One team is 7-17 and just came from a game that had a margin of defeat of one. Guess which team didn't score that one extra point in 9-15 and hopes to get a more wins this season than the number of points Joe Johnson dropped against the Sixers. One team is finding out what happens when you make only 12 field goals in a game. They're all off to rough starts early in this basketball season. But only one can be The Worst Basketball Team in New York Today.
CANDIDATE NO. 1: THE KNICKS
One of the multiple reasons that could be cited for the Knicks' early season failures include J.R. Smith's poor shooting, the lack of consistency from Carmelo Anthony's teammates, and being second to last in the league in rebounds. Those are the more common reasons; there's plenty of intangibles to consider as well. Is Anthony not a good enough leader to help harness the team's talents? Is Mike Woodson's ineptitude to blame? That's something to dissect for another time, but they both shoulder the blame for Monday's 102-101 loss to the Wizards. Again, there are multiple factors that led to the loss. For example, it would help if the Knicks didn't allow the Wizards to shoot over 50 percent. But you're automatically the goat if you screw up in those final couple of seconds, and the goats were easy to choose from between Anthony moseying to take that last shot and Woodson failing to call a timeout. The Knicks did beat the Hawks the game prior (111-106), but they really need streaks at this point.
CANDIDATE NO. 2: THE NETS
No, no, no, Nets fans. You're not sick. That feeling you may have right now is called hope, which is something that's been lost in Brooklyn's early season blowouts. This time hope comes in the form of Joe Johnson, who finally played like he was worth over $100 million. The box score is going to tell you he scored 37 points, but the real story is that third quarter where he made the Sixers look like what many predicted before the season started. Johnson scored 29 points in that quarter, including eight three pointers (tying the most made in a quarter in NBA history), to ether the Sixers 130-94. Great, but let's be honest. Wasn't Paul McCartney's attendance the main reason the Nets won? Aren't the Nets undefeated when McCartney is present at Barclays Center? Exactly.
CANDIDATE NO. 3: BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
The Bearcats squad did improve defensively by holding Monmouth University to below 75 points compared to the 93 they allowed the previous game (it helps they didn't play Syracuse though). It would help if they, you know, score. Binghamton University lost 74-46 to Monmouth, and their field goal percentage is just a tragedy. That defense must have been crazy for the Bearcats to shoot just 3-for-20 in the second half in a game where they shot 26 percent. With stats like that, it's not a huge shock they're 2-8 right now.
THE WORST TEAM IN NEW YORK TODAY IS...
The Knicks. New York barely beat out Binghamton because the Bearcats aren't the ones underperforming; they were just 3-27, so they're actually on pace to better their record. The Knicks haven't compiled a winning streak past two games all season. The Nets have won four of their past five, while the Knicks have just been the Knicks (a.k.a not good).
