How is This Not a Foul?

Saturday, the Knicks who were riding a Nate Robinson wave cut the Cavs' lead to 8 after being down as many as 24. During a drive to the basket, Nate was clearly fouled and should have be awarded two free throws potentially cutting the Cavs' lead to 6. Instead there was no call made and it became an empty possession for the Knicks. Nate's revenge on Shaq was sweet, but the no-call was still another injustice by NBA officials.

Here is the proof so you can see for yourself:

Knicks; One and Done In More Ways Than One

I'll start out by throwing around some important numbers for you. 6 up 9 down in the month of January, 7-11 since the new year. 3-9 in their last 12, and losers of 4 straight on the road. As much as I love this team, facts are facts and lately, the team looks like spit. By some miracle, some grace of God, the Knicks have actually gained ground in the last week, despite going 1-3 including a blowout loss to Minnesota. The Knicks are 4.5 games behind the reeling Miami Heat for the 8th seed, but are now tied with Philly for 10th place.

Now that all the facts are in place, here comes the optimistic possibilities they still have left. A very winnable home game vs Sacramento will send them into the all star break, giving them a much needed rest. Rest players such as Harrington (knee) and Chandler (groin) will welcome with open arms. After Tuesday's game against Sacramento the Knicks will not play again for a full seven days. When their schedule resumes, they will play an extremely crucial four games against Chicago twice, Oklahoma City, and then a rematch with the Bucks. One might call me crazy for even giving the Knicks a chance to win 3/4 of those games given the fact that OKC is currently holding the 7th seed in the West and the Bulls are in 6th out East. How about 0-4, given the fact that the Bucks are 2-0 against the Knicks this season and just came into the Garden last Friday and handled the Knicks relatively easily 114-107.

Giving a prediction would be silly. You never know which team is going to show up. However in order for the Knicks to stay in this race, it's obvious what needs to happen. Anything less than 2-2 would make it virtually impossible for the Knicks to creep in. Preferably, those 2 wins come against the Bulls with a side order of the Miami Heat continuing to suffer. With their recent struggles, the Knicks have pretty much let controlling their own destiny slip away. It will take some losing from other teams to make up the type of ground they surrendered the last month. Miami has lost 5 straight and the Knicks need to pray that trend continues, but unfortunately they need to pray for a lot more. Being eye to eye with Philly and behind the Bucks makes life harder. As I side earlier, the Knicks will need those teams to fold the tent in order for them to pass them in the standings. You also can't forget to mention the fact that these teams are more talented than New York. Is New York better than Philly? I can't honestly stand by that statement 100%. I don't think any Knick fan can.

Playoff chances are slim, and realistically the Knicks need all 4 of these upcoming games. The schedule is getting tougher and teams are starting to tighten up their play. It's time for the Knicks to grow as a team and stop getting pushed around like the kid at the playground with the ugly knitted sweater.

Reggie Miller: Sundance Film Festival Q and A

This was done at Sundance in January 2010. After the original screening of 'Winning Time', Reggie did a live Q and A. Here is how it went:

Q: What were your greatest inspirations and motivations playing basketball?
Miller: That’d be (sister) Cheryl. When you’re in the same household with the greatest women’s basketball player of all time, that’s pressure and motivation enough.

Q: When was the last time you and Cheryl played one-on-one?
Miller: Cheryl and I stopped playing one-on-one my sophomore year in high school. Cheryl was always bigger and taller. I’m 6’7” now but I was only 5’9” when I entered high school. By the time I was a sophomore I was about 6’2” so I was pretty even in height and my physical skills finally caught up to hers.

Q: I was a Knicks season ticket holder in New York back in that time, and I always wondered as a fan shouting during the games which motivated you more – the “Reggie sucks” chant or the “Cheryl” chant?
Miller: I kind of like the innocence of the Cheryl chant. And I always wondered when you chant “Reggie sucks” – sucks what? But I did like the Cheryl chant.

Q: What’s it like to watch your younger self do that stuff?
Miller: In the middle of a playoff series, I never left the Plaza Hotel because you New Yorkers, boy, you can hold a grudge. So I never really got a feel or a sense of what was being said or written because I never read the papers. But Dan got all the cool footage of the things I said. I can’t believe some of the things I said! But in the heat of the moment, things happen. But Dan did a fabulous job of going back into the archives and pulling out some great footage.

Q: As you cover basketball today do you miss the physical play of the 90’s?
Miller: Yes. But more so what I miss is the great rivalries, the team rivalries. The Lakers and the Celtics, you had Magic (Johnson) versus Larry (Bird), it was those two teams, those two cities where fans could really jump on the bandwagon. Today you have great individual rivalries, Kobe (Bryant) and LeBron (James), but their teams really haven’t got to that level yet.

Q: Can you talk a little more about your relationship with (Knick guard) John Starks? Were you friends off the court?
Miller: No. And after this film we probably still won’t be friends. But I have so much respect for John because there are only so many players that I played with in my 18 years that played with that much intensity. He played so hard. And I respect players that play that hard and passionate. Those are the kind of guys you wish you had on your team.

3-Point Contest Announces Players

Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups, Daequan Cook, Stephen Curry, Danilo Gallinari and Channing Frye have been selected to participate in the 3-point shootout at All-Star weekend.

Knicks Tickets Special Promo

If you're interested in buying some tickets, TicketMaster has a special limited time offer for 5 specific games. Check it out:

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Harrington Wouldn't 'Play Hookie'

It makes no sense. Marc Berman implying Harrington should have and could have played over the weekend in Washington and Minnesota. The guy is in a contract year and despite his frequent poor decision making he is one of the hardest working players we have in this league. In fact Harrington tried to hard to a fault most of the time. Regardless, it was a cheap shot by Marc Berman and I don't buy it at all. When you're hurt, you're hurt and real athletes would never pretend to be hurt and I consider Harrington, a real athlete. Plenty of other so-called athletes have played the injury card to not play,. but not all, I truely believe he is hurt. After all he DID try and play through this injury in two games, once was a laugher vs the Timberwolves and the other was the loss to Toronto. He wasn't himself; he was virtually ineffective.

Reconsider, Marc, i respect your work, but you're wrong here.

Knicks; 11 Under and Counting

In reference to the Counting Crows song, 'A Long December'-December wasn't long enough for the Knicks. Lately, the Knicks have abandoned everything that had them playing winning basketball. It's more than Duhon playing as if he belongs in AAU ball. It's more than not having a true center. The defense, once starting to look formidable has reverted back into 'Swiss cheese' form the last 12 games. Unable to hold an early 14 point lead as well as as 5 point lead at home against the raptors with under 2 minutes remaining in the game; unable to put forth any sort of effort against Washington and Minnesota; then there was the 50 point loss to Dallas. To add insult to injury, David Lee gets left off the all star team. Injuries have mounted and the timing couldn't be worse. Even beat writers are seemingly questioning the severity of some of those injuries as Marc Berman clearly did in his article on Monday.

It's not rocket science, the Knicks simply aren't a very good team and they certainly aren't a top 8 team in the East. At one point (in December) even I was convinced; the Knicks were a playoff team. It seemed as if they newly found results from a distinct effort boost would become addictive and that they would be one of the teams that isn't necessarily talent-blessed but plays hard and competes. The Houston rockets are a good example of that. Maybe some new plays, rotting away on the bench need a chance. Maybe Toney Douglas is the answer, maybe not. Jordan Hill has been seeing some new minutes, but it seems more of a showcase rather than a development plan. As bad as he is sometimes, Jared Jefferies is very important to this team defensively. When he exited the game against Toronto last Thursday, the Knicks weakened defensively and eventually lost the contest.

The Knicks reality is five and a half games out with just over 30 games left and a likely date with the off season come mid April. Fans can readjust their scoreboard watching to the Miami Heat now, who after going 4-6 in their last 10 have fallen to the 8th seed. Are the Knicks as good as Miami? No way. (0-2 against them on the season)

Games still need to be played out, that's the beauty of Sports. But with the next three games acting easily as potential losses, the Knicks may not have as much time as one may think. Upcoming games are Washington and Milwaukee at home and then Cleveland on the road this Saturday. So far the Knicks have played each of these teams once and lost each time by a combine 34 points-You do the math.