The Knicks Fix

With consecutive last-second losses, it's only natural to dissect the endings of both games. On the surface, the Knicks defense was caught scrambling in the loss to the Wizards and Eddy Curry missed the box-out on Clifford Robinson in the loss to the Nets.

But in both situations, the Knicks did get one last -- albeit desperate -- possession with just over two seconds left. Both times they threw up half-court shots (Jamal Crawford against Washington and Stephon Marbury against the Nets) and both just missed.

The thought then comes up that if the Knicks had one last timeout in both situations, they could have gotten better shots and, possibly, won each game.

Thomas was asked about his timeout management and he gave a reasonable explanation for using his timeouts the way he did in both games. In Washington, he burned one in the third quarter when the Wizards were in the midst of a 9-0 run that eventually became a 15-1 run. Clearly the timeout was meant to quell momentum (and it didn't quite work). Against the Nets, Thomas again burned one in the third quarter, after Jason Kidd hit a long-range jumper to make it a 71-65 Nets lead.

Then down the stretch, knowing he had just one timeout left, Thomas chose to use it before the possessions that put the Knicks ahead for the last time in the game. Against Washington, it was to get Jamal Crawford in for his usual late heroics. Against the Nets, Crawford again was subbed in and David Lee put back his miss. (Right before that, Marbury had Robinson one-on-one on a switch, but Thomas still opted to call the timeout because he didn't like the "angle" Marbury had to the basket. "I didn't want to settle for a jump shot there," he said. It didn't cost them on the scoreboard because Lee's put-back resulted in the points they needed. But it cost them a timeout.)

The opposing team called timeout after the Knick scores and Thomas was able to make the defensive switches (Jeffries back in for Crawford). However after failing to get stops, the Knicks were forced to throw up desperation shots to win it. If they had a timeout left, perhaps those final possessions wouldn't be so desperate.

Consider a timeout would move the ball to halfcourt. It would also allow for a play. Hey, if Crawford can connect with David Lee with three-tenths of a second left to beat Charlotte, who's to say they couldn't do something with 2.2 seconds left in Washington and 2.7 seconds left against the Nets?

“You’re making an assumption that if you save one, then you were gonna score without calling a timeout," Thomas said. "In both of those situations we took a timeout, came out of the huddle and scored. So, you want to be up one as opposed to being down three. So we scored on both of those situation and, again, in both of those games, we were down a lot in the fourth quarter, so there are other things that come into play other than just getting blown out. You can save a timeout and lose the game by 12 and walk into the locker room and say, ‘Well, we still have one timeout.’ But you lost by 12. Or you can be up one. So I felt we did everything necessary to win the game. We just didn’t get a bounce or two.”

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Another point noticed by one veteran scribe from late in the Nets game was that Vince Carter knocked the ball into the front row after Robinson's put-back. The extra few seconds it took for the Knicks to get the ball for the inbounds gave the Nets time to get back on defense. Normally, that's a delay-of-game warning, and the Knicks would have been able to sub Crawford back into the game to, at least, have another scoring option on the floor.
But everyone knows the officials aren't calling that one in the final seconds.

"I'm not making a big deal about it," Thomas said. "I just think the last 5 to 7 seconds left in a game, it's a players' game."

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No one is talking basketball in the Basketball State right now. Everyone is Colts Crazy. I'm not, but who cares about me. Still, it was fun to mess with the nice people at the hotel who were decked out in Colts apparel. When I told them I'd be checking out around 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, one replied, "You're not staying for the game?"

"Sweetheart," I said, "by the time the game kicks off I'll be laying on a lounge chair in South Beach, watching on a portable TV."

I'll be hanging out with Glauber and Rock, who are here to cover the AFC Championship.

Forecast for tomorrow here in Indianapolis: Snow.

Enjoy it boys.