Could it Be?

As a lifelong New York Knicks fan, I'm cautiously impressed by their play so far this season (especially on the road, where they've now piled up 10 wins to improve to 15-9). Tonight's road win over the hometown Wizards could be further indication that maybe (just maybe) this isn't a fluke. Nonetheless, I'll reserve my excitement for a point later in the season, when I can be sure.


You see, they haven't exactly given me or any other Knicks fan a lot to cheer for over the past 15 years. The offseason additions of Amar'e Stoudemire (36 pts, 10 rebounds) & Raymond Felton have proven to be just the shot in the arm that this franchise & it's fan base needed. This was both the 7th consecutive win & game where Stoudemire scored at least 30 pts. The Knicks have won 12 of the past 13 games suggesting that there may be something to this.

I'm searching my mental database trying to recall the last time the Knicks were a viable threat to make any real noise in the East & I'm not able to come up with much. In my lifetime, they've only appeared in 1 NBA Finals series which went the full 7 games in 1994. As it would turn out, I wasn't able to enjoy the final game of that series since most of the 2nd half coverage was interrupted while the nation watched Al Cowlings drive a suicidal OJ Simpson around LA in the infamous white Bronco slow-speed chase.

NBC's coverage resumed just in time to witness John Starks miss 3 consecutive 3-point shots in one possession in the closing seconds of the game & the Houston Rockets went on to claim an NBA Championship. How great would it be to somehow become the team to beat while everyone else has done nothing but talk about the Miami Heat & Boston Celtics as favorites to represent the East in the Finals. I'm just super-glad to see them playing competitive, consistent basketball once again, as my loyalty has certainly been tested (but not compromised) over the years.