{"id":142127,"date":"2020-12-26T23:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-12-26T20:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/empty-madison-square-garden-could-be-knicks-advantage-this-season\/"},"modified":"2020-12-26T23:30:36","modified_gmt":"2020-12-26T20:30:36","slug":"empty-madison-square-garden-could-be-knicks-advantage-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/empty-madison-square-garden-could-be-knicks-advantage-this-season\/","title":{"rendered":"#Empty Madison Square Garden could be Knicks advantage this season"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Empty Madison Square Garden could be Knicks advantage this season<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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The Garden will be different this season \u2013 no fans, little media<\/a>, no James Dolan in his customary baseline seat \u2013 a few yards from the Knicks bench.<\/p>\n

It starts Saturday night vs. the Sixers under the pinwheeled ceiling that has gone unchanged. The Knicks\u2019 pandemic 36-game<\/a> home schedule is set to get underway the day after Christmas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Will no Knicks fans in the building be better? Knicks second-year stud RJ Barrett actually thinks a fan-less Garden could foster more winning than a packed house on Broadway.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually having no fans might be an advantage,\u2019\u2019 Barrett said after the Knicks\u2019 morning shootaround at the Garden Saturday. \u201cI know if I was a competitor, coming into the Garden, with all those fans, I\u2019d want to have a great game. So coming in there with no fans actually probably gives us an advantage that way too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrett\u2019s is a theory former Knicks coaches Mike D\u2019Antoni and David Fizdale embraced privately, too. D\u2019Antoni actually aired it publicly.<\/p>\n

Opponents relish the Garden and bring their A-plus game, D\u2019Antoni used to say. The current Nets assistant also thought the fear of boos in the early going if the club fell behind was a bummer to team morale.<\/p>\n

\"James
Knicks owner James Dolan (third from left, bottom) reacts along with fans as Julius Randle misses a free throw last season vs. the Pacers.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s such an interesting concept \u2013 and you never hear it out in Laker-land about Staples Center. The Knicks may have the most diehard fans in the NBA \u2013 sticking with a club that has mostly lost this century. Seven straight seasons out of the playoffs, their home record has been below .500 in each season, 11-22 in the last campaign. Dolan has seen a lot of losing up close.<\/p>\n

Whether the owner will\u00a0show up, in a suite, is unknown but he certainly isn\u2019t permitted on the baseline under NBA safety protocols. MSG broadcasters Mike Breen, Walt Frazier and sideline reporter Rebecca Haarlow aren\u2019t permitted on-court either.<\/p>\n

Dolan\u2019s presence right by the bench has always been curious. Dolan, who already has fought off COVID-19, is not demonstrative. But when the club is losing, his body language changes. It\u2019s a much different look than when he\u2019s been up\u00a0on stage,\u00a0with his blues band,\u00a0playing guitar and singing in pre-pandemic days.\u00a0In fact, The Post has learned a few years ago some Garden suits talked internally about asking whether\u00a0 Dolan sitting in the baseline seat was a distraction to the players. <\/p>\n

There was talk about Dolan sitting in the suites to see how the club reacts. The idea never got off the ground. In Harvey Araton\u2019s new book through the eyes of late longtime season-ticket holder Michelle Musser, she mused about Dolan\u2019s posture. Musser sat behind the Knicks bench. \u201cWhy won\u2019t he put on a happ<\/a>ier face?\u00a0<\/em>she wondered. \u00a0\u201cWhy did he slump in his seat, arms folded across his chest\u2026\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

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