The Knicks “tried something new” for the first half of yesterday’s game against the Warriors, as Madison Square Garden "played no music, showed no videos and had no on-floor entertainment at breaks,” according to Roger Rubin of NEWSDAY. The Knicks in a message to fans posted on the scoreboard said it was an effort for fans to "experience the game in its purest form.” Rubin wrote the experiment led to a "very different NBA experience.” Fans could “hear the basketball bouncing, coaches shouting instructions and players disagreeing with game officials.” There were “only a few moments when the crowd actually seemed enthralled” (NEWSDAY, 3/6). The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Ben Cohen noted Melissa Etheridge “sang the national anthem a cappella” and the lights “stayed on during the introduction of starting lineups.” Cohen: "There was no Kiss Cam, no T-shirt cannon and no awkward closeups of celebrities sitting courtside. The only entertainment was the Knicks playing basketball.” Why the Knicks “turned back the clock -- and why they did it against the Warriors -- was still a mystery” after the game (WSJ.com, 3/5). In DC, Boren & Flaherty noted ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy “initially was pleased” with the idea. He said in-game music and effects are an "assault on your senses." But Van Gundy later said that he “wished there were some sort of happy medium” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 3/5).
COME ON FEEL THE NOISE: Warriors F Draymond Green said of the idea at MSG, “That was pathetic. It was ridiculous. It changed the flow of the game. It changed everything. You get so used to playing the game a certain way and you completely change that? To me, I thought it was disrespectful.” He added, “You advance things in the world to make it better. You don’t go back to what was bad.” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “You sort of take it for granted because every NBA game, you have this stuff in the background. You don’t think about it” (N.Y. POST, 3/6). Knicks G Courtney Lee said that the “absence of music and crowd noise had stripped the Knicks of their home-court advantage” (N.Y. TIMES, 3/6).
TURN UP THE RADIO: ESPN's Mike Greenberg called the quiet first half an "interesting thing to try" and said, "I sort of like the concept, the idea of doing something different.” ESPN's Mike Golic said, "They tried something. It’s not going to catch on, other places aren’t going to do that, but I don't mind when they throw it back every now and then and try something" (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 3/6). But ESPN's Brad Daugherty called it "bizarre" and said, "I have no idea why you would want to have a professional sporting event in the atmosphere of a middle school basketball game." Daugherty: "A little bit of music gets a little bit of movement in your body. It gets everyone involved. The crowd, the buzz. It’s fun, it’s exciting. This takes the excitement, it drains the life out of the game.” He added, "Maybe someone thought that they could utilize this to get the Warriors off balance, but everyone’s going to be off balance" (“SportsCenter,” ESPN2, 3/6). In N.Y., Frank Isola writes the lack of noise was “certainly strange.” Isola: “It felt like a funeral and a basketball game were taking place at the same time. It certainly didn’t go over well with the millionaire millennial crowd” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/6).
