Now that the playoff chase is effectively over, the games are mainly a showcase for different lineups, an opportunity for some hurt players to heal, maybe even an opportunity for lightning in a bottle to strike with the (highly unlikely) rise of a D-League pickup or two. As Knickerblogger points out, it's time to prepare for next year.

I watched the Magic game with some interest to see how some new lineups and names might pan out, while hoping another early defcit wouldn't be insurmountable this time. The Knicks obliged by falling behind 7-0, but then played with considerably more spirit than its previous two games, thanks to an otherworldly 33 points from Quentin Richardson, including 24 in the first half. Nate also showed a lot more life than he did in the previous blowout losses at home. (Duhon and Hughes, unfortunately, were still subpar, and it was later determined that Hughes had a toe injury that he hadn't disclosed to the coaching staff).

Some other notes:

* Jared Jeffries gets a lot of grief from Knick fans (including me) for his bad hands, his spastic moves on offense, and his terrible contract. When he was benched for one game on the road trip, his fate seemed to be sealed as D'Antoni had a relative embarrassment of riches with nine healthy players...which turned out to be temporary.

So let's give credit where it's due: Jeffries has been the most consistent all-around player through the latest rough stretch for the Knicks -- hustling for rebounds and loose balls, demonstrating a defensive awareness completely foreign to his teammates the previous two games, and guarding multiple positions on the court competently. He was the only bright spot during the Kings disaster, and against the Magic he had 8 rebounds (including 6 offensive), 3 assists and 3 steals, and defended Howard well in limited stretches, breaking up an inside lob from Hedo Turkoglu on one play and stripping Howard on another bounce pass into the post.

*  Chris Wilcox got extended minutes in non-garbage time for the first time in a while, and is starting to look more comfortable on both ends of the floor. D'Antoni likes his big men to be able to roam around the perimeter, initiate the offense at the FT line, dribble at teammates to set screens, and switch onto perimeter shooters on defense. Wilcox had been frozen out of the rotation until Lee got hurt because he's shown limited ability to be useful outside of the lane, but he actually had a couple of offensive moves against Gortat that resulted in nice jumpers, and he had his second straight double figure game. He still looks a bit lost without the ball on offense when he's not setting up in the post, and on defense he was fouling too much: five fouls in 20 minutes for an already weak interior team isn't going to cut it.

* I had the road feed for this game on League Pass, which meant I had the opportunity to listen to the Magic announcing team. I've listened to them before, but this time was especially eventful because Matt Guokas, the color analyst (and former color man on national broadcasts and with the Knicks in the '90s) seemed to be in a particularly hateful mood when it came to the Knicks. Among the gems he delivered:

"[Knick] fans are disheartened, disillusioned, and flat out mad...the honeymoon has lasted longer than I thought it would"

"I think if the Knicks trade Lee, Larry Hughes would have to go with him"

"The Knicks don't fool around with any preparation for pick and rolls" [after a Redick pick and roll with Gortat resulted in Gortat getting fouled on a dunk attempt]..."these things are going to be open all the time"

Now on the face of it, these are provocative but not terribly unreasonable statements -- the Knicks have opened themselves up to be criticized with their dreadful play of late, and Larry Hughes provided a huge present in the Magic game for all his haters with four atrocious looking shots even by his standards (he was also uncharacteristically lax on defense, getting burned twice by Courtney Lee). Guokas has earned a reputation in the past for being either bland (overshadowed by more distinct personalities, particularly on the national broadcasts) or humorlessly blunt (which he has gotten some praise for). In this broadcast, he decided to tee off on the Knicks in a particularly abrasive manner.

It's a dicey proposition to evaluate announcers on the basis of a single game, because announcers have off games, can be just as bored and distracted with another mid-season NBA game (and this game wasn't anything special). But Guokas' criticisms of the Knicks were gratuitous and mostly ill-informed. Mike Fratello on a recent New Jersey Nets' broadcast delivered a much more incisive critique of the Knicks' cap clearing strategy, and didn't have to resort to heavy sarcasm or a dismissive tone (you would have thought Guokas was talking about the Isiah Knicks, and perhaps he still considers the current regime an extension of that).

As for Guokas' comments about Hughes, they were nothing new (I admit I'm in the minority in looking at Hughes based on what he does well for the Knicks, rather than judging him on all the disappointments of his career), but I've heard analysts for other broadcasting teams at least acknowledge that Hughes is a capable defensive player and has helped the Knicks in this regard -- this level of nuance seemed beyond Guokas, who mostly laughed with derision at every move Hughes made, almost cackling with joy with each successive Hughes misstep.

Finally, the comment about the Knicks not preparing for pick and rolls was just ludicrous. It's fair game to poke fun at the weakness of the Knicks defense, but the weakness doesn't come from lack of preparation for something as basic as a pick and roll -- it comes from the quality of the players on the floor, and the lack of any interior presence. I think it can be fairly said that if any team in the league did no preparation for pick and roll plays, the coaching staff should be dismissed immediately -- it's also fair to say that the Knicks are not the only team to struggle with the pick and roll. But again, here's where hateful dimissiveness trumps nuance.

Later on, Guokas seemed to settle down a little, and in speaking about his own team, his insights were more measured (I enjoyed hearing his opinions, for example, on JJ Redick vs Courtney Lee in terms of who was going to get playing time at the end of games); he was critical of Duhon in a way that was fair, if typically edgy ("Chris Duhon is all out of sorts...he's just floating out there")

Guokas in general had an odd game -- he even commented on Clyde's use of hair coloring when the camera focused on him stroking his mustache -- but the weirdest moment came when he suddenly admitted to reading Knickerblogger, which made me practically fall out of my chair. At this point, I'll stop ranting, and let the words speak for themselves:






Of course, the best thing the Knicks can do, ultimately, to earn the respect of other announcers (to the degree that it matters) is to start playing better. They're still a bit off their game, and the injuries aren't helping, but tonight against the same Magic in Madison Square Garden would be a good start.