One team is struggling mightly with a 3-11 record. One team is 4-12 after taking two losses in one night thanks to a spilled beverage. One team hasn't loss by less than double digits in over a week, leaving many to wonder how they made it to the NCAA Tournament last season.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
Say what you want about the Nets, but at least they've won a game recently. The Knicks are now 3-11 and on a seven game losing streak thanks to the Clippers, with Doc Rivers being glad to do the honors after being knocked out of the playoffs by them last season. Again, New York falls victim to inconsistent shooting (38.6 percent) and an unhelpful bench. The Clippers' bench outscored the Knicks' 34-13, with three of them coming from a desperate buzzer-beating heave from J.R. Smith. The only thing that's more disconcerting than the Knicks' constant problems is the answers during the postgame conference—or lack thereof. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I really don’t know, to be honest with you," Carmelo Anthony said according to the New York Times. Get it together, Knicks.
CANDIDATE NO. 2: THE NETS
The Nets finally won a game this week after beating the Raptors 102-100, but that is a distant memory thanks to the events of last night's game against the Lakers. Brooklyn didn't just lose; it lost with style. The Nets were on the verge of getting demolished by an above-average Lakers as they were losing by 27 by the second quarter. Brooklyn managed a comeback and make it a game, but fell short at the end thanks to a missed Kevin Garnett jumper and missed game-tying three pointer by Paul Pierce, who shot a terrible 4-for-17.
But enough about the numbers and let's talk about Jason Kidd for a second. The head coach decided to be slick by having guard Tyshawn Taylor bump into him and spill his drink in the closing moments in order to delay the game. Like, what was even going on inside his head when he thought that up? "Damn, this is close but I absolutely have to quench this thirst. Yo, Taylor! I have a gameplan!"
CANDIDATE NO. 3: LIU BROOKLYN
The Blackbirds' 72-57 loss to Boston University may not look that terrible score-wise until you see they've been spending a majority of their pre-Thanksgiving schedule getting beatdown at the 2K Sports Classic Sub-Regional. The team lost by double digits in three consecutive days at the tournament, including a 102-70 loss to Eastern Washington. Could you imagine the Thanksgiving dinner conversation a Blackbirds player has to have with his family? "How's the past week been treating you?" the rarely seen uncle asks. "Just spent the past week getting my ass handed to me. Pass the cranberry sauce," the player sarcastically responds. Cue the immature cousin slicing and serving him the backside of the turkey.
THE WORST TEAM IN NEW YORK TODAY IS...
The Knicks. The 1-4 Blackbirds did start 0-4 last year before winning the Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship, so this can be some sort of weird, subconscious "Started From the Bottom" ritual. The Nets actually won a game and coming back from a 27-point deficit even though they really shouldn't have been in that hole in the first place is a great feat. The Knicks are not only losing but they don't even know where to start pinpointing their failures. They need something better than an "I don't know." When the Knicks were struggling through last February, Amar'e Stoudamire at least blamed it on swag. Yes, swag. That's something. "I don't know" just sounds like total defeat.
