Spring Break
Isiah Thomas and the Knicks are the up and coming team in the Eastern Conference
John Minton
Issue date: 4/27/04 Section: Sports
"It tastes so good when it hits your lips!" How true is that? There's nothing quite like that first encounter with the frosty cold beverage of your choice in a moment where nothing can make you feel as good as that drink. Knicks fans are starting to remember more and more what this feeling is like. As days go by, the "wounded soldiers" are being emptied in preparation of a new party, hosted by none other than Isiah Thomas.
So the Knicks got ousted in the first round of the playoffs in what was admittedly a poor showing against the New Jersey Nets. They still have a more promising future than that or their neighbors to the north. The initial response was as if the Knicks lost to a garbage team like the Celtics. Lest we forget, the Nets are good and the Knicks were without the injured Allan Houston (who did not play in the series due to a knee injury).
I made a bet with my roommate in the beginning of the year that the Knicks would finish higher in the standings than the Celtics. With players like Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce still running the show in "Beantown", the likes of Keith Van Horn and Allan Houston almost scared me away. Then I thought this was the same kid who put holes in my ear until Aaron Boone dialed deep. The lesson here kids, always take a bet on a Boston fan that thinks his team will win, they do it to themselves.
On a side note, I know the Yankees aren't playing as well as the Red Sox now. On another side note, World Series championships are not won in April, rather in October, and usually in Yankee Stadium.
As far as the Celtics and Knicks go, these two teams could not have moved in more opposite directions this past season. So the Celtics brought in a new director of basketball operations in Danny Ainge. Ainge's impact was immediate, yet not necessarily positive.
In a profession where coaches are fired and replaced on a yearly basis and sometimes more frequently than that, Ainge didn't fire former Celts coach Jim O'Brien. O'Brien, sick of what Ainge was doing left on his own behalf, midway through the season. I guess it must be easier to coach Allen Iverson than it is to work for Ainge. O'Brien was recently hired as the new Philadelphia 76ers coach.
Although I believe trading Walker was a step in the right direction for Boston, the Knicks firing of former GM Scott Layden was a much bigger move. The talent assembled in New York now is formidable, for the Eastern Conference at least. With the use of the offseason and time to build chemistry, the New York Knicks might be compared to the perfect pour in no time.
So the Knicks got ousted in the first round of the playoffs in what was admittedly a poor showing against the New Jersey Nets. They still have a more promising future than that or their neighbors to the north. The initial response was as if the Knicks lost to a garbage team like the Celtics. Lest we forget, the Nets are good and the Knicks were without the injured Allan Houston (who did not play in the series due to a knee injury).
I made a bet with my roommate in the beginning of the year that the Knicks would finish higher in the standings than the Celtics. With players like Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce still running the show in "Beantown", the likes of Keith Van Horn and Allan Houston almost scared me away. Then I thought this was the same kid who put holes in my ear until Aaron Boone dialed deep. The lesson here kids, always take a bet on a Boston fan that thinks his team will win, they do it to themselves.
On a side note, I know the Yankees aren't playing as well as the Red Sox now. On another side note, World Series championships are not won in April, rather in October, and usually in Yankee Stadium.
As far as the Celtics and Knicks go, these two teams could not have moved in more opposite directions this past season. So the Celtics brought in a new director of basketball operations in Danny Ainge. Ainge's impact was immediate, yet not necessarily positive.
In a profession where coaches are fired and replaced on a yearly basis and sometimes more frequently than that, Ainge didn't fire former Celts coach Jim O'Brien. O'Brien, sick of what Ainge was doing left on his own behalf, midway through the season. I guess it must be easier to coach Allen Iverson than it is to work for Ainge. O'Brien was recently hired as the new Philadelphia 76ers coach.
Although I believe trading Walker was a step in the right direction for Boston, the Knicks firing of former GM Scott Layden was a much bigger move. The talent assembled in New York now is formidable, for the Eastern Conference at least. With the use of the offseason and time to build chemistry, the New York Knicks might be compared to the perfect pour in no time.