Rant #2,241: Getting Better (?)

For all intents and purposes, the 2018-2019 National Basketball Association season started last night with a barrel full of games, and remarkably, the New York Knicks actually won their opener.

Yes, it was at home at jam-packed Madison Square Garden, and yes, it was against the Atlanta Hawks, a horrible team that will probably stumble to 20 wins this season.

But heck, the Knicks aren't anything to write home about, either, and most experts predict that the Knicks probably won't win many more games than the Hawks will, so to get one in the books so early might be a good thing.

As I have said time and time again, there is a black cloud over the Knicks franchise that really stretches back to 1973, the year they won their last championship.

Way back when, the Knicks were painted as an "intellectual" team, a group of players who were as cerebral on the court as they were off the court.

Yes, those teams of Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dick Barnett, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley, and others--and coached by Red Holzman--were something to behold, because they weren't just athletes; they were true icons, people that anyone could look up to not just because of their size, but because of their intellect.

When those teams were done, there were years of mediocrity, and then the Patrick Ewing era began, when players like Charles Oakley, Charlie Ward, John Starks, Anthony Mason, Greg Anthony and others--coached by Jeff Van Gundy--defined aggressiveness and bully tactics, and while they never won the big one, they were as entertaining to watch as any NBA team was during the 1990s.

But really, for the past 20 some odd years or so, the Knicks franchise has been in the dumpster, constantly going through changes and plans that could make even a corporate executive's head spin.

And all the while, Madison Square Garden, the Knicks home, is packed to the rafters, with fans that not only have deep pockets and who crave the sport, they also don't have a representative team to mirror this passion.

Through the Carmelo Anthony period and even the current one, with Kristops Porzingis the face of the franchise, the team is never in contention, never fun to watch, and has that black cloud over it that seems to never go away--on the court or off the court.

This season was supposed to be another one of those "wait 'til next year" seasons, what with Porzingis hurt and the team made up of very young (teens and early 20s) players, castoffs, and others who should kiss the ground that they are in the NBA to begin with.

But the Knicks actually won their home opener, their first game of the season, last night in convincing fashion, a 126-107 thrashing that at least gave one hope that maybe this season won't be as bad as just about everyone has predicted.

This is a team led by the likes of Coach David Fizdale, and players Tim Hardaway Jr,, Kevin Knox, Trey Burke, Enes Kanter, and more castoffs than you see at the can and bottle redemption area in your local supermarket.

But at least for one game, the Knicks looked really good, looked like a well-oiled machine, and gave fans hope for something special for this season.

My son and I are going to the Knicks-Nets game on Friday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and maybe, just maybe, the Knicks can get something started here, defy the critics, and make something of this season.

The Nets lost their opening game, 103-100 to the Detroit Pistons, and you know that they are going to be fired up for their first home game on the schedule.

So you have the upstart Knicks against a fired-up Nets team, and my son and I are looking forward to a really good game.

Can the Knicks actually win two in a row to begin their season?

If so, maybe there is some sun finally peaking through that black cloud.