Is There No Such Thing as a Moral Win? Knicks Taking Too Much Heat
I guess I’ve missed a mini-issue brewing in NYC regarding the Knicks. Last week the Knicks notoriously got slaughtered by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in two of their three losses that work week. The Knicks did give the Cavs a run for their money, falling by just five points. For that effort, David Lee wasn’t as somber as some people apparently thought he should have been:
Lee called it “the best 0-3 week I think I’ve ever had.” [Al] Harrington referred to the Cleveland game as “a feel-good loss.” Jeff Van Gundy, a former Knicks coach and now a television analyst, chastised Lee during a national broadcast.
Lee said he was merely trying to stay positive.
“I didn’t say, ‘Man, that was a fun week.’ It was an awful week,” Lee said. “It’s terrible we were 0-3, but at that point, it’s not about looking back on the week, it’s about looking forward.”
Mike D’Antoni backed his player up with some reasonable comments, saying about losses “you also don’t have to go home and slit your wrists. You don’t have to dramatize it.” I agree. If you do that, how do you bounce back to win your next game? And seriously, anyone who says Lee and/or Harrington aren’t playing or just giving up needs to get their head examined. Would they prefer if the Knicks laid over and lost by 30 instead? Watch a game why don’t you? As far as “moral wins,” people used to say there’s no such thing as one. I beg to differ. I believe one of the greatest moral victories of all time occurred in week 17 of the 2007 NFL season. New Yorkers should be able to figure that one out pretty well.
