a power rankings<\/a> that lists New York at the top. Power rankings don\u2019t matter, natch; they are at best one person\u2019s opinion. But why are so many people\u2019s opinions wrong? Look how all the recent failures to repeat failed and tell me where it sounds like the Knicks.<\/p>\nJalen Brunson didn\u2019t depart for the Clippers, desiring a max deal plus a do-nothing $28 million off-the-books cheat code. The Knicks didn\u2019t win some asterisk-stained Bubble \u2018chip. Josh Hart is their only starter over 30; after the Bucks\u2019 title, their non-Greek starters turned 30, 31, 33 and 36. When the Warriors won their fourth, Steph Curry was 33, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green 31.<\/p>\n
The Nuggets have spent literally zero dollars since winning it all three years ago (I can only hope the same happens with Arsenal, also owned by the Crankies). The Celtics have dropped consecutive series to their two most-hated Eastern rivals (losing five of seven home playoff games); seen one cornerstone tear his Achilles before racing back in record time the next year, only to finish it injured; then traded the other to one of those hated rivals for less than what Dallas got back for Luka. The Thunder, who succeeded Boston as the media\u2019s \u201cNot only did they win a title, they\u2019re destined to for years\u201d darling, got bit by the injury bug at the worst possible time last year, then traded three rotation players for second-round picks.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a big fan of precedent myself. But I\u2019m always learning that it\u2019s not destiny, more just a useful guide for getting around. The fact that Daugherty, Parish, Malone and Eaton soon faded from MVP votes didn\u2019t mean Ewing would. So long as the Mitchell Robinson cheap-out isn\u2019t the first sign of James Dolan suffering a Nuggets\/Celtics ownership mind-meld, the Knicks seem a pretty good bet to be the first repeat champs since 2018.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s an insufferable broadcaster, not even the best baller in his family and a homewrecker. None of that is what\u2019s worst about Reggie Miller, though.<\/p>\n
Miller was never afraid to take the big shot. It\u2019s why he has, at minimum, a half-dozen career highlights where any one would be most players\u2019 best-remembered. I\u2019ll spare you the two you\u2019re likely aware of, but did you know both Chicago and New Jersey also served as the canvas to his artistry? If you\u2019re troubled by me sharing these here at P&T, I understand. My only defense is these shots caused the MJ Bulls and Jason Kidd Nets to suffer, and in my teens and 20s I hated those teams as much as any.<\/p>\n
Whatever truth is contained in those two videos, it is a vile truth, loud and clanging; the empty can rattles the most. Yes, Miller wasn\u2019t afraid of the moment. But is it admirable for one to always be willing step up in the biggest of moments if one misses the vast, vast share of them? Imagine the \u201890s Knicks having every postseason come down to John Starks emptying the clip and letting the chips fall where they may. \u201cJohn Starks?\u201d you may say. \u201cAre we really comparing John Starks to Reggie Miller?\u201d<\/p>\n
I want to show you Miller\u2019s numbers in the biggest games he played in. For the purposes of fairness, I\u2019m excluding earlier years in his career, when the Pacers were still a work-in-progress. Miller wasn\u2019t the focal point of the Pacers\u2019 offense in the early \u201890s against the Celtics \u2014 that\u2019d be Chuck Person \u2014 so I didn\u2019t include his 7-of-17 shooting in their 1991 series finale. Instead, let\u2019s go right to the alleged heart of the matter. How did Miller shoot when he was supposedly making his bones in the six biggest games of his career: the 1994 ECF against New York, 1995 ECF against Orlando, 1998 ECF against Chicago, 1999 ECF vs. New York, 2000 Finals against Los Angeles and the 2004 ECF against Detroit?<\/p>\n
7-of-175-of-137-of-133-of-18 (See? Starks-like!)8-of-192-of-8<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 32-of-88 from the field (36%), which is . . . not good. And 14-of-43 from distance (33%). Greg Anthony shot 40% overall and 35% from deep for his career. So, in the moments Mr. Big Moment was supposedly his most Big Moment-able, Miller wasn\u2019t even a valid role model for Cole growing up.<\/p>\n
Last season, the Brooklyn Nets let 22 different people take the wheel of their lottery tank, several of whom probably weren\u2019t actual professional basketball players (\u201cGrant Nelson\u201d? Please). Not a one of the 22 combined to shoot as badly from the field and from three as Miller did in his six biggest games.<\/p>\n
The larger lesson here? I guess don\u2019t be a dick who trades on a rep you know you don\u2019t deserve. Being willing to take big shots is cool, especially if you make some. But being willing to try isn\u2019t heroic when you so often fail. Miller will go down as history\u2019s Antoine Walker, a shameless chucker who never saw reason to stop. Unlike \u2018Toine, who faded from the spotlight, Miller insists upon himself, insists on foisting that self on us. Not much we can do about it, besides educate ourselves and stay ready. You never know when the day will come that you get the chance to speak truth to power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last night was a typical Saturday night for me \u2014 playing Hades 2 for the 1300th time, catching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[70036,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-306029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-knicks-features","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}