{"id":256806,"date":"2021-05-23T11:22:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T08:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/its-go-time-for-knicks-and-their-faithful-fans\/"},"modified":"2021-05-23T11:22:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T08:22:47","slug":"its-go-time-for-knicks-and-their-faithful-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/its-go-time-for-knicks-and-their-faithful-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"#It’s go time for Knicks and their faithful fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#It’s go time for Knicks and their faithful fans<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

And we are here.<\/p>\n

All of us. We are here. The Knicks. Knicks fans. The ardent believers and the converted skeptics. The twisting path of 20 mostly barren years stuck in the desert. And the promise of a way out. Yes. Sunday night, 7 o\u2019clock, we are here. All of us. Madison Square Garden. New York City. A reunion of old friends.<\/p>\n

A renewal of a forgotten rite of spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait,\u201d Julius Randle said not long ago. \u201cI came here for the Garden. I came here for New York. I came here for the full experience. I want that, man. I want that so bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday night, 7 o\u2019clock, Madison Square Garden, Randle will get that. He will get all of it. So will RJ Barrett, the kid whose game<\/a> seems to improve by the hour; and Derrick Rose, the old pro, savoring every second of this return trip<\/a> to the playoffs. So will the supporting players: Alec Burks and Reggie Bullock, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson.
Immanuel Quickley, the rookie from Kentucky, who seemed to spring straight from the imaginations of starving Knicks fans looking for a dollop of hope in the draft, will be here. He will open up his ears, and his heart, to the 15,000 or so who will invade these walls about an hour before tip.<\/p>\n

\"Spike
Spike Lee and the faithful Knicks fan base have waited a long time for this moment.<\/figcaption>
NBAE via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so, of course, will Tom Thibodeau, who once upon a time was a Connecticut kid adopting the hit-the-open-man Knicks, who twice upon a time was an assistant coach for Jeff Van Gundy helping to steer the Knicks of Ewing, Sprewell, LJ and Houston to glory, who has brought the Knicks back, brought the fans back, brought interest and life and fire back to Pennsylvania Plaza and Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had our focus on this all season long,\u201d Thibodeau said. \u201cThis team, to its credit, has kept its eyes on the prize. We\u2019re ready to see where that leads.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of the old rhythms and sensations will come pouring back by tip-off. It is hard to fathom 15,000 engaged fans inside the Garden, only because it\u2019s been so long. Yes, the pandemic kept the numbers sparse, but the ineptitude dating back to 2000, with only an occasional oasis of prosperity, has weakened the muscle memory, too.<\/p>\n

But that will take care of itself when the lights go down, when the spotlights come on, when the players are introduced. The roar will take care of itself. The energy will take care of itself. The first time Randle shakes and bakes his way free for a 17-foot fallaway, the pinwheel roof will feel like it\u2019s about to blow. The first alley-oop from Barrett to Noel, there\u2019s no telling how many eardrums will pop.<\/p>\n

The first time Trae Young does a few Trae Young things \u2026<\/p>\n