After hearing Stephon Marbury blame Zeke and then Zeke blame Marbury and then Zeke bench Randolph and then Randolph pout and then Zeke, Marbury and Randolph blame the fans(!) one can’t help but wonder: 1) How, with any minute particle of integrity, can the New York Knicks continue to employ Isiah Thomas? 2) When will someone offer a legitimate psychiatric assessment of Starbury’s mental infirmity? 3) When will anyone take responsibility for the apeshit situation in New York?
In reference to point number three, it won’t be Jamal Crawford who, just a few days ago, offered a mannered critique of his team’s effort. The comments reminded me of similar ones made this year by Richard Jefferson of the Nets and Andre Iguodala of the Sixers. In the spirit of free inquiry I’ve decided to investigate the effects of these players’ words on their, and their teams’, performances.
Jamal Crawford – comments: “A lot of it is just effort. When you compete you always give yourself a chance to win. Some nights we compete harder than others. We got to get better than that. It's something we shouldn't be talking about."
The game after: Dec. 10, 99-89 loss to Dallas. Crawford scored 19 points (not so bad) on 6-22 shooting (bad).
Richard Jefferson – comments: “It's a joke. The fact that we even have nine wins right now is amazing to me the way we've been playing. It seems we've been down double digits so many games. I don't know what to say."
The game after: Dec. 9, 104-89 loss to Washington. Jefferson scores nine points on 4-12 shooting with five turnovers.
Andre Iguodala – comments: “We've got to do something, anything — maybe make a move,” Iguodala said. “I don't know. This is getting out of hand. We've got to do something to turn things around. We're not doing a good job as players. Everybody in the organization needs to step up.”
The game after: Nov. 23, 83-78 loss to Detroit. Iguodala scores 17 points on 4-17 shooting with four turnovers.
Somewhat related, Vince Carter was booed for going 5-17 in a loss to the Clippers.
In reference to point number three, it won’t be Jamal Crawford who, just a few days ago, offered a mannered critique of his team’s effort. The comments reminded me of similar ones made this year by Richard Jefferson of the Nets and Andre Iguodala of the Sixers. In the spirit of free inquiry I’ve decided to investigate the effects of these players’ words on their, and their teams’, performances.
Jamal Crawford – comments: “A lot of it is just effort. When you compete you always give yourself a chance to win. Some nights we compete harder than others. We got to get better than that. It's something we shouldn't be talking about."
The game after: Dec. 10, 99-89 loss to Dallas. Crawford scored 19 points (not so bad) on 6-22 shooting (bad).
Richard Jefferson – comments: “It's a joke. The fact that we even have nine wins right now is amazing to me the way we've been playing. It seems we've been down double digits so many games. I don't know what to say."
The game after: Dec. 9, 104-89 loss to Washington. Jefferson scores nine points on 4-12 shooting with five turnovers.
Andre Iguodala – comments: “We've got to do something, anything — maybe make a move,” Iguodala said. “I don't know. This is getting out of hand. We've got to do something to turn things around. We're not doing a good job as players. Everybody in the organization needs to step up.”
The game after: Nov. 23, 83-78 loss to Detroit. Iguodala scores 17 points on 4-17 shooting with four turnovers.
Somewhat related, Vince Carter was booed for going 5-17 in a loss to the Clippers.
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