION
January 16, 2005 -- PITTSBURGH - He is a wonder, every bit the precocious talent we expected him to be. Anyone who ever saw Stephon Marbury when he played at Lincoln High all those years ago, back when he was playing basketball the way Mozart would have were he born in a different time and place, knew this was a kid destined to take your breath away.
And the thing is, Marbury does take your breath away most of the time. He is a wonderful melange of instinct and talent who can be positively mesmerizing on a lot of nights. He is a natural scorer, an intuitive passer, and while he may not be the best straight-up defender in the NBA, he is a master of anticipation and shutting down passing lanes.
It is impossible to find fault with Marbury's litany of gifts.
And yet, there is much to find fault with Marbury's career. There are many questions to ask, because the splendor he brings to the floor every night simply doesn't jibe with the record. Sooner or later, Marbury has to answer for the fact that he has yet to win a playoff series, that he has yet to push his teams to be better than they are. Sooner or later, certain uncomfortable truths begin impossible to ignore. For starters:
n Marbury griped his way out of Minnesota when, in a post-lockout world, it was evident he would never get the kind of payday Kevin Garnett got. By doing that, he deprived himself of what could have been - should have been - a tandem that would have done wonderful battle with the Shaq-Kobe Lakers the past few years, and might yet have kept Tim Duncan ringless. Not incidentally, the T'wolves have continued to be contenders in their post-Steph history.
n He tried to talk himself into believing that East Rutherford was the same as West 34th Street, wound up miserable and friendless in the Meadowlands, and griped his way out of there. He got himself traded for Jason Kidd, had himself a nice spasm of glory in one playoff series against the Spurs. But post-Steph, the Nets made two NBA Finals and took the eventual-champion Pistons to two elimination games last spring.
n He tried playing the part of good soldier and company man in Phoenix, got himself a playoff series at last, played well there, outplayed Tony Parker there. But there is another inescapable post-Steph phenomenon playing itself out in the Valley of the Sun now: the Suns won 31 of their first 35 games with Steve Nash running the show instead of Marbury.
If this happened once, maybe you write it off as an aberration. Twice, it's a coincidence.
Three times?
Three times, and you start having to wonder two things if you are a Knicks fan:
1) How long before we get rid of our Steph infection and wind up reaping our post-Steph windfall?
Or ...
2) How long before Marbury finally reaches basketball's land of milk and honey and earns a chunk of redemption for himself by leading us out of the basketball wilderness?
Or, to borrow a phrase from one of Marbury's old Jersey coaches, Don Casey: At some point, max-out players have to do max-out things.
Marbury doesn't help himself, of course, in his endless search for validation. There is a difference between self-confidence and self-delusion, and you have to wonder when Marbury will get that. Before the Knicks' game with the Nets on New Year's Day, Marbury uttered this unforgettable manifesto:
"Don't get me wrong, I love Jason Kidd, he is a great point guard," Marbury said. "But how am I comparing myself to him when I think I'm the best point guard to play basketball? That makes no sense. I can't compare myself to somebody when I already think I'm the best.
"I'm telling you what it is. I know I'm the best point guard in the NBA. I don't need nobody else to tell me that. When I go on the basketball court, if I start to think about what you all think, I'll lose my mind. You should've asked me, 'Are you the best point guard in the NBA, then?' and I'll tell you, 'Yeah.' "
On one level, you have to admire confidence that supreme, a self-reliance that certainly explains how Marbury became the resplendent player he's become. But on another level, you have to wonder if Marbury truly embraces the fact that a point guard is judged by the games he wins, not the numbers he posts. Against the Nets, he scored 31 points. His team lost. And that, for better or worse, is exactly what his professional legacy is thus far.
Great player. Playing on lots of lousy teams.
You can make a living that way. Sonny Jurgensen became an immortal as a great quarterback on some of the worst football teams ever put together. Quarterbacks, like point guards, are judged by championships first, stats second. Jurgensen survived. He thrived. You can do it that way if you have to.
It's just that Stephon Marbury was always supposed to be more than that. He isn't the reason the Knicks limp along at their present pace. The coach all but begs to be fired. The lineup is imperfect. All of that. Still, you have to wonder: shouldn't the best point guard in basketball be able to make more of a difference than this?
Shouldn't he be required to?
JAMES DOLAN on Isiah : He's a good friend of mine and of the organization and I will continue to solicit his views. He will always have strong ties to me and the team.
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