Marc and Jay talk about the last few losses, I mean games, interview Derek Fisher, listener questions, Knicks ticket prices, Frank Isolas tweets, and more
Where to Begin
This about sums up the season so far.
Written by Nicholas McGowan
Where to Begin
Let me tell me explain to you as to why I am so happy about the Knicks season so far. Now I certainly wasn’t imagining the Knicks being this bad, but hey, if they up with a top 3 pick in next year’s draft its certainly seems like the Knicks will end up with a stud. I don’t know how many of our readers and listeners follow college basketball but if you want to see some talent then look no further than Jahlil Okafor of Duke or Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. of Kentucky. And we can’t forget about the other consensus top 3 pick Emmanuel Mudiay. While Mudiay originally committed to play basketball at SMU, he could not qualify academically so he headed overseas to China to play for the Guangdong Southern Dragons. No matter the case he is still top 3 prospect and Knicks could certainly use a point guard.
Taking a look at each of them separately:
Jahlil Okafor, a 6-11, 270 pound center is my favorite prospect this year. He shows great maturity and has real sense for how the game is played. His lack of free throw shooting is his only real flaw and he certainly looks as though he can contribute immediately.
Points per game: 17.4
Rebounds per game: 8.9
Assists per game: 1.6
Field Goal %: 65
Free throw percentage: 51.1
Blocks: 1.5
Steals: .9
Karl-Anthony Towns is a 6-11, 250 pound shot blocking machine. While he does demonstrate that he has potential on the offensive end of the floor, he is much more of a defensive presence. It hurts that Towns only gets to play around 20 minutes a night because of the platoon system they use at Kentucky but Towns has still made quite the impression.
Points per game: 8.1
Rebounds per game: 6.6
Assists per game: 1.2
Field Goal %: 52.9
Free throw percentage: 73.3
Blocks: 2.6
Steals: .4
Now I don’t get to watch Emmanuel Mudiay as much as I would like but from what every draft analyst is saying he seems to be the real deal. He is injured as of now with an ankle injury but he posted some impressive numbers in the ten games he has played thus far.
Points per game: 17.7
Rebounds per game: 6
Assists per game: 5.9
Field Goal %: 49.7
Free throw percentage: 58.1
Steals: 1.6
3 Point %: 30
Anyway back to the Knicks this season… Continue reading
Knicks @ Raptors 12/21/2014 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
New York yet again got off to a slow start in Sunday’s matinee game, going down double digits when Terrence Ross and Kyle Lowry combined for a 10-0 run to lead 17-7 midway through the first quarter. Ross dominated early on, reaching double figures scoring before the halfway mark of the opening period. Raptors shot 50% from the field, including five from downtown to lead 33-25 after one quarter of play. New York was able to stay somewhat in the game by getting to the line nine times, failing to convert only once.
Back to back threes by Lowry and potential sixth man of the year Lou Williams gave the Raptors their largest lead in the second quarter, leading 52-36 with 5:21 remaining in the first half. A 12-4 run to end the half by New York got them within striking distance 58-51 entering intermission. Carmelo Anthony kept New York in the game, scoring 15 of his 28 game high points in the first half.
With only ten active players suiting up for New York due to all the injuries, the body count dwindled down one more. Samuel Dalembert was ejected out of the game with a flagrant two foul called a minute into the second half. While wrestling for position in the post, Dalembert elbowed Jonas Valanciunas in the face, sending him to the locker room early.
Episode 276: Bargaining
Marc and Jay talk about the 3rd stage of grief, an interview with Shumpert, the Rajon Rondo trade, the latest set of losses, tanking, trade scenarios and much more
Knicks vs Suns 12/21/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Top five highest pace Phoenix Suns spearheaded by their two headed point guard monster that is Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe scorched the Knicks early. The duo combined to score a dozen of the first 15 points, in an early 15-4 run capped off by a Bledsoe steal and dunk that brought down boos from the matinee Madison Square Garden crowd. Bledsoe finished the game with a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
From this point on New York mounted a monster comeback, going on a 23-10 run bridging the gap from mid first quarter to early second to take the lead 27-25. Jose Calderon kept New York in the game, bailing the Knicks out of poor possessions going nowhere by beating the shot clock a couple of times. Calderon scored eight of his 21 points in the first quarter, doing most of his damage from beyond the arc, making five three-pointers in the game. It was the play of the bench that propelled New York into the lead with yet another lackluster start by the starters. Jason Smith did most of the hard lifting, coming off the bench to score seven points in five minutes of play in the first quarter.
After the slow start from the Knicks’ starters, Carmelo Anthony and Tim Hardaway Jr. redeemed themselves in the second quarter, scoring a combined 15 points in the period. Anthony collected his only his second double-double of the season with 25 points and 11 rebounds. The teams went back and forth, exchanging leads five times, and being tied up eight times.
2014/15 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 8
| The Knicks 1 game winning streak was snapped on Sunday against the Raptors. Their idea to troll us and play Landry Fields 23 almost backfired as it took an overtime period to get the W. The Knicks were able to beat the Celtics after losing to the Spurs even though the Spurs fielded a starting lineup of an accountant, the water boy, a wet towel, and Tim Duncans mom. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Anthony, Carmelo | Less than 3 hours after Fisher said he wanted to cut Melo’s minutes down Melo plays 44 minutes. He played well after sitting out against the Spurs, but if that knee is going to need surgery shouldn’t Melo get it now so he’s 100% for next season? | 8 |
| 2 | Calderon, Jose | Yeah his defense is bad but isn’t it nice having a PG who can pass and shoot? This playing well every other game thing is getting frustrating though. | 7 |
| 3 | Prigioni, Pablo | 9 assists, 5 steals and the only positive +/- on the team against Dallas. | 6 |
| 4 | Acy, Quincy | Acy likes kinda crappy on the court, yet he’s the only player who has a positive +/- almost every night. | 4 |
| 5 | Larkin, Shane | Look who’s back in the rotation. He didn’t do anything particularly great but didn’t look terrible either. Continue reading | |
Knicks vs Mavs 12/16/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Dallas came out of the gate scorching, all five starters for the Mavericks scored on by their fifth attempt of the game. Dallas scored on their first six attempts before finally missing from the field, which drew sarcastic cheers from Madison Square Garden. Dallas personified team basketball in the first quarter, collecting six assist on their first six field goals. Dallas ended the first quarter with 14 made field goals, of which ten of them were assisted on.
With the hot start from Dallas, Derek Fisher needed to take an early timeout four minutes into the game, by then the Mavericks had already gotten ahead 19-7. The lackluster play by the Knick’s starters continued, the deficit grew by as much as 19 points. This caused Fisher to make wholesale substitutions at the 5:20 mark to send a message to his players that this type of effort will not be tolerated.
Fisher after the game had this to say about the lackluster start. “The start was not the right way to start a professional basketball game. Those guys in there to start the game, was a disappointment to their teammates more than anything. Guys who start the game have to mentally and physically be ready to play, and they couldn’t put that out there, we got another five guys in there, they started playing hard and playing with some energy and got us back into the game. We were behind the eight ball from the jump.”
The message seemed to have gotten across to the team momentarily, in a blink of an eye with how fast New York was down by such a large deficit, New York rocketed back just as fast. The Knicks made a sizable comeback, going on a 21-10 run since the wholesale substitution to get within four points 36-32 with 10:20 remaining in the second quarter.
Episode 275: Anger
Marc and Jay go into the second stage of grieving, interview Quincy Acy, the NY Post rumor, the Knicks winning streak comes to an end, fantasy basketball, the Nets trying to blow their team up, Marcs idea to eliminate tanking, much more
Knicks @ Celtics 12/12/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
New York got off to a hot start Friday night converting on eight of their first ten attempts, getting a double digit lead midway through the first quarter 18-8. After reports from Chris Broussard of ESPN claiming that there is a poor relationship between Carmelo Anthony and Tim Hardaway Jr., it was nice to see that Anthony and Hardaway Jr. passed the ball to each other, not freezing each other out on the offensive end. It was also good to see Anthony picking Hardaway Jr. up from the floor after an offensive foul committed by Hardaway Jr. late in closing seconds of the first quarter. Hopefully there isn’t any lingering animosity towards each other, and this might sound stupid but studies show that “winning teams touch more” according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Knicks lead 26-19 after one quarter, cooling off a bit after the hot start. Tyler Zeller kept Boston in the game early, going a perfect 3/3 from the field in the first quarter.
After starting off 0/3 from the field Hardaway Jr. got it going in the second quarter, scoring ten of his 16 total points in the period. The second quarter got ugly with both team going ice cold from the field, there was no points scored by either team for a three minute stretch in the quarter. Things got uglier for New York when Iman Shumpert tried to be a pest, and pop the ball away from Zeller, but ended up dislocating his left shoulder instead, going straight to the locker room visibly in pain. This was a huge blow for New York whom was already without J.R. Smith due to a heel injury.
A couple of careless passes to start the second half by Celtics’ point guard and leader Rajon Rando got the Knicks to stretch their lead out. The turnovers were contagious, as Boston turned the ball over six times in the quarter. Zeller again kept the Celtics in the game scoring eight points in the quarter on 4/6 shooting. Zeller finished the game with 19 points and a couple of blocks.
Jason Smith heated up in the third quarter, bailing out New York several times as the Celtics started to apply a lot of defensive pressure to the ball handlers. Smith alleviated that pressure, getting to the open spots, scoring on all four of his attempts, scoring eight of his total 12 points in the quarter.
Marcus Thornton sparked a comeback, bridging from gap late in the third quarter to the start of the fourth. Thornton scored eight points in a 12-4 run that got the Celtics within one possession 75-73, capping off the run on a three-pointer to start off the fourth quarter, New York responded by going on an 11-0 run to lead by 86-73 with 8:42remaining in the game. Jeff Green got mean, almost single handedly getting Boston back into the game, scoring half of his game high 28 points in the fourth quarter. Green scored eight straight points on a 10-4 run that got Boston within six points 96-90 with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
With the momentum shifting towards Boston’s favor, New York got trapped under their own basket with 2.9 left on the shot clock. Green foolishly fouled Anthony on a jump shot, halting all momentum when Anthony knocked down both free throws. Anthony scored 22 points, but also chipped in on defense, blocking three shots, and stealing the ball once.
Green on the ensuing possession made up for the foolish foul by quickly getting up the court and finishing in the lane with a monster jam. Boston double teamed Anthony on the next possession, leading to a turnover as Larkin traveled as he made his move to the rim. Boston caught a break as Larkin was wide open. Boston would again catch another break seconds later, as the referee made an unfavorable call towards New York, when it looked like Anthony got a clean steal, but was called for the foul instead when Green made his move. Green though would split the pair of free throws, New York led 98-93 with 52.8 seconds left in the game.
Boston couldn’t muster up enough offense to complete the comeback, and New York finally snapped their ten game losing streak, defeating the Celtics 101-95.
2014/15 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 7
| Had some computer issues to the rankings are a day late this week. That also means an extra game is included in this weeks rankings giving us a record 5 losses to take into consideration for this weeks rankings. The Knicks now have more losses than Philly. I can’t believe after 23 games I was able to type that sentence. We also got to learn that the team hates each other and is falling apart behind the scenes. Good news if you’re are all about the #1 draft pick. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Wear, Travis | No one had a good week this week, but Travis played the least amount of minutes out of the healthy players. That means he was the least detrimental to this team. | 3 |
| 2 | Aldrich, Cole | Cole looked like he was in danger of increased playing time, increasing his chance of sucking, but after playing 18 minutes against the Nets logged 8 minutes in the next 4 games, thus being the 2nd least detrimental to this team. | 13 |
| 3 | Larkin, Shane | Shane is out of the rotation, playing zero minutes against the Blazers and Pelicans, almost guaranteeing his turnovers and points scored against him will decrease. | 5 |
| 4 | Acy, Quincy | This is my 4th week in a row putting Acy at the #4 spot and no one seems to have noticed. Kind of like how opposing teams don’t notice when he’s on the court. | 4 |
| 5 | Stoudemire, Amar’e | I know what you are saying, but STAT got so many boards and pointzzzz!!!! He also led the league in flexing under the basket after a dunk while his opponents get an uncontested layup or basking in the glow of his dunk during the next 3 plays in which he gets 2 turnovers and a foul. Continue reading | |
