[Woody, already looking past the Isiah era] The Onion AV Club this week interviews Woody Allen about his latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but saves the sports news for last. Like so many New Yorkers getting used to NYC as a 20th Century sports town, Woody has resigned himself to a non-winning standard when it comes to the Knicks.
AVC: Are you looking forward to the Knicks in a post-Isiah Thomas era?
WA: Well, I was looking forward to the Isiah Thomas era. [Laughs.] I don’t think anything’s going to happen. I think they’re definitely going to be better. There’s no question at this point, because there’s been so much pressure on them to be better. I think Isiah came in and tried to make them better, but he was faced with a very, very difficult situation. It’s not easy to just come in and take a team and simply make it better, and then the fans get impatient. You know it’ll be wild enthusiasm at first, and then as soon as the results don’t happen, the fans start to get impatient, and they want to tar and feather you. So he definitely tried. He came in and bought the players that logically would be exciting. As much as the fans got on [point guard Stephon] Marbury, they were thrilled to the nines when he joined the team. Everyone was excited, and I thought Isiah tried, but it was too tough to do, and I think [new coach] Mike D’Antoni is going to try, and I think with time and some sense, they’ll gradually get better. But there’s a difference between being better and being fun to watch. A workmanlike team that wins games is not necessarily a team that is fun to watch. What I’d like the Knicks to develop into is a team that’s fun and that’s colorful and that you really like to watch every night, which is the way they were many years ago. It was fun to watch them, because they didn’t just pile up wins in unappealing ways.
AVC: Like the [San Antonio] Spurs.
WA: Yeah. I’d really rather be entertained and have them come in second than be bored stiff and see them grind to a first-place finish.