DISPATCHES by Hank Kalet
By:
I’ve always liked the first Wednesday in November.
Halloween has passed, the election season is winding down or, in most years, has ended. But most importantly, it’s the night when the men in shorts and tank tops head back to the hard court the National Basketball Association is back in business.
The World Champion Spurs tipped off on Tuesday, defeating Denver 102-91 with a masterful fourth quarter, setting up what most basketball watchers including me expect to be a run to another title. And the new New York Knicks new because there is a new coach and a nearly new roster took to the court Wednesday night in Boston against the Celtics (an overtime loss for the road team), two original teams facing off to open a season filled with question marks for both.
I know I’m in a minority on this, but I treat the first week in November the same way I treat the first week in April. I obsessively read the sports sections of the New York tabloids, searching for every morsel of information on the Knickerbockers, looking for reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season.
And I’m always optimistic, at least at the beginning. It’s one of the ways my dad and I are different. Both of us are Knicks fans some of my fondest memories as a kid are of the two of us heading to Madison Square Garden for a game, me tossing out odd facts about former Knicks players and him answering as he drove, getting every single one right.
Dad tends to be a bit negative about the team’s chances as a general rule, but he has a lot more years and a lot more disappointment invested. You can’t blame him, really. In 59 years of Knicks history, the team has won exactly two titles and none since 1973.
But here we are at the beginning of another season. Some thoughts:
1. Is there anything more breathtaking on a basketball court than watching two top players run the give-and-go? ESPN offered an almost textbook example last night during its highlights of the Spurs-Nuggets game. Speedy point guard Tony Parker passed the ball to superstar forward Tim Duncan about 8 or 10 feet from the basket on the low blocks. That drew the defense to Duncan as Parker broke for the basket. As he slid past the big man, he took a handoff of the ball and slipped in for a lay up, the defense held at bay by Duncan.
It’s something the league should take note of, because few teams will run it as perfectly as the Spurs, another reason to believe San Antonio will bring home its fourth title in eight years.
2. How good or bad will the New York Knicks be this year? Hard to say. General Manager Isaiah Thomas once again has overhauled the roster. Just four players remain from last year’s opening roster and six from the team that ended the season with a woeful 33 wins. And there is a new coach Hall of Famer Larry Brown.
Coach Brown’s arrival and the acquisition of athletic big man Eddy Curry should help, but the team still lacks anyone who can play defense and it is likely to take time for it all to gel. And it won’t help that the team starts out with 13 of 19 games away from Madison Square Garden, which could bury the team before it even gets out of the gate.
Still, I’m going to predict a playoff berth for the team the competition they face is not all that stiff and, well, I am an optimist. Then again, I wouldn’t rely on my word. I’ve been a Knicks fan for 35 years and am not known for being impartial in these matters.
3. Will Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson be able to co-exist on their second go-round? Who cares. They play on the West Coast and those games start way too late to catch on television here. And there are more interesting teams out there the Spurs, the Suns, the Mavericks, to name three.
4. Exactly what does the National Basketball Association hope to accomplish by instituting a dress code for players? It’s not like the problems facing the league have to do with baggy jeans and vintage jerseys. It has to do with one-dimensional players and a bad on-the-court product.
Think about this: NBA players have been involved in some high-profile scrapes, most notably last year’s brawl involving members of the Pistons and the Pacers. There have been drug arrests and concealed gun charges and a raft of other indiscretions. It’s the same list of transgressions that have plagued the National Football League, but the NFL has not started chasing its tale in an attempt to pursuit of its shrinking fan base. The reason? The NFL continues to offer a quality product, while the NBA has allowed its game to deteriorate.
5. Can Shaquille O’Neal stay healthy into the playoffs? That’s a huge question that could go a long way toward determining who will play the Spurs in the finals. If the self-described Big Aristotle can play 65 games and be his old dominant self come playoff time, the Miami Heat may make a run at conference title. If he is slowed in any way, then watch for the Pacers a very deep, well-balanced and well-coached club to face off against the Spurs in June.
So, to close this out something the Knicks have not been good at in recent years I offer some bold predictions:
The Spurs will repeat as champions, Lebron James to lead the Cavaliers into the second round of the playoffs, the Hawks and the Raptors will battle it out for worst teams and the Knicks will snag the eighth seed in the East.
Hank Kalet is managing editor of the South Brunswick Post and The Cranbury Press. His e-mail is [email protected]. He’s still waiting for Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe to make a comeback with the Knicks.

