Mike D’Antoni is looking for a playmaker. Good luck. The Knicks’ best playmaker was sitting courtside last night: Yankees ace CC Sabathia.
Operation LeBron is still in play, and that is the only hope the Knicks have to become rele vant.
Sabathia has his New York world championship. He wants his buddy LeBron James to get a New York title of his own. Sabathia said that New York living could be as good for James as it has been for him. “That’s what it’ll be like,” Sabathia said as the Knicks collapsed once again, a dreadful 114-107 loss to the Bucks at the Garden. “The Knicks have a little ways to go, but any time you add that guy with another guy, you definitely have a chance to win. [James] and [Amar’e] Stoudamire, whoever else, you’ve got to think your chances to win would be pretty good.”
In other words, Sabathia wants the Knicks to become the Yankees. Not a bad plan. The Knicks’ current plan is not working. If LeBron ends up a Knick, Sabathia said: “I’d be here a lot more. I’d be dropping some money on some courtside seats.”
Instead the Knicks just continue to drop games, and they have to face James tonight in Cleveland. It could get even uglier. Twenty- one teams have a better record than the Knicks.
D’Antoni handed over the point guard reins to Nate Robinson last night. The coach is desperate and will try anything. He made it clear he wanted “energy” from Robinson. D’Antoni said that at least five times in his pregame meeting with the media.
“Most of all,” D’Antoni said, “I don’t want him thinking, that could be dangerous.”
D’Antoni is so desperate he’ll try anything. This was another night when the Knicks’ defense let them down. A glum D’Antoni said it all after the loss.
“There wasn’t a lot of spirit,” D’Antoni said. “They looked like they were a couple steps faster than us. . . . We just didn’t play with enthusiasm to stop them.”
In other words, the Knicks had no energy in their own gym on a night when their coach tried a desperate measure to add energy to the lineup.
The Garden once again belonged to the visiting team.
“They beat us to everything,” D’Antoni said.
That’s not about talent. That’s about heart. Brandon Jennings, the point guard the Knicks did not want to take in the draft, embarrassed them, scoring 22 points. Jennings was energized, sticking it to the team that he wanted to play for in the place where he wanted to play.
How could the Knicks let Jennings slip through their fingers? Their draft pick, Jordan Hill did not play — coach’s decision.
The Knicks surrendered 36 points in the third quarter. Sabathia, unlike many Knicks fans, stayed until the bitter end. When what was left of the crowd of 19,247 booed lustily as the final seconds ticked away, Sabathia, a fan’s fan, just looked down at his cell phone.
Earlier, he talked about the Yankees, saying the world champions have gotten better with the additions of Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez.
Sabathia recently saw Johnny Damon while on vacation in the Bahamas and believes there is still a chance Damon will return to the Yankees.
“I miss Johnny. Johnny’s nuts,” Sabathia said. “He was a good guy to have on the team. It’s not over yet. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Sabathia is one of those athletes who is all about team. The Knicks could learn from him. One title is not enough.
“You’re even hungrier,” Sabathia said. “You always feel like some satisfaction, maybe if I just win one. Now I want to win five. It just makes you more hungry for winning. And gives you expectations that you can’t settle for anything less than that.”
That is what winning is all about. If King James becomes a Knick, only then will they understand what Sabathia is talking about.