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TRIANGLE!

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TRIANGLE!

Written by Nicholas McGowan

The Knicks headed into last night’s game against the Jazz with a 2-7 record, came out of the game with a 2-8 record. While it looked as though we would have chance to win the game with Melo’s tying bank in three 3 with 3 seconds left, it was just not to be as Trey Burke sealed the deal for the Jazz on a 19 foot baseline jumper over J.R. Smith. Now of course this record is not what we as fans envisioned but there is nothing we can do about it. We started off with a blowout loss to Chicago yet were somehow able to bounce back and beat the Cavs in LeBron’s homecoming. After that, after our hopes for the season skyrocketed, some of us had this feeling that maybe this season might turn out better than we thought, that maybe we will finish with a somewhat high seed in the eastern conference. At least that’s what I though, yet I was dead wrong as the Knicks went 1-6 over our next 7 games dashing all hopes. The playoffs look ever bleaker due to the fact that we suffered back to losses to Hawks, and also had losses to Pistons, Nets, and Magic. (All of those teams besides the Pistons could be competing for a playoff spot.)

Now the triangle so far has looked as expected, there are times when the Knicks have faded back into isolation basketball yet there are times when the triangle allows for open uncontested jumpers and layups. One problem that has still plagued the Knicks is the lack of the ability to make smart basketball decisions. Such as J.R. Smith and that final shot he took against the Magic, or the fact that with 4 minutes left in the third quarter J.R. had to take a seat on the bench because he had 4 fouls last night. On a night where Amar’e is out, and where Shumpert gets injured 58 seconds into the game, J.R. has to realize that he becomes the second scoring option; he cannot be taking bad fouls. The amount of 24 second shot clock violations also appear to be very high, I do not have an exact stat but its bad when the game is on the line and you appear to commit a 24 second violation. Now we were saved by replay, but the Knicks have to understand the situation better.
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Knicks @ Cavs 10/30/2014 – Game Recap

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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.

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Knicks 2014-2015 Season Schedule MUST WATCH GAMES

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Written by William Lee

Date Month Day Home/Away Opponent Time   Highlights
Wednesday October 29 vs Chicago 8:00 P.M. Knicks kick off their 2014-2015 season against the best defensive team of the 2013-2014 season with the addition offensive fire power of Pau Gasol, Doug McDermontt, and Nikola Mirotic. Not to mention the return of the 2011 MVP, Derrick Rose, this is a must see for any NBA fan.
Thursday October 30 at Cleveland 8:00 P.M. NBA schedule makers sure know how to make the opening week exciting! New York does not have to wait long for the new look Cavs, the Knicks get to see first hand how deadly the new Big Three of LeBron, Irving, and Love**pending** can be.
Sunday November 2 vs. Charlotte 7:30 P.M.  
Tuesday November 4 vs. Washington 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday November 5 at Detroit 7:30 P.M.  
Friday November 7 at Brooklyn 7:30 P.M. The rivalry and the trash talking begins early, we can all argue which team sucks less…
Saturday November 8 at Atlanta 7:30 P.M.  
Monday November 10 vs. Atlanta 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday November 12 vs. Orlando 7:30 P.M.  
Friday November 14 vs. Utah 7:30 P.M.  
Sunday November 16 vs. Denver 1:00 P.M.  
Tuesday November 18 at Milwaukee 8:00 P.M.  
Wednesday November 19 at Minnesota 8:00 P.M.  
Saturday November 22 vs. Philadelphia 7:30 P.M.  
Monday November 24 at Houston 8:00 P.M. New York won’t have much to be thankful during Thanksgiving weekend. The NBA schedule makers did a disservice to the Knicks, putting them on a three game road trip to see star studded James Harden and Dwight Howard at Houston. Then just before Thanksgiving, Dirk Nowitzki and our old buddy Tyson Chandler. And for the finale OKC and the reigning MVP Kevin Durant. It will be great NBA basketball to watch, but this can easily be the beginning of a losing streak.
Wednesday November 26 at Dallas 7:30 P.M.
Friday November 28 at Oklahoma City 8:00 P.M.
Sunday November 30 vs. Miami 7:30 P.M. After will most likely be a horrible Thanksgiving weekend for the Knicks, New York will hope to share some of it’s misery with the Heat. Which hopefully will be a terrible season without LeBron, hopefully the Knicks continue to pail onto those woes and collect a W.
Tuesday December 2 vs. Brooklyn 7:30 P.M.  
Thursday December 4 vs. Cleveland 8:00 P.M.  
Friday December 5 at Charlotte 7:00 P.M.  
Sunday December 7 vs. Portland 7:30 P.M.  
Tuesday December 9 at New Orleans 8:00 P.M.  
Wednesday December 10 at San Antonio 8:00 P.M. THE CHAMP IS HERE! And the champs will in all likely-hood destroy us…but it will be a beautiful display of basketball in the process.
Friday December 12 at Boston 7:30 P.M.  
Sunday December 14 vs. Toronto 7:30 P.M.  
Tuesday December 16 vs. Dallas 8:00 P.M. Tyson Chandler and Raymond Faton Felton returns to MSG, it is pretty safe to say they will get booed…which is unfortunate. Vice versa, 26 games into the season, how will Knicks fans feel about Calderon and Dalembert. Who will have won the trade?
Thursday December 18 at Chicago 8:00 P.M.  
Saturday December 20 vs. Phoenix 1:00 P.M.  
Sunday December 21 at Toronto 3:30 P.M.  
Thursday December 25 vs. Washington 12:00 P.M. The Knicks have the honor to kick off Christmas Day for the NBA against the young and dynamic Wizards. With the addition of Paul Pierce, they have a rare mixture of great veterans to compliment their young stars to be of Wall and Beal. So after your done opening your presents, open your T.V and tune into a great day of basketball!
Saturday December 27 at Sacramento 10:00 P.M.  
Sunday December 28 at Portland 9:00 P.M.  
Wednesday December 31 at L.A. Clippers 6:00 P.M.  
Friday January 2 vs. Detroit 7:30 P.M.  
Sunday January 4 vs. Milwaukee 7:30 P.M.  
Monday January 5 at Memphis 8:00 P.M.  
Wednesday January 7 at Washington 7:00 P.M.  
Thursday January 8 vs. Houston 8:00 P.M.  
Saturday January 10 vs. Charlotte 1:00 P.M.  
Thursday January 15 IN LONDON Milwaukee 3:00 P.M.  
Monday January 19 vs. New Orleans 5:30 P.M. On MLK Day, which is another great NBA day, the Knicks take on the Pelicans, and a potential future MVP in the league, in Anthony Davis. This will be a very competitive game, with both teams clawing for a final Playoff spot in their respective Conference.
Wednesday January 21 at Philadelphia 7:00 P.M.  
Friday January 23 vs Orlando 7:30 P.M.  
Saturday January 24 at Charlotte 7:00 P.M.  
Monday January 26 vs. Sacramento 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday January 28 vs. Oklahoma City 8:00 P.M.  
Thursday January 29 at Indiana 8:00 P.M.  
Sunday February 1 vs. L.A. Lakers 2:00 P.M. Anytime the Lakers are in town will be a treat (well…for any bandwagon Laker fans…), this could be one of the last games of Kobe in MSG as he is entering the last couple of years in his current contract at age 35. PLUS THE RETURN OF LINSANITY!
Tuesday February 3 vs. Boston 7:30 P.M.  
Friday February 6 at Brooklyn 7:00 P.M.  
Saturday February 7 vs. Golden State 7:30 P.M. WHO SAYS NO TO PHIL JACKSON!? Apparently…Steve Kerr… Warriors are always an exciting watch with the Splash Brothers, but with the new added storyline of Kerr vs Fisher, this is a must watch!
Monday February 9 at Miami 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday February 11 at Orlando 7:00 P.M.  
Friday February 20 vs. Miami 7:30 P.M.  
Sunday February 22 vs. Cleveland 1:00 P.M.  
Wednesday February 25 at Boston 7:30 P.M.  
Friday February 27 at Detroit 7:30 P.M.  
Saturday February 28 vs Toronto 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday March 4 at Indiana 7:00 P.M.  
Saturday March 7 vs. Indiana 7:30 P.M.  
Monday March 9 at Denver 9:00 P.M. Carmelo Anthony makes another return to Denver, where he will be sure to receive boos. Anthony will no doubt look to silence those boos by putting the ball in the basket.
Tuesday March 10 at Utah 9:00 P.M.  
Thursday March 12 at L.A. Lakers 10:30 P.M.  
Saturday March 14 at Golden State 10:30 P.M.  
Sunday March 15 at Phoenix 9:00 P.M.  
Tuesday March 17 vs. San Antonio 7:30 P.M.  
Thursday March 19 vs. Minnesota 7:30 P.M.  
Friday March 20 at Philadelphia 7:00 P.M.  
Sunday March 22 at Toronto 4:00 P.M.  
Monday March 23 vs. Memphis 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday March 25 vs. L.A. Clippers 7:00 P.M. Lob City comes to town. Of which there will be much of since Calderon is as effective as a chair, and Dalembert is a homeless man Tyson Chandler.
Friday March 27 vs. Boston 7:30 P.M.  
Saturday March 28 at Chicago 8:00 P.M.  
Wednesday April 1 vs. Brooklyn 7:30 P.M. This could be the beginning of a winning streak entering into the Playoffs with a relatively weak schedule to end the regular season. It will begin with the in city rival Brooklyn Nets, and can also get the last bragging rights of the season to boast.
Friday April 3 at Washington 7:00 P.M.  
Sunday April 5 vs. Philadelphia 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday April 8 vs. Indiana 7:30 P.M.  
Friday April 10 vs. Milwaukee 7:30 P.M.  
Saturday April 11 at Orlando 7:00 P.M.  
Monday April 13 at Atlanta 7:30 P.M.  
Wednesday April 15 vs. Detroit 8:00 P.M.  

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2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 24

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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

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Some Positivity After the Heat Game

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Written by William Lee

Normally I would write recaps on games for New York Knicks Podcast, but for the Heat at Knicks game January 09, 2014 I would like to try something different. I want to point out some positives that came out of the victory over the two time defending Champions Miami Heat. Some positives that if it continues to hold, may offer Knicks fans a slim hope, if and when New York sees them in the playoffs this spring. Now I want to just preface that I am not a coach, or anyone that played for his school’s team, just someone that is a basketball fanatic that watches way WAY too much basketball… Also I am admittedly going to be a homer, so maybe I am seeing everything from orange and blue goggle glasses. With all that said, here are some positives I take from Thursday night’s game, and situations that have to occur if you have any chance of beating the Heat once, let alone four times in a series.

Stretch Four  – One of Miami’s strength is their ability to overload the strong side on defense, yet have quick enough players to recover on the weak side. It helps when you have Lebron James and Dwyane Wade when using this defensive philosophy. Though we have seen stretch fours, give the Heat troubles, when the four is able to shoot the ball well from deep along with a good shooting backcourt. The most notable example of this was when the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Championship in 2011, with arguably the best stretch four, Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki. The Knicks seemly always have a stretch four on the court at all times, be it Carmelo Anthony or Andrea Bargnani. Bargnani had a great shooting night Thursday night, and highlighted this theory when he was able to knock down open shots, or attacked the rim when the defense was stretched too far. Of course Carmelo Anthony is going to be Carmelo Anthony, and we saw what he can do when he was put in the stretch four position last season (2012-2013). Side note, this was the biggest disappointment of last season when New York was eliminated and New York fans could not have seen what would have played out if the 2012-2013 Knicks team played against the Heat, and see what they could have done. Continue reading →

A look at the eastern conference

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I was going to take a look around the league at the halfway mark. Then I figured since the trade deadline was so close I’d wait because that would change everything. Little did I know I could have written 95% of it and added a little blurb about JJ Redick afterwards since he was by far the biggest name that got moved.  Anyway here’s how each team is looking with about 25 games left in the season.

Miami Heat – Miami was only a few games ahead of the pack for the first half of the season. Now it looks like they are going to run away with the #1 seed as everyone expected. It helps that LeBron had a ridiculous streak of 6 straight games of scoring over 30 points while shooting over 60%. That streak ended with him scoring 39 points but only shooting 58%. What a slacker. Ray Allen and Udonis Haslem haven’t even been playing well so this team has the potential to get even better down the stretch. They get outrebounded often but at 39-14 and 5 ½ games ahead of Indiana I don’t think that’s a huge concern.

Indiana Pacers – Paul George stepped up in Danny Granger’s absence. Granger came back a game ago to further improve the 2nd place Pacers. The only concern is their max contract center, Roy Hibbert, who is averaging 10 and 8. Their last four wins have come at an average of 27 points a game which is impressive since they are one of the lowest scoring teams in the NBA.

New York Knicks – It looks like the Knicks trolled their fans with fast, crisp ball movement, excellent 3-point shooting, unselfish play, lockdown defense and an 18-5 start. The last 33 games they are 17 and 16 since, can’t defend any guard in the league, play iso-ball and forgot how to shoot. Continue reading →

The Knicks Bench Beat the Heats Starters, improve to 14-4

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I’m starting this recap early and commenting as the game goes:

  • Kurt is making the most out of his obligatory 5 minute starting role.  4 boards.  Too bad we won’t see him again tonight.
  • Sheed is getting cheers in Miami.  I didn’t realize how loved he is, he gets cheered in every stadium.
  • A lot of 3’s, most of them good looks.
  • Took 9 minutes for the first shady call.  JR Smith fouled LeBrons shoulder with his face.
  • Another good defensive stand by JR, LeBron traveled…nope blocking foul on JR AND a tech.  How has there been no investigation into Ed Malloy and Joey Crawford?
  • 3.5 minutes into the 2nd and one basket by either team.  NY is playing Prigs, Sheed, Novak, Kidd and White so that’s understandable, Miami still has Bosh out there.
  • White and Prigioni coming up huge in the 2nd quarter.
  • If you want to score on the Knicks just do a back door cut.
  • Novak back to back buckets just when you get the feeling Miami might make a run.  LeBron 3 and Felton 3 in the final 30 seconds, AND if there was .1 of a second more on the clock LeBron would have scored again.  Great game so far.
  • Felton and Kidd got on a 9-0 run to start the 3rd!
  • An 11-0 run after a 9-0 run and 8 made 3’s by 5 different players.
  • LeBron with a monster dunk.  He looks super pissed out there.  He’s also the only player on the Heat who isn’t sucking.
  • Smith has been getting mauled all quarter.  Foul on Smith.
  • LeBron is about 2 uncontested layups away from going postal on his teammates.
  • One of these years Rasheed is going to hit one of these 3’s.
  • 3rd 9-0 run of the game, Knicks up by over 20.
  • I heard Stern almost fined the Heat $250K tonight until he realized that Bosh and Wade actually played tonight.

Knicks are the number 1 seed after having beat the #2 seed twice this season by a total of 40 points!

Overreaction Theater: Knicks vs. Heat

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OH MY GOD THE KNICKS ARE THE BEST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE!

Not really, but it sure looked like it last night as the Knicks defeated the evil Miami Heat 104-84 at the Garden. Not only was this game great to watch from the offensive (19-36 on threes!) and defensive (the Heat shot under 50% and had 21 turnovers) ends, but it showed fans something we hadn’t seen in some time. The Knicks closed a game. Up 15 in the second quarter, I was convinced the Knicks would lose by about eight. That sentiment stayed with me until about half-way through the third. Regardless of the result, we learned a few things from this game that provide reason for analysis after the first game of the season. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Remember the Guards?
Remember when I said that the guards were the keys to this team? Well that was certainly the case last night. Raymond Felton looked like the quickest guard in the league (and finished with 14 points, nine assists, and three steals) while Jason Kidd’s smarts on the perimeter led to steals, unselfish play, and more than a few open three-pointers (Kidd finished with three assists, two steals, and three three-pointers). Pablo Prigioni looked timid on offense and lost on defense, but he’s not going to play much this year. Ronnie Brewer also came out and played very hard defense, harassing LeBron James for most of the night. Above all else, though, Felton and Kidd were outstanding last night. Continue reading →

HOLY CRAP KNICKS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I know it was only the first of 82 games but I am freakin ecstatic that Knicks won tonight. No disrespect to the Nets – there will be plenty of time to disrespect the Nets later in the year – but beating Miami was so much cooler than beating the Nets would have been to start the season. The Knicks were not flawless tonight but they played aggressive, were tough on D and hit about a thousand three pointers. Everyone predicted tonight would be a blowout but no one thought it would be one for the Knicks and I guess that is why you play the game.  Here are my thoughts on tonight:

  • This is why it is nice to have actual point guards. The triple headed monster of Felton-Kidd-Prigi looked real good tonight.
  • Dwayne Wade said tonight’s game should not have been played and apparently in honor of that statement Miami took the night off.
  • Carmelo was awesome then not awesome and then awesome again. I feel like Carmelo is going to drive me crazy all season but I loved the fact that he had energy and actually tried on defense.
  • JR Smith was not awesome. At some points it seemed like he was having a contest with Carmelo to see who could take a more ill-advised shot.
  • I don’t know about you but I sure missed Amare’s lack of defense and lane clogging on offense.  Continue reading →

Episode 149: 3rd Annual Fantasy Draft

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We go over the first two preseason games, talk about the new 90 second pre-game rule, make fun of ESPN for already having a LeBron to the Lakers article and do a top 10 next LeBron stories, talk about a few of the Knicks injury problems and then do live coverage of our fantasy league draft.  Lots of trash talking ensues.  Download Episode 149