The first round of the 2004 playoffs is over for the Eastern Conference-dominating Nets and we've finally learned the difference between the cross river rivals. The Nets come to the playoffs with a vision of a championship. Every game is a stepping stone to the bigger picture, but above all, they approach each game to play basketball. Playing the game has become a concept lost with the Knicks who have such a lack for talent that all they can do is talk. The Nets play basketball. The Knicks talk big and forget to show up. If it weren't for Marbury's, although selfish, near 30 points per game, and the resurgence of the artist formerly known as Penny, the Knicks would have been nothing but a whining Tim Thomas.

The Knicks can only find one positive in this series against the Nets. Penny was back in all-star form. He hit clutch three pointers, got to the glass in crucial situations, and picked up the slack from Marbury by seeing the court better than his point guard. Penny found the open man every time, something Marbury is still learning. Penny kept his cool (for the most part) and knew when it was no longer appropriate to run his soon-to-be-swept mouth. He had some early quarrels with Kenyon Martin before the series and after game 1 but they worked it out, just in time for whiny Tim Thomas to pick up where Penny left off.

Finally some emotions and fire from the Knicks some would say, but that's bullshit. Kenyon thrives on this. Kenyon is not the greatest player fundamentally. His field goal percentage is sub-par and can be streaky from night to night with his sore knee. However, if you've ever watched a Nets game, you know Kenyon is an average player until he sends a block down the jersey turnpike or rocks the rim on a transition alley-oop. All the sudden Kmart emerges. Kmart is about intensity and passion. Once Kmart is unleashed, all hell breaks loose and there's no one in the NBA that will stop his 8 foot jump hooks, slow him down in transition, or find a way to get to the basket around him. Kenyon Martin is a good NBA player but Kmart is downright unstoppable. The Knicks biggest mistake? Trading a calm and collected Keith Van Horn for whiny Tim Thomas. Tim Thomas ran his mouth and brought out Kmart for the remainder of the series and the rest of the team feeds off his emotion. Make all the arguments you want about Kidd running the show with his transition game, but, as good as his court awareness is, there is no passion to spark defensive stops that lead to transition buckets to allow jason kidd to shine with Kmart basketball.



This is how Kmart showed up for practice the afternoon before Game 3 of the first round series against the Knicks. The back page of the Daily News featured Whiny Tim Thomas and Kmart taped it to his jersey.



All I can say about the Knicks is that, sadly, they hired the wrong man in Isiah Thomas. The team was already headed nowhere with no cap space and no all-stars. Whoever the Knicks hired has to be someone with patience with the willingness to blow everything up, create cap room, and start all over. By hiring Isiah Thomas, they have done the exact opposite. Thomas has cleaned house, made panic trades and ignored the cap. I loved to see Marbury have his trip home to New York to play for the only team he's ever dreamed of playing with, but the Knicks couldn't afford this panic trade. They delt away their only valuable assets (two coveted europeans, two first-rounders, and cash) for Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway who will each cost the Knicks a heavy sum of money they don't have. So have fun over the next five years Knicks fans, and pray to God that the Nets do move to Brooklyn because right now, your team is a complete disgrace.




Just a thought....what do you think the Suns think of the Jason Kidd/Stephon Marbury trade that they made with the Nets now?



I think I know exactly what they think of it. "Shit, fuck."