BTW, speaking of historically awful, last night's second quarter was a disgrace, perfect exposition of Adam Silver's no defense allowed 150 points per game preferred "product"...don't begrudge anyone their techs even though they helped lead to our loss..horrible ref shit..the no-touch-allowed basketball freaked everyone out for at least two quarters
What can you do?
It's bullshit, but, it's all part of the FANS WANT TO SEE OFFENSE shtick.
Me, I reckon I'm not the only one who has fond memories of Pat Riley and his "ugly" brand of bully ball, of tough defense, hard fouls, hand checking.
Knicks championships were built on a defensive foundation.
YAWN, right?
Next time you hear Clyde discussing Jerry Sloan, check out the respect and reverence (and FEAR) in his recollections.
PS:
Easy Opportunities. The Holzman Knicks. The Auerbach Celtics. Roll that around on your tongue. As per the modern game, one of the things which CONTINUES to impress me about DEVIN BOOKER, besides his obvious all-around skill set and competitive verve, is that HE TAKES WHAT THE DEFENSE GIVES HIM, and is not obsessed with this bullshit analytic which holds that two-point shots are not only unproductive compared to treys, but a mis-use of offensive sets. Color me STOOPID (feel free to jump in, people), but anytime the ball goes into the hoop that is a good thing, is it not, and part of the art and science of the hoops DAWG & I grew up enjoying, was when skilled individuals and their team mates worked to create
EASY OPPORTUNITIES.
PPS: I remember somebody pooh poohing the Big O, and dismissing how ALL OSCAR ROBERTSON DOES is back his man in and shoot a short jumper or get fouled and go to the charity stripe. Well...
DUH. How BORING. Like Devin Booker, Oscar was a solid 6'5" 205-201 pounds of MAN. For the first EIGHT FUCKING YEARS of the Big O's career, for all intents and purposes, he was good for 30 points a night, and ten assists, getting to the charity strip 10-11-12 times a night, night in and night out, and converting FTs at an 85% clip--and he would get to the charity stripe like 800-900 times a fucking season for the first 7 years of his career.
HELLO.
That's HOOPS. Oh, and for the first five years of his career, for all intents and purposes, the Big O averaged a triple double, and you could mark him down for 30-10-10 a game.
PPPS: Now Devin doesn't get to the charity stripe with BIG O regularity, but last season in 64 games, he converted 393-454 for an .866%, and this season, in only 33 games, he is 194-213 for a 911%. And while only a paltry, by today's analytics, 60-167 from the 3-pt stripe, he has connected on 242-428 from 2-pt, which translates to a .558% shooting percentage. Which translates to 26.0 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, and 6.5 assists.
THAT MY FRIENDS, IS A BALLER.