Luv those Knicks wrote:I was going to hold off on posting in this thread till after the series. And I've been holding my breath since the end of game 5. OK, not literally. I can't hold my breath for over a day . . . but you know what I mean. Like I can't breath until it's over.
I HATE the Sixers. Even more than I hate Donald Trump.
There. I said it. I know that's irrational. It's just a game. I'm just a fan. But they suck. They're not even the bad guys in a cool way, like, you know, Hanibal Lector, or even, Michael Jordan. (Come to think of it, Jordan and Hannibal Lector do have a lot in common) . . . but I digress.
The Sixers are more like the zombies in The Walking Dead. Nobody roots for the Zombies, but the truth is, sometimes the Zombies win. It's just how it is.
My Knicks unraveled, and they, as others before them have done, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and Maxey made his shots and NY lost a game they should have won and more than one person is to blame for that, but perhaps, Thibs most of all. Thibs is great when he's right. We loved the guy in game 4, but he's not always right. We've all seen him make mistakes before. He's . . . 60/40. I like the guy, but he's not perfect.
So, what now? Where do we stand?
Philly's a good team. They were the 2nd best team in the East when Embiid was healthy and their record backed that up. Though the Knicks - when healthy (OG before the elbow), were right there too, but didn't do it for as long a period. We went into this series undermanned. No Randle means we went in at 80%. . . . OK, 85%.
and 85% of NY vs Philly (and they're banged up too but they're not 85% - they have much more of their team than we have of ours) - tough matchup.
NY goes in, head held high and faces the team that other teams went out of their way to avoid, and missing a key player.
And they win game 1.
They snatch game 2, Philly makes some mistakes, some brilliance at the end, Brunson has a bad game, but NY up 2-0.
Game 3 goes to the bad guys.
Game 4, hehe, Wilt gets jerseyed.
Game 5, . . . look, the game was close. The series has been very close. Games 2, 4 and 5 were all right down to the wire. Even game 1 was kind of close and game 3, the refs really wanted Philly to win game 3.
It's been a war. We've had playoff series wars before, but this one, feels more intense than any I remember.
Remember 91-92, when the Knicks beat the 67 win Bulls at home. Xavier McDaniel bothered Scotty Pippen all series and NY took the series to 7 games. Nobody else took the bulls to 7 games. But, if I was to be honest for a moment (and just a moment), the Bulls were better. Come on, everyone knows that. The Knicks thugged their way to almost winning, but they were never the better team. They just had Oakley at defensive tackle, McDaniel at defensive end and Mason at linebacker.
92-93, NY lost McDaniel because Michael Jordan's agent stepped in, but they add Charles Smith (losing Mark Jackson who we missed more than most people realized, I think), and NY wins 62 games, home court all the way and they go up against Chicago 2-0. . . . . . then they lose the next 4. Bulls were better. I'm sorry, but 92-93 was perhaps closer, but Bulls were better, and one of the games in Chicago went down to a last second no call, and then Charles Smith couldn't make a layup in another game, but . . . up 2-0 - that was their window, but they couldn't close it.
Last year, this Knicks team met the Cavs, who were expected to win, and they made the Cavs look silly. Then they met physical and more composed Heat team, that made it to the finals - last year was a war too. The Heat played hard and Butler was a dagger (like Maxey this year) and the Heat won. Tough series, but I'll say this about it, looking back at last year's playoffs. I feel no regret for watching. NY played hard, they lost, but it was a great series against the Heat.
Now we're facing the Philadelphia Walking dead - going into their home court. Up 3-2 but . . . enemy ground. Zombies everywhere. Can our boys pull out a win in enemy territory?
I didn't say this at the time, but when NY was up 3-1, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. These teams are evenly matched. Any game can go any way and Philly has 2 offensive weapons who can go off at any time, NY has just one. Philly's good, even if they are zombies.
This isn't NY vs Chicago in the early 90s when NY tries to out-thug them.
We have to outsmart Philly. They have more weapons. . . . funny story. I gather Philly ownership held back 5,000 tickets for sale to make some extra money. That's why there were so many Knick fans in attendance in game 4. Did they do the same with game 6? he he. Probably. I'm guessing many Knick fans will be in attendance, unless they made all the tickets available to fans after the fiasco in game four.
But I digress. This is a tough series. Maybe, the most brutal playoff series I remember watching in a long time. And if they lose, maybe the toughest loss to watch since they lost to the Rockets in the finals, so, I hope they don't lose.
But the good guys are still up 3 games to 2, facing the zombies for game 6 in the Walking Dead Arena. They can still pull off a miracle, and a win would, somehow, feel like a miracle. I can't explain that, but it would.
Go good guys!!! Go Knicks. Outsmart the sonofabitches.
It was so long LTK, don't know why can't press the +1 button but I can feel your passion (and hatred) through the words.
