Nate the Great…and Pat Cummings?

by Tommy Dee on April 7th, 2010 at 9:27 am

Winning in New York is certainly memorable, but losing can be too. One of my friends joked with me the other day that we’ve been watching the Knicks since they were horrible. “Remember, when they had Pat Cummings?”

Remember Pat Cummings?

Cummings wasn’t the smoothest of Knicks in his four years in New York, but he played hard and was, by all intents and purposes, a good NBA player. Still, Cummings represented the early Patrick Ewing years, which weren’t the most successful the franchise has ever seen. Those teams were pretty bad. Cummings was guilty by association.

Fans of Nate Robinson will be sure to defend the guard’s tenure under Mike D’Antoni by saying the Knicks coach has problems communicating. They can point to the Stephon Marbury situation last season and Larry Hughes this year as evidence that he’s a coach who gives players a raw deal. Robinson was in the coach’s doghouse during a stretch that saw the Knicks play their best basketball in years in December, but fans still clamored for Nate to get in the game.

They paid for tickets to see the little guy light up the court and have the opportunity to do so Tuesday as the Celtics are in town.

Robinson is a polarizing player. His stature should mean that he has no business on an NBA floor, let alone winning dunk contests and going off on huge offensive nights.

By all admission on the surface, Robinson was a good soldier here. He kept his mouth shut during the benching and came back to explode on the Hawks down in Atlanta. The guy just wants to play … a lot. Unfortunately, he’s not getting the opportunity to showcase his talents in Boston. His minutes are spotty and he’s not a favorite of Doc Rivers, it appears, in big games. With the Celtics in a critical game against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, Nate didn’t play. In fact, Rivers set his playoff rotation and Nate is not in it.

What does that tell you? more.
  • knicks613

    td, here is some observations from my attendance at last nights game:
    -something smells with boston. nate appears to be dragging the team in some negative direction. he was a ridiculous leader in the pre game team intro. way over done and it felt circus-like; as if that is all nate has and so direct towards mike d’an is if to be silly as a professional. he actually played very well in the 4th qtr, and yet he was then gone when he was scoring and passing.
    -all the celts starters had negative +/-s and their bench all had positive +/-s. i guess they don’t care and feel that they can ramp up in 2 weeks.
    -earl barron’s play was great, but let’s hope it is not just a matter of playing against a team not sure if they wanted to be here. we have seen a good start by jon. bender, too. but it highlights mgmts failure in securing some beef and height, but supports the notion that eddie curry really has let this whole orgn and fan base WAY WAY down.
    -danilo is the real deal and we are all hoping he continues to grow into that star. he defends their better players and is learning how to get a lot of free-throws to balance his long game.- as much as chris d. has been a bust, he really played inspired last night, but he cannot shoot the ball anymore???-sergio r. scored 14 plus his +/- -17 shows he is out of control. -bill walker looks real tired, and was settling for way too many long shots, which is not his strength. finally, once again, the place was real loud. IT WAS NOT A FULL HOUSE, but i understand it was a sell-out. more importantly, THIS PLACE WILL BE ELECTRIC if we have a good july.

  • nyk_realist

    seriously, tommy.

    you’ve never like nate, as a person nor a player, and d’antoni has your unconditional support ad nauseam.

    “I’ve been a Knicks fan since they were horrible. Remember, when they had Mike D’Antoni?”

    what else you got?

  • starksoakmase

    This idea that MD “doesn’t communicate with players” is crazy. Look at the guys he has had problems with. Steph, Nate, Hugues, Curry. Are you kidding me! These are all guys who have had problems with MULTIPLE coaches.

  • gianthinker

    Nate Robinson is a bum.

  • krayziehustler

    i don;t beleive curry ever had a problem with a coach, in fact everyone always comments on how much of a nice guy he is

    larry hughes either, his problem was that he always wanted to play like 40 minutes and complained about lack of playing time

    neither stephon, he has had beefs with players, he called out Van Horn for being soft, which was true, and wanted to be seen apart from KG, he didnt have a problem with Brown, they communicated well and Steph had a great statistical season with Brown

    the point being, that NONE of them had PERSONAL issues with their coach, just basketball………MIKE D has PERSONAL problems with guys he just doesn’t like, which aint cool

  • Mucha

    +1

  • starksoakmase

    What?!?

    Curry is a nice guy, but was ALWAYS criticized for his lack of effort and lack of professionalism. See Skiles and Larry Brown

    Larry Hugues was run out of Chicago by the coach DelNegro and was not a favorite of Mike Brown in Cleveland. Then he publicly bashes the coach here.

    Marbury!?! are you kidding me. He had a public feud with his BFF Thomas right here. He and Larry didn’t get along. where did you get that?

  • Mucha

    - Eddy Curry is a spoiled, lazy, self-centered individual. He wants to play even though he makes Benny Hill look like Adriana Lima.

    - Larry Hughes complained in CLE because he didn’t have enough touches/shots in comparison to LeBron James. Are you kidding me? Everybody knows that Hughes is a whiner.

    - Stephon Marbury – all I gotta say is :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XznUU0fEvUI

    I think Mike D’Antoni’s communication skills are questionable to a certain extent – but these BUMS need to take the blame.

  • HaS

    Throw McGrady in there when it pertains to communication issues too.

  • starksoakmase

    Hows that? T-Mac has been given every opportunity here.

  • Mucha

    Communication issues with Tracy McGrady?

  • HaS

    And Walsh.

  • ds2488

    I really feel bad for Nate, I was hoping he would have a big impact even though he really frustrated me on the Knicks. He earned my respect for ever for how he dealt with his whole benching this season.

    Gallo and Wilson are certainly keepers, unless a deal for a star opens up. I think Walker can be back, but he’s beginning to scare me with his reliance on 3 pointers. Plus he fouls way too much.

    I don’t think Giddens will be back..He’s too much of a ballstopper and also a foul machine who can’t stay in games.

    Barron actually now has a good chance to atleast get a look in Vegas this summer. He will probably be back. We all know how much Dantoni likes big men that can hit the open jumper.

    Everyone else better be gone, unless Lee is willing to take a contract for like 6 million as our power forward.

    I will throw myself a party by watching a TMNT marathon on tv when Al Harrington is gone.

  • TrentMotherTucker

    ahh the good old days:

    Cummings, Bannister, Grunfeld, Orr, Sparrow, Tucker, Wilkins, Darrell Walker, Cartwright

    I remember those teams quite well.

  • BiggieSmalls

    where was it written that Doc Rivers said Nate is not in the Playoff rotation?

    only thing i could find is the following:
    Their role is to work every day in practice but there will be a day
    or a time you’re gonna need them,” Rivers said. “Somebody will get in
    foul trouble or someone may not be playing well. Yeah right now they are
    (out of the rotation). But that doesn’t mean they won’t be back in it.”

    Not exactly Doc saying his playoff rotation is set and Nate is not part of it.

  • x-man

    Walt Frazier stated it perfectly ont he other N8 about what Doc Rivers is doing with N8. He’s breaking him down and seeing how he handles adversity and being held accountable for his actions on the court.

    Doc knows he will need N8 in the playoffs because his team is older and will need those young legs of N8. As Doc says, if N8 can help them win one game, it worth getting him.

    You can see that Doc communicate with N8 on what he wants period. It’s now up to N8 to deliver on that! That’s coaching.

  • Mucha

    No shots but I just don’t know which communication issues with T-Mac you’re talking about.

  • TrentMotherTucker

    “That’s coaching.”

    When you have Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the Big Potty Mouth… it’s a lot easier to coach these entitled prima donnas.

  • http://theKnicksBlog.com Tommy Dee

    you’ve never like nate, as a person nor a player, and d’antoni has your unconditional support ad nauseam.

    Completely false…nothing to do with nate the person. He never struck me as a winning player.

    I did root for him…so the above statement is inaccurate.

  • Rene

    TMAC has a foot stuck in his mouth,why would you comment about the New York media and what Artest said years ago,this guy wants to go to Orlando too,thats good for team moral,he’s as bad as Barkley saying things out of line.I want no part of his game.I would of cut him right after those comments if I was DW and tell him I don’t want you to suffer anymore from our media,talk about thin skin.

  • Lebris Jamosh aka ridiculous upside

    I liked Nate but he’s just another crappy NBA player. He would bettter fit the And1 tour than an NBA team. Stop wasting words over this midget.

  • Lebris Jamosh aka ridiculous upside

    Here’s my prediction: Nate’s playing time/production will be better under Dantoni than the rest of his career put together. He’s a bench warmer on a good team (as he’s finding out in Boston).

    The “miscommunication” is nonsensical fan bs. I’m sure Phil Jackson has extensive conversations with DJ Mbenga or another one of the scrubs on the laker bench.

  • BiggieSmalls

    thats just not fair.. Nate has proved himself a capable and useful NBA player