Down In Front: The musings of a sports fanatic
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Knicks Half Way Home
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Knicks Need To Wake Up!
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Knicks Making Believers Out of Non-Believers
After Saturday afternoon's rather underwhelming effort by the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the prevailing sentiment by the "experts" was that even though the Boston Celtics still trailed 2-1, they had taken control of the series and were now favored to wrap it up in six.
There was only one small problem: the Knicks never got the memo. They came out Monday night with their best performance of the postseason, beating the Celtics 121-113 to take a 3-1 lead and a stranglehold on the series.
Indeed, except for the last minute and a half of the first quarter in which the Celtics hit four consecutive three-pointers to take a 39-28 lead, the Knicks were the better team on the court for most of the night. Unlike the first two games in Boston, the men in orange and blue did not wait for the fourth quarter to mount their comeback. They began it with 9:05 left in the third, trailing 72-58.
And just as he has done throughout these playoffs, Jalen Brunson led the way for his teammates. He scored 26 points in the second half, 18 in the third quarter. Overall he finished with 39 for the Knicks. But he was not the only hero for the home team. OG Anunoby (20), Mikal Bridges (23) and Karl-Anthony Towns (23) each answered the bell, as well. It was, by far, the most balanced scoring attack the Knicks have had in this series. New York outscored Boston 70-51 in the second half.
To paraphrase Jerry Garcia, what a long, strange series it's been. In each of the first four games, the Celtics have had a double-digit lead in the third quarter, and in three of those four games, the Knicks came from behind to win. And the culprit in each of those Boston losses was their poor shooting performance from three-point range.
In games one and two, the Celtics shot a collective 25-100 (25 percent) from beyond the arc; in game three, they were 20-40 (50 percent) from downtown; and in game four, they went 12-24 (50 percent) from three in the first half, but only 6-24 (25 percent) in the second half.
Put succinctly, when the Celtics hit their threes, they win; when they don't, they lose. There's no Plan B. Boston's inability, or unwillingness, to make in-game adjustments has been its biggest problem in this series. In short, their arrogance has been their own worst enemy. And now the Knicks, who entered this series as heavy underdogs, and were 1-11 during the regular season against teams ahead of them in the standings, are one win away from their first conference finals appearance since 2000.
And without Jayson Tatum, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury late in the fourth quarter, the chances of Boston mounting its own comeback and preventing that from happening is about as remote as a leopard changing its stripes. All season long, the Celtics have lived by the three and now they seem determined to die by it.
Which is just fine for a fanbase that has waited 52 years to celebrate a championship. And here's the best thing: should the Knicks and the Indiana Pacers advance - both teams lead their respective series 3-1 - New York would have the home court advantage.
The lion's share of the credit for this metamorphosis goes to Tom Thibodeau. He has badly out-coached his counterpart, Joe Mazzulla in this series. He has made the necessary adjustments that have put the Knicks in position to capitalize on the Celtics shortcomings.
Case in point, the way he's handled Mitchell Robinson. The backup center is a plus 35 over the four games against Boston, but his liability at the free-throw line has been a big concern for the Knicks. However, rather than bench him, Thibs continues to play him, which has forced Mazzulla to foul him and, as a result, put the Celtics in the bonus earlier than he would prefer. Who'd have thunk that the Knicks of all teams would be winning the battle of coaching?
Bottom line: the Knicks are making believers out of non-believers; they are playing clutch basketball; their best players have been better than the Celtics best players; and they are almost halfway through this most improbable journey.
A journey whose final destination has yet to be determined.
Friday, May 9, 2025
Pride and Prejudice
In the days leading up to Super Bowl 25, Bill Belichick had a huge problem. He had to design a defense that could contend with the most prolific offense in football that season. The Buffalo Bills, led by Jim Kelly, steamrolled their way through the AFC playoffs. They put up 44 points against the Miami Dolphins and 51 against the Los Angeles Raiders. Kelly was a collective 36-62 for 639 yards in both games, with 5 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a 126 passer rating. If he had that kind of success against the Giants, Big Blue would be in deep trouble.
The defense that Belichick finally came up with was the 2-3-6 defense. It consisted of two defensive linemen, three linebackers and six defensive backs. It had one mission: to stop, or at least curtail the Bills passing attack, which was lethal. What Belichick and head coach Bill Parcels were basically saying was this: we'll let you run the ball, but we're going to take away your ability to throw the deep pass. All Bills head coach Marv Levy would've had to do was run the ball more and the Bills might not have needed Scott Norwood's 47 yard field goal attempt to win the game.
But Levy wouldn't, or couldn't bring himself to adjust his game plan. The Bills got there on the strength of Kelly's arm and they weren't going to fundamentally change who they were. And while Thurman Thomas did get 135 yards, he only touched the ball 15 times in the game. By comparison, Kelly was 18-30 for 212 yards, zero touchdowns and a passer rating of 81.5. Meanwhile the Giants, with a balanced attack, ate up most of the clock and hung on to win what many consider to be the most exiting Super Bowl in NFL history.
The moral of the story is this: pride kills. Levy's arrogance cost his team a Super Bowl win. The failure to make adjustments in sports is the primary reason most teams lose. I say "most" because sometimes, no matter how solid your game plan is, the other team is just better. But that being said, the purpose for having a coach is to anticipate what could go wrong and prepare accordingly; it isn't simply to make out a lineup card.
In the series between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, the Celtics are a collective 25-100 (25 percent) from three-point range. They have lost the first two games by a grand total of four points. They have blown consecutive 20-point leads to a team that, going into the series, was a decided underdog. And while most analysts have focused on their poor shooting, the real culprit has been the Boston strategy.
The fact is attempting 60 three-point shots in a game is insane. There's no excuse for it. But when you listen to the players and the head coach attempt to rationalize it by insisting that this is who they are and they're not going to change, it is eerily reminiscent of that Bills team that lost to the Giants in Super Bowl 25. Marv Levy and Joe Mazzulla might as well be distant relatives.
The worst-kept secret in the NBA is that the Knicks have a terrible perimeter defense. And going up against a Celtics team that led the league in three-point attempts, it was incumbent upon them to tighten it up. But for all the talk about the Knicks shortcomings, it is, ironically, the Celtics shortcomings that are coming home to roost in this series.
Put succinctly, they are a one-dimensional offense. The reliance on the three-point shot has been both the Celtics greatest asset and their biggest vulnerability. It allowed them to go 16-3 in last season's playoffs. But it also masked weaknesses within their roster which have now been exposed this postseason by a Knicks team that is as relentless as it is resilient. And like the compulsive gambler who, having lost a month's wages in Vegas and insists his luck will change sooner or later, the Celtics find themselves two losses away from sports bankruptcy.
The more I think about it, the more this Knicks team reminds me of that Giants team in 1990. They, too, were underdogs, but found a way to overcome the odds and win. Tom Thibodeau is no Bill Belichick, that's for sure. But like Belichick, who had Lawrence Taylor, Thibs does have an ace in the hole. Jalen Brunson is, without question, THE best player in these playoffs, and it isn't even close.
Spare me all the nonsense about how great Jayson Tatum is. What has he done with the game on the line in this series? Hell, he wasn't even the MVP in last year's finals. Call me old-fashioned, but I'll take the player who has more clutch-time points (41) than the Minnesota Timberwolves (34), Celtics (26) or Cleveland Cavaliers (25).
The amount of disrespect the Knicks in general and Brunson in particular have gotten borders on pathological. It's one thing when fans do it; that's why they're called fans. But when so-called "professionals" who are paid to be objective do it, that's another story. Whether it's an anti New York bias or just plain ignorance is irrelevant. The fact is there isn't a professional sports league in the country that wouldn't benefit financially from having a New York team in its championship round. Ask Major League Baseball how much better their ratings were having the Dodgers and Yankees play in the World Series. I can tell you the sponsors certainly didn't mind.
And now these same geniuses who said the Knicks would be lucky to win one game against the Celtics are now saying that they need to win game three in order to win the series. You literally can't make this shit up. Sometimes I wonder how they show themselves in public.
There's no conspiracy here. The reason the Knicks are ahead 2-0 in this series is because in the fourth quarter they have been the better team. Period. You don't need to be a rocket scientist or a basketball "expert" to figure that out. You just have to take off the blinders that have prevented you from seeing the truth.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
The Boston Steal Party
Monday, May 5, 2025
Knicks Playoff Preview (Round Two)
Having avoided the unthinkable - losing to the Detroit Pistons - the New York Knicks begin a best of "seven" series against the defending NBA champion Celtics tonight in Boston. I put the word seven in quotation marks because the Knicks went 0-4 against the Celtics during the regular season and three of the four losses weren't remotely close. The one competitive game was at the Garden in April, where the Knicks had a three-point lead with 11 seconds to go before Jayson Tatum drilled a three pointer to send it into overtime.
The last time these two teams met was in 2013. The Knicks were 54-28 that season; the Celtics were 41-41. Led by Carmelo Anthony, who averaged 29.2 points per game in the series, New York prevailed 4-2. But as the saying goes, that was then, this is now.
It pains me to say this, but this has the potential to be one of the ugliest and most lopsided series drubbings in Knicks playoff history. That's because the one thing New York has struggled with all-season long just happens to be Boston's number one strength. In their 31 losses this season, the Knicks allowed their opponents to shoot 43 percent from beyond the arc. The Celtics as a team average 48 three-point shot attempts per game. That's the basketball equivalent of lighting a cigarette while filling up your gas tank.
So, with that in mind, do the Knicks have a shot at beating the Celtics? And if not, can they at least avoid a sweep?
The answer to both questions comes down to three keys:
Karl-Anthony Towns: Leon Rose brought him to New York specifically to go up against Kristaps Porziņģis. This is his moment. He must rise to the occasion. No way this team can win with him scoring 10 points like he did twice against the Pistons. Among Knick starters, only Josh Hart has taken less three point shot attempts in these playoffs. That's inexcusable.
Perimeter defense: There's no other way around it. The Knicks must do a better job at defending from downtown or the Celtics will light them up like a Christmas tree. This will require Tom Thibodeau to do something he's not comfortable doing: adjusting his coaching style to match the opponent. If Thibs thinks he can beat the Celtics mano e mano, this will be a very short series. And by short, I mean don't bother booking a flight back to Boston for a game five.
Get off to good start: Against a very inexperienced Pistons team, the Knicks were able to mount multiple comebacks to win the series. I guarantee you that won't happen against the Celtics. In their first three meetings this season, the Knicks trailed Boston after the first quarter by 19, 11 and 19 respectively. All three were blowout losses. In their fourth meeting, they led Boston by three after one and six at the half. The Celtics eked out a narrow two-point OT win in that one. And just in case you were wondering, every Celtic starter except Jaylen Brown played at least 37 minutes in that game; Tatum led with 48 minutes. If the Knicks can avoid their typical slow starts they can make this a series. If they can't, it'll be a sweep.
Bottom line, even if all the above goes their way, the Knicks will still have a very difficult time beating a Celtics team that is deep, fast, explosive and well coached. I've been a Knicks fan since the glory days of Red Holzman. This is a good team with some very good players, and one generational talent. Had they played them last season in tact, who knows, maybe they would've beaten them. It's just hard for me to see that happening this time around.
My heart says Knicks in seven; my head says Celtics in five.
I think my head may be right.
Here are my predictions for the other second round matchups:
Eastern Conference:
Cleveland over Indiana in seven: The Pacers will hold their own against the Cavs, especially if Darius Garland is hobbled by that toe.
Western Conference:
Oklahoma City over Denver in six: SGA vs. the Joker. The winner will likely go on to the finals.
Minnesota over Golden State in six: In the last two postseasons the Ant-Man has eliminated the likes of Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Steph Curry will be the next to fall.
If the Knicks advance, I'll preview both conference finals. If they don't, my initial prediction for the finals stands: OKC should win the title.
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Will the Third Time Be the Charm for Drury?
Gerard Gallant was an accomplished head coach who guided the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season to the Stanley Cup finals. Peter Laviolette was an accomplished head coach who took three different teams to the finals and actually won a Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. Mike Sullivan is an accomplished head coach who was behind the bench when the Pittsburgh Penguins won back to back Cups.
What do all three men have in common? They were all hired by Chris Drury to coach the New York Rangers. The first two lasted two seasons before being relieved of their duties. The third was just hired yesterday. Suffice to say, Drury is hoping - praying - that the third time will be the charm.
As Yogi Berra would say, "It's déjà vu all over again."
It's easy to sit here and say that Sullivan is just another retread, like his predecessors. That Drury should've gone for someone younger; someone like David Carle, the current head coach of the Denver Pioneers - the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four champs. Now that would've been bold; that would've been newsworthy.
That also would've been quite impossible. Let's forget for a moment that Carle has repeatedly said he isn't interested in leaving the University of Denver. Let's also forget for a moment that Carle's name has been mentioned as a possible future replacement for Jared Bednar should he decide to step down as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. The last time the Rangers hired a coach from the college ranks it was David Quinn from Boston University in 2018. We all know how that turned out. If you think for a moment that James Dolan would ever sign off on hiring another college coach you've taken one too many pucks to the head.
But here's the thing. If Gallant, Laviolette and Sullivan are all retreads then so is Paul Maurice, the current head coach of the Florida Panthers. His 916 career wins are the most among active NHL coaches, and last year he guided the Puddy Tats to their first Stanley Cup championship. One man's retread is another man's savior. It's worth noting that when Mike Keenan was hired by Neil Smith in 1993, the prevailing sentiment among many was that he too was a retread who was brought in because of his celebrity status.
There are some interesting parallels between the Keenan and Sullivan hirings. In the 1991-92 season, the Rangers won the Presidents' trophy but did not win the Cup. They struggled mightily the following season, missing the playoffs. Under Keenan, the Blueshirts went on to win their first Cup in 54 years.
In the 2023-24 season, the Rangers won the Presidents' trophy but failed to win the Cup. They struggled mightily the following season, missing the playoffs. No doubt Drury is banking on lightning striking twice.
There's another parallel between the two men. In 1987, Keenan coached Team Canada to a win against the Soviet Union in the Canada Cup. That team was put together in less than two weeks over the summer, and yet Keenan was credited with bringing them together. Earlier this year, Sullivan coached Team USA to a finals appearance in the Four Nations Face-off tournament. Like Keenan in '87, Sullivan had two weeks to assemble his roster and get everyone on the same page. Though Team USA lost to Team Canada in the final game, the prevailing sentiment was that Sullivan was the reason they go as far as they did.
Of course, there's one big difference between that '94 team and this one. The former had Mark Messier and Brian Leetch; the latter doesn't. As I wrote back in April, the real problem with this team isn't behind the bench - it never was - it's in the locker room. Drury can coax Scotty Bowman out of retirement and the result would probably be the same.
Mike Sullivan's biggest challenge with this team won't be drawing up the X's and O's, determining the line combinations and defense pairings, or how much ice time each player gets; it'll be dealing with a core that for most of last season behaved as if it needed a therapist more than it needed a head coach.
Perhaps Drury should've hired Dr. Phil instead.