Knicks and Nets... Not so bad after all

Maybe it's weird to praise a team after they lose... but there might be some excitement at the Garden this winter. The Knicks lost a tough one to the Dallas Mavericks last night but you had to like what you saw before they ran out of gas in the 4th quarter and overtime. The Knicks' offense looked crisp. As Clyde Frazier would say: "They played with fire and desire." Evidence: a great play in the second quarter when David Lee saved a loose ball. The ball hit off a Maverick player, then Nate Robinson came up with a beautiful touch pass back to Lee for a layup. That's the kind of effort I saw in the 1990's with Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. Yes, Dirk Nowitzki got hot and lit up the Knicks for 39 and yes the Knicks hot shooting went cold, but encouraging is what I would say about their play. They share the ball and they try on defense. They do... They try. With Mike D'Antoni's uptempo system, nobody will mistake their defense for Riley's Knicks. While the Knicks will score more points, so will their opponents. But what's important is they are starting to erase the losing culture that permeated MSG during the Isiah Thomas error. That was not a typo. I didn't mean era. Guys are expecting to win, not wondering how they will lose and that is a big improvement.

And as for the Nets... I have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised at their 4 and 5 start. They should be 5 and 4, they gave away the Miami game last week, but I digress. Last season, the Nets traded away an unhappy Jason Kidd to Dallas and got Devin Harris in return. The Nets got the better of the deal. Kidd transformed the Nets into a contender upon his arrival in New Jersey but his career is on the decline now (3 points on 1-7 shooting, 9 assists in 40 minutes against the Knicks.) Harris has been the MVP of the young season. He missed 3 games (all Nets losses) with an ankle injury. But when he has been in the lineup... he's been lights out. He's scored 30 points in his last 3 games (all Nets wins.) He gets the other guys involved in the offense and has quick hands on defense. Without Harris, teams would just collapse on Vince Carter and make him pass. Now Vince can roam and do what he likes because he knows Harris will get him the ball when he needs it. But there is still a lot of work to do. The Nets have 8 new players on the club. It will be interesting to see where they all fit in. Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson, Jarvis Hayes, and Yi Jianlian have all had their moments this season. The key to the Nets success: stay away from the prolonged losing streak. They can't lose 6 or 7 in a row and expect to dig out of it. Last season they had a 9 game losing streak and they never recovered. The Nets margin of error is razor thin. But I like what I have seen from them so far. So as the Giants and Jets prepare for a playoff run don't forget about about the other area teams as well.