Despite Loss, Knicks Going In Right Direction

I know plenty of Knicks fans who thought for sure that with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili out of action Mike D'Antoni's club would steamroll through the Spurs faster than Santa Ana through the defenders of the Alamo in 1836. But, as long as Tim Duncan can move, the Knicks were up against it. That's what happened last night. The Knicks lost, but you can see some positive signs.

First, the team is playing with some heart. They hustle, give them that. They were right in last night's game after 3 quarters. Apparently D'Antoni has more Tony Robbuns/Herm Edwards/a young Billy Graham in him than Isiah Thomas could ever possess. They are buying into the new coach's system.

Second, D'Antoni is clearly the boss. Remember last year when the players told Isiah they didn't want Stephon Marbury to play after Marbury went AWOL, but Thomas played him anyway? Any shred of credibility that Thomas had as a coach ended right there. This year, a new way of thinking. Out of shape Eddy Curry hasn't seen a minute. You would think a young guy with a history of heart trouble would WANT to be in shape-ANY kind of cardiovascular shape, let alone basketball shape-to live a healthy life. But Curry has seen many more Mo Vaughn weight loss tapes than anything by Richard Simmons.

As for Starbury, he is so far out of the loop that he wasn't even activated when Danilo Gallinari (back trouble at age 20 is NOT good) was put on the injured list. Curry, who can only run from his couch to his kitchen, was.

The guy I like most so far is Zach Randolph. Somebody must have lit a fire under Zebo. He's playing hard, showing some scoring ability, playing defense. When Zach blocked a shot by Tim Duncan last night, I thought I was hallucinating

Tonight, the Knicks face O.J Mayo and the Grizzlies in Memphis. Winning back to back road games in the NBA is about as easy as finding the guy who did the national PR for the Republican Party the last few months. But the Knicks will probably give a greater effort, and possibly have a better showing, than the GOP.