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Knicks vs Pistons – 1-7-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

The New York Knicks welcomed the struggling Detroit Pistons to Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. Raymond Felton returned to the starting lineup after a six game absence from a strained groin injury. Kenyon Martin was also inserted into the starting lineup replacing the injured Tyson Chandler. Detroit was missing Rodney Stuckey due to a sore shoulder, which is very fortunate for New York because he was a key reason why Detroit was able to pull out a victory in November when these two teams met early in the season with 21 points and 5 assist in the previous game.

This game would start off ugly, with both teams shooting a dismal from the field in the first half. Both teams struggled, shooting sub .400 in a tied ball game 41-41. The Pistons dominated inside with 30 points in the paint. This is not an aberration since the Detroit Pistons are ranked second in the league in most field goals made within five feet, and within 5-9 feet as well. This is not surprising with the large frontline of Greg Monroe, Josh Smith and Andre Drummond. This combination scored 71% of the Pistons’ total offense in the first half. At the half Drummond had 11 points and 8 rebounds, Monroe also helped carry the offense with 12 points. Josh Smith only had 6 points but dominated the glass with 11 rebounds and got his teammates involved with 4 assist. Continue reading →

2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 11

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Shocking week as the Knicks take 2 out of 3 in Texas and should have won the Houston game (more on that below).  We also got to see Shumpert come out of his season long slump with 3 straight huge games:
       
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Shumpert, Iman The largest rise in the power rankings ever is much deserved.  Not sure if this weekend was a fluke or the first two months of the season was an abberation but damn 2014 has been good to Iman so far.  In the course of the weekend Iman hit 22-32 overall, 13-16 from the 3 point line, 16 boards and 7 steals.  These are numbers JR couldn’t get to even in the wettest of dreams.  Iman also hit 2 very clutch shots against Dallas which put a stop to their run and may have saved the game. 14
2 Murry, Toure’ Murry might be the Knicks best PG right now.  Good thing Woodson won’t play him more than 15 minutes a game, all that defense and lack of turnovers might be contagious, keep that man quarantined! 1
3 Anthony, Carmelo Melo had 2 great games and started off the Dallas game on fire with 15 points in the first quarter.  He then decided to play hero ball, turning the ball over or missing a terrible shot on just about every posession he was involved in in the end of the 3rd and 1st half of the 4th quarter, letting Dallas get right back into the game.  This game was the perfect example of why people love and at the same time hate Melo. 5
4 Udrih, Beno I feel like Beno is always passing to the other team, but looking at the box score I see that he had 22 assists and only 5 turnovers during the Texas trip.  He also made up for the 5 turnovers with 5 steals.  What’s most impressive is that none of the trio of Parker, Lin and Ellis scored more than 14 points, so I’d say that’s a solid week for our 3rd string turned starting PG.  And I’m not dinging him for that foul in Houston, 1 because he was hustling for the ball and 2 because the shot he was trying to rebound shouldn’t have been taken in the first place. 3
5 Chandler, Tyson Tyson still doesn’t look himself and then he missed all but the first four minutes of the Dallas game with a respiratory infection.  Is there any player in the league that gets sick as often as Tyson?  I feel like he has the flu or a cold or some infection every couple of weeks.  Anyway, Chandler was big in the Houston game and even took a few outside shots and hit one! Continue reading →

Episode 232: Texas Triangle

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Marc and Jay talk about all 3 Texas games, trade rumors, basketball IQ, lineups, Shumpert, and get real silly by the end of the episode

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Knicks @ Mavs – 1-5-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

    Sunday night was the final step of the Texas Triangle, and after another costly mental error by the New York Knicks Friday night, they looked to put that behind them, and end the trip on a positive note against the Dallas Mavericks. Tyson Chandler received a nice loud ovation from Dallas fans for his contribution to the Mavericks 2011 championship run. Although Chandler’s night would be a short one, he left the game four minutes into the game. Per the New York Knicks, Chandler was held out of the game due to an upper respiratory infection.

Carmelo Anthony scored on a turnaround jumper seconds into the game, it would be the beginning of a great all around first quarter. Anthony was responsible for 21 of the 29 Knicks’ points scored in the first quarter. Dallas had no answers for Anthony, watching him score 15 points as well as getting his teammates involved with 3 assist, and grabbing four rebounds. The Mavericks had an early 10-6 lead, which prompted Mike Woodson to call a timeout. New York went on an 18-3 run after the timeout to take a double digit lead. The Mavericks were held scoreless for over three minutes during the stretch. The lead would grow to as much as 19 mid-way into the second quarter, with the score 44-28, in favor of the Knicks.

Dallas was held to 36.1% shooting in the first half, there was very little ball movement, as evident by recording only three assist for the half. New York on the other hand was passing the ball well, getting 13 assist on 22 made field goals in the first half, on their way to a 52-35 advantage at the half. Andrea Bargnani and Amare Stoudemire both Continue reading →

The Knicks Dictionary

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There are some things that only exist on the Knicks because this is an insane and screwed up franchise.  In order to simplify things we decised to come up with a dictionary to explain these Knicks only phenomena.  Here is the Knicks Dictionary which will be updated as necessary:

3rd Quarter – The quarter the Knicks take off every game before trying again in the 4th
Accountability – The best way to learn is to be allowed to keep doing what you are doing.
Big Lineup – Playing tall players.
D-focused Coach – a guy who doesn’t coach defense
Game Shape – Enough stamina for 3 quarters
Herb Williams – A permanent fixture of the assistant coaching staff no matter who is head coach.  Never a candidate for head coach.
Knick Comeback – Coming back from at least 20 points down only to juuuuust fall short at the end.
Knick Effect – When someone on the opposing team has a season high scoring game due to terrible defense.
Knick trade – Getting fleeced while exchanging players and being happy about it.
Knicks 6th Man – This player has to be extemely inconsistent and undependable.
Knicks Out of Timeout Play – Isolation.  Always.

Knicks @ Rockets – 1-3-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

Friday night New York continued their Texas Triangle road trip, taking on the Houston Rockets, after a very impressive victory over the San Antonio Spurs the previous night. Jeremy Lin made sure to let his former team know what they were missing, scoring seven points in the opening four minutes. Lin penetrated into the paint for a couple of layups, and knocked down a three, which quickly gave the Rockets an 11-4 early lead. James Harden would also get into the act, easily getting into the paint for a layup as well. Mike Woodson decided to substitute out Beno Udrih in favor of the home town native Toure’ Murry for his defense. Murry and Iman Shumpert made a good defensive backcourt, and it sparked an 18-9 run to end the first quarter, to give the Knicks a 24-20 lead.

The Rockets started the second quarter on a 9-3, where they were able to keep the Knicks scoreless for three minutes early in the second quarter. The run gave the Rockets the lead briefly, as the game was tightly contested throughout, with 18 lead changes in the game. The Rockets would extend their run, leading by as much as seven points in the second quarter, behind the dribble penetration from Lin, who scored another seven points in the quarter. The Knicks would connect on three straight three pointers in route to an 11-2 run to take back the lead 43-41 with 2:25 remaining in the second quarter. Continue reading →

Episode 231: Knick Dictionary

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Marc and Jay talk about Chris Smith getting waived, Shawn Marion, The Knick Effect, The Knicks Dictionary, the west coast trip, and much more

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Knicks @ Spurs – 1-2-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee
Carmelo Anthony made his return from his sprained ankle, just in time for the dreaded Texas Triangle road trip. The Knicks start the trip off by heading to San Antonio to face the Spurs Thursday night. It is a brand New Year, and New York could not wait to leave 2013 behind them, the Knicks are 9-15, being bottom dwellers in the Atlantic Division. The only thing they can hang their hat on is the fact that the Atlantic Division is so terrible, that the Knicks are still in arm’s length reach of the Division title. We can only hope the New York Knicks has made a New Year’s resolution to go at least .500 the rest of the season.
What a difference a turn in the calendar makes, Iman Shumpert came out of his season long slump, scoring double figures in the first quarter alone, on his way to a career high 27 points. The New Year was so good to Shumpert, with 5:57 in the first quarter, he felt a foul and just threw up a shot off balance, and completed an and-one, to put the Knicks up 15-10. Marco Belinelli did not want to be outdone by Shumpert, Belinelli also scored ten points in the first quarter. Belinelli would also be on his way to a career night, scoring 32 points for the game. The Spurs were lights out from beyond the arc, going 5/7 in the first quarter.
With the Knicks ahead 26-25, the Spurs’ reserve opened up the second quarter on a 13-3 run, continuing to relentlessly rain down threes. This was the story all night long, New York did not contest well on the perimeter. Andrea Bargnani started asserting himself mid-way through the second quarter, scoring six straight points to ignite an 18-6 run to end the first half. Carmelo Anthony and Iman Shumpert would also contribute six points each to the run as well, to give the Knicks a 52-47 lead at the half. San Antonio was right in the game, and started missing wide open threes, not making New York pay for their defensive lapses. This trend would continue in the second half for the Spurs. Continue reading →

2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 10

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Three games and three ugly losses since the last rankings.  The week was highlighted by finding out Metta World Peace is an alien, Chris Smiths first NBA minutes, Dolans motivational speech followed up by Tyson Chandler saying he was told to say the meeting never happened and other stupid things that only happen with this franchise.  I’d love to just start this list with #4 but alas I can’t, so without further ado here is this weeks Knicks roster power rankings:
       
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Murry, Toure’ Yeah I’m putting Murry at the top spot this week, big whoop, wanna fight about it?  No starter deserves the top spot this week after the got blown out of the water in every game this week.  Murry happens to play very good defense, makes some nice passes and those passes are to his own team, bonus!  Murry also had a +4 while playhing 27 minutes in a 15 point loss, which is the one positive from that game. 5
2 Stoudemire, Amar’e We have always said Amare is never going to be a positive on defense, but if he’s going to be super crazy efficient on offense then it’s worth having him out there.  That’s what he was this week.  The only efficient offensive threat on the entire team this week actually.  So far this list is making me sad. 12
3 Udrih, Beno Poor Beno, he looks outmatched out there sometimes, but he’s been handling the lead PG duties better than I expected.  He also called out Woodson for his inconsistent playing time and the lack of the 2 PG lineup that he was promised upon signing with this mess of a team. 4
4 Chandler, Tyson Tyson has not looked himself this week.  Maybe he came back too soon or maybe he’s playing injured.  Playing injured seems to be the thing to do on this team rather than taking a game or two off and coming back healthy and effective.  Tyson has shown flashes but not enough. 1
5 Anthony, Carmelo While I liked watching actual ball movement while Melo was out, I also like watching the ball go through the hoop, which it does not do often enough with Melo out with an ankle injury. Continue reading →

Knicks vs Raptors – 12-27-13 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

After the Christmas Day beat down the Knicks received at the hands of the Thunder, the Knicks start a home and home against the Raptors Friday night. Toronto has been playing a lot better lately, they are 5-3 since the Rudy Gay trade, with two of the losses coming from the defending Western Conference Champion Spurs. Toronto come into Friday night the Atlantic Division leader, with New York only three games back of the Division crown, which will automatically give the team no less than fourth seed in the playoffs.

The Knicks were again without their leading scorer Carmelo Anthony due to a left sprained ankle. Andrea Bargnani got out to a hot start, scoring ten points in the first quarter against his former team, that made him a No. 1 overall draft pick in 2006. The first quarter was a display of extremely sloppy basketball, with neither team taking care of the basketball. Toronto had seven turnovers, New York was even worse, with eight. Though the Knicks were able to overcome all the turnovers in the first quarter by playing great defense, forcing the Raptors to shoot 35.3% from the field, leading 25-18 after one period.

There was more ugly basketball in the second quarter, with both teams shooting no more than 40% from the field. J.R. Smith was the lone Knick making any shots in the quarter. Smith hit all four attempts, three of which were threes, for a total of 11 point. The Raptors took the lead, after a Terrance Ross three, leading 37-36 with 3:17 remaining in the first half. The Knicks would answer, ending the second quarter on a 13- 3 run, to take a 49-40 lead.

Continue reading →