They love you this week, Steph(Photo. Jonathan Mannion)
FYI, we had some problems with DimeMag.com server yesterday, which is why the site was so slow to load for most of the day. Apologies to all of you who had to deal with it, and trust us, we were more frustrated than anyone about it. So in case you missed it, we dropped the extended version of Dwyane Wade’s Converse ad, Kobe Bryant’s 3 a.m. IHOP run in Boston, and the Hall of Fame argument for and against Manu Ginobili … If we learned anything last night at the Knicks/Jazz game, it’s this: New York fans never really hate you, so long as you win ballgames. The last time we were at MSG, when the Knicks were thoroughly embarrassed by the Warriors, Stephon Marbury got booed every time he blinked and Isiah might as well have changed his first name to “Fire-Isiah.” Both Zeke and Starbury were booed during Monday’s intros, but given the recent home win over Chicago, it wasn’t as vitriolic. And once the Knicks came out busting Utah’s ass and Steph knocked down a few shots, the crowd was back on their side … All in all, it was the best game New York has played all year, and the upset W erases the ill will — at least until this Thursday, when they have to go to Boston and deal with the Celtics … Steph was Vintage Steph, dropping 28 points and 6 assists and schooling Deron Williams more than a handful of times. After Steph’s initial barrage, Deron woke up from a sluggish start, and the second half turned into a “Who can mixtape who” competition between Steph, Deron (26 pts, 8 asts) and Jamal Crawford (22 pts) that begged for Duke Tango to become involved. The highlights: Steph putting Deron on trampoline mode with a shoulder-fake right/crossover left move; Deron almost crossing Jamal into Rev Run’s lap and hitting an uncontested three; Jamal coming down the floor full-speed, stopping on a dime and hitting Deron with double behind-the-back to set up a floater; and Deron bouncing a pass between Q’s legs to a cutting AK-47 for a bucket … The Knicks seemed to have it in the bag, up by seven with 1:19 remaining, but Utah rallied in a hurry to cut the lead to two. A pair of Crawford free throws and a killer turnover by Carlos Boozer ended the threat, though. One of the more entertaining games we’ve been to in a while, and the New York crowd was rocking with love for the team (really, everyone played well) and especially Steph. Said our man Christian: “I haven’t seen the Garden like this since 2001.” … So in the locker room post-game, we assumed Marbury would be in a good mood. Not so much. He definitely didn’t look thrilled when he finally turned from his locker to face the media, and when the first question hurled at him was essentially, “So you didn’t suck tonight, huh?” and the next questioner brought up the benching from a couple weeks ago, it quickly turned into another Slightly Uncomfortable Steph Interview. “I did what I normally do,” Steph said when asked about the matchup with Deron. “I played my game.” … Both locker rooms were mostly empty during the pre-game media availability session, with most players on the court shooting. (When Austin spotted C.J. Miles chucking lefty threes and asked, “Is he left-handed?” Christian responded, “I don’t even know. He never plays. I’ve never seen him shoot.”) On Utah’s side, about the only locker-room items of note were Mehmet Okur’s Louis Vuitton garment bag and Jason Hart’s light purple Bill Cosby sweater … We did get a couple minutes with Kirilenko before the game, on the tail end of a European reporter asking him about Russia’s FIBA tourney ‘chip. “Was your club expected to win?” the reporter asked. “No! Hell no!” Kirilenko laughed. We asked him to elaborate, and he went into a soccer analogy; whereas in basketball you aim to score a certain amount of points and hold your opponents under that number, AK said, in soccer — and for Team Russia — you score whatever you can and aim to keep your opponent scoreless … Notes from the Jazz locker room post-game: one reporter was literally laying on her stomach across Boozer’s stall area (Boozer was in the shower) in order to get her mic close enough to Deron Williams to pick up his voice amongst the media scrum; Ronnie Brewer has a tattoo on his back with a crown over the state of Arkansas that says “I Am King.” … And we have to mention the TV media-type guy we saw practically hyperventilate in the hallway when two of the Knicks dancers walked by … It was basically Upset Monday around the rest of the NBA. Minnesota knocked off New Orleans on the road despite Chris Paul’s 31 points and 11 dimes. It was actually the Wolves’ point guards putting up buckets, as Bassy scored 20 and Marko Jaric had 21 … The Mavs dropped their third in a row, this time to Washington. Caron Butler scored 35. For the Mavs, as the second half was ticking away and they were trying to get back into it, Avery Johnson had Jose Juan Barea on the floor instead of Devin Harris. Barea was killing for a minute, scoring from everywhere … The Kings beat San Antonio, even though Kevin Martin only scored 10 points. Beno Udrih had another big game, hanging 27 on his former team. It was a clearly some kind of vengeance game for Udrih. He came out from the jump looking to get his and was kind of killing Tony Parker all over the floor with everything from drives to the cup to pull-ups … And the Warriors lit up the Suns for 129 points, with Monta Ellis getting 31 (including 15 straight at one point) and Stephen Jackson getting 32. Monta was killing Steve Nash so bad, that during that run of 15 straight points, they switched Nash off him in favor of Shawn Marion, who got buckets from Monta as well … We’re out like the Steph hate …
November 27th, 2007 at 3:46 am
NJAggie says:
come on fellaz I kno ur NY heads but give me a break. I think mavs wizards definitely should have gotten more ink. minnesota beating anyone, the spurs losing to anyone… I could care less what ronnie brewer has on his back, that aint manly unless its one of your ink journals. Please stop documenting the sorry ass knicks, in fact till they’re above .500 their called “the icks”. having to see continuous press on them is like seeing the soap opera mags in the grocery store, who the eff cares?
November 27th, 2007 at 5:14 am
B.A. says:
M. Jaric is dating Adriana Lima?!
November 27th, 2007 at 5:22 am
giacomo says:
they went to the NY game in person. you would expect them to have an extended recap of it? otherwise whats the point of the backstage pass and free seats?
haha, ohhhh.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:27 am
Str8baller says:
4th
November 27th, 2007 at 5:35 am
knoc says:
I cant believe limas dating jaric!! Still i guess thats better than candace dating whats his face XD
November 27th, 2007 at 6:15 am
Big Aaron says:
Can’t you cover the NY games in a seperate section or something? I wanted to hear about the other games and what happened there, not about your evening at the Garden and Carlos Boozer being in the shower.
That’s the stuff of nightmares.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Austin Burton says:
I know by the time I got home from the Knicks game, all I caught was the 4th quarter of a couple late games.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:59 am
dre in o town says:
How about the Magic in beast mode againist the Trailblazers? B. Roy was fading away from shots even when he didn’t have a defender. Magic Vs. Celtics, east finals! Later.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:52 am
DOC says:
the knicks stink. Dont tell me yall dont think that was a upset too.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:55 am
buckets says:
i was at the game last night too and it was sick..trust.ther was much more shit from the game they cooda put in but left out…wen i was leavin i noticed this really hot white girl and then i realized she was wit turtle from entourage..its cool hes actually a fan..
im watchin this shit on knicks in 60 again cuz it was so sick…fuck evry other team..its all about the knicks
even tho the jazz lost last night,do you guys think the booz d-will combo is the best 1-2 punch in the league?
and didnt it seem like the jazz wer gettin buckets too easily?
November 27th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Thamilan says:
Enough about the knicks already. It’s like if i was from Philly, and all i kept talking about was how good they could be…Nobody would want to hear about Iguodala filling up the stat sheet but comin up short. I rather hear about the other games instead of half the shit on the “Icks.”
November 27th, 2007 at 8:56 am
buckets says:
oooh yea…i threw a couple fire isiahs out ther jus cuz i missed the other games..i was booin the shit outa marbury for a minute but u honestly coodnt after a couple mins into the game…it looked like he was playin for a contract or somethin
November 27th, 2007 at 9:10 am
evan says:
No love for the Magic? Dude are 8-1 on the road now and playing a little bit differently each night.
DH12 got into lots of foul trouble and the rest of the team definitely held the fort down. As soon as they can trade Arroyo, it’s going to be a deep trip into the playoffs.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:14 am
dagwaller says:
What NJAggie said. I really don’t mind all the Knicks news, in fact I kind of expect it, but when half of the article is devoted to a team, I’d rather it be a good one (like the Spurs the other day, who I hate).
November 27th, 2007 at 9:30 am
smity says:
Please Please Please stop crying about knicks coverage. It’s annoying to read. I may even stop reading the comments section. Ya’ll sound like babies. cry babies. I’m not from new york. and i wont claim to be a knicks fan but i am interested in the nba and so what if the smack has a big portion of knicks/utah game recap. its good to read. where else am i going to find such a detailed look at one of the games last night that was actually good? If you read smack and appreciate it then do so. don’t complain and whine just cause you don’t like a certain team that gets mentioned. just stop crying. please. its not respectable.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:31 am
smity says:
or continue to cry but do so on paper. in a journal or diary. in your bed rooms.
November 27th, 2007 at 10:36 am
matt ho says:
I was at the knicks v warriors, and knicks v bulls game. the new york crowd is tough. in the warriors game, the crowd was calling for isiah thomas’s head and booing marbury every time he touched the ball, even when he was taking foul shots.
i watched the knicks v jazz game on tv, the crowd was just so different. the knicks played with an energy that was missing from the previous two games. they were even blocking shots!
November 27th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Amar says:
for the record, CJ Miles is a southpaw, and no mention of Deron’s jam? But I agree, he, Steph and Crawford were ballin’ last night. Ronnie Brewer had some bad turn overs late. Knicks took care of buisness, they made their free throws and built up a good cushion in the 3rd and won a close one. Jazz got nothing from the bench and from Okur and Kirilenko. Giricek is the best three point shooter on the team, but he didn’t even play 1 minute of this game? Good coaching Sloan, I think we know why you haven’t won COY ever . . .
November 27th, 2007 at 10:56 am
2 Easy says:
I cant believe this but I agree wit Smitty. I understand the Knicks are garbage but that was a good game and the coverage was hilarious and conversely u can argue about the amount og Jazz coverage too cause I notice theres always stuff on Deron, Booz or AK 47 so just sit back and enjoy. If u wanna kno about other games go to NBA.com lordy
November 27th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Bron42 says:
for real, go read a news paper or something if you don’t like the coverage they give. Its a mag based in new york and they were at the NY game, so deal with it. I really don’t get when people complain about coverage of games they OBVIOUSLY WATCHED. you saw whatever game you wanted and its like you need dime to vouch for your team or something. Even NBAtv doesn’t break down every game equally cuz some just arent worth it.
November 27th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Duke says:
Man, it hurts me to see the Spurs dropping Beno and just getting dicked by him later on.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
NJAggie says:
yo hearing only about the knicks when there is more pertinent games on is like hearing about some fat rich guy whose bank account is wiped out instead of 5 or 6 people who got murdered in the same time. that’s selective media. I know they went to the knicks game. they go to almost all of em. designate someone to office duty and have him watch other games. if u want delegate me that task, id do it for free. just to ensure a broader coverage of the greates game on the greatest magazine’s website… all this icks drama isn’t even slightly appealing (except when steph was threatening isaih with personal information leaks), because it lacks star power! not one future H.O.F player or perrenial all star. You know, might as well cover the 76ers.
November 27th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
bliz289 says:
i’m not a knicks fan, but i watched that whole game last night…and yo, it was one of the best nba games of the year. i have league pass so i’ve watched a ton of games. this one had it all. steph and deron went at each other. really went at each other. booz did his thing, and zach was a beast too. curry even woke up from his 9-month nap for a few minutes. overall a great, great game!
November 27th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
smity says:
2 Easy- what do you mean you can’t believe that your’e agreeing with me. I feel like youve agreed with me many times. Why wouldnt someone agree with me. Everything i speak is the truth (no paul pierce).
November 27th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
dank says:
*batman theme song plays*
meanwhile, outside Gotham city, while everyone was realizing that the knicks have been a circus team runned by the joker for the past 3 years, young Robin took time from his busy crimefighting schedule to look at what else had happened in the NBA world:
the mavericks keep choking, while apparently washington is trying to hold on as much as possible without agent 0
the suns arent the best run and gun team anymore (not that they ever were), while the Warriors finally started to remember they made the mavericks choke last year
the spurs should stop giving players to conference foes (scola, udrih…)
the Magic won a game too guys, still the best in the East (i think they have a better record than the Knicks, i dunno)
and i still agree with Agent 0 that Stephon Marbury, and his whole Born-Again Christian routine has ultimately made the man crazy
hey guys, seriously, if you need someone to write NBA coverage while you cover New York basketball, hit me up. or at least i can take care of the west coast NBA news. but honestly, if your gonna cover New York Basketball, then change your name to Dime NY, and let your motto be: The NY Game. The NY Player. The NY Life. i didnt sign up for hearing news on a team that hasnt and will not make the playoffs
November 27th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Keith says:
The Kings went with one of the two best ways to beat the Spurs - harassment. Spurs can struggle when an opposing team pressures the ball then jumps the passing lanes. They turn steals into fast break points.
The other way that I’ve seen as effective is to just outshoot the Spurs. When teams are stroking the outside shot, the Spurs often cannot keep up. This is the most common way that I see the Spurs lose.
Then sometimes the Spurs just beat themselves by not playing with any energy.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Gregg says:
HOF watch? Where’s that at today?