Marc and Jay talk about the finals and Knicks rumors with Derrick Rose, JR Smith, Sir Insider, man on the street, Adam Silver, and more
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Knicks @ Thunder 11/28/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
New York was completely overwhelmed by the return of Russell Westbrook to Oklahoma City.
Westbrook first feed his teammates, assisting on the first three made field goals for the Thunders, and then eventually got himself involved with a vicious baseline dunk to give Oklahoma City a 8-5 lead. The dunk was only the start to what ignited a 15-0 run, where the run was bookended by a Westbrook three-pointer that gave the Thunder a 21-5 lead with under five minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Westbrook received a standing ovation when he was substituted out of the game, finishing the first quarter with 14 points, which was more than New York scored as a whole… New York shot a dismal 18.2% from the field, converting on only four field goals.
Even with Westbrook on the bench to start the second quarter, New York could not capitalize…instead Jeremy Lamb went to work on the Knicks. Lamb was personally responsible for a 10-0 to start the second quarter. Lamb scored eight of his 13 points in the run while also handing out an assist to Kendrick Perkins. The deficit for New York grew up to 40-13, where finally with Cole Aldrich’s hustle plays helped give a lifeless Knicks team an 8-0 run.
2014/15 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 4
| The Knicks almost went 2 weeks without a win. After a quick start where Denver hit 237 open 3’s they remembered they totally suck and ended up getting blown out. Things aren’t very good right now but I’ll try and find a few positives in this weeks rankings. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Anthony, Carmelo | Melo had an insane week and I’m now convinced that the Knicks would be completely incapable of winning any games should Melo go down. | 4 |
| 2 | Smith, J.R. | JR played really well during an early Sunday game. This may never happen ever again so I’m rewarding him with the #2 spot this week. Kudos for not being hungover on a Sunday morning! | 8 |
| 3 | Dalembert, Samuel | Dalembert was the 3rd best player on the Knicks this week. In related news the Knicks are 3-9. | 5 |
| 4 | Acy, Quincy | Acy did a good job of not being terrible this week. I’d still rather see him come in off the bench but Fisher needs a few more years of data to figure out Melo is better at the 4. | 10 |
| 5 | Larkin, Shane | I’d love to see our point guard get some assists. I mean he got some, but more than 2 would be nice. Did Calderon die? Where is this guy? Continue reading | |
Knicks @ Cavs 10/30/2014 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Knicks at Cavaliers 10/30/14
The Knicks starts off the season against the two candidates most likely to face off in the Eastern Conference finals. One night after getting demolished by the Chicago Bulls in the home opener, New York played the spoiler role, ruining Cleveland’s home opener, and the return of the King’s homecoming.
The game started right where the Knicks left off last night, no defense to speak of…allowing a wide open layup under the rim by Kevin Love. Carmelo Anthony righted the ship, scoring the first six points for the Knicks to take an early lead. Anthony looked a lot more aggressive Thursday night, making quick decisions instead of being passive and forcing it to his teammates like he did the night before.
On this night it was Lebron James who looked to be passive, forcing passes to his teammates in his first game back with the Cavaliers since the infamous Decision. Lebron finished the first quarter with more turnovers (3) than points (2). Instead it was his new running mate Kevin Love that imposed his will early on, registering 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assist in the opening period. We got treated to what will for sure be a consistent ESPN Top 10 Plays, anytime the Cavaliers take the court, when Cleveland went up 14-8 on a Kevin Love outlet pass to Lebron James. Love finished the game with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assist.
Cleveland lead by as many as 11 points, although New York quickly got back into the game midway through the second quarter on an 8-0 run, cutting into the deficit 33-30. Lebron continued to struggle in the second quarter, having as many turnovers as points (4) by the end of the first half. New York really shared the basketball well in the first half, with ten players registering points on the box score.
Knicks @ Nets – 4-15-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
The New York Knicks continued to thrive in the role of spoiler Tuesday night, defeating the Brooklyn nights 109-98. Brooklyn was trying to clinch their fifth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, deploying their full roster on the Knicks, while New York was without their star player Carmelo Anthony after an MRI revealed a small labrum tear. New York shared the ball well without Anthony in the lineup, six players scored double figures in the victory.
With nothing to play for but pride, and what little bragging rights for New York there is…the Knicks came out to a strong start, connecting on their first three three-point attempts to get an early 9-5 lead. New York without their leading scorer, Amare Stoudemire stepped into the role, and could not be stopped, attacking the paint with frequency. Stoudemire had a strong first quarter, getting to the free throw line at will, scoring seven points in the quarter, he ended up finishing the game with 14 points. The Knicks would go on an 8-0 run to finish the first quarter with Tim Hardaway Jr. nailing two threes, and a Shannon Brown layup. The run gave New York a 29-18 lead going into the second quarter.
The second quarter, and the first half in general was a parade to the free throw line for the New York Knicks. The Knicks eclipse their season average in free throw attempts by the first half, whom are the league worst in attempts at 20.1 free throws per game, attempting 25 free throws. This didn’t mean there wasn’t any highlight plays though, in fact there was a sequence of highlight plays, starting with a “Man Jam” from Stoudemire, Continue reading
2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 24
| The Knicks beat Brooklyn last week, getting our hopes up just enough so that the losses to the Wizards and Heat hurt as much as possible. This is the 2nd to last rankings of the year and last one before the Knicks are officially eliminated. For those still paying attention the Knicks need to go 4-0 and the Hawks need to go 2-4. Possible but not bloody likely. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Smith, J.R. | Against Miami JR made a franchise record 10 3’s and took and all time NBA record 22 attempts as well as an NBA record 14 attempts in a half. He has also hit an NBA record 24 3’s in 3 games while shooting efficiently. My one complaint during all this is the end of the Miami game where JR though he was invincible and took 26 foot fadaway 3’s with LeBron in his face. | 2 |
| 2 | Stoudemire, Amar’e | For the first time since joining the Knicks it looks like Amare will be fully healthy for the playoffs….. | 5 |
| 3 | Anthony, Carmelo | Melo is injured, his arm is numb and as a result he can’t shoot. A normal coach would sit him for a few games so he heals and comes back 100%. In the Knicks world he plays 40 minutes and Melo takes 17. I bumped him down a little because of the 17 shots, not because of the injury. He could have played a facilitator role. | 1 |
| 4 | Shumpert, Iman | His offense hasn’t really been there but his defense has looked really good. Woodson might not appreciate defense but I do. | 6 |
| 5 | Chandler, Tyson | Great call not selling high on Chandler. I really look forward to albatross Tyson next season. Still playing OK, but all signs point to a huge regression next season. | 4 |
| 6 | Prigioni, Pablo | He played a few decent games before getting shredded by Miami. Still, he does basketball things like passing the ball, which is a nice and rare commodity on this team. | 3 |
| 7 | Felton, Raymond | It didn’t happen this week, but maybe next week we can see Felton lead the team in assists. That would be a cool thing for our starting PG to do. Still, props for not letting an opposing guard have a career high for two straight weeks! | 9 |
| 8 | Hardaway Jr., Tim | It would be really cool if multiple Knicks played well in the same game. On the same night JR went off from 3 point land THJ went 0-7 with a +/- of -26. Ick. | 7 |
| 9 | Aldrich, Cole | And now we get to the 6 players who don’t play for reasons only Woodson knows. I’ll rank these guys in order of how I think they would have done if they did play. Cole would have gotten a lot of rebounds and played decent defense. | 8 |
| 10 | Murry, Toure’ | Hopefully Jackson is aware of the things Murry does on the non-offensive side of the court aka playing defense because Woodson sure doesn’t. | 11 |
| 11 | Shannon Brown | Brown got 2 steals in 6 minutes this week. That’s 12 steals per 36 minutes! Sign this guy to an extension! | 10 |
| 12 | Jeremy Tyler | Did Tyler really regress or did Woodson forget he was on the team? Both are just as likely to have happened. | 12 |
| 13 | Martin, Kenyon | Keep getting dem checks. | 13 |
| 14 | Bargnani, Andrea | I’m not even mad at Bargs anymore, but I will be all over again once I find out who Toronto drafts with the Knicks picks. Guaranteed to be an all star. | 14 |
Knicks vs Wizards – 4-4-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
The Washington Wizards quickly doubled up on the New York Knicks Friday night, leading 18-9 mid-way into the first quarter. After a much needed timeout, the Knicks responded with a 10-2 run to take the lead on a Carmelo Anthony jumper, up 20-19 with 2:43 remaining in the first quarter. Basketball is a game of runs, and after a Washington timeout, they would answer with a run of their own, ending the first quarter on a 7-2, to take a 27-21 lead.
New York’s started off the second quarter on a 15-4 run, playing suffocating defense, holding Washington scoreless for four minutes during the stretch. This gave New York a 36-31 lead with 5:31 left in the second quarter. The Knicks would continue to apply defensive pressure in the quarter, forcing the Wizards to 28.6% shooting in the period. New York outscored Washington 22-12 in the second quarter, leading by 43-39 at the half. J.R. Smith was huge for the Knicks, scoring 19 points in the first half, connecting on five money ball.
The Knicks and the Wizards would go back and forth in the third quarter, exchanging baskets. Amare Stoudemire at one points scored 12 straight points for New York, including a vicious slam dunk on Marcin Gortat to give the Knicks a 60-55 lead. Washington would regain the lead with John Wall aggressively attacking the paint on consecutive possessions, drawing free throws on the first possession, then getting into the lane for a dunk to help regain the lead for the Wizards 62-60. New York would answer, regaining the lead on J.R. Smith’s seventh three of the game. Then J.R. Smith would hit a fade away jumper to that was basically a buzzer beater for the third quarter, giving the Knicks a 67-64 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Knicks vs Jazz – 3-7-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Utah Jazz losing streak is extended to five games, fall to the New York Knicks Friday night 108-81.
New York again led wire to wire for a second consecutive game, scoring 39 points in the first quarter. The 39 points was the most points scored in any individual quarter by New York in any quarter this season.
Since Amare Stoudemire has been inserted into the starting lineup three games ago, the Knicks have been a +42 in first quarters. Stoudemire has been extremely impressive looking, even on defense!
Stoudemire with 9:05 remaining in the first quarter blocked a Derrick Favors layup attempt, igniting a fast break, leading to a J.R. Smith three. Smith was on fire from distance Friday night, knocking down five three-pointers, finishing the game with 17 points. Amare Stoudemire looked lively, running the floor on the fast break, drawing a foul with 7:14 left in the first quarter, he would convert on both free throws increasing New York’s lead to 16-8. On the very next Knicks’ possession, Stoudemire would Continue reading
2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 18
| Five games since the last rankings, four of them losses. There are also only 13 players to rank after the Knicks bought out Mett and Udrih this week. Will it be 12 next week? Felton has been arrested on 3 felony gun charges. The PG rotation is looking pretty thin right now. I wonder what Beno is up to? | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Anthony, Carmelo | If Melo is going down he’s going to go down in a blaze of glory. This week was arguably the best stretch of basketball in his entire career. He scored over 40 points while taking less than 30 shots 3 times this week. To play that efficiently and still lose 4 out of 5 has to be giving him second thoughts about staying in NY after this season. | 1 |
| 2 | Chandler, Tyson | I hate to give the #2 spot to a guy who looks like he’s only half interested in playing but who else is even remotely deserving of this spot? Chandler did have a 23 rebound game this week. Of course it was a loss but still. | 2 |
| 3 | Prigioni, Pablo | It looks like the bar is once again being set at not having a terrible game. Priggy hasn’t played great but everyone below him has played worse. The 2013-14 Knicks everyone! | 3 |
| 4 | Murry, Toure’ | Murry gets this spot because no one who played this past week deserves this spot. Also, I have a feeling Murry will be getting a good amount of run this coming week, unless Woodson decides to play JR at the point, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility. | 7 |
| 5 | Jeremy Tyler | Tyler didn’t have a geat week. It looks like some of his teammates terrible defensive habits are rubbing off on him. He’s also seen him minutes drop to below 10 a game because Woodson likes to play his starters over 40 minutes per game. What could go wrong with that strategy? Continue reading | |
Knicks @ Blazers – 2-5-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Carmelo Anthony was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for January, leading the New York Knicks to a 10-6 record for the month, averaging 28.7 points 9 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
Sadly, we can only look back fondly on January and on his historic 62 points night at Madison Square Garden, because February has been dreadful so far. Five days into February and the Knicks have already mounted three losses, losing to the Portland Trailblazers 94-90 Wednesday night.
In the opening minutes, there was a play that was indicative of how the 2013-2014 New York Knicks season has been going so far, and what is wrong with the Knicks all season. New York misses a shot in the lane, and while the Knicks are back paddling in transition, Nicolas Batum gets straight to the rim for a dunk because no one picks him up. When the offense isn’t clicking, the defense is just not sufficient, there an extreme lack of communication on the defensive end. The dunk gave Portland an early 10-4 advantage, during the play you can see Tyson Chandler yelling at Raymond Felton to pick up in transition, but Felton had no clue Batum was coming his way, and didn’t even have time to turn his head to react. Felton defense has been especially horrid this year, and was showcased in the Bucks’ loss a couple night’s back, when he was beaten on a backdoor cut at a pivotal closing moments of the game.
There were a lot of good things to take away from the game, especially in the first half where it was a very competitive game against a top team in the league. The Blazers only led by one, after the first half, with the score 47-46. Carmelo Anthony was a big reason why, Anthony missed his first shot, then would proceed to make his next six in the first quarter good for 14 points, including a buzzer beating mid-range pull up jumper, making it 26-23 deficit at the end of the quarter. Tyson Chandler was doing a great job of guarding LaMarcus Aldridge, forcing him to take tough shots, the only shot he made in the first half was a tough fade away bank in jump shot. Aldridge was 1/7 in the first half, and finished the game, making only five field goals. Although Aldridge struggled with Chandler’s length guarding him, and the double teams that New York sent, he did get his teammates involved, collecting five assist in the game.
Other than the first quarter, where the Blazers shot 50%, the Knicks played really good defense. Constantly lowing Portland’s field goal percentage in every quarter, Blazers shot 40% in the second quarter, 37.5% in the third quarter and then 23.5% in the fourth quarter. This is especially encouraging to see because Portland has the league’s most potent offense at 107.7 points per game. The Blazers are also number one in most threes made per game at 9.4 three-point field goals made a game. New York was able to hold Portland below their averages in both categories Wednesday night.
Unfortunately the Knicks reverted back in their ways in the third quarter. Even with the Blazers dreadful shooting, the Knicks did not complete defensive possessions with a defensive rebound. The Blazers outhustled the Knicks, getting seven offensive rebounds in the third quarter. The Knicks also could not defend without fouling, sending Portland to the line constantly. Of course this isn’t new, because New York is the fourth most-foul prone team in the league at 22.3 personal fouls per game. New York doesn’t only foul, but commit dumb fouls, fouling jump shooters. J.R Smith fouled Aldridge trying to contest his shot, and then a minute later would foul on a three-point attempt by Dorell Wright. Portland would make New York pay on their transgressions, converted on all ten free throws.
J.R Smith might have committed some low IQ fouls, but he actually did play well. Smith made aggressive moves to the basket, and then would make the right pass when the defense collapse on him because he beat his initial defender. Smith and Amare Stoudemire made a good pairing in pick-and-roll, and pick-and-pop. Four of Smith’s six assist were to Stoudemire, where he threw down a couple of dunks, and knocked down a couple of open jump shots, created by Smith’s dribble penetration to the rim.
In the fourth quarter the Blazers continued to parade to the free throw line, converting 8/13. With 1:11 left in the game, it looked like Portland would walk out of New York with a sure victory, leading by 89-81, but back to back threes by the Knicks got New York within striking distances in a few seconds. With 50 seconds remaining in the game, Portland called a timeout up only one possession 89-87. Aldridge would hit a clutch fade away jumper that would eventually end up being the game winning jumper, as the Blazers hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the victory. It is of note that Anthony laid an egg in the fourth quarter, not scoring a single point in the final period, in a highly competitive game against such a quality opponent.
The New York Knicks Podcast 