Written by Nicholas McGowan

From twenty rows up in the upper deck of the student section I watched my Syracuse Orange go toe to toe with the Duke Blue Devils. It was quite the game. The final score was in Duke’s favor, 80-72, but there was some good to take out of it. I was able to watch Jahlil Okafor play, and let me tell you, he is special. This 6-11, 260 pound freshman came into the Carrier Dome and just played. He went off for 23 points on 10 of 15 shooting, added 13 rebounds and a block. He shut down Syracuse’s best player Rakeem Christmas or “Rak” as we students call him. Rak finished with just 11 points and 6 rebounds, well below his averages of 18 points and 9 rebounds. It was hard to watch as Okafor held Rak to 5-17 from the field. That game last night, only solidifies my stance that the Knicks need Okafor, we cannot settle for a Karl Anthony-Towns or an Emmanuel Mudiay because they are not on the same level. Every time Okafor touched the ball all I could do was think about how much I want him to be Knickerbocker.

While Okafor stated the other day that we would be happy staying in Durham for another year, the Knicks should be more focused on losing. The Lakers are 1-9 in their last ten games, pushing themselves to only 3 games ahead of the Knicks. The Sixers and T-Wolves sit at one and two games ahead of us respectively. While the Knicks should still be considered the frontrunners for finishing in last, there is some competition. Continue reading →