Before the season, the new president of the New York Knicks said the club had enough talent to make the NBA play-offs.
Two months later, it is not clear the Knicks have enough talent to win 20 games.
Read more: LA Lakers could miss out on NBA play-offs with an ageing Kobe Bryant on the court
The Knicks fell to 5-27 after an overtime loss in Sacramento on Saturday, the worst 32-game record in club history. The Knicks have lost eight consecutive home games, another club record.
“I feel what the fans are feeling,” star forward Carmelo Anthony said after the Knicks’ most recent loss in Madison Square Garden. “The fans are dying, we’re dying. We’re out there, we’re not producing. We didn’t expect, I didn’t expect, to be sitting at 5-26.” Or 5-27.
The Knicks missed the play-offs by one game last season and, with Phil Jackson – twice a champion as a player with the Knicks, 11 times a champion as coach of Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers – taking over as president, New York fans could be excused for expecting better results. Even with rookie coach Derek Fisher, a Jackson protege, as coach.
The core of this team looks like it should be better than it is.
Anthony is averaging 24.5 points per game, not far off his career norm, Amar’e Stoudemire has been useful, when he has not been resting his knees, Jose Calderon, the Spanish point guard, has a history of competence and Samuel Dalembert is a useful centre.
But the Knicks have been hurt by injuries, which might be viewed as bad luck or bad planning, given that several of their players have a history of being hurt, led by the fragile Stoudemire. Calderon, repeatedly hurt while with Toronto, has missed 13 games, shooting guard JR Smith 11, point guard Iman Shumpert eight.
The Knicks score a little, at 95.1 points per game, as they adjust to the complicated “triangle” offence preferred by Jackson and Fisher.
But they rank near the bottom of the league in points allowed and they bottom out in a couple of “hustle” statistics: they are worst in the league in defending the three-point shot and second-last in rebounds.
Some are calling for change, beginning with a trade of Anthony for draft picks or young players.
The Knicks, however, have never embraced the concept of a lost season. The idea seems to be that New York fans will not pay top dollar for a bottom-of-the-barrel team, nor put up with the season or two they would require to build from scratch.
The Knicks also continue to be delusional, collectively, always plotting to land this or that out-of-contract star when the franchise has little appeal to free agents who see it as a hopeless situation for a team whose fans quickly turn impatient as they wait for a first championship since 1973.
Jackson, 69, has a five-year, US$60 million (Dh220.4m) contract, so he is unlikely to be cut loose and he likely will stand behind Fisher, who some have decried as not fiery enough.
Jackson tweeted that Santa would bring the Knicks “a better 2015 than 14”.
He said: “The effort and skill of our team will grow as the players learn how to play with and for each other.”
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
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Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The%20specs
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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
The view from The National
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
If you go
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20DarDoc%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Samer%20Masri%2C%20Keswin%20Suresh%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%24800%2C000%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Flat6Labs%2C%20angel%20investors%20%2B%20Incubated%20by%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi's%20Department%20of%20Health%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2010%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH STATS
Wolves 0
Aston Villa 1 (El Ghazi 90 4' pen)
Red cards: Joao Moutinho (Wolves); Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa)
Man of the match: Emi Martinez (Aston Villa)
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
