Natasha? Natissa? Natette?

As I started the first of eleven loads of laundry for the evening, I said to myself, "I think I'll watch the Knick game tonight." I actually said it out loud in the building laundry room!

I've been a bad fan lately. Knicks are actually winning games lately (putting their humiliating loss to the Nets aside), and they're doing it without any Nate Robinson at all. Almost starting to feel like a Marbury kinda thing... Nate hasn't played since December 1st!

I had the game on for about the first 3 minutes of the 1st quarter, and I started wandering. Say what?! Lockup marathon on MSNBC?! "Extended Stay: There Goes the Neighborhood" followed by "Tennessee Women's Prison"?! Maybe I'll just keep tabs on Knicks-Hawks every few minutes or so...

I finally came to my senses after a couple of hours, and stumbled back to MSG to find that Nate was not only playing, but was on fucking FIRE!!! Seriously, he scored every god damn time he took the ball down the court.

I sat there for a while with my jaw in my lap, folding Jr's shirts and (the future) Lil' Mz's onesies like an inmate on Thorazine. The game went into overtime with Nate still sinking everything he put up (except free throws, of course). Forty-one points????!!!! Off the bench????!!!! What the hell is going on???!!! How many "question mark/exclamation point" tandems can I possibly squeeze into a single paragraph???!!! Are we really having another kid in five weeks???!!! Is there a girl version of the name "Nate"???!!!

Knicks 98, Nets 91

I was all fired up to watch and make fun of write about the epic battle between the Knicks and Nets yesterday afternoon. Too bad I had to work, although it doesn't look like I missed much.

1. Apparently we're passing on Iverson. I was rooting for this one, but I always go for the "bad idea" trades (Albert Belle, Manny, etc.). I like sports to be fun, and bad ideas are usually more fun.
I imagine the Knicks are giving the "we like where we're at right now" excuse, which is ridiculous. Reminds me of the guy that turns down the ride home from the bar at the end of the night, saying, "Nah, I'll just walk. It's nice out, anyway."

2. Nate Robinson intentionally shot (and scored!) at the wrong basket. It's bad enough when he shoots on the right basket after the buzzer, which he does all the time. Kinda like Johnny Damon almost chucking the ball into the bleachers with two outs last season, except Johnny didn't actually do it.

3. Who the #%$@ are these guys? I originally came up with what I thought was a good trivia question after the game: Name five of the six Knicks scoring in double-figures in today's 98-91 victory over the Nets. I immediately created a far more difficult challenge: Name anybody who played for the Nets today. Go ahead!

4. Are these guys really moving to Brooklyn?

 

The Knicks are now 1-9.

It's been a while since I talked about the Knicks.

I've barely watched 'em at all this season, in fact. I got so used to not having cable that watching basketball just isn't a thought. Plus, the Isiah era's over, so there's not much to write about anyway, right?

I watched some of the Atlanta game the other night, and boy do they suck. Possibly the worst 10 minutes of Knick basketball I've ever seen, and that's saying something. They missed open layups on back-to-back possessions, played defense like they'd been given double-dose lethal injections, and seemed to have absolutely no idea what the hell they were doing.

Seriously, they must be seen to be believed. HOW COULD THEY BE WORSE THAN THEY JUST WERE?! I used to make the same drunk bet every September with somebody that the Knicks would have a winning record after their first ten games. Then it became 5-5, and pretty soon I was just going for 3 or 4 wins. The Knicks are now 1-9, which I never even considered possible for my 10-game bets.

The Isiah Knicks were usually funny-bad, or at least tragic-bad; watching them brought you through an emotional journey of one kind or another. Now they're just weird-bad, which is the worst kind of bad there is. Almost supernaturally bad. I was putting away Jr's bath toys last night, and I missed his bath crate with a rubber duckie four times in a row from about 15 inches away. I was clearly channeling the spirit of Chris Duhon in my very own bathroom. As I watched Danilo Gallinari stagger down the court, I made some stupid joke to myself (aloud) about Darko Milicic showing up, and he did!!! He did because he actually plays for the Knicks (which I'd completely forgotten), but that doesn't make the whole thing any less eerie! The team is fucking haunted.

I wanted to "live blog" tonight's game, but I was so into taking drugs and reading Dr. Seuss to my son (in that order) that I completely missed the game. I'm making a point of covering one of their next games. I'd love to do the Nets next Saturday, but it's at friggin 1pm! I'll keep looking...