SPANISH HARLEM – Well… that was fun while it lasted. This season for the New York Knicks could be described in so many ways. Today, I will reflect on what this meant to me and my overall rating of the season.
THE ENDING
The Knicks took a 3-2 lead in the series and soon the wheels fell off… at least what was left. There is no denying the Knicks gave it everything they had until the very end, even though that end was not what us fans wanted. It was a strong effort from a shorthanded group and once Jalen Brunson was out of the game in the late 3rd quarter of Game 7, you knew the end was near. Whatever chance these Knicks had of coming back was all but extinguished.
THE SEASON
It was a great season despite injuries to Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and OG Anunoby. There was a run in January sans Robinson that had the whole city of New York thinking this would be championship caliber team. They beat the sh!t out of Denver and Miami that had the fans all in their feelings. It was an epic run that would lose steam with the Randle injury that followed by the OG injury.
Yet, this team did not give up. They took the next man approach, with players like Donte DiVincenzo having a career year and Josh Hart showing that he was more than a 6th man, playing huge minutes down the stretch of the season. Who can forget those Triple Doubles from Hart? They gave us a reason to cheer despite their luck with health and going for that 2nd seed was certainly the right thing to do.
THE RATING
I could go on and on and on but I still couldn’t do this team justice for what they accomplished this season. Did it suck to lose in the 2nd Round? Absolutely, no question it still stings but these are the brakes sometimes. We can’t look back, only forward and I’m definitely in the crowd that believes you bring this group back to see what they can become with a full season together. OG with his injury issues in his career deserves to be paid but at what cost, Isaiah Hartenstein will also command top dollar but that is all for another day.
Today is about my rating and to that I give it a B+. That is only because this team was not healthy in the playoffs and while I’m proud at what they accomplished, there is still a part of me that wanted more.
