Bobcats 126, Knicks 110

On Friday the Bobcats returned to the site of their most arduous disaster (and that’s just describing the 3rd quarter) this season: Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have improved to the point that losing to them is no longer shameful, but they still have a “Bad News Bears” look about them: a comically tiny kid (Nate Robinson), a comically fat kid (Eddy Curry), an evil coach, etc. They’re also in the process of buying out Steve Francis, which would complete an epically, biblically horrible personnel move by Coach/GM/Supreme Chancellor/Sith Lord Isiah Thomas. And they still inexplicably refuse to start David Lee over Jared Jeffries, which has now surpassed last year’s “Why won’t Andy Reid hand the ball off more?” question as the one sports mystery everyone on the entire planet seems to be wondering except the coach himself.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats played their second game in a row in their alternate jerseys, which has me wondering if—like alternative music—they'll soon become so popular that they ironically become the regular choice. (side note: the uniform’s blue-and-orange scheme, combined with the thick black line running down the side, combined with my crappy, non-HD television, all created the weird effect of making it look at times like the Knicks were playing on the road against themselves). Other weird, tangential factors that I pondered: anyone else find it strange that McDonald’s has now taken to advertising individual burgers along the scorer’s table (e.g., “Quarterpounders, now for only $1.25")? Does this signal a shift away from urging customers to go with combo meals, or do they simply worry we’ve all forgotten that McDonald's sells Quarterpounders? Are the product managers for Hot Apple pies and Happy Meals getting jealous about this preferential treatment? Also, what’s with commentator Matt Devlin announcing rather ominously in recent fourth quarters, “Still to come, Wachovia’s Pivotal Moment of the Game.”? Does this mean they haven’t selected the pivotal moment yet, or do they truly believe it hasn’t actually occurred yet? And why does Wachovia wish to associate itself with the concept of “pivotal,” anyway? Will this ever get us to think there’s anything “pivotal” about depositing or withdrawing cash from Wachovia? You’d think they would stick to something obvious like, “Wachovia’s Bank Shot of the Game.”

Anyway, enough taking away the spotlight from Derek Anderson. DA put up 29 points, had three huge steals, and made 6/8 3-pointers, every one of which seemed to be at (hint-hint, Wachovia) a pivotal moment. This was Anderson’s 17th game with the Bobcats, which we know because Devlin* curiously mentions this running count every game (makes me wonder when he’s going to stop—two years from now will we be hearing, “You know, this is now DA’s 183rd game with the Bobcats”? It’s kind of like wondering how long parents will continue to refer to their newborn child’s age in months). Anderson has almost become a real life “Mr. Cooper” from the semi-successful Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper sit-com of the early 90s, except that DA’s actually managed to stay in the League (and, as far as I know, Charles Barkley hasn’t made any cameo guest appearances congratulating him). The night’s other hero was Emeka Okafor, who was just one rebound shy of a triple-double (20 points, 9 rebounds, 10 blocks--this year's single-game record).

Someone who needs to be called out, however, is Primoz Brezec. 12 points and 1 rebound for the big guy is not going to cut it. Plus he allowed Curry to handle him like a 7’ submarine sandwich all night. I realize that telling Brezec to step his ball game up is a little like XXL magazine a few years ago telling Murphy Lee to step his rap game up, because Brezec isn’t the greatest player in the world to begin with. But his size alone should get him more than one rebound, considering Matt Carroll grabbed six.

Other than that Brezec, however, what is there to complain about? Over 50% shooting, some more brilliant play by Raymond Felton and Carroll, an MSG crowd booing the Knicks at the end (although the Knicks were probably happy that people are at least showing up enough to make their boos audible), and I love how every Bobcats win seems to cause opposing teams to completely lose control of themselves towards the end—this time it was Quentin Richardson and Stephon Marbury carrying on like babies—as if poor refereeing is the only conceivable explanation for why they lost.

*I need to stop picking on Devlin, because I actually love the guy. I love all our announcers for that matter, and I get pissed and defensive any time an outsider makes fun of them. I’m kind of like the Bundy family on Married…With Children in that respect: the Bundy’s were constantly at each other’s throats, yet they would always rally around each other anytime another family went up against them in some sort of competition (which seemed to happen a lot).