The Good, the Bad, and the Knicks

I don’t think a lot of people will admit this, but I’d guess that everyone who has ever played a game of pickup basketball has been picked last at least once in their life. Maybe it’s because no one has ever seen you play before. Maybe it’s because basketball isn’t your thing. Maybe it was just some friendly ribbing. But that doesn’t change the fact that you are picked after the little kid, after the guy whom you are certain has never played the game before, and after Lenny, the guy with terrible asthma, wearing his inhaler as a necklace.

Initially, you have something to prove. Even if you know you aren’t anything special, the chip on your shoulder may be enough to give you a little extra spring in your step. But everyone, at some point in their life, gets tired of being picked last; it certainly isn’t exclusive to sports. Everyone has their breaking point.

After getting picked last so many times, any human will just throw their hands up and say “this sucks.” It’s simple psychology, and it explains the most glaring issue with the New York Knicks.

On paper alone, the Knicks have given fans plenty of reasons to tune out.  They boast a point differential of -10: third worst in the NBA. They have trailed by more than 20 points in the first half of five of their seven games thus far this season. They are atrocious in terms of general offensive consistency. They literally don’t play defense. And finally, LeBron James’ ritual powder toss got a louder ovation than any member of the Knicks during player introductions.

The poor productivity of the Knicks is making the city groan. But it’s their demeanor while doing it that is adding the salt to the wound. That is where the psychology lesson comes in.

Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni took over the Knicks franchise two seasons ago and made their mission public: They would wait until the 2010 off-season to make their move.

This past off-season every competitor (and even a few bad teams) made alterations to their rosters in an attempt to get better. Walsh and D’Antoni took on expiring contracts to get rich for 2010. In a “win now” town, Walsh boldly stated that if the Knicks wanted to be good, they would have to wait.

And wait they did. After having one of the more atrocious seasons in recent memory last year, the Knicks are off to one of the worst starts in franchise history; all while looking completely disinterested. So much so that Mike D'Antoni publicly insinuated that this team didn't look like they want to win.

But that begs the question: what is D'Antoni expecting? The two most popular members of the team were signed to one year deals just to keep the fans interested in this season. His most productive scorer has been reduced to a bench role, and his top 10 draft pick has not even been put in yet during a close game situation. Worse yet, the point guard that he desperately needed this draft, Brandon Jennings, is panning out better than any rookie in the league so far. Not only have Walsh and D'Antoni refused to take big chances, they've refused to take the little ones too.

Last Thursday Coach D'Antoni held a team meeting to discuss team morale. Judging by the fact that their next two games were blowout losses to the Cavs and Bucks respectively, I suspect the pep talk at the meeting went something like this:

“Alright guys, here’s the deal. I’ve made it publicly clear that I don’t want to coach any of you, and I have made sure that none of you are under contract through next season. Now, go out and play like champions."

In a situation like this, we as sports fans need to put down the foam fingers and use our brains. If your office is bought out and the new manager holds a meeting to tell you that he’s bringing in a fleet of new employees next year, but he wants current productivity to remain the same; you can bet your bottom dollar that office morale is going down. The fact that Knicks management is getting a clean pass here is not just unfair; it is unacceptable.

If the Knicks get cosmetic surgery this off-season, they will certainly look better. But cosmetic surgery has never cured depression and it certainly won’t start curing it now.