Giannis Antetokounmpo

Changing Tides, KP, Frank, Playoffs?

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Changing Tides, KP, Frank, Playoffs?

Written by Declan Ryan

Just over 2 weeks ago the Knicks were returning from Boston, reeling from a disappointing 21pt loss to the Celtics. KP looked flustered and the team looked sloppy in a game where the corpse of Ramon Sessions played 26 minutes – and Kyle O’Quinn played only 6.

Those were the dark days of the winless Knicks, 3 games into what appeared to be another long season filled with dreams of a top draft pick and little hope of competitive basketball.

Fast forward 2 weeks and there is a stark contrast in mood around the team, yet more
importantly there is a contrast on the court – ‘stark’ just doesn’t do it justice. In his 3 rd NBA season, Porzingis has blown all expectations out of the water, and his play has been bolstered by a functional and dynamic offense brought forth by coach Jeff Hornacek.

When they’re not turning the ball over, the Knicks have a half-court set that still contains triangle concepts, with lots of high-low action helped by a physical and offensively gifted frontcourt. However, unlike last season, the team no longer runs the triangle as a means to itself – that is to say that there is a clear goal for each possession – to give Porzingis the ball.

Continue reading →

New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks – 1/6/17 – Game Recap

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New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks
Game 38: January 6, 2017
Knicks 116, Bucks 111

Written by Eric Weinstein – @ericcweinsteinn

Finally, a win.

The Knicks finally ended the six game losing streak tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks After a heartbreaking loss on Wednesday thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Knicks returned the favor and took down the Bucks, 116-111. Kristaps Porzingis returned after a three game absence to score 26 points for New York. Carmelo Anthony led the way with maybe his best all-around game of the season with 26 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds. 17 assists in the past two games for Carmelo, which is the highest assists count over two games he has had in his career.

Most notably, we had a Ron Baker crunch time minutes extravaganza with him finishing 6 points and 4 assists, all in the fourth quarter. Bravo Ron, Bravo. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker both led the Bucks with 25 points each, and Greg Monroe had 19 points off the bench.

Takeaways from this game: Continue reading →

New York Knicks vs Milwaukee Bucks – 1/4/17 – Game Recap

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New York Knicks vs Milwaukee Bucks
Game 37: January 4, 2017
Bucks 105, Knicks 104

Written by Eric Weinstein – @ericcweinsteinn

This one hurt me right in my heart. Also, my soul hurts a little bit too.

The Knicks took on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks at MSG tonight, and took a real punch to the gut, courtesy of the Greek Freak. Giannis hit a fadeaway jumper as time expired to end this one, 105-104. There are so many things I could say about this game that could be the reason why the Knicks lost their sixth (crying face) in a row, but that turnaround from Giannis really just hit like a dagger to the heart. Carmelo Anthony was superb tonight for the Knicks and led the way with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Mindaugus Kuzminskas scored a season high 15 points off the bench, and Derrick Rose also scored 15 points, but committed a costly turnover which led to the game winning bucket. Antetokounmpo left MSG with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and the tears of all the fans watching this game. Kristaps Porzingis sat out his third straight game with the Achilles injury.

Takeaways from this game

No killer instinct at all:

If you read the last recap against the Magic, (which you should, it’s good, but I’m admittedly biased) I said that Continue reading →