JB on the NBA
A hearty congratulations to the Boston Celtics, who won their 17th title and brought glory and joy back to the town that set the standard.
DEEP-SIXED
You know your team is in trouble--or is it?--when the fans decide the next season is a lost cause during the draft lottery.
Hearts were broken in the Big Apple on May 20th, just before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, when it was announced the Knicks had the sixth pick in this year’s draft. Many fans considered this another slap in the face after watching their team flounder for years under Isiah Thomas. I didn’t, but for some reason I knew it would be more cause for panic around here than The Incredible Hulk.
The more astute followers of the sport felt this draft position would not net the Knicks a highly-skilled player who could take charge of the team after years of mediocrity. They felt the big names would all be gone to the five teams ahead of them while we would be stuck with another player who would be sent packing too soon. And now that new coach Mike D’Antoni, with his supposedly non-existent defensive philosophy, is in charge, we have a recipe for disaster.
The only thing worse than this draft lottery, it seemed, was 9/11.
Now while I’m not as schooled in Knick basketball as everyone else who bleeds the blue-and-orange, I couldn’t believe how many people thought this was the Apocalypse for our team. Whether the sixth pick was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen--although I couldn’t tell fans that--but we just went through NBA purgatory. We brought in Donnie Walsh to replace Thomas as president and D’Antoni on the sidelines, so clearly change was in the air. And this position was the best in years for the Knicks, so I would expected some hope between the lottery and the draft.
Actually, one message board kicks around some potential names, players who could have some impact this coming season. I don’t follow college basketball, so I have to take their word for it. It sounds like a bumper crop of players with lots of upside and the willingness to work on their weaknesses. But there are still those who pine for the next Tim Duncan or someone else who can lead the team to a title in the next three seasons.
As we say in Brooklyn, FUHGEDDABOUDIT!!
The only reason the Spurs quickly rebounded (no pun intended) from a dreadful 1996-97 season was because David Robinson was injured the whole time. It had nothing to do with lousy front-office leadership, something that plagued the Knicks since Ernie Grunfeld and Dave Checketts left the fray. Now things are looking up with Thomas defrocked of two of his three titles, and suddenly the sixth pick is considered part of the Thomas jinx.
It’s ridiculous.
The draft lottery is based on teams’ records--the worse the record, the greater the team’s chance to win the top pick. But even the worst team isn’t guaranteed to win the whole kit and caboodle; it happened only twice since the league went to this format, the last time being the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003--and they took you-know-who.
The Knicks had the fifth-worst record, meaning they could reasonably go no higher than the fifth pick. Sometimes, though, the ping-pong balls bounce awkwardly, and a team expected to finish in a lower slot winds up on top. This year it was the Chicago Bulls, with the Miami Heat right behind them.
This too burned a lot of Knick fans. The Bulls had already fleeced the Knicks of two lottery picks in the deal that brought us the enigmatic (to say the least) Eddy Curry. And the Heat, who cheated the Knicks in the 1998 Playoffs, are still one of their most hated rivals despite the personnel changes.
Well, guess what, Knick fans? The Bulls and Heat aren’t locks for the next NBA title no matter whom they draft. The Bulls went through two coaches in one season, which leaves the team in a tizzy. Not only that, they replaced interim coach Jim Boylan with Vinny Del Negro, the long-time Spur who spent the last couple of seasons in the Suns’ hierarchy and has zero coaching experience. Then there are rumors swirling about Kirk Hinrich, once part of the team’s future, being offered in trades.
As for the Heat, who locked up the worst record this season, are in a state of flux too. Pat Riley resigned as coach again, putting long-time assistant coach Erik Spolestra in the hot seat. And as if that wasn’t enough, how will Dwyane Wade fare after being shelved due to injury a month before the regular season ended?
So really, Knick fans--what is there to be jealous about? The Bulls and Heat will stink as badly as, if not worse than, the Knicks for the next few seasons.
As far as the sixth pick goes, we could pull up lists of all the players taken in the same position over the years, and we would get a 50-50 tally. People always say the draft is a crapshoot; one team could draft a bust at #1 and another could score a goldmine in the second round. (Those who followed the league longer than yours truly will recall Larry Bird was taken sixth in the 1979 draft, but who are we kidding? There will never be another Bird.)
I give the more astute fans the benefit of the doubt, but my position is simple. Let the draftees fall where they may. It’s not about having the sixth pick or landing an impact player; it’s about recovering from several disappointing seasons and hoping the new guy can blend in and help make the team cohesive and a force to be reckoned with. Then we can worry about bringing a title home instead of throwing all those chances away too quickly.