Marc and Jay talk about the Amare buyout, all star weekend, Melo shutting it down, the Prigioni trade, all the trade deadline moves and almost 100 listener questions
pablo prigioni
Knicks @ Hornets 12/6/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
On the heels of being on the wrong side of the record book, now currently holding the worst start through 20 games (4-16) in franchise history, New York fought a team that was just as desperate as them for a win. The Charlotte Hornets are currently on a ten game losing streak, something that the Hornets could not have envisioned when they added free agent Lance Stephenson this summer to a top defensive squad last season. Instead the Hornets have taken a step backwards, and are now currently in the bottom third in points allowed by opponents, allowing 101.2 points per game.
Carmelo Anthony tried his best to right the ship, playing the whole first quarter. As per usual Anthony has his typical good start to the game, scoring nine points in the opening period. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for his teammates, as the rest of the team shot as cold as the New York winter night 31%.
Bismack Biyombo got inside for easy back to back dunks, giving Charlotte a double digit lead late in the closing minutes of the first quarter 29-18. The Hornets did all their damage inside, outrebounding New York 14 to 6 in the first quarter. Charlotte scored 16 points in the paint, and had nine second chance points. And if the Hornets didn’t score inside, they got fouled attacking the paint, going to the charity stripe nine times in the opening quarter.
With Anthony needing a rest for half of the second quarter, his teammates continued to struggle shooting, only converting on a third of their field goal attempts. The Hornets made another run in the midway through the third quarter, going on a 13-4 run, the Hornets‘ would lead by as many as 21 in the period.
Knicks @ Mavericks 11/26/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
On Thanksgiving Eve, New York for the first time, matched up against their 2012 NBA Defensive Player of the Year since their major off season trade this past summer. The trade that sent Tyson Chandler reuniting with his old mates, the 2011 NBA Champions Dallas Mavericks, as the Knicks would acquire Jose Calderon, whom just recently returned from injury to stabilize the point guard position in New York.
In a highly motivated game for both Tyson Chandler and Jose Calderon, each went off on their former team. Tyson Chandler went off for a season high in points and rebounds, scoring 17 points, and grabbing 25 rebounds, devastating New York by collecting 10 offensive rebounds. Jose Calderon not to be out done, tied his career high in rebounds with ten rebounds, and scored 21 points, all on three-pointers, knocking down seven from beyond the arc. Samuel Dalembert, who was also in the trade this past summer also had himself a great showing against his former team, collecting a double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, along with a couple of steals and blocks.
New York hung in tough Wednesday night despite not having their star player Carmelo Anthony due to issues with back spasm. Without Anthony, New York actually doubled up on Dallas early on in the first quarter, up 20-10 with five minute remaining in the opening quarter after Calderon knocked down his third three of the quarter.
Knicks @ Rockets 11/24/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Carmelo Anthony had to call a timeout to get himself out of the game with 1:45 remaining in the first half. It would later be announced that Anthony was dealing with back spasms. Up until that point Anthony was having himself a great game, in fact, it was his 14th point of the first half, where it looked like he was experiencing discomfort after making a jump shot with 2:05 remaining in the second quarter. Anthony tried to stay in the game…but could not bear the pain, raising his hand to the referee indicating that he needed to leave the game.
When Anthony exited the game, the Knicks were trailing 49-38, and it looked like it would to be all doom and gloom, but the Knicks would go on 7-0 run to end the first half in the final 51 seconds to cut the deficit to 51-46 entering halftime.
New York tied the game up at 69 a piece after three quarters, winning the period 23-18, largely due to Houston’s own sloppiness with the basketball. The Rockets turned the ball over seven times in the quarter, this helped ignite the Knicks offense, and gave them more opportunities to work with.
Knicks vs. Hawks 11/10/14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Pablo Prigioni returned for New York Monday night, it made no difference, Atlanta again would win, 91-85sweeping the home to home series.
Both teams played an extremely sloppy and ugly first half. Atlanta shot 32.4% from the field, and turned the ball over nine times in the first half. New York didn’t fare any better, shooting 42.5% in the first half, and committed eight turnovers. Kyle Krover, the difference maker Saturday night, scoring 27 points and drilling six-threes, missed a lot of good looks in the first half, going 1/8 from the field. Krover struggled all game, going 4/13 from the field, but would nail a dagger shot to clinch the game for the Hawks.
With the game tied at the half 38-38, New York came out to a good start, making back to back threes by Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr. The run would get extended to 9-2 run on a Hardaway Jr. and-one on the following possession, extending the lead to 47-40. Continue reading
Knicks vs. Hornets 11/2/2014 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
January 24, 2014 Carmelo Anthony set a career high and franchise record with 62 points in Madison Square Garden against the then Charlotte Bobcats. It is only fitting that Anthony reached his 20,000 career point milestone against the now Charlotte Hornets as well.
Iman Shumpert started the game off very aggressively, possibly because of his contract not getting extended Friday night. Trying to make a point? Possibly…Shumpert looked for his shot early and often, scoring nine points in the opening five minutes, but was overly aggressive on the defensive end, collecting an early second personal foul, forcing him to the bench. With back to back threes, New York held an early double digit lead, 15-5. Carmelo Anthony’s three also put him in the 20,000 career points club.
Gary Neal kept Charlotte in the game, scoring eight of the ten points by the Hornets in between the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter. Neal finished the game with 17 points. New York would lead by as much as 15 points in the first half, going on a 7-0 run capped off by an Iman Shumpert baseline slam dunk, giving the Knicks a 43-28 lead. The Hornets answered with a 22-9 run powered by Al Jefferson, scoring ten points working the low post, cutting the deficit to 52-50 by the end of the first half. Continue reading
Knicks @ Celtics – 3-12-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
New York matched their longest winning streak all season, collecting their fifth straight win Wednesday night defeating Boston 116-92.
An extremely thin frontline, got thinner Wednesday night, as Tyson Chandler did not play due to personal reasons for a second consecutive game, and Amare Stoudemire sat out to recover, who has been playing tremendous basketball both on offense and defense. Without Chandler and Stoudemire, Cole Aldrich stepped into the starting lineup. To the Knicks credit, every player stepped up to the challenge, especially Aldrich and Earl Clark, who saw meaningful minutes due the decimated frontcourt. Aldrich collected a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with three blocks for a +19 +/-. While Earl Clark didn’t have an impressive stat line, his impact overall was felt, stepping into the rotation, giving excellent back up minutes (particularly in the second quarter when Anthony was resting), proven with the best +/- of anyone, +22.
The Knicks scored 68 points in the first half, which were the most points scored in a half by New York. New York put on a three-point shooting clinic in the first half, connecting on 9-of-10 from beyond the arc. Both Carmelo Anthony and Tim Hardaway Jr. connected on three-threes. Anthony started off strong, as per usual, with 13 points in the first quarter. J.R Smith got off to a hot start as well, scoring nine of his 13 points in the first quarter, helping build a 36-24 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
Tim Hardaway Jr. provided a huge lift off the bench, scoring 12 of his 22 points in the second quarter. New York was unconscious on offense Wednesday night, scoring at a 60.5% clip in the first half, leading 68-48 at the half. The Celtics defense looked like they were imitating the Knicks’ defense, constantly switching out bigs onto New York’s perimeter players, which forced mismatches in favor of the offense. This is scenario that played out for most of the first half, if the double didn’t come, Anthony easily scored on crossover dribble pull ups, and if the double came, the ball swung around the perimeter for a wide open three. New York handed out 15 assists on Continue reading
Knicks vs. Nuggets – 2-7-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Friday night’s game between the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks was a very competitive game to start, with both teams going back and forth. New York took an early 8-2 lead behind a hot start from Carmelo Anthony, who made his first six shots. Denver would turn it around with defense, forcing the Knicks into eight turnovers in the first quarter. New York, who is best in the league at minimizing turnovers at 12.8 per game, was out of character Friday night. Iman Shumpert had four turnovers in less than seven minutes by himself! The defense propelled the Nuggets to go on a 12-0 run to get a double digit lead 24-14 with 1:48 left in the game.
In the second quarter, the script completely flipped, it was the Knicks defense that starting causing havoc, and getting the Nuggets to turnover. Denver had 11 turnovers in the second quarter, 7/8 of the players that played in the quarter all recorded at least one turnover. This helped give New York ten more possessions in the quarter than Denver.
Pablo Prigioni and Amare Stoudemire were especially effective, when all the starters were resting in the beginning of the second quarter. They got New York back in the game, and when the starters came back in they effectively ended the quarter well, going on a 13-2 run to end the first half to give the Knicks a 50-44 lead. Prigioni didn’t score a point in the game, but effected the games in other areas, with six assist and four steals. Stoudemire scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds off the bench in 20 minutes of play.
In the third quarter, everything went well for the Knicks, including the play that gave them a double digit lead. Carmelo Anthony missed badly on a three-point attempt, but Tyson Chandler was fortunate enough to be around the ball, and just lays it back in to give the Knicks a 59-48 lead with 9:04 left in the third quarter. That was the lone offensive rebound in the quarter, but not much was needed, as the Knicks almost made 2/3 of their shot attempts in the period. A blow out was in full effect by the end of the third quarter with the score 83-68, and no Knicks’ starters would be reinserted back into the lineup in the fourth quarter.
New York had a great team victory, winning 117-90 with six players in double figures scoring. Carmelo Anthony led the way with 31 points in 32 minutes of play. Anthony had plenty of help as the Knicks’ bench scored 60 points in the game. New York’s frontline was impressive against the small Nugget’s frontline, 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.
Knicks vs Celtics – 1-28-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
After finally earning a win in matinée games Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers, New York looked to avenge a 114-73 matinée loss to the Boston Celtics from early December. With the Knicks down 0-2 in the season series so far, New York jumped out to an early lead, and never looked back, winning 114-88.
Reverse layup, slam dunk, Iman Shumpert got to the rim early, New York got into the paint easily, getting layups, dunks, just about whatever they wanted. Tyson Chandler put back, Pablo Prigioni reverse layup, Chandler alley opp, these are all the scores of the first few possessions that began the game. You get the picture, the Celtics could not defend the Knicks, and when they finally stopped the bleeding from the inside, New York would drop a three on them for good measure. New York finished the first quarter with 14 points in the paint, along with four threes to help double up on Boston 31-15 when it was all said and done in the period.
The closest the Celtics ever got back into the game, was within fourteen points, when they went on an 11-0 mid-way through the second quarter. With the score 45-31, Tim Hardaway Jr. would knock down two timely threes, and Boston never threatened again. Hardaway Jr would finish the game with 16 points off the bench. The bench contributed greatly to Tuesday night’s victory with 63 bench points. Reigning Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith contributed 17 points and 5 assist off the bench as well. Jeremy Tyler recorded 17 points as well, a majority of the time during garbage minutes, when the game was already out of hand, but nonetheless, a positive. Continue reading
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