After watching the Knicks’ dismal loss in Miami last night, we were left with one glaring question: Does Nate Robinson hate the Natrix? Truth be told, we lucked into a ticket to Game 1 of the World Series and fast-forwarded through much of the Knicks’ abomination on our DVR (a little something we like to call “Knicks in 30”), but it would appear we only missed out on a couple of missed 25-footers from Nate at most. Here is his stat line in all its Calbert Cheaney–esque futility: 0-8 from the field, 0-5 on threes, two rebounds, three assists, three turnovers, a steal, two fouls, and one point — one sad, little point — in 21 minutes.
The closest thing Nate had to a highlight came at the end of the first quarter, when he made a nifty crossover at the free-throw line and kicked the ball to Danilo Gallinari, who stepped back and hit a three. All three of Nate’s assists, in fact, were on Gallinari threes. (If Gallinari keeps gunning like this — seven for thirteen from three-point range last night — we may have to rename this “Rooster Watch.”) Other than that, Nate was neither spectacular nor much good. He turned the ball over trying to split a double team on a high screen; he was victimized whenever he wound up guarding anyone other than Carlos Arroyo, and, oh yeah, he missed every shot he took from the field. Though, to be fair, one of those missed threes was a 57-foot heave to end the first quarter. So let’s give him credit for an 0 for 7.
On the bright side, if there is one, Nate actually moved the ball around fairly well and probably should have had a couple more assists. But, damn it, we didn’t create the Natrix to keep tabs on a somewhat adequate Chris Duhon backup.
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The final tally:
Spectacularity: 1 out of 10
Nate the Greatness: 2 out of 10