Friday, November 9, 2007

Filowitz's Friday Five

1) It’s very early, sure, but it looks like the Knicks are going to be competitive this year. Without question, they can score as well as any team in the league. The defense and rebounding is just slightly north of abysmal, sure. But the fact that they have at least six guys that can legitimately score the ball, inside(Curry, Randolph) and outside (Crawford, Marbury, Richardson, and Robinson), will keep them in most games. After so many years of putridity, being competitive would be a nice breath of fresh air.

2) It’s a conundrum, rooting for these Knicks. On the one hand, they are my team, and I want them to win. On the other hand, I want the end of the Isiah Thomas era to come as quickly as possible. If they win, he will likely remain the coach and GM for at least another two to three years. If they lose, it will be another lost season where I’m rooting for a hopeless and miserable team. If only Isiah would choke a player, or if only we could somehow link him to Al Qaeda, then they’d have no choice but to fire him.

3) Some quick NBA observations:

Chris Paul is really freakin’ good. That 21 assists he had against the Lakers? Legit, and inspiring.

The Warriors can’t win without Stephen Jackson. People sometimes forget how incredibly skilled a player he is, since they are distracted by his blatant insanity.

The Clippers are undefeated. What the f? Who woke up Cuttino Mobley?

4) Doesn’t the rest of the NFL season seem like a foregone conclusion? The Pats and the Colts will be battling for the AFC, and one of those two teams should win the whole thing. So, you know, it’s kind of hard to care if Tennessee is the fourth or fifth seed in the playoffs, or if the Colts/Pats will beat the Cowboys, Giants, or Packers in the Super Bowl. Not that I’ll stop watching, mind you. It’s just not as much fun to watch the inevitable.

5) I wish I could care about hockey. I want to care about hockey. I still like hockey. But I can’t make myself really pay attention. Maybe I should go to a Blackhawks game or something; it could ignite a spark. Not likely, but worth a shot at least.

3 comments:

Joe Grossberg said...

1) I think you're overrating Q-Rich and Nate Robinson. However, the East is still very weak and NY can make the playoffs.

3a) I laughed when The Sporting News (yes, they still exist; I found a copy on the magazine rack at my gym) said Paul was an MVP candidate. I'm not laughing now.

3b) Do you think Artest and Jackson went crazier after The Palace Brawl, or did we just not notice they were nuts all along?

4) The thing with the NFL playoffs is that they're single-elimination. I don't think the postseason is ever a foregone conclusion. All it takes is for a playoff-caliber team, which fought its way to the top of the NFC, to have one upset.

Dan Filowitz said...

Artest and Jackson were crazy all along. You saw it in Ron even while he was at St Johns, and in S-Jax even back in '99 when the Spurs won the championship.

You're right about the NFL. The single elimination playoffs make it so that there's rarely a sure thing. And that's what is left to root for - a major upset of the Pats.

Joe Grossberg said...

I love single-elimination. That's why the NFL and NCAA b-ball have the best postseasons. If the NBA playoffs were single-elimination, they'd get far less advertising revenue and ticket sales, but man would that be fun.