Sat in Sect. 131, at the Blazers' end of the court in the first half. Pretty good crowd, and pretty enthusiastic for the Knicks, despite their lousy record. Here's what I noticed. The Knicks players (most of whom are not household names) played much harder and with more grit than Roy, Aldridge, Webster, et al. It was very noticable. Our guys were a step slow, they weren't hustling to the ball, their passes weren't as crisp, and they didn't look as focused. Why? You'll have to ask them. This is a pattern I've seen over and over again. We come out like we're not into the game, and before you know it the other team has a big lead. Then we regain our focus in the fourth quarter and stage a furious comeback that falls short. Here's the question to ask: If we can play hard in the fourth quarter, why can't we play hard in the first quarter?? We didn't deserve to win this game. The truth was, we didn't want it badly enough. This is a bad sign, because with Oden out for the year, this team is going to have to fight and scrap for everything it gets. Tonight it wasn't willing to do that.
It is because the players are not happy with the coaching staff so they are not playing as hard as they should\can. We need a coach who can let these guys play how they are good at playing.
Don't lie to us man. You did not get back from a "game", you got back from a scrimmage between the high school Varsity team and the 5th grade girls team.
What's sad is the Knicks didn't even play that well. They shot 41% from the floor and missed 8 FTs, and their defense was hardly suffocating. The Blazers were just that bad tonight.
Actually, we made good time coming back to NJ. Made it from MSG to my apartment in a half hour. The Lincoln Tunnel was practically empty.
Didn't take any pics, but I did see some Blazer fans wearing Blazer gear. One very cute girl was wearing a Brandon Roy jersey.
Why only the first half? Do they have LAX security (where you can move around)? were there a bunch of loud NY goombas? I've only been there once for the NBA draft, I wanna catch a game there sometime.
I didn't feel like moving around. I used to do that when I was younger, but now I'm too lazy. Not too many goombas. The Knicks fans are pretty decent, on the whole. Chris Rock, Rihanna, and Celine Dion were all there, and they showed them on the big screen.