The Self-Destruction of the New York Knicks?

The afternoon of March 14, 2012 was anything but normal. Mike D'Antoni held a team practice for the embattled New York Knicks, who have lost six in a row and have been on the playoff bubble at that point. A few hours after practice ended, he informed the Knicks front office that he had enough. And so it did. Mike D'Antoni left the Knicks training room for the last time. 

Mike D'Antoni's Knicks record was 121-167
(.420), a far cry from his tenure with the
Phoenix Suns.

The Knicks under D'Antoni failed to buy into his 'seven seconds or less' philosophy he was known for. Even as D'Antoni added his old pal Amar'e Stoudemire away from Phoenix and traded for Carmelo Anthony, the lack of a point guard in the mold of Steve Nash doomed the Knicks. Sadly, they gave up Chauncey Billups, who had his Nash-like glimpses during his time in New York, and gambled upon Tyson Chandler to anchor the defense, which again didn't work out. 

The only time the Knicks thrived well under D'Antoni was when an unknown Taiwanese-American named Jeremy Lin took off like a rocket and brought hope to a fanbase that is hungry to recapture past glory. But when Amar'e and 'Melo returned, the Knicks were shot back down to earth, capped off by six straight losses, the final straw being a 104-99 loss at Chicago on Monday night.

D'Antoni's resignation added more frustration to the Knicks fan base, whose high expectations have deserted them despite the addition of two perennial All-Stars, and the emergence of another. As far as New York City is concerned, it hasn't been good times lately for their teams wearing the traditional blue and orange (Mets, Knicks, Islanders), teams with a history of winning. On the contrary their red and blue counterparts (Giants, Rangers) have performed well, with the Giants winning the Super Bowl this year and the Rangers currently in contention for the Stanley Cup. Which really doesn't help if you're wearing a blue and orange jersey.

The Knicks had a lot of problems in addition to D'Antoni's system being a bad fit. Anthony is not a good defender. Toney Douglas and Iman Shumpert are not pure point guards. J.R. Smith and Baron Davis arrived way too late. Mike Bibby is on the doghouse. Landry Fields is slumping. Stoudemire has struggled after a back injury hampered him in the 2011 playoffs. Josh Harrellson and Jerome Jordan are unproven commodities. And Jared Jeffries is oft-injured. Aside from Lin, Steve Novak has been lights out, but other than that, the Knicks were a dysfunctional bunch, a far cry from Red Holzman's team oriented 70s squads and Pat Riley's scrappy and gritty 90s teams. 

If the Knicks were to salvage at least the eighth playoff seed, they need to perform well under interim coach Mike Woodson, otherwise another painful year is on the horizon. 

Jeremy Lin: From Underachiever to Hero

Jeremy Lin during the second of  five straight
20-point games vs. the Utah Jazz on February 6, 2012

It was a cold Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, the cross-town rivals New York and New Jersey in action. The focus of attention remains Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire from the Knicks, and Deron Williams from the Nets. However, a player whose 'chinito' looks can't be denied is warming up on that same court. 

He is Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese-American baller from Harvard who had been buried deep on the Knicks bench for most games, and the only way he can play is when the game was out of reach. But with Iman Shumpert and Toney Douglas struggling, head coach Mike D'Antoni finally decided to break Lin loose, and he broke out in a big way, scoring 25 points while earning five rebounds and seven assists en route to 99-92 Knicks win. 

Two nights later, the Knicks host the Utah Jazz, who were embarking on a week-long road trip. With Stoudemire out for family reasons, D'Antoni decided to give Lin the starting nod, and he did not disappoint. Defying the notion of being a mere 'one-hit wonder', Lin burned the Jazz with 28 points and eight assists in a convincing 99-88 win. 

After a 23-point, 10-assist performance against the lowly Wizards the next night, Lin returned to the Garden to face Kobe Bryant and the powerful Lakers Friday evening. In front of a national television audience, Lin announced his entry to the NBA's elite with a career-defining 38-point performance, outdueling Bryant and the Lakers in a 92-85 Knicks win. His performance was even talked about on social media, with the terms 'Linsanity', 'Jeremy Lin', and 'Linning' the trending topic on Twitter that Friday night. In only one week, Jeremy Lin turned his life around, from an underachiever who couldn't even make the rotation to a hero not only in New York City, but across the world.

Lin, whose parents were Taiwanese immigrants, was an undrafted prospect from Harvard who made the NBA via the Summer League. In his four years at Harvard, he averaged 13 ppg, 4 rpg, and 4 apg while playing an average of 29 minutes and a shooting clip of 48%.  He managed to appear in 115 games, with 87 of them in the starting lineup, enough for topping the all-time Harvard record for games played. He was an All-Ivy League second team selection once (2008) and first team selection twice (2009-10). 

Lin joined the Dallas Mavericks summer league team after graduating in 2010 and made an impression among the scouts from the Golden State Warriors, norming 10 ppg, 3 rpg and 2 apg in 19 mpg for all five games. The Warriors then signed Lin on July 21, 2010.

But Lin failed to make an impression in the Bay Area, due to the fact that players like Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis were playing both guard positions and that Reggie Williams and Acie Law were Keith Smart's more trusted backups. In all, Lin played in only 29 games, mostly in injury or garbage situations and averaged only 3 ppg, 1 rpg and 1 apg in just 10 mpg. Nevertheless, Lin made history as the 42nd NBA player from an Ivy League school, and its first Asian-American player. But Lin wasn't satisfied with being just a mere NBA pioneer.

When the NBA resumed operations following the four-month lockout, the Warriors waived Lin on December 9, 2011, despite earning a fan favorite status in Oakland and even earned the trust of owner Joe Lacob. The Houston Rockets immediately signed Lin to its training camp roster on December 12, but waived him a day before the start of the season. Then on December 27, the Knicks signed Lin after rookie Iman Shumpert fell to an injury. Lin debuted, ironically, against the Warriors on December 28, playing only one minute. After a spate of garbage time performances totaling only nine points in 15 minutes, Lin was assigned to the Knicks' D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks, and on January 20 against the Maine Red Claws, he had a triple-double of 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, getting a glimpse of what was to become. 

The Knicks recalled Lin after six days in the D-League on January 23, but continued to be used in garbage time situations. Not until Mike D'Antoni gave him significant minutes against the Nets that Saturday night did 'Linsanity' explode, and in a week's time, he became a cultural icon not only in New York City, but also in China and Taiwan, and around the world. The NBA even added Knicks games to the Chinese and Taiwanese media, underscoring Lin's eventual importance to the Chinese-speaking community.

A week after his breakout performance against the Nets, Lin faced another rising star in Spain's Ricky Rubio, when the Knicks visit the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the game down to the wire, Lin stepped up and hit the game-changing free throws late in the game to seal the Knicks' 100-98 win, adding 'clutch performer' to his expanding resume. Within a week, Lin was featured heavily on the Associated Press, Time Magazine, and Bloomberg News, in addition to becoming a trending topic on Twitter.

The rags-to-riches story of Jeremy Lin, if it continues, may just become the 'Story of the Year' in 2012. For this Harvard scholar-turned-big-time baller, it is only the beginning of a story to remember for years to come.