I watched nearly all 48 minutes of the Knicks blowout of the record leading Suns last night and let me just say as a Knicks fan it was enjoyable to watch basketball played that well by any team, let alone the lowly Knicks.

Larry Hughes had it working on all cylinders dishing the ball as Steve Nash would have had his team not been asleep.  Danilo Gaaaaalinaaaari was busting his ass out there and I was actually impressed by his toughness (his shooting is a given, but man is he so slow).  David Lee was David Lee and Harrington was working as hard as he always does (which is very hard).  I can’t believe I’m mentioning Jared Jeffries but he was very good last night.

And even though little Nate barely played, the Knicks for at least one night looked like a Playoff team.

So when Mike D’Antoni was interviewed last night, yes he was pleased with the team but I for one would have not been smiling.  I’d have been pissed as all hell…..

Last night’s game was proof that any team on any given night can perform well and beat one of the league’s best.  It’s kind of like the “Any Given Sunday” theory.  In professional sports, teams are designed to be equal (in theory) so that games will be competitive.  The point is that at a professional level every team should be able to beat every team because the players are that talented.  The variables that we can’t control are things like their commitment level, ability to play as a team, leadership, coaching, etc etc.

So last night when you see the Knicks dismantle a team like that, shouldn’t it piss you off as a coach?  Yeah some might take the high road and say “I was really impressed with our guys last night, we’re really making strides.”  Really?  No, fuck that.

If I were D’Antoni I’d have gone into the locker room and said “What the hell was that guys?  Are you friggin kidding me?  What kind of bullshit is this?  You’re telling me we were 3-14 all this time and you actually had the ability to play like this?  You guys suck man.  You ruined our season and then you just decide to play?”

Think about it.  If this team plays up to 75% of last night’s ability that’s easily enough to beat most teams in the east.  As a Knicks fan I’m still convinced they can turn it around (after all it’s my job as a fan).

But when you see that kind of performance and know what their record is, not only is it baffling, it’s quite frustrating.