The Knicks are losing. All is well.
The Knicks lost two games in a row. The sky is now falling, according to some. But with a little reflection, it can be appreciated just how good these Knicks’ start to the season has been.
As the lub-dub of New York sports, the Knicks are always big news. So losing their second straight game Wednesday night to the Pacers is already a crisis, and not just in the tabloids. This week fans have offered all kinds of theories for the dip in form, including but not limited to:
nobody cares on defense
nobody cares as much as they did last year
Julius Randle is trying to do too much
Julius Randle isn’t doing enough
Julius Randle is freezing out RJ Barrett
the Knicks are too cocky, having overlooked Toronto and Indiana
they Knicks play too often as individuals and not enough as a TEAM™
I’d like to propose an alternate point of view. There’s nothing wrong with the Knicks.
Before the Indiana game, New York’s first road loss in four games, their record was 5-2. Two years ago, they didn’t win their fifth game till they’d dropped 20, repeating an ignominy endured five years prior. You don’t have to look back far to appreciate how far they’ve come and how quickly. That’s some Jeffersons shit.
Maybe you’re tougher to please; maybe you, like me, followed the team through its Silver Age, the 1990s, when men were men and the Knicks were too busy big-game hunting to care about participation trophies like starting 5-2. Then you look back and see that in the four seasons Pat Riley coached the team, only once did the Knicks get off to a start that well, winning their first seven in 1993-94. The other bookend of those glory days, Jeff Van Gundy, led the team for five years; they never opened better than 5-2, and most years didn’t even hit that height. So 5-2 means something, something I could not imagine typing a year ago, something I’m still afraid to say out loud.
This, right now, is what you’ve been waiting for this whole dark century. These are the droids you’re looking for.
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