lance thomas

Knicks Beat Bullets (okay, Wizards) in OT 124-121 (go back to harry pottersville)

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Mets started their season off 11-1 before becoming a goddamn laughing stock. The Jets had a huge opening night before crashing back to earth. I hope the Knicks didn’t peak tonight (peaking in preseason would be especially cruel).

It’s nice that the Knicks could actually win in OT which has not exactly been their specialty in recent memory and it was especially fun to see them do it with the 3rd string guys. Who knows how much the Wizards cared about winning but whatever, this was a fun way to kick things off. Here are my observations: Continue reading →

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Recap: New York Knicks at Orlando Magic

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New York Knicks at Orlando Magic

March 6, 2017

Knicks 115, Magic 105

by Eric Weinstein

 

Yo, didn’t they just play the Magic?

 

After another home loss on Sunday, the Knicks immediately hit the road and went back down to Central Florida to take on the Orlando Magic once again. On March 1st, the Knicks defeated the Magic 101-90, and this game had the same end result, a Knicks victory. This game went a little differently, as New York had to play the catch up game for the first three quarters, without Carmelo Anthony, only to pull away in the fourth. Kristaps Porzingis, Courtney Lee, and Lance Thomas, all stepped up in Carmelo’s absence to get the Knicks a win, 112-105. Lee led the Knicks with 20 points, and Porzingis and Thomas combined for 31 points. Maybe the biggest story of this game was undrafted rookie Chasson Randle, who was playing his first extended minutes as a New York Knick. Randle filled the stat sheet with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, and was an astonishing +27. To compare, Derrick Rose was a -23, for all those who think the Knicks should resign Rose in the off-season. Evan Fournier led the Magic with 25 points, and Elfrid Payton ended his night with a triple double. 16 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, and 1 awful haircut for the Magic point guard.

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New York Knicks at Miami Heat – 12/6/16 – Game Recap

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New York Knicks at Miami Heat
Game 21: December 6, 2016
Knicks 114, Heat 103

Written by Eric Weinstein – @ericcweinsteinn

4 in a row down in South Beach:

The Knicks took their talents to South Beach to take on the injury riddled Miami Heat, where they beat the Heat at the American Airlines Center, 114-103. After a sluggish first half that saw the Knicks trailing by 1, they came out of the locker room ready to take care of business against Miami. Carmelo Anthony finished this one with a game high 35 points, and he absolutely caught fire in the third quarter. Kristaps Porzingis had his third straight poor shooting game, but had 14 points and 12 boards. Joakim Noah had a double-double, and Kyle O’Quinn continued to impress with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Derrick Rose had to leave the game early due to back spasms, which could be an issue, since the Knicks play again tomorrow night. Hassan Whiteside finished the game with 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Goran Dragic paced the Heat with 29 points.

Takeaways from this game:

Knicks show grit.

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Is Basketball Back at MSG? Grading the Knicks Offseason – Part 2

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Written by Kevin Meng

Yesterday we broke down the first half of the Knicks offseason.  Now on to the rest of the moves the Knicks made so far this summer.

Signing Courtney Lee to a 4 year, $48 million dollar deal

Not quite sure why Lee chose to play here, but I ain’t mad. In a starting 5 with a scoring forward, a defensive-minded center, the best Latvian big man since Kaspars Kambala, and a penetrating guard with a shaky shot, the one thing this team was lacking was a consistent three ball shooter and wing defender.

Lee has been a positive on the defensive end his whole career, playing bigger than his 6’5, 200lb frame might suggest. He also averaged 39% from bomb territory on 3 attempts per game last season. He was the one of the best shooters on a team that hoisted up the 4th most attempts in the league. With all of the attention on Mr. Anthony, KP, and Rose, he should thrive.

Seeing the deals thrown around for similar players like Kent Bazemore, and the premium put on 3nD wings, signing him for 12 per on average is a great deal. One marker of a good contract is the backend of the deal. A player might be worth their salary in the first two years and grossly overpaid the final two(Luol Deng to the Lakers??), but looking at Lee’s deal, he might even be underpaid in year 3 considering the new cap.

Finding the perfect compliment to the surrounding talent, and doing so on a fair contract? Here’s a big fat A for you, Mr. Jackson.

Grade: A

Signing Joakim Noah to a 4 year, $72 million dollar deal

Not sure if PMFJ still thinks he’s on his hippy retreat in Montana or not, but we have a sinking suspicion that he was on some serious mind altering substances when he signed this deal. When healthy, Noah is a still a very effective defender, good finisher around the rim, and great passer. Add to that his chemistry to Rose and the fact that we didn’t have a center, and the reasons for signing him are obvious. But 4/72 for a guy who can’t stay healthy and is on the downside of his career with a skillset that doesn’t age well? Yeesh.

In this market, players are going to get overpaid. There weren’t many C’s left on the market to get, and even fewer that fit what we needed, but this deal seems more like Phil panicked, realized he needed a C that could pass and be mobile on the court, and blew away the first one he could find with an offer he couldn’t refuse. Noah is still a good player, but he seemed angry at how Chicago did him dirty. Expect a big bounce back from him, but don’t expect him to earn the deal he signed. At least he isn’t Eddy Curry.

Grade: C+

Re-signing Lance Thomas to a 4 year, $27.5 million dollar deal

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2015/16 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 14

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Once again the Knicks hit .500 and once again go on a losing streak.  Melo played hurt and then didn’t play.  Lance missed some games and we realized how much he means to the team.  The rankings look pretty different this week due to injuries and some up and down play.  The OKC game is included in these rankings because I’m doing this a day late this week.

Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Williams, Derrick Yeah I went there. Who else had a better week than Williams? Back to back double doubles with 19 and 21 points, yes please. 4
2 Lopez, Robin Monster game against the Jazz, and respectable showings the rest of the week. 5
3 Galloway, Langston Galloway almost saved the day in OKC. Watch him finally get his groove and get thrown into a Jeff Teague trade. 6
4 Porzingis, Kristaps Shot is still sporadic, but pretty much every game he does something that makes me giddy. 2
5 Anthony, Carmelo Melo started off the week hot but was progressively more hobbled each game, culminating in a DNP against OKC. If the Knicks are going to make a playoff push Melo has to get healthy fast. Continue reading →

2015/16 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 13

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The Knicks went 2-2 this week.  That’s OK, but losing to Brooklyn and needing double overtime to beat the ’76ers isn’t good.  I guess it could have been worse, and there were some nice performances in Melo’s 2 game absence.

Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Afflalo, Arron 3 really nice games for Arron this week. We’ll ignore the Grizzlies game. The Knicks win almost every time Arron scores over 20 points. 2
2 Porzingis, Kristaps Porzingis has had good shooting nights more often than not lately. It looks like stamina is the only thing holding him back, which is understandable since he has already played more minutes than all of last season. 3
3 Anthony, Carmelo If anyone was wondering just how important Melo is to this team, the Nets game should be a good indication. The Knicks can’t even beat the dregs of the league without Melo. 1
4 Williams, Derrick Williams was one of the only guys who showed against Brooklyn. Not sure why his minutes fluctuate so much (defense? Shot selection?) but he puts up great numbers when he plays more than 20. 5
5 Lopez, Robin I still can’t figure out why sometimes Robin looks like he has some offense and sometimes he looks like Dennis Rodman on offense. Continue reading →

2015/16 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 11

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Interesting week, two nice wins against the Pistons and Hawks. Oh, and a 4th quarter against the Bulls that was the Knicks lowest scoring 4th quarter.  Ever.
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Anthony, Carmelo Melo is still #1 in the rankings but I am a little disturbed by the lack of free throws Melo got this week.  7 in 3 games is not ideal.  On the plus side, the Knicks seem to win when Melo has 5 or more assists, something he did in both wins this week. 1
2 Afflalo, Arron Arron had to get a top 2 spot for his ridiculous game against Atlanta.  38 points on 14-17 shooting.  Beautiful. 5
3 Porzingis, Kristaps Two months into the NBA season and Porzingis has 2 rookie of the month awards.  So much for all that talk about not being effective for a few years. 2
4 Lopez, Robin Robin Lopez continues his streak of good games with a 6 block game against Detroit and a 16 point game against Atlanta. 4
5 Williams, Derrick Even if he sucks the rest of the season, we’ll always have that 4th quarter in Detroit. Continue reading →

2015/16 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 4

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Pretty decent week.  The Knicks went 2-2, were .1 seconds away from beating the Hornets and were in control of the Cavs game until that terrible 4th quarter.  Melo is finally playing well and Afflalo is back in the lineup.  Fishers 11 man rotation makes these rankings pretty difficult.
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Anthony, Carmelo Melo scored 25 or more in all 4 games, and is assisting more than our starting PG.  That sounds impressive until you realize our starting PG is assisting at a rate of about 3.5 APG. 3
2 Porzingis, Kristaps The shot is still not falling, which is frustrating, be he’s doing everything else right.  15 rebounds and an (almost) game winner against the Hornets, and his fouls are way down.  I’ll take it. 2
3 Afflalo, Arron A shooting guard who can kinda sorta shoot!  He’s not going to single handedly take over games, but he’s looked good in his first week back and more importantly is taking Vujacics minutes. 14
4 Galloway, Langston An off week for Galloway, but still our most consitent bench option. 1
5 Calderon, Jose Maybe lowering Calderons minutes to around 22 per game was the secret.  He’s hitting shots and every once in a while covering opposing players. Continue reading →

Knicks vs Cavs – 11-13-15 – Game Recap

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Written by Matt Adwar – @theknicksguy

Carmelo Anthony did not have much to say after the New York Knicks blew another fourth quarter lead.

“Were just not getting it done,” he said.

The New York Knicks held a 6-point lead going into the fourth quarter but were not able to hold on as they were outscored 24-12 in the fourth quarter. Carmelo Anthony only had 4 points in the second half after contributing 22 in the first half.

Derek Fisher did not blame any player but chose to blame himself after the crucial loss.

I have to do a better job of putting guys in position to be successful out there,”

Fisher did not say anyone specific but it is clear that he has not figured out the rotation just yet. In the final two minutes Porzingis and Lopez were left out for Lance Thomas and Lou Amundson, an interesting choice. Continue reading →

Knicks at Raptors 11-10-15 – Game Recap

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Written by Matt Adwar – @theknicksguy

A night where Knicks head coach Derek Fisher played 13 guys, it somehow all came together.

A blown call with Carmelo Anthony stepping out of bounds might have been the break the Knicks needed to pull out a victory. The Toronto Raptors made things very interesting hitting a 3 pointer to pull within 1 point with 1.5 seconds left. But the Knicks prevailed as they defeated the Raptors 111-109. The New York Knicks improved their record to 4-4 led by Carmelo Anthony who had a solid night with 25 points on 10-23 shooting. DeMar DeRozan led the Toronto Raptors with 29 points.

Lance Thomas, a key contributor in the 4th quarter said after the game “We imposed our will, everybody fought, its us against everybody”.

Tip Ins

Robin Lopez had one of his best games of the season contributing offensively and defensively. He racked in 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 key blocks. Continue reading →