Go New York, Go New York, Go!

By Ryan “The Goose” Gosiker 

The New York Knicks, since the mid-to-late 1990s have been more of a joke than an actual NBA franchise. They have been embarrassed on every level from top to bottom, including the fact that James Dolan is their owner. They have been rumored to every big name free agent for the last 15-20 years. They have landed 0 of them. There was the Phil Jackson experiment when he brought in plenty of busts and unwanted pieces. He drafted Kristaps Porzingis to be the franchise savior when he is a great 3rd option on a championship team as we saw with Boston this past season. Lamar Odom was brought in when he was regularly using drugs like crack. It has been a three-headed race for laughingstock in NYC between the Knicks, Mets, and Jets. People love to laugh at the Knicks not only for their poor franchise decisions, but the fact that MSG is always filled with suits rather than the blue collar, diehard fans that make up a majority of the fanbase. However, it seems that time has changed thanks to Leon Rose who runs the ship. He brought in Jalen Brunson on a 4-year $100 million deal and snatched him away from Dallas. At the time, Brunson was the #2 guard behind Luka Doncic and would seemingly get the ball whenever Luka was tired or needed a possession off.  Brunson was a smart, tough player due to his college career at Villanova under Jay Wright when they won a national title in 2016. I don’t think anyone could have thought that Jalen would be as great as he is right now because now, he is a top 15 player in the entire league and should have garnered more MVP respect last season. The Knicks traded for his Villanova pals, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart in the 2022-2023 season to enhance the team chemistry. This past season they nearly dragged a beaten-down roster to the conference finals. They fell short in Game 7 at home against Indiana. Brunson broke his hand in that game. It seems like they’re trending in the right direction. Well, they knew they could not be complacent, so they acquired Mikail Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets for 4 unprotected 1st round picks, a pick swap, and more. Bridges was the lone member of that Villanova team that wasn’t playing with the Knicks. Bridges is a player who has yet to miss a game in the NBA, can defend at an extraordinary level, and can knock down the 3 ball. The Knicks are rolling and despite losing big man, Isaiah Hartenstein, they have plenty to be excited for and to look forward to in 2024 and beyond! Check out my sports show: “Game Time with The Goose” every Saturday from 8:00 to 9:00 AM on WTBQ AM 1110 FM 93.5 and on WGHT Radio with co-host Zach Kruk, Sports Director of WTBQ and WGHT!