A team can't possibly play this badly, can it? Their 104-59 loss to the Celtics last night is totally inexplicable. Are the guys from Boston that good? Was it Quentin Richardon's comment regarding the Celtics bench? Do the players hate Isaiah? How can you beat the Jazz only to lose the next game by 45? And on national television!! All in all, it was a disgraceful performance.
I've been on Isaiah's side since he's been here, but if the Knicks' players won't play their hardest for him, James Dolan will be forced to make a change. On the other hand, it's just one game. If they lost by 2, it'd still be just one "L". I'm hoping they rebound quickly. It's a likeable team really, with guys like Jamal Crawford, Renaldo Balkman and Robinson. But the new guy, Zach Randolph, has to step up, along with Eddie Curry and Stephon.
Let me express my disappointment with the Mets trading Lastings Milledge away, and not getting much in return. I think that young man has some exciting baseball left in him.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Pack and Celtics Will Win Tonight
Whatever happens tonight in the biggest NFL game of the year between the Cowboys and the Packers, I just hope the stars WON'T BE Tony Romo and/or Brett Favre. I'll be driving about 50 miles to my brother's house to see it on the NFL Network, that (alas) I don't have. And I'll be taping the Knicks-Celtics game at home.
Here's my predictions:
Packers 27 -Cowboys 24 - the Packers and Favre should be able to exploit the relatively weak Cowboys secondary. The Pack defense is very tough-Romo will have trouble early but will make up for it in a furious 2nd-half rush that will fall short.
Celtics 116-Knicks 113 - The Knicks have gotten tougher but not tough enough to vanquish the guys in green. Not unless they can start playing some defense.
What do you think? Let me know.
Here's my predictions:
Packers 27 -Cowboys 24 - the Packers and Favre should be able to exploit the relatively weak Cowboys secondary. The Pack defense is very tough-Romo will have trouble early but will make up for it in a furious 2nd-half rush that will fall short.
Celtics 116-Knicks 113 - The Knicks have gotten tougher but not tough enough to vanquish the guys in green. Not unless they can start playing some defense.
What do you think? Let me know.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Knicks Save the Weekend
After the Jets and Giants were absolutely blasted by the Cowboys and Vikings over what had become a VERY long Thanksgiving wekend, the New York Knickerbockers, so berated from the opening tip of the season, stormed back against the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz to staunch the wounds NY suffered on Thursday and Sunday. Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford returned to playing together, taking care of the ball, and making aggressive moves to the basket. They even played some defense!
Not that they were alone in their efforts. Basketball is a team game and the Knicks were firing on all cylinders. Eddie Curry was a force in the paint, making a couple of textbook blocks yesterday and Zach Randolph minded the boards, played some defense and made some shots. David Lee did his thing in relief as did Richardson and, well, name a Knick, he did pretty well.
Surprising? Not to me. They had enough talent last year to gain a playoff berth. That they didn't was due to injuries to Crawford and Lee towards the end of the season. When they acquired Zach Randolph, a legitimate star at power forward, I thought he might just be the missing piece the Knicks needed .
Worse luck, though, a team couldn't have to start a season. Randolph had some nagging injuries and was allowed to leave the team for a death in the family. Marbury and Crawford were playing bad fundamental basketball. When Isaiah took Marbury to task about it, Stephon left in a huff. The local newspapers, anxious to blast Isaiah at every opportunity, jumped on the situation. AGAIN we had to hear about the opportunistic Anucha Brown Sanders, her sexual harasment suit and the poor decisions by James Dolan.
But the Knicks played really tough against the Bulls on Saturday. The Bulls had their backs against the wall themselves, off to a horrible start and anxious to bury another team that was down. It didn’t happen. The Knicks wouldn’t let it happen. Marbury, Randolph and Curry were the scoring leaders and Quentin Richardson pulled down 15 boards. They outrebounded the Bulls 52-42 while reducing their turnovers to 17, still too high but much better than the 27 they suffered in their previous debacle against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
As good as they looked against the Bulls though, the Jazz would be a different matter. They were a playoff team, a big, strong, Western Conference playoff team. There was a strong feeling among observers that the Knicks would crash.
Instead, they soared. "I thought Marbury was great," Thomas said. "His leadership throughout the game, during the course of the game, his decision-making, his defense, his shot-making ability. Just from start to finish he was great. "Overall a good team effort, but No. 3 was really good tonight."
As good as Stephon was, Randolph was almost as good. He went 11-15 from the field and had only 3 turnovers. The Knicks as a team had only 13 turnovers and 6 blocked shots, two really big ones coming from Curry at critical points in the game. They hung on to win 113-109, a game nailed down by free throws from Jamal, who shot 7-16 from the field himself last night, with a lot of shakin’ and bakin’ along the way, one of which made the ESPN highlights for the night.
All in all, a great night for New Yorkers for, although the Knicks face a tough schedule ahead, there is now hope that they can deal with it, and perhaps make up for some games lost in their horrific start.
Not that they were alone in their efforts. Basketball is a team game and the Knicks were firing on all cylinders. Eddie Curry was a force in the paint, making a couple of textbook blocks yesterday and Zach Randolph minded the boards, played some defense and made some shots. David Lee did his thing in relief as did Richardson and, well, name a Knick, he did pretty well.
Surprising? Not to me. They had enough talent last year to gain a playoff berth. That they didn't was due to injuries to Crawford and Lee towards the end of the season. When they acquired Zach Randolph, a legitimate star at power forward, I thought he might just be the missing piece the Knicks needed .
Worse luck, though, a team couldn't have to start a season. Randolph had some nagging injuries and was allowed to leave the team for a death in the family. Marbury and Crawford were playing bad fundamental basketball. When Isaiah took Marbury to task about it, Stephon left in a huff. The local newspapers, anxious to blast Isaiah at every opportunity, jumped on the situation. AGAIN we had to hear about the opportunistic Anucha Brown Sanders, her sexual harasment suit and the poor decisions by James Dolan.
But the Knicks played really tough against the Bulls on Saturday. The Bulls had their backs against the wall themselves, off to a horrible start and anxious to bury another team that was down. It didn’t happen. The Knicks wouldn’t let it happen. Marbury, Randolph and Curry were the scoring leaders and Quentin Richardson pulled down 15 boards. They outrebounded the Bulls 52-42 while reducing their turnovers to 17, still too high but much better than the 27 they suffered in their previous debacle against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
As good as they looked against the Bulls though, the Jazz would be a different matter. They were a playoff team, a big, strong, Western Conference playoff team. There was a strong feeling among observers that the Knicks would crash.
Instead, they soared. "I thought Marbury was great," Thomas said. "His leadership throughout the game, during the course of the game, his decision-making, his defense, his shot-making ability. Just from start to finish he was great. "Overall a good team effort, but No. 3 was really good tonight."
As good as Stephon was, Randolph was almost as good. He went 11-15 from the field and had only 3 turnovers. The Knicks as a team had only 13 turnovers and 6 blocked shots, two really big ones coming from Curry at critical points in the game. They hung on to win 113-109, a game nailed down by free throws from Jamal, who shot 7-16 from the field himself last night, with a lot of shakin’ and bakin’ along the way, one of which made the ESPN highlights for the night.
All in all, a great night for New Yorkers for, although the Knicks face a tough schedule ahead, there is now hope that they can deal with it, and perhaps make up for some games lost in their horrific start.
Monday, November 26, 2007
A Vote For Eli
It's too bad Eli Manning has to take the brunt of the criticism for yesterday's 4-interception debacle vs. the Vikings. Poor route-running by the receivers, a too-conservative game plan and the failure to change that plan are just as responsible as Eli was for the interceptions.
Jeremy Shockey did not read the blitz on the first interception, thus failing to run the route Eli expected. Any pass to their injured top receiver, Plaxico Burress, has become an adventure. Sinorice Moss, a speedster, never gets an opportunity to stretch the field. The usually-reliable Amani Toomer dropped at least one yesterday. The offensive line did not seem to adjust to the Vikings' "rush in Eli's face" strategy, nor did the game plan change to allow for more roll-out passes or max-protect schemes. One interception was a deflection, of course.
The media blitz today, especially by WFAN, is totally unfair. Chris Russo, for example, is harping on the fact that Eli hasn't improved. Of course he's improved. What HASN'T improved is the coaching staff. It still retains the same unimaginative, disciplinarian, slow-witted style of Tom Coughlin, the head coach.
Of course, Eli Manning can be a better quarterback. But even his brother Peyton and Tom Brady yesterday against the Eagles showed the effects that constant pressure and poor receivers can have on a team's overall performance. And those QB's have a running game. The G-Men had none yesterday, with injuries to both Jacobs and Ward. Prior to yesterday, Reuben Droughns had been a short-yardage specialist.
So give Eli a pass on yesterday. It was just one of those days. He'll improve with a more imaginative offensive scheme, ot at least one that can be adapted to whatever the defense is doing. And hope for a coaching change for 2008.
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Jeremy Shockey did not read the blitz on the first interception, thus failing to run the route Eli expected. Any pass to their injured top receiver, Plaxico Burress, has become an adventure. Sinorice Moss, a speedster, never gets an opportunity to stretch the field. The usually-reliable Amani Toomer dropped at least one yesterday. The offensive line did not seem to adjust to the Vikings' "rush in Eli's face" strategy, nor did the game plan change to allow for more roll-out passes or max-protect schemes. One interception was a deflection, of course.
The media blitz today, especially by WFAN, is totally unfair. Chris Russo, for example, is harping on the fact that Eli hasn't improved. Of course he's improved. What HASN'T improved is the coaching staff. It still retains the same unimaginative, disciplinarian, slow-witted style of Tom Coughlin, the head coach.
Of course, Eli Manning can be a better quarterback. But even his brother Peyton and Tom Brady yesterday against the Eagles showed the effects that constant pressure and poor receivers can have on a team's overall performance. And those QB's have a running game. The G-Men had none yesterday, with injuries to both Jacobs and Ward. Prior to yesterday, Reuben Droughns had been a short-yardage specialist.
So give Eli a pass on yesterday. It was just one of those days. He'll improve with a more imaginative offensive scheme, ot at least one that can be adapted to whatever the defense is doing. And hope for a coaching change for 2008.
Callaway Golf Equipment from 3balls Golf
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