His pain, Rox gain

This article was waiting to be written after K-Mart's Starks-like performance in Game 6.

I should feel bad for both of them. I don't.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/nets/36810.htm

STARKS KNOWS PAIN

By FRED KERBER
June 18, 2003 -- It is every NBA player's worst nightmare: To be center stage in the Finals, with the whole world watching.
And to fall flat on your face.

John Starks knows exactly how Kenyon Martin feels.
Starks, the former Knick now coaching the Westchester Wildfire in the USBL, endured one of the worst nights in NBA Finals history on June 22, 1994. That was when he shot 2-of-18, including 0-of-11 on 3-pointers, in the Knicks' gut-punch Game 7 defeat to Houston. Martin shot a miserable 3-of-23 Sunday when the Nets' title dream died in Game 6 in San Antonio.

Starks' first piece of advice to Martin is to look back at what led up to the horror.

"The most important thing for Kenyon is to go over the game and see how he prepared," Starks said, admitting he got little sleep and was too tight on the one night above all others he'd like to forget. "I didn't come in with a good mental approach and I wasn't well-rested. When you want something so bad, you need to relax. I wasn't relaxed. Kenyon looked the same way."
Another player who undoubtedly watched Martin's struggle with interest, former Net Keith Van Horn, declined comment.

"I would rather not comment," said current 76er Van Horn, who was called out by Martin for sub-par play last year after Game 4 against the Lakers.

Martin figures to face constant reminders of his Game 6 failure, an 88-77 Nets loss. Next year, he'll be asked about it in every city. Starks said Martin should prepare now. Don't dodge the questions, but the best answer would be outstanding play.

"He's going to be asked constantly to focus on that," Starks said. "It was the Finals, so it will be magnified. He should go into the summer and get mentally prepared for a great year and focus on all the great things he's done."

Starks watched Martin's Game 6 and admitted he was unaware how out of whack the numbers were.

"I didn't realize he was 3-of-23 until the next day," Starks said.
Like Martin, Starks was a fiery competitor, an emotional player who gave effort at both ends. There are other similarities, despite the difference in position. Starks claimed he had one advantage Martin won't enjoy: the support of Knicks fans.

"Knick fans are the best. To this day, when they talk to me, they talk about 'The Dunk' and not [Game 7, a 90-84 loss]," Starks said, referring to his posterizing slam over Bulls Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan in the '93 playoffs.

Conversely, Martin has an edge on Starks.

"He should be able to redeem himself in the Finals," Starks said. "I never got back. Kenyon and the Nets have a good chance of returning, especially if they keep Jason Kidd. Kenyon should be able to avenge that game."

 

Gee, sorry. I thought Starks and his Game 7 'performance' was a Rox oriented thread.