As the Knicks begin their 68th season - their 42nd since winning their last N.B.A. championship - the emerging theme of the new season is to expect success.
Expect to win.
This is a message aimed primarily at a beleaguered Knicks fan base that has become so accustomed to falling short that lamenting heartbreak has become a pastime.
Perhaps the doom and gloom will begin to change this season with an infusion of optimism embodied by Phil Jackson, the Knicks' first-year president. Jackson won 11 of his 13 championship rings as a head coach, but his first two as a player in New York.
Had Jackson come to New York to coach the Knicks, no one would have used the word 'fresh' to describe his tenure. He simply would have been the latest in a line of coaches trying to break the franchise's championship drought.
But this is Jackson's first run as a front-office executive. The fact that he is putting his legacy on the line by trying to turn around a star-crossed franchise like the Knicks gives the season an edge and a freshness. Many a great name has joined the Knicks only to leave with a tarnished reputation.
This week, at least one Knick described the challenge ahead as 'exciting.'
'I haven't had this feeling in a long time - to really be excited about a challenge on both ends of the basketball court,' Amar'e Stoudemire said before Wednesday's opener against Chicago. 'I'm eager to get out there and see if hard work truly pays off.'
I can't remember the last time an offensive system of basketball received so much scrutiny and analysis. But this is New York.
The triangle, so closely identified with Jackson and his championships, has required study and attention to detail. For veterans like Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire, who both have at least a decade in the N.B.A. under their belts, the system seems to be a welcome adventure.
'The excitement is that we're learning new things on the basketball court,' Stoudemire said. 'The energy we feel is great because we know it's a marathon, not a sprint.'
This is where things become dicey. Marathons are great for runners, not for Knicks fans who subscribe to the quick hook, the knee-jerk reaction. Many of them revel in the loser's lament.
And in an N.B.A. where individual branding is an obsession, basketball has become so individualized that it took San Antonio's breathtaking victory in the finals last season to remind us that teams win championships, even when you have great players. The Spurs had great talent but won with selflessness. That's a difficult concept to grasp and execute in an ego-driven marketplace like New York.
This is what the Knicks' first-year coach, Derek Fisher, has preached from the first day of training camp. Even Tuesday afternoon, when asked about stopping Chicago's Derrick Rose and Cleveland's LeBron James in the season's first two games, Fisher repeated the mantra. 'Our defense all season will be about five guys and not just the individual matchups,' he said.
'We have to try to figure out a way to defend as a team,' he added. 'What we're becoming is a team committed to team first.'
There are so many distractions in New York that focusing on winning can be challenging. For a well-compensated, highly visible professional athlete, winning can become just another item on a busy to-do list - and not necessarily the first item.
If your franchise has been gifted with a player like Bill Russell, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant - world-class athletes obsessed with winning - that mind-set starts to permeate the entire organization. Other players fall in line or leave.
The Knicks don't have anyone on their roster who fits this bill. Instead the staff, beginning with Jackson, is cut from an environment where winning - and winning a lot - is the norm.
Kurt Rambis, the Knicks' associate head coach, has eight championship rings from his days as a Lakers player, coach and executive. Jim Cleamons, an assistant coach, has 10 rings, nine as a coach and one as a player, all through his association with Jackson.
'Their teaching regimen has been great for us,' Stoudemire said. 'They have been able to really give us a lot of detail about what it takes to be a champion. We know that those small details pile up to be a major, important piece to the ultimate goal.'
'That's the excitement part,' he added. 'That's the learning curve that we are willing to accept. Those small, intricate details that are going to be very important for us when it comes to the postseason.'
Some details are familiar to Knicks fans: The last N.B.A. title came in 1973, the last conference championship in 1999.
The challenge for the new administration is not simply to get players to buy into and create a winning atmosphere at Madison Square Garden, but to get long-suffering Knicks fans to buy in as well.
Unlike arenas in Los Angeles, Miami and San Antonio, Madison Square Garden no longer rocks and resonates with winning. In the absence of championship-winning teams to roar about, the Garden is an amusement park, a social hub where basketball is often background music, where deals are hammered out and the seats are given out as favors. The Garden is a place to see and be seen.
Was Wednesday the first day of a new dawn for the Knicks? Jackson has preached the importance of getting players to adopt a winning state of mind.
But how do you teach a fan base accustomed to falling short to expect success?
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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