Hmm,  Knicks Ice the Heat?

Party in the City where Fields is on?

Bienvenido a Gallinari?

I can keep going? no?

I don’t even know where to start. I have been patiently awaiting this game all week because, well, I’m a long-time Knicks fan and because ever since Bron Bron decided to take his ‘talents’ anywhere but NY I have been a slightly bitter individual. However, he took his talents nowhere last night when not only did he miss over half his shots from fg range, he couldn’t step it up when his team needed him the most. Dear Bron Bron, I’m glad your talents are anywhere but NY. Why? Because we just don’t need you.

Don’t get me wrong, I know how the game works. The beauty of sports is that it’s anyone’s game on any given day. As fans, we love upsets, we thrive on upsets. So clearly, I’m ecstatic about this upset. I know it wasn’t a play-off game and I know Bosh was out and maybe some will say the Knicks got ‘lucky.’ But let me tell you what else I know, I know that this team has heart. Maybe it’s cheesy for someone to say that but you’ll come to realize, I’m a pretty cheesy gal. The truth of the matter is that when you’re playing at a professional level and win or lose there’s still a paycheck, most athletes get caught up in the fame, the money, the endorsements, the partying and the women. They love the ups and all hell breaks loose when the ups become the downs.

The Knicks were down. They were on a 6-game losing streak prior to their win against the Wizards earlier this week. No one started pointing fingers at their coach or complaining about minutes played (note: dream team Miami Heat during their little rut). Instead, they worked harder, they got their act together and they beat the Wizards. Granted, the Wizards are currently 13-31 and have not one a single away game this season, the Knicks pressed even harder and confirmed that they successfully ended the worst of their woes by beating the big, bad, Miami Heat….. without Carmelo Anthony.

Of course with last night’s big W over the Heat comes a lot of post game chatter about the trade that has given everyone something to write about ever since Bron-Bron finally committed to a team. Last night %100  supports what I blogged about earlier regarding why we shouldn’t be so quick to trade our boys for Melo. Do many people argue otherwise? Yes. I understand why, I just don’t agree. I understand that so many sports nuts believe the Knicks NEED Melo. ESPN’s Ian O’Connor is one of them (see Enjoy it while it lasts – because it won’t).  Truthfully, I was excited to wake up this morning and blog about the game and what it means until I read his article and realized a real sports writer totally disagrees with me. At the same time I’m not surprised. Businessmen don’t factor in heart, teamwork or camaraderie in anything, ever. Businessmen focus on stats, the ‘black and white,’ they only speak of what can be proven. This makes sense. I’m just not that type of person. I live in the ‘gray’ area.  So here’s a little bit of both broken down for ya…

Black and White:
Together, the Knicks bench contributed 17 points where as the Heat bench only contributed 8.

The Heat had 5 players contribute to their total 88 points. The Knicks had 8 players contribute to their total of 93 points.

Gray (and way more fun):
Those two stats alone make me proud to be a New York Knick fan. I don’t want one guy to carry us through our ups and downs, that is the job of an entire team. Last night, our entire team pushed through a 9-point, 4th-quarter deficit in a game that had been Dwayne Wade dominated to end up holding him to only one point in the minutes that mattered most. Who made that happen? The New York Knicks. Not one player, the entire team, including D’Antoni. How much more fun is a team that doesn’t have to depend on one or two guys to get them through every game? How much more fun is a team that understands the definition of TEAM and has every single player contribute either on offense or defense? Way more fun, kids, waaay more fun.

Both Amare and D.Wade were big time contributors for their teams, until the 4th quarter. Both big shots were very well defended and D.Wade would have had a stellar game if the game ended at the end of the 3rd. He went from 14-15 to 14-22. Contributing only one point in the 4th and only hitting 6 of 14 free-throw attempts. Let’s cough up the change of his game in the 4th to Fields playing sick defense. However, the cough becomes a choke when you can’t hit your free-throws to keep your team in the game.

Amare wasn’t given very many opportunities to put the ball in the basket in the 4th despite scoring 20ish points prior. He, like Wade, still worked hard and played D but as far as putting up points in the 4th, both leading scorers were shut down and that’s where the cheesy gray area kicks in.

What did the Knicks have over the Heat last night? I’ll say it over and over again. Team spirit, teamwork, camaraderie and my personal favorite… HEART.  Amare was shut down and so everyone else stepped up. They couldn’t have paid for a 3point fg to fall their way last night but they kept shooting them anyways and guess what? They finally sank ‘em when it counted, the final 1:30 of the game. They didn’t depend on their all-star to bring their team to the finish line despite being guarded like spalding on a basketball. They worked TOGETHER and they found other ways to win.
This is what a team is all about. This is why Spike Lee comes to these games decked in orange and blue, this is why I was jumping on a bed and silently fist pumping while at work last night, this is why Manhattan is rocking their Knicks gear today, this is why Stoudy is the first Knick since ’92 to start in an NBA All-Star game, this is why our boys say they can’t picture playing anywhere else. It’s because We Are The New York Knicks.

Keep this team together and wait for Melo to become a free agent and if we don’t get him, fine. We will get the next one. And there will be a next one, there always is.

yay for cheesy gray areas.