It can’t get much worse than this
I T’S OFFICIAL now. This is the worst season in the history of the Knicks. That’s right: worst season in all 70 of them.
Yes, there have been other years when the Knicks have won fewer games than the 29-47 record they currently have after a 110-94 loss to the Celtics on Sunday afternoon at the Garden.
Certainly, Derek Fisher’ s 17-win nightmare in 2014-2015 was dreadful, and there was the struggle to earn 25 wins in the mid-80s. But it’s one thing to have a bad team. It’s another to have a promising season disintegrate into complete ruin like this one has.
The announcement Derrick Rose will be lost for the remainder of the season after tearing his left meniscus only adds insult to injury, literally. This season of distress has gotten to the point where what should be devastating news hardly caused a reaction, beyond concern from teammates and coaches.
“The way the season has gone to have something like that happen towards the end is a bad break for him,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said.
The Knicks were dogged by Murphy’s Law long ago, including Joakim Noah’s knee injury and suspension for taking a banned substance. Now it’s piling on with Rose having to undergo season-ending knee surgery when the season is virtually over.
The worst t hi ng a team can become is irrelevant, and that’s what the Knicks have accomplished. Losing Rose to a knee injury sent shock waves through the NBA when the former MVP tore his ACL during the 2012 playoffs with the Bulls. But it hardly caused a ripple Sunday, given he missed the entire 2013 season recovering from knee surgery and then injured his right meniscus 10 games into the 2014 season.
Knicks team president Phil Jackson signed Noah to a $72 million free-agent contract and acquired Rose in a trade knowing both were damaged goods. Yet, he made the deal hoping both would remain healthy enough to help the team earn a playoff berth this season. Instead, the Knicks have been an embarrassment, offering very few positives in what, otherwise, has been a wasted year.
Rose missed all of training camp and had his reputation damaged fighting off gang rape allegations, and Noah was a victim of early hamstring injuries. Looking back, the Knicks never gave themselves a chance in an 82-game grind.
The Knicks, with Carmelo Anthony sitting out Sunday’s game with a sore lower back, didn’t exactly rally behind their fallen star. The home team fell behind as many as 15 points in the first quarter before trailing 60-47 at the break. The Knicks trailed by as much as 27 in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t have the energy we had the other night in Miami,” Hornacek said referring to the Knicks road win two nights earlier.
At this point, it might be wise to sit Kristaps Porzingis for the final six games for fear something might happen to him. When it comes to his development, the Knicks have done him no favors surrounding him with a losing culture and no real direction for the future. The Knicks say they want to take a closer look at their younger players, but isn’t that what the D-League is for?
It’s fair to feel bad for Rose. The three-time All-Star was hoping to play a full and productive season before becoming a free agent this offseason. He averaged 18 points and 4.4 assists in 64 games even though he wasn’t a favorite of the triangle offense.
Still, if he had remained healthy, he had played well enough to attract a decent multi-year offer from several clubs. Now his options figure to be limited, heading into his third knee surgery in five years. The recovery time is six to eight weeks, leaving the Knicks with no Rose, no Noah, no sniff of the playoffs, and no hope of getting better anytime soon.
Worst season ever.