Melo and Active Hands

Abides and I watched the Knick game last night and simply put, it was a wonky affair. Here are some talking points we found hilarious, mind-boggling, and entertaining.

*Throughout the entire broadcast Mike Breen consistently harped on how well Carmelo was playing on defense. Almost every time he noted this, Melo was reaching in and waving his arms furiously—flapping around like a child aggressively attempting to swim out of the deep end. That was pretty much it. No clear shift in strategy, no sign of better communication, no calculated positioning, and no formula—just active hands.

*It was great to watch the Knick cheerleaders present Walt Frazier with a massive goblet filled with Snickers to celebrate his birthday. That should happen at basketball games more often.

*Mr. Candace Parker deserves more playing time. He checked Dwight better than any other Knick big and had some clutch plays down the stretch. And: Why haven't we seen Candace in the Garden yet?

*Chauncey Billups is so far beyond a joke that it's hysterical. If that makes sense.

*Gil showed flashes of OG Gil with some high-pressure threes.

*I get that Dwight's 6th foul call was pathetic, but he needs to calm the fuck down. Go ahead and try not arguing every single time a call doesn't go your way. Grow-up, Peter Pan.

*Melo and Amar'e never really looked to get each other open looks. This might be an option to consider down the road.

*You can't blame Hedo for fouling out: Whatever it took to get out of that arena fast enough for him to stuff three slices of the best pizza in the world into his mouth and rip seven vodka shots as quickly as possible.

*At one point late in the game, J-Rich and Melo looked like 6th graders wrestling as they desperately tried to trip and prevent one another from getting up off the hardwood. Awesome.

*I know this is overstated, but Walt Frazier literally just states words. Nothing he says makes any sense. After listening to him for almost 20 years, it still continues to baffle me.

*Melo should have put back his own miss at the end of regulation.

*This Knick team is great for the league.

*I wonder how many different people in the Knick organization Ewing asked about D'Antoni's job security.

Team Dreamin' 2011: New York Knicks

At No Regard, we love basketball. We love the spectacle and strategy of the game, but sometimes the league's lack of imagination confounds and disappoints us. Call us optimists, visionaries, or kids who watched too much Space Jam, but we have ideas. Damn are we gonna share 'em.

So despite the emotional roller-coaster the Knicks have imposed on us this offseason, we at No Regard remain excited. I mean how could we not be? Dolan, Donnie, and D'Antoni (ahem, The Killer D's...) have cobbled together a team of guys that can really play. A low seed in the playoffs is no longer wishful thinking, but a reasonable expectation. For these Knicks, led by Amar'e, it's time to get serious, to focus on basketball; in other words, this ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around. Or is it...?

Numero Uno

Yesterday Amar'e Stoudemire shook up the Free Agent landscape by being the first marquee player to jump ship and sign a max contract with another team. His move to the New York Knicks was so bold that when he announced it himself over the weekend, people were pretty sure he was lying.

Once Amar'e made his move, the world returned to status quo, waiting to hear from LeBron. I suppose in some universe King James would be okay with being the second guy to sign in New York, the one who followed Amar'e, but it seems unlikely. Assuming James does not go to the Knicks, Amar'e Stoudemire has just done the most brilliant thing in the history of Amar'e Stoudemire. He has stolen the throne.

We Run NY

Ziller raises an interesting possibility over at Fanhouse. As I pretty much gave up on LeBron two weeks ago--in addition to having very conflicting feelings about him being a Knick in the first place--the idea of getting Amar'e and Monta Ellis this year is actually somewhat salivation-inducing for me.

Christmas Eve for a Jew

I wouldn't really know, to be honest. I celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah, because my parents loved me. But for some unfortunate others, Christmas Eve is a night where there is excitement in the air, excitement they can feel but that they know will not result in any tangible gains for them personally. This feeling, I imagine, is very similar to what I feel like right now as a Knicks fan.

So in basketball holiday world, I know that Santa isn't coming, and the best I can hope for at this point is that my parents, Donnie and Mike, leave me a little something near the fireplace so that I don't feel left out. "We know all your friends will be getting things today, so we bought you this Amar'e and polished your David Lee doll." I will feel left out, though, because for the next few weeks, all my classmates are going to be talking about how awesome their presents are and how much fun they're having at their house.

Maybe things will turn out differently. Maybe Donnie and Mike (I call them by their first names when I'm mad at them) will sneak out and buy a tree in the middle of the night, and they'll take all the gifts they've been hiding in the closet for weeks and lay them out for my joy and wonderment. Maybe I'll wake up and I'll get to feel like one of the normal kids. You know, one whose parents listen to what he wants and try their best to get it for him.

Oh fuck it. You never stop being Jewish, even if you buy yourself Christmas presents. And you never stop being a Knicks fan, even if you buy yourself a bottle of whiskey and try to forget.