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So Kobe Bryant goes to New York and scorches the Knicks for a Garden record 61 points. Impressed? Hell yeah. People were so impressed that it blew the dust off the old Kobe vs. Jordan debate. You know, we get at least one of those every year, as if MJ was still playing. But before old school and new school fans could ever finish their battle, along comes LeBron James to change the script.

The New York Knicks followed up their embarrassing performance against Kobe Bryant by allowing  James to walk in and go for 52. And just like that, we’re asking again which player had the better performance, but we’ve taken Mike out of the mix. Are we seriously asking about the better? I think it’s time to look at the “worse”, and that’s the opponent, the Knicks.

You can’t have Michael Jordan in the equation, because his 55 points came against one of the best defensive units in the league. But look at these 2008 Knicks and their new head coach, Mike ‘Antoni. Yeah, I know it’s “D’Antoni”, but without a philosophy to limit the amount of points scored by the opposition, he can’t have the “D”. He’s gotta earn it.

His Phoenix Suns were superior to this new roster of misfits, but what they have in common is that they also played on just one side of the court. If it didn’t work in the desert, why the hell would it work in the sleepless city? At some point you have to realize that coaching defense is a crucial element of the game. You may give up fewer numbers to opposing players with Stoudemire in the paint, but when the biggest star on your current team is only about an inch taller than Danny Devito, I think it’s time to grab your dry erase board and come up with a scheme.

LeBron finished with a triple-double. That’s 52 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. With those 11 assists, the man was single handedly responsible for 74 of his team’s total points, at least. This means the 5 on the floor couldn’t even offer a distraction. In fact, Bron-Bron was probably more distracted by Spike Lee’s ability to maintain star status, though he hasn’t made a hit film in 17 years. Well, unless you were a fan of “Inside Man” and some of the others. Maybe we should suit up the gymnasium’s front row guests to see which of them will crack the half century mark, putting Whoopie, Jay-z, and Puff on the floor. Remember when having those types of names in Madison Square Garden meant the Harlem Globetrotters were in town? Where’s Curly and Meadowlark when you need them?

We turn on ESPN and they’re talking about the amazing feats accomplished by two NBA stars, but the lousy Knicks are somehow lost in the conversation. I’m not sure how they pulled it off, but these New Yorkers managed to hide in their own house. Maybe it’s because their fans actually cheered opposing accomplishments, so it provided an illusion of a winning atmosphere. Maybe tomorrow they’ll have a ticker tape parade, just to hammer it home.

The bottom line is…the Knicks stink. But this time around they don’t have Isiah to pin the blame… Or do they?  Well, until we can finger Mr. Thomas as the direct cause of this Big Apple disaster, we’ll just blame the league and it’s scheduling of NBA teams and NBA players to visit the Garden on consecutive nights.  Damn you, Stern!