Heart and Courage

After the Knicks 119-92 home loss tonight to the Indiana Pacers, Head Coach Isiah Thomas repeatedly referenced the "heart and courage" that it takes to compete and win. After being tied at 64 in the third quarter, the Pacers pulled away behind 22 3rd quarter points from Mike Dunleavy(!), tough defense and generally playing liked they gave a shit. It has become a trend for this team to play evenly with a team for a while and then just decide that they've played hard for long enough and mail it in.

There is always one run that the other team makes that the Knicks just simply fold. It is always frustrating to watch because whenever this happens (usually in the late 2nd or early 3rd quarters) Isiah has no idea how to stop it. He continues to shuffle the same careless and uninspired players into the game. If a team is running you ragged on the break or killing you on the o-boards, you don't necessarily want to reinsert the same sluggish players that weren't boxing out or getting back on defense. Wouldn't you want to throw in some guys that are hungry as shit and want to play their asses off to stop the run and spark the team? When Dunleavy was lighting them up and tinsley was picking them apart on the break, why not put in chandler, balkman, jeffries, nate and lee? Sure, they might not break down the defense like jamal or steph, but they are will lock down on d and hustle.

My mom had an astute question, "how can these players who are payed millions of dollars to play this game give up in the middle of a game like this?". And she has point, what right do these people have, not even as basketball players but as entertainers, to just shut down and stop trying? After already being down by 20-something point and they give up a fast break layup to Shawne Williams who just simply out ran them down the floor after a Knicks basket, how do you not, as a coach, yank every single one of those players off the court and make a point that, no matter the score, that type of effort won't be tolerated? That this once proud franchise will never make it back to the playoffs if that level of focus is the acceptable.

Its one thing if you are playing a pickup game and your team is getting absolutely rocked, and you don't run back on d just to get the game over with. Its another if it is your job to look like a professional basketball player and are being paid enormous amounts of money to do so. Not only that, aren't pride, self-respect and integrity factors as well? Tens of thousands of people are watching you jog lazily back or refuse to close out on a shooter. I really want to love this team, but they are really trying their hardest to shake all of their loyal fans.

Is it the coach's fault for leaving these guys in the game or is it more on the players to man up and give it all to get a fucking win? I am not the biggest Zeke fan, but it gets to a point when the "fire Isiah" chants are starting up at the slightest problem and the question becomes, when is it not the guy in charge of the mess but the actual perpetrators on the court who should receive most of the blame?