SB Nation User Blog: Anthony Masons Haircut

Scrubdown #2: Rick Brunson

Anthony Masons Haircut — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:23:49 -0000

Actual Editor's Note: Here's our friend Mase with an homage to Posting and Toasting's second favorite scrub of all time. As of now, Mase denies all allegations of drug use before said homage, though many are still skeptical. Enjoy. I sure did. Here's Mase:

Editor’s note: When thinking about Rick Brunson, I became curious as to how he became the Rick Burson that turned into P&T’s 2nd most beloved Knicks’ Scrub of All-Time. After doing some reserach, I was able to write a semi-accurate biography on Rick Brunson, and how a rough childhood made him the scrub we all knew and loved on the 1999 Eastern Conference Champions.

RICK: Based on a true story

EARLY DAYS

Eric Daniel Brunson was born in Syracuse, NY on a warm June day in 1972. Eric grew up playing youth league basketball and was a successful point guard in his childhood. However, Eric’s basketball career took a major turn when he and his family moved to Salem, Massachusetts when he was eight. Because of his uncanny passing abilities and his innate ability to grow a jew-fro even though he was of African-American decent, he was persecuted among the paranoid Salem residents. Given the town’s history as a hotbed of witchcraft and black magic during the early settlement days, this was not a surprise. Eric spent the rest of his pre-teen years regulated to the end of the bench for the Salem Witches in the 10-12 age division of the Salem Basketball League. During a Salem town council meeting, the Brunson family was banned from having a basketball hoop in their driveway. Despite this setback, Brunson used the broomsticks and other witch-related paraphernalia (including a witch hat with a cut off top turned upside-down to use as a hoop) that was thrown on his yard by angry Salem residents to build a basketball goal. He continued to practice five hours a day.

Brunson's early adolescent jew-fro (similar to Screech's)

HIGH SCHOOL

Though Eric was shunned by his peers at Salem High School, he still made the Varsity basketball team his freshman through senior years. This allowed Salem’s head coach to use Eric as a scapegoat when the team lost. Though Eric never played, he was often attributed all of Salem’s turnovers and missed shots in the box score in the local paper following a loss. After several failed attempts to push Eric off of a cliff on the outskirts of town, the hometown fans resigned to throwing tomatoes at Brunson during home games. Despite the ridicule and taunting, Eric made the best of his situation on the bench. During every timeout, Eric jumped up to congratulate his teammates, even though they rarely reciprocated. While being pelted with tomatoes, he would dance around as a way to pump the crowd up from the bench. During the final homegame his senior year, Eric was doing his usual "bench cheerleading" routine as Salem led by one point with just 15 seconds left. The crowd got so loud that the opposing team’s point guard was unable to hear his coach calling the play. The point guard panicked and ended up dribbling out the game clock without attempting a shot. Salem went on to win the Conference Championship.

TURNING POINT

During that fateful final game at Salem High School, there was a McDonald’s All-American scout named Francis McCankey on hand to see the action. The 1991 game was being held in the nearby town of Springfield. McCankey was searching desperately for a fill-in 12th man as an outbreak of food poisoning from bad McD’s chicken nuggets had decimated the team’s bench of All-Stars. McCankey walked away unimpressed with the so-called "star" players in the Salem game, but was curious about the young man who keyed the final defensive stop of the game while being pelted by tomatoes. Wanting to get in contact with Brunson, McCankey paged his head coach, asking about the "E. Brunson" that appeared on his roster sheet. But, the Salem head coach claimed that he had no knowledge of the player that McCankey was referring to, and promptly hung up his car phone. McCankey stopped into a phone booth in the parking lot of the Salem Pancake House on his way out of town and looked up "Brunson" in the phone book. After wading through the broomsticks, dead black cats, and smashed pumpkins on Brunson’s lawn, McCankey rang the doorbell and invited Eric onto the team.

A bad bunch of Nuggets gave Brunson his first big break

When news of Brunson’s addition to the 1991 McDonald’s All-American team broke in Salem, many residents were incensed. Fearing retaliation and subjecting Chris Webber and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson to tomato-throwing at the McDonald’s All-American game, McCankey decided to give Eric an alias. Brunson was given the nickname Rick after "Ricochet", the nickname McCankey lovingly referred to him as for the way that Eric bounced-off the bench during every timeout. That day, the "Rick" Brunson was born.

MCDONALD’S ALL-AMERICAN GAME

Brunson practiced and stayed with the McDonald’s All-American team in relative anonymity for the next week in Springfield. He was mainly used as a towel-boy and an intermediary between the sports agents and future Michigan players Chris Webber, Jimmy King, and Juwan Howard. While cashing one of Webber’s $20,000 checks at the CashTime Depot on the east side of Springfield, Brunson was confronted by the team’s video coordinator. Acting as a messenger for the head coach, the video coordinator told Brunson that if he gave him $10K, the head coach will promise 30 seconds of playing time in the McDonald’s All-American game. Though Brunson was of high-moral fiber, he remembered all the tomatoes, the witch-related paraphernalia on his lawn, and the senior prom when his classmates filled his newly-purchased ’79 Ford Thunderbird with cow shit compiled from the neighboring farmlands in Salem.

Cow shit in Brunson's '79 Thunderbird was the last straw

The coaches accepted the pay-off and Rick finally got his moment in the sun. After being inserted into the lineup, Brunson took over the game. All the practice in his driveway in Salem had really paid off. Brunson scored 19 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 6 assists, but his East team fell short 108-106 to Webber’s West team. Brunson shared MVP honors with CWebb and won a lifetime supply of Filet O’ Fishes. It was the happiest day of his life.

Brunson (#12) starred in the 1991 McDonald’s All-American game

COLLEGE

Brunson’s play in the McDonald’s All-American Game caught the eye of legendary Temple coach John Chaney, who was in need of a point guard to pair up with Eddie Jones and future fellow NBA scrub Aaron McKie. Brunson’s freshman year was off to a great start until Temple took a trip to Amherst to take on A-10 rival UMass. There was a large contingent of Salem residents waiting there with tomatoes in hand. But, the crowd was silenced by Brunson’s 9 points and 6 assists in a 91-72 Owls’ victory. Brunson went on to earn first team all-A10 honors during his senior year.

PRO

Brunson declined a summer league invite with the Boston Celtics, mostly because he wanted to avoid any Salemites that may have made their way to Beantown. Instead, Brunson chose to play professionally in Australia due to his affinity for boogie-boarding and Bloomin’ Onions. Rick came back to the States for a successful CBA career with Quad City and with Connecticut. He parlayed his CBA success into a 10-day contract with Portland, which was extended into a one-year deal. "Ricochet" did his best to live up to his nickname in Portland, but his bench-cheerleading antics did not resonate well with Portland 12th man John Crotty, and his jew-fro made the newly-acquired Damon Stoudamire extremely jealous. Rick was driven out of Portland and banished to the CBA, where he started the 1998-99 season.

WITH THE KNICKS

While back in the CBA, Brunson considered quitting basketball for good and going back to Australia where he had become somewhat of a boogie-boarding phenomenon and had opened a successful joke shop called Ricky’s Trickys. With his passport in hand, Brunson was enjoying one last meal at a Chili’s in Quad City. Suddenly, Francis McCankey walked through the door. McCankey told the kid that he discovered not to give up, and placed a phone call to his friend and then-Knicks’ GM Ernie Grunfeld. After seeing Brunson play, Grunfeld thought that he could be the perfect ingredient to breathe some life into the struggling Knicks, who were hovering around .500 during the Lockout-shortened season. The signing of Brunson paid off on the afternoon of April 25, 1999. The Knicks were fighting for a playoff spot and headed to Miami to take on the top team in the East. Trailing 73-58 late, the Knicks closed the game on 24-7 run, fueled by Brunson doing jumping jacks on the end of the bench. The 82-80 victory in Miami was seen as the turning point for the 1998-99 season. Brunson appeared in the final 17 games of the regular season, scoring a total of 17 critical points in those games, and the Knicks secured the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. During their subsequent Cinderella postseason run, Brunson scored six more points, and was a perfect 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Throttled by the torn Achilles of Patrick Ewing and the back problems of Larry Johnson, Brunson’s bench-cheerleading wasn’t enough to will the Knicks past the Spurs. New York fell to San Antonio in five games. The Knicks re-upped Brunson for the 1999-00 season hoping to catch some more lightning in a bottle.

The rest is history.

Know the Prospect: Eric Gordon

Anthony Masons Haircut — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:12:45 -0000

Editor's Note: Big thanks to Mase for writing up this fantastic Eric Gordon profile. If any of the rest of you are experts on one prospect or another and are interested in doing your own KTP, let me know.

When the two biggest loves of my sports life get together, it’s often a good thing. Therefore I should be excited about the prospects of the Knicks landing Eric Gordon from my alma-mater and current state of residence, right? Despite a long-standing tradition of IU players translating their superb collegiate careers into the pros with the Knicks, including Eric Anderson (pictured below left, 1992-93), Jared Jeffries (2006-present), and Roderick Wilmont (pictured below right, summer league 2007), I’m not as excited this time around.

That being said, Seth entrusted me to write a Know the Prospect bit on Gordon, and in the interests of killing more time at work, I gladly ageed:

HIGH SCHOOL

I currently work in sports radio in Indianapolis and spent a lot of time covering high school basketball when I was fresh out of college. I don’t feel like I’m a total authority on Eric Gordon, but I have been watching him play since he was 16 (in the "I have to cover this for work" and not the "I’m a creep that follows around 16 year olds in a rusty van" way). His high school dominance may have been overshadowed by the duo of Mike Conley and Greg Oden at Lawrence North for his freshman-junior years, but make no mistake, Gordon was right up there with them. He earned Indiana Mr. Basketball (player of the year that is) honors in one of the deepest classes in Indiana basketball history, with seven recruits ranked in the top 80 nationally. The class included Jeff Teague (all-Freshman ACC team at Wake Forest), Robbie Hummel (First team All-Big Ten at Purdue), E'Twaun Moore (2nd team All-Big Ten at Purdue), and Matt Howard (Freshman of the Year, first team All-Horizon League at Butler).

AT INDIANA

Unless you were living in a cave two years ago, you probably heard about Gordon’s much publicized de-commitment from Illinois and switch to IU in the fall of 2006. The news filled Illini fans with murderous rage, and filled me with celebratory beer. Gordon was IU’s biggest get since Isiah Thomas (even bigger than Jared Jeffries in 2000), who led the Hoosiers to the 1981 National Championship. Pairing Gordon with All-Big Ten performer DJ White was supposed to bring IU close to their sixth banner, and lead me to perhaps getting tear-gassed for the 2nd time in my life (the first time being after IU's Cinderella run to the National Championship game in my freshman year of '02).

However, I'd be lying if I said Gordon's one-and-done season in Bloomington wasn't viewed as a disappointment. I think it’s mostly attributed to three reasons: 1) the surrounding allegations against head coach Kelvin Sampson, 2) a midseason wrist injury on his off-hand, and 3) the ridiculously unfair expectations laid on him by the passoniate, yet often delusional IU fanbase. No player was affected more than Gordon after the Sampson fallout at IU. After Sampson "resigned" on February 22nd, Gordon connected on just 32 of 99 shots (32%) from the field including a horrid 7-50 (14%) shooting slump from 3-pt range. It looked at times like Gordon was trying to do too much, while it was obvious that the players around him (with the exception of DJ White) gave up and refused to play for interim head coach Dan Dakich. In fact, if you want to know just how bad things were in Bloomington during the Sampson era, entering today only one scholarship player (Jordan Crawford) remains from last season’s team. The off-hand injury made it impossible for Gordon to go to his left, and also took away what was a lethal crossover move that he used to get to the basket or create space. His dribbling was sloppy and his passing was even worse, as he committed 5 or more turnovers in 6 of his final 14 games. Lofty expectations crushed a solid career of former five-star prospect Bracey Wright earlier in the decade, and also destroyed the psyche of Andrae Patterson in the mid-90’s. Gordon was largely seen as the "savior" of IU basketball, yet despite leading the Big Ten in scoring as a freshman and setting a myriad of first-year records, his late-season struggles released the full venom of the Hoosier Nation. It’s hard to explain how unforgiving/bitter Indiana fans can be unless you’ve been them (pictured below).

HIGH CEILING, UPSIDE, POTENTIABILITY, ETC.

If not for his late seasons struggles, I believe Gordon would be viewed as the 3rd best player in this Draft. He is a better shooter and has much more potential as a defender than OJ Mayo. He is far superior to Jerryd Bayless from a physical standpoint – EJ had an NBA-ready body (6’4, 215) when he was 17. His NBA comparison on NBADraft.net is to Mitch Richmond, which is fitting because Gordon’s range is nearly unlimited, and early in the season he proved that he can consistently connect from out to 25 feet. He also has a quick first step and a great ability to get to the basket. He gets to the free throw line like crazy (3rd nationally with a 7.4 free throw makes per game), which is great news because he shot 85% from the line for the season. He’s a smart, high-character kid, who showed a lot of maturity despite the tempest of negativity swirling around his publicized de-commitment.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME THINK HE’S JAMAL CRAWFORD REINCARNATED

While he has a great outside touch and the ability to get to the hoop, Gordon’s mid-range game is nearly non-existent (unlike J Craw who has developed a very nice one). Like an old-school Nintendo game, Gordon usually has two options when he has the basketball: tap the A button and he’ll launch a long three-pointer, tap the B button and he’ll go to the basket. By the way, Option B meant that he was going to try to get to the basket NO MATTER WHAT. He would rarely pull up, or jump stop and dish. Often defenders would know this and get in proper position to draw charges. I swear, if I had a nickel for every time Gordon was called for an offensive foul, I could buy out Jerome James’ contract. He has OK vision, but he is extremely reckless passing the basketball. He would force passes into traffic or whistle fastballs off the hands of unexpecting teammates. While facing consistent double-teams at IU, Gordon would try to sometimes take on 2-3 defenders by himself, something he wasn’t able to do as easily as in high school.

GET YOU SCHOOLED

To drop some knowledge on people outside of Indiana that haven’t followed Gordon, his nickname is "EJ". This may be confusing because he last name starts with a "G", but EJ is a junior (his pop is Eric Gordon Sr.). Also, it was long rumored that he played the kid version of Michael Jordan in Space Jam, something that he denies, yet is still reported on several websites – including the omniscient Wikipedia. Gordon was also born on Christmas Day, leading some Hoosier basketball fans to make unfair comparisons to someone else born on that day.

SEE FOR YOURSELF

Don’t let my reservations get in the way of your personal opinion of Gordon. Here is Gordon in the semi-states his senior year, committing the sickest charge you'll ever see:

Here is Gordon's collegiate highlight film. Check the disgustingly unfair behind-the-legs bounce and pop at 2:23 and again at 2:38. Poor Tennesee State guy:

BOTTOM LINE

While Gordon certainly has the potential to be a star player, I don’t view him as a good fit for the Knicks. He is too small (6’3 1/2) to be a 2 on the pro-level, yet lacks the passing ability/vision/handling to be a successful NBA point guard. Like Seth said about Mayo in his writeup, he is a shoot-first combo guard, and would join a crowded depth chart of those same type of players like Stephon Marbury and Nate Robinson.

Tweener (n.): a player who combines the attributes of a shooting guard and point guard but does not fit the prototype of either position. Such guards usually play a shooting-guard-type game (looking more to score than to pass) but lack the height to guard opposing shooting guards and the skills to direct an offense that a "pure" point would display. Such players are also known as "combination (combo) guards."

Also see: Gordon, Ben.

But, I would be first in line to buy his Knicks jersey and certainly would welcome him with open arms to New York.

My guesses…

Best case scenario: 5th overall to Memphis

Worst case scenario: 11th overall to Indiana

Most likely destination: 7th overall to the Clippers

Pacers/Knicks thoughts

Anthony Masons Haircut — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:14:37 -0000

I've never figured out why but after moving out to Indiana for school in 2001, I've stuck around. I live in Indy now and don't often get to fit in a trip to the Garden even though I go back to CT to see my family for Christmas. So, basically I get to see the Knicks two times a year...against the shitastic Pacers.

Here are some thoughts from the game last night:

Side note: The Pacers' crowds are so pathetic now that I drove downtown at 6:45, parked in a huge parking lot with maybe two dozen other cars for 3 bucks, met some friends in the Concourse and was in my seat by tip-off. I've had more trouble getting to high school basketball games in this town.

Wore an old LJ jersey I got for my 16th birthday but not one person commented on it. Saw a couple other people with Z-Bo's threads on, which isn't surprising because he grew up about 40 minutes from Indy. One dude had a LJ home jersey but I didn't get the chance to give him a high-five. Saw a Messier Rangers and Eli road jersey as well...weird.

Conseco's a great venue which makes it even more sad that they are dead last in the NBA in attendance (by the way, Indianapolis is the most fair-weather city in America). I've been to a handful of Pacers games this year, mostly to see good teams come to town. Never have I seen the crowd so pathetic. I think they announced it at 10,000 but there is no way there were more than 2,500 in that place.

The chick MC for the night is also one of the Pacers' dancers. Gotta find ways to cut costs.

The beer I got wasn't green. What the fuck?

Was it just me or did Balkman shoot about 50 free throws last night? Anyways, people probably didn't know what the fuck was wrong with me when I was yelling "Atta boy, Humpty!" after each make.

Speaking of Humpty, he almost had a sick, one-handed posterizer in the third quarter but blew the dunk. While it was happening I got up and yelled "Oooooohhh!" but it came out like a pre-pubescent squeal. Two people turned around and I pulled my hat over my eyes.

Former Hoosier Jared Jeffries got a nice round of applause from the Indiana faithful. I welcome him to the game by yelling "SHIT!"

David Lee took two awful looking 15-footers and was immediately benched.

When he came back in the game later, Lee took a three-pointer which almost made me spike my non-green beer in the aisle.

Wilson Chandler has a jump shot?

Nate absolutely destroyed Marquis Daniels on a crossover and hit a jumper in his eyeball. I told one of the friends that came with me that the Knicks would be the 2 seed in the East if this was street-ball.

Players on both teams were getting to the hoop with ease, especially Dunleavy. I haven't watched every team play (haven't seen the Kings or Bobcats among shitty teams), but I can't imagine there are two worse defensive teams in the league.

The "MSG HD" banner behind Breen on the scorers table made me homesick.

`Dolph came in for what felt like 30 seconds. Some fat dude behind me yelled `Shouldda stayed at UK (Kentucky), asshole!" We were clearly in earshot of him so hopefully that didn't ruin Dolph's 4 minutes of playing time. For some reason, I picture him sitting in a dark Visitor's Locker Room contemplating if pursuing his NBA dream is really worth the verbal abuse.

Freddie Jones is awful.

The Knicks were down two, with the ball, shot clock turned off at the end of the third quarter. What did they run? I shit you not: An iso play for Mardy Collins. I don't remember if he actually missed a shot or turned it over because I was in complete shock. The NBA: Where a Mardy Collins' iso play (actually) happens!

I basically gave up on the Knicks in late-December and have been hoping they tank for the rest of the season. But, last night I really, really wanted them to win. That being said, in the long run, it's probably better they collapsed late.

When walking out, one of the 90-year old ushers told me "tough loss" and I told him about how one day a Pacers/Knicks game would mean something again and he scoffed at my remark. Bastard.

I paid zero dollars for a $90 face club level seat to see the Knicks in hideous green jerseys play an almost as bad Pacers team. And I dragged three friends along. I'd say it was worth it.

The Knicks deserve this?

Anthony Masons Haircut — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:24:35 -0000

from ESPN.com's Page 2:

"Dear New York Knicks,

Please, please, please: do not fire Zeke. Do not get religion, discover common sense, have the wherewithal to turn things around. Just continue to flail, to crash and burn, night after humiliating night, like footage of the Hindenberg explosion in a TiVo pause-rewind-play loop.

Oh, and don't do it for you. Do it for the rest of us.

Do it for everyone that's ever had to endure your insufferable fan base, a standing army of basketball snobs, forever touting their superior knowledge of the game -- because it really takes a hoops savant to appreciate the pick-and-roll, something you can find on any playground in America -- and always blathering about the '70s Knicks, as if throwing the extra pass was akin to painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Do it for everyone who's suffered NYC roundball haughtiness in general, the like-clockwork use of "Mecca" when referring to Madison Square Garden, the slavish overrating of the City Game and its ink-stained schoolboy prodigies (have any three players been more overhyped than Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair and Felipe Lopez?)

Do it as penance, too, as public self-flagellation, our pound of flesh for your single-handed screwing up of the entire NBA in the 1990s. Don't remember? We'll remind you: "Force" basketball. Starks and Oak and Mase. Mugging and plodding and hand-checking your way to victory, because, hey, the refs can't call 'em all!

Nothing -- not the Brawl at the Palace, not Allen Iverson's oh-so-scary, hide-the-precious-white-babies cornrows -- has hurt the league more, made a beautiful game so ugly and unwatchable. Your franchise is to blame for an entire generation of control freak coaches turning Showtime into slop, into no-skill, floor-burn college ball, populated by can't-shoot musclemen, the hoops equivalent of the NHL-strangling neutral zone trap. Your franchise was directly responsible for the worst NBA Finals ever, New York vs. Houston, where the O.J. Bronco chase was a welcome diversion ... even though it was just a car driving down a road, about as visually thrilling as a hamster on a wheel. Your franchise killed the fast break; it went into one of Pat Riley's 4-hour, ?quien es mas macho? practice-cum-Aztec-sacrifice sessions and never came out.

Do it, Knicks. Keep sucking. Keep sucking for karma. For justice. For Bill Bradley being a loooong time ago, for the misnomer "Starbury" being foisted on an unsuspecting and undeserving populace, for Starks going 1-for-17 in a professional game.

Seriously, it's the least you can do.
-- Patrick Hruby"

im not sure who this hrbuy douche is and im not going to respond to a non-factual tirade spewed by someone who obviously hates the knicks and is jealous of their success from the 70's and 90's.

but i do want to discuss one line: "Your franchise was directly responsible for the worst NBA Finals ever, New York vs. Houston, where the O.J. Bronco chase was a welcome diversion ... "

this is the part where you throw the column in the trash. knicks/rockets worst finals ever? im not saying it was all-time great, but are there really people out there that actually think the '94 Finals was worse than Cleveland/San Antonio? New Jersey/LA Lakers? New Jersey/San Antonio? Orlando/Houston?

Jesus, at least it was competitive and went seven games. those other Finals were pathetic.

Coaching changes?

Anthony Masons Haircut — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:20:10 -0000

i think we are all in agreement that isiah is out of time, out of money, and out of chances to turn this team around. however, ive been having problems thinking of a possible candidate that would be willing/able to take over. i believe that there still are coaches that would savor an opportunity to turn the knicks around. if it worked out, new york would make him into a god. plus, as bad and embarrassing as this franchise has been lately, it's still one of the NBA flagships.

that being said, there is no established head coach with pro experience that would put himself through the media circus (and restrictions), spotlight, and criticism which comes with being head coach of the knicks. but, regardless the knicks need to make the coaching move now because there is no reason to continue this season with a lame duck coach.

we know this is not just isiah's fault and that scott layden played a big part laying the foundation of ineptitude. but we also know that isiah is never going to make this team into a winner. it's time to cut the losses and rebuild, and not on the fly. if it takes 2-3 (including this one) years of horrible seasons to fully turn this around, i'm willing to wait. i mean it can't get any worse than it already is, right? really, what's the difference between winning 20 games and winning 30 games? this team and this franchise is already the laughing stock of the League. the knicks are past the point of just "saving face." i've been waiting six years as it is and have only seen payroll increases, horrible contracts, bad trades (mcdyess, marbury, tim thomas, curry, francis) and zero playoff wins.

i compare watching the current state of the knicks to notre dame. yeah being the joke of college football and being 2-9 sucks (that's the understatement of the century). however ND is playing a ton of freshman and sophomores and has the #1 recruiting class waiting in the wings. translation = at least there is hope. that's the difference between ND football and knicks basketball - there is no hope with isiah and this current team. i like what i've seen from lee, nate, collins and humpty and i like chandler and morris' upside. but those players arent dynamic and haven't shown flashes of MVP or even all-star talent. they have the chances to be very good...very good role players and very good sixth-mans. what the knicks need is a young franchise talent that they can build around. first off, they can really cash in with a top five pick, especially with this year's freshman one-and-done class being unbelievably and ridiculously talented (love, rose, gordon, beasley, mayo). all five of those players are dynamic talents that can develop into franchise players. z-bo is still young (26) and is worth keeping around. but, as for everyone else? curry is horrible. he brings nothing to the table. he can't defend, he can't rebound and he's slow. he is never going to come close to being the franchise player that the bulls (originally) or isiah thought. randolph is basically the same player, yet he is 100X better. crawford is a one-trick pony (aka he's a gunner), Q is always hurt and plays more like a 37 year-old than a 27-year old, marbury's is nothing but a nuisance and the only value he has is his albatross contract, which will expire someday (in two years). jeffries, freddie jones, jerome james and rose are dead-weight and should be bought out, cut, or nailed to the bench until their contracts expire.

hopefully dolan has finally woken up and realizes that it is time to clean house and salvage what's left. play through the season and let some of the younger guys that actually play like they give a shit (lee, humpty) develop. if they make the move soon, i'm willing to be patient. but ive given up on isiah on marbury on curry and on these knicks. it's time to move on. this franchise is currently shooting for 7-8 seeds and 35-40 wins and they aren't even able to accomplish those pathetic "goals".

i want to hope because their is hope, not because i'm blindly optimistic of the knicks just because i'm a die-hard fan. i want a reason to believe that 2009, 2010, 2011 will be different than 2004, 2005, and 2006.

please knicks blow it up, fire isiah, and give me hope, give me optimism - fuck, just give me SOMETHING.

and i'll keep giving you my patience.

April 29, 2001 - the date of the last knicks playoff win.

how much longer are we going to have to wait?

Everybody coming back?

Anthony Masons Haircut — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 23:47:06 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2967624&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

A flurry of former Knicks are mentioned in this article including: Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, Keith Van Horn, Qyntel Woods (a 26 year-old making a comeback?), Antonio Davis and Charles Oakley (no joke). Even Shawn Kemp wants to make a comeback, possibly so he can better-afford child support on his 67 illegitimate kids.

Notable omissions: Kenny "Sky" Walker, Xavier McDaniel, Dick McGuire.

P&T Top Ten: Number 9- Anthony Mason

Anthony Masons Haircut — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:30:35 -0000

Editor's Note: Anthony Mason's Haircut rocks the shit with this post on his namesake. Arichmix is up next with Charlie Ward.

Similar to John Starks, Anthony George Douglas Mason was an unknown coming out of college and languished in Europe and the CBA before getting a break in the NBA. After being cut by Portland, he spent some time in Jersey as well as a 3-game stint in Denver. But it wasn't until he signed with the Knicks before the '91-92 season (btw, one of the most underrated Knicks teams ever...took a vastly superior Bulls squad to the brink that year in the 2nd round) that the world was introduced to Anthony Mason.

Mase was an integral part of the punch-you-in-the-mouth defensive Knicks teams that defined the Pat Riley era. He was a beast of a player, listed at just 6'7 (yeah right, maybe with his shoes on) and 250 pounds. He had a hideous jump shot, though it occasionally fell, and also was one of the pioneers of the one-handed free throw - something Shaq no doubt adapted from him. But his baby-hook from 3-5 feet was straight butter, and it helped Mase score over taller defenders as well as pick up garbage points down low. Mase always took other teams by surprise by pretending like he was a dumb thug, then throwing a perfect backdoor pass to a cutting John Starks or Derek Harper for an easy layup. That was an aspect of his game that was seriously underrated - he was like a big point guard. Mase would then run down to the other end of the floor, punch you in the balls on defense, take the ball from you, run down to the other end, grab an offensive rebound and either a) dunk, or b) baby hook your ass, then he would bob his head or scream (I also credit Mase as one of the earlier innovators of the chest pound). Rinse and repeat. There's Anthony Mason in a nutshell.

Mase reacting after baby hooking someone's ass

Mase was never flashy on the court. He was around a 8.5 ppg/7.5 rpg guy in his time in NY. But, if Mase got starter minutes, his numbers would've generated to an average of almost 14 rebounds per game according to my calculations. Most importantly for Mase, he played every game, was never hurt and had the fire that many of the current Knicks (cough, Eddy Curry, cough) lack. And Mase did earn Sixth Man of the Year honors in his final season as a Knick, so he did get some recognition.

Mason played for three other teams after leaving (along with Brad Lohaus, it's pathetic that I know that) the Knicks in the Larry Johnson trade back in '96. He enjoyed a career season in Charlotte that year, in which he was selected to the All-NBA Third Team. Mason averaged a double-double (16-11) and an uncanny 5.7 dimes a game that season! But Mase wasn't even an All-Star, and only appeared in one All-Star game in his lone season with Miami when he was reunited with Riley. It did pain me to see him with the Heat in '01 but that team was a non-factor. The only time the Knicks and Mase met in the playoffs was in '97 when New York easily dispatched of the Hornets in a first-round sweep before being screwed out of the Eastern Conference Finals by David Stern and PJ Brown. His career averages are a solid 10.8 ppg and 8.3 rpg. Mase also averaged 2.3 elbows-in-your-mother-fucking-eye-socket per game.

Mason in Pop Culture

As a white pre-teen in suburban Connecticut, it wasn't exactly socially acceptable to have messages shaved in my head like Mase. But regardless, I begged my parents to no avail. After ignoring their orders and a failed attempt to shave "Muggsy" (my nickname at the time since I was like 4 feet tall) into my head during 5th grade summer camp in 1994, I decided the haircut artistry was best left to Mason. I tried all week to recall some of the specific messages he had in his head. His trademark was the "Mase" in cursive, which he apparently still rocks today. He may have at one time had "Chosen" or something similar. You could basically fit a whole paragraph on that dude's head.

Besides the haircut, Mason also had a big influence on New York based rappers.

Mase slammed his way through Bronx rapper Diamond D's "Best Kept Secret" from '92:

The song title is fitting because Mason was certainly one of the NBA's best kept secrets in the 90's. It is perhaps the best concept for a Music Video ever with Mason dunking on a playground the entire time.

Mase is also famously referenced in the Brooklyn-born Beastie Boys track "B Boys Makin' With the Freak Freak" from Ill Communication (my personal favorite album ever) which was released in 1994:

"Got fat bass lines like Russel Simmons steals money, got
Clientele you know I rock well,
And then you're on my dick because I'm D.F.L.
Yeah Mike cause playing the bass is my favorite shit,
I might be a hack on the stand up but I'm working at it
I got my hair cut correct like Anthony Mason
Then I ride the I.R.T. right up to Penn Station..."

(you can also check "Get it Together" on the same album for a John Starks reference...)

Sick.

Anyways, one could argue that Anthony Mason was the biggest pop culture icon in Knicks history. He's certainly in the top three. Walt Frazier had his fashion, John Starks had "the Dunk" and his middle-finger incident in Miami, and Pat had his Angel of Death cameo in the Exorcist. Mase had his haircut, a music video, rap song references, a fugly baby hook and his right and left elbows. He may not have been a statistical monster and he may not have a place for his jersey to be hung at the Garden. But, Anthony Mason <pause for emotional ending> certainly has cemented a place in all of our hearts (9th place to be exact).

Marbury on Mike'd Up

Anthony Masons Haircut — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:28:12 -0000

some strange comments from starbury on 'miked up' (heres the full YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yTjebH2fLU)-

predictions for the season: "10 ppg, like 12-13 dimes, like 2-3 assists, and about 4-5 reb"

um, im not a basketall expert but aren't "dime" and "assist" the same thing?

on unique bond with sister: "so many people were praying for me...my sister has been praying, my name sake...thats what she is to me. stephanie, stephon, stephanie, that my daughter's name, i kept it in the family. my sister has been praying for this day forever and it finally happened yesterday when i kissed her. and i felt her body and felt her soul, i was delighted to be kissing her. i couldnt even cry."

pretty weird to say that shit about your sister.

also midway through steph goes on a rant about how he doesnt want the championship trophy and only wants to win. ??

he then calls his wife his "better ho". and finishes by yelling stuff at the end during a subway read.

so yeah, just thought id share those. sweet peach-colored blazer though.

Kobe to Knicks talks sprouting up again...

Anthony Masons Haircut — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:25:12 -0000

From Chris Sheridan over at ESPN.com:

"New York: If Chicago is one of the logical places for Bryant to end up, that raises the question of which team could make a competing offer. That's where Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas would come in.

I've known Isiah a long time, so trust me when I tell you he would go to the end of the earth and do whatever it takes to get a deal like this done. He wants his legacy to be something special in New York, and Kobe Bryant could help assure that. Furthermore, Bryant has previously expressed interest in lighting up Gotham.

As a trade partner, what the Knicks lack in quality, they have in quantity. In terms of volume, Isiah could overwhelm almost any other offer out there, starting with combo guard Jamal Crawford, rebounding machine David Lee, Knicks starting power forward Channing Frye, a pair of unprotected No. 1 picks (let's say 2008 and 2010) and sundry throw-ins, including Nate Robinson, Randolph Morris, Renaldo Balkman, et al.

Crawford can score 20 points a night, and he'll go prolific for you at least twice a month. Lee is a double-double man, and the most popular player on the Knicks, an energy guy who will easily play in the league for 10 more years if he stays healthy. He's far from a bum, and the same goes for Frye, who could start for the Lakers for the next seven seasons.

No, there's no superstar in here, but it's a lot of lumber. And if you're rebuilding, you need a cache of young talent. Lee, Frye and Robinson are still on their rookie contracts. Crawford has a reasonable long-term deal ($7.9 next season, with a contract that ends after he makes $10.08 million in 2010-11). The Lakers would actually have cap space, lots of it, after Lamar Odom's contract ends in the summer of '09.

Nothing, however, will happen unless Kobe forces Buss' hand. That hasn't happened yet, and it still might not happen if the Lakers can make a major deal to put some new talent around Kobe and placate him. Certainly we've all heard about the possibility of Jermaine O'Neal and/or other players joining Bryant in L.A.

But if that doesn't happen, I wouldn't be surprised if Kobe pipes up publicly again, this time demanding -- not requesting -- a trade."

That's some high praise for some on those list (Frye = a 7-year starter? Did Dolan write that?), still an interesting thought.

I really don't know how I feel about it. I've never been a big Kobe fan but anyone would be stupid to deny his talent. I still think he's the best player in the NBA not named Tim Duncan (boring as TD is).

Thoughts?

Knicks 06-07 Play of the Year, a retrospect (sounds lame but give it a read)

Anthony Masons Haircut — Sun, 06 May 2007 01:24:32 -0000

I live in Indianapolis now and only go back to Connecticut (where I was born and raised) twice a year, and one of those times is usually right around Christmas to see my family. The night this happened, I went to a bar with some old high school friends and they didn't have the game on. At first, the bartender laughed at me when I asked him to put on MSG for the Knicks/Bobcats game but I told him about how I never get to watch the Knicks because I live in a fucking cornfield. So, he put it on one of the five TV's they had with the other 4 showing UConn beating on some shitty non-conference opponent. Nobody, including the people that I was with, were really paying attnetion and I'm pretty sure all of them were surprised that I even gave a shit. It was a December regular season home game against one of the worst teams in the league, yet I cheered like it was a mid-90's playoff game. I remember everyone stared at me when I jumped up and screamed when I saw Lee's tip-in.

The play was easily the greatest buzzer beater I ever saw, even beating out Tucker's MLK miracle (which they show in this clip) which I do remember even though I was like 7. Though this season had alot more downs than ups, this was one momemt when I felt like the Knicks mattered again.

Enjoy:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q99sL_g3jvo&mode=related&search=