Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?

So His Excellency John Hollinger unveiled his NBA 2K8 playoff odds about a week ago.

According to his formulae, the Knicks have a 0 percent chance of making the playoffs right now, and have a "best possible record" of 35-47 based on 5 trillion different projections or something. I imagine that will only get worse (the projected record, that is), after their inevitable loss to the Mavericks tonight.

C'mon now Johnny. The Knicks are terrible yes, and will not make the playoffs unless Marbury and Isiah perform some sort of unholy midnight ritual in which Stephon transmogrifies into his coach circa 1985. But 0%? I mean, not to be a homer, but if the Hawks go on a 4 game losing streak, Lebron doesn't come back for a while, and the Knicks string together a few wins, NY is not too far out. The odds of this are small, but not nil.

I'm not faulting Hollinger's system, which is probably correct, but I'm faulting the fact that many people (including J-Holl) are taking stock in such nonsense when we're only 1/4 of the way into the season. There's still a crapload of basketball left to be played.

Erm, there any way you think the Celtics are going to win 70 games? That's ridiculous, but as of now Holly's system indicates that there's a fair chance the Sell-Tix will best the Bulls' 72-10 record. Get outta here with that nonsense.

- WAW

The Knicks Are Really Good!

Wrong. They're horrendous. Losing twice in a row to a very crappy Philly team. Isiah did a nice job of making some adjustments, ensuring that we lost by 30 instead 10.

I was particularly struck by:

1) The return of the old Jamal during his 3-12, 7 turnover effort. We missed you!
2) David Lee absolutely pwning Sweet Lou Williams for a flagrant foul on his way to another double-double.
3) Feisty little Nate getting to the line and making it happen in garbage time.

More ramblings:

I, along with the rest of Knicks nation, think we really need to start Lee and have Zach come off the bench for either Lee or Curry depending on the matchup. Also I like that Fred Jones has started to enter the rotation a little more. He can actually play some defense unlike Jamal/Marbury. Also, he can be a nice complement to Wee Nate (who, by the way, I wish would not shoot 11 threes in 20 minutes of burn).

Just a heads up that I'm staying in again to "do work," but am actually checking box scores and making some fantasy basketball trades. This is the level to which I have sunk.

- WAW