The Knicks got a huge win at home Thursday night with the defending champion Heat in New York for the first leg of a back-to-back ending in Brooklyn tonight. The game was nationally televised on TNT, but J.R. Smith rode the bench all night. The Knicks are shopping him after Shoelacegateâ„¢ cost him $50K, and coach Mike Woodson has been adamant J Swish needs to grow up a bit.
Smith claimed after the game he was unaware the benching would occur, and has no idea where he stands within the organization at this point. Via Ian Begley at ESPN New York:
“Honestly, I don’t even know at this point. At one point I was for sure, and now it’s rocking the boat,” Smith said after he was benched for the Knicks’ 102-92 win against the Miami Heat on Thursday night. “But it is what it is. It’s the nature of the business.”
[…]
Coach Mike Woodson wouldn’t comment on why he benched Smith against the Heat. Smith said he arrived at Madison Square Garden expecting to play and never was told by Woodson that he wouldn’t.
“I think that’s the most misleading part of it,” Smith said. “I could see if I was told, but there was no conversation about it. But it is what it is. We got the [win].”
The New York Daily News‘ Frank Isola echoed the dire situation Smith finds himself in after his behavior over the last half-year, concluding his piece today by writing, “It’s a little late in the game, but the Knicks have clearly had it with Smith. And Smith knows it.”
Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski was even more cutting in his assessment of Smith’s character yesterday. Woj took a deep dive into Smith’s psyche, from the death of Smith’s friend when he crashed his car, to his classless time in China, last season’s Six Man of the Year award, more offseason drama, culminating in a suspension, followed by all the headaches he’s induced so far this season:
This is a different NBA financial climate, where teams are stingier than ever on awarding long-term, guaranteed money to those as combustible and unreliable as Smith. Smith’s exodus is a non-starter and the Knicks know it.
If Smith didn’t have such an inflated opinion of himself, he’d probably know it, too. Everyone understands how this will go now: Smith will tell everyone that he needs to grow up, that he’s let down his coach and teammates and fans. The Knicks will start to play him again, and it’s just a matter of time until Smith’s self-destructive act will resurface. Once again, he’ll be ignorant to the score in the final seconds of a game – like the loss he cost the Knicks in Houston – or he’ll get into trouble off the floor. Or probably both.
[…]
And when Smith’s benching ends with these Knicks, there will be no epiphanies. No revelations. Everyone knows how this story ends with him, how the money will dry up and how he’ll wish he had done everything so differently in his career. It is sad and predictable and on a collision course with cliche.
Someday, Smith will make that call to room service – insisting upon more of everything – and there will be no one to answer. J.R. Smith is 28-years old, and it is too late to threaten and punish a spoiled, suburban kid. No trade, no epiphanies, no changes. The Knicks deserve J.R. Smith, and he’ll belong to them until the bitter end.
Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger inferred a logical fallacy after Smith’s coach-mandated truancy came on the same night the team looked so spirited:
But ask yourself this: Was it merely a coincidence that the Knicks gave their most spirited performance of the season on the same night coach Mike Woodson benched his most notorious knucklehead?
The night began without any such warning, other than Woodson’s reluctance to even mention He Who Must Remain Nameless.
“In fairness to our team, I’m not addressing anything else with J.R. — I’m just not,” echoed Woody’s decree.
Then he stapled J.R.’s shorts to the bench for the next 48 minutes and was rewarded with professional performances from eight other guys — yes, including Toure’ Murry — to score a building-shaking, streak-validating 102-92 triumph over Miami.
Sure, maybe the two events are coincidental.
But for one night, the Knicks absorbed every haymaker LeBron James and Dwyane Wade could deliver, as the two Miami stars had A-games; and they kept their poise after each punch and tore the Heat apart with the long ball in the second half.
Woj, D’Alessandro and Isola aren’t the only national writers that think Smith’s time in New York might be up, and the game last night was an example of why — at least on the court. The timing of New York’s best effort to-date this season has to raise some eyebrows.
Happy JR Smith #CheerFlow pic.twitter.com/B6eIY2WY2t
— 3030 (@jose3030) January 10, 2014
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Meanwhile, more has surfaced in Shoelacegateâ„¢ with the New York Post‘s Marc Berman revealing that the NBPA might appeal the NBA’s decision to fine Smith $50,000 for ignoring it’s warning after he. initially untied Shawn Marion‘s sneakers in the game prior.
Smith also told ESPN’s Begley that he wasn’t expecting the fine, and didn’t really understand the warning:
Smith also said he thought the $50,000 fine was exorbitant.
“In my eyes, yeah,” he said. “The first time it was done, everybody thought it was hilarious. The second time it was done, it wasn’t really done. But at the end of the day, it is what it is. I’m not going to fight it.
“If we play hard and we win, I’m happy. If we play hard and lose, I’d have something to say. As long as we keep winning, I’m fine.”
[…]
“It was a joke but a joke gone wrong,” Smith said.
A joke that has gone very wrong, but Smith’s absence last night had more to do with his overall attitude and actions than it did for a simple untying of a shoelace.
There have been variegated reactions to the benching and the Knicks surprising win. Some feel the Heat have turned into modern day existentialists, laughing off the regular season in all it’s absurdity like Camus and Sartre in post WWII France. That reasoning implies the Heat’s nonchalance was the real reason the Knicks won a largely meaningless regular season contest in early January.
But — similar to D’Alessandro — others feel it’s the replacement of Smith with rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. that led to increased ball movement, to the tune of 25 assists on the night, and a season-high 14 assists for Raymond Felton. Via Moke Hamilton at The Knicks Blog:
Away and isolated from his team for most of the night, Smith did not participate in huddles during the game and sat with his shoulders slouched for the balance of the game’s second half. He certainly appeared to miss being out on the floor with his teammates, but by the looks of it, the feeling was not mutual.
Raymond Felton’s 14 assists were a season-high and Amar’e Stoudemire’s 14-point, 11-rebound double-double was his first since April 2012. With Anthony’s efficient 29 points, eight rebounds and five assists—and without Smith—the Knicks did just fine and if that does not get J.R.’s attention, nothing will.
One other thing that obviously has not gotten his attention is the simple fact that positive play and effort are not requests that Knicks fans make on their heroes—they are mandates.
The Knicks beat the 2-time defending champion Heat last night, 102-92, but all anyone can talk about is the benching of J.R. Smith. Part of us wonders whether this plays right into his egoism, but another part is starting to wonder whether Smith’s better off on the bench for a more permanent duration. He’s a distraction every time the camera pans to him pouting on the sidelines, but if you look at the result last night, maybe it’s a better distraction than the iso-heavy play when he’s on the court?
UPDATE: So, um, J.R. was snapped re-living the infamous Shoelacegateâ„¢ after beng fined, and his bodyguards couldn’t convince the reveler to take the picture down from IG.
The caption to the below pic reads: “Here’s to @teamswish and his dumb security telling me to delete the photo. #getfinedagain #playball #loser #thoughtyouwerecool”
Are the Knicks better without J.R. Smith on the court?
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