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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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The Next Knicks

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The Next Knicks

Written By Nicholas McGowan

            Now is the time to stand up and applaud Phil Jackson (if you haven’t already), for the heist he pulled off yesterday in the trade with the Dallas Mavericks. Phil Jackson shipped out the 14 million dollar contract of Tyson Chandler and the multiyear deal Raymond Felton still had remaining. The Knicks received from the Mavericks point guard Jose Calderon, backup shooting guard Wayne Ellington, starting center Samuel Dalambert, promising young point guard Shane Larkin, and two second draft picks in tonight’s draft. With the Knicks actually making smart moves and getting back draft picks, its time start being proud of the fact that for one day we are not the laughing stock of the NBA when it comes to trades. (Player contracts are another story, but at least we are improving in one area). The Knicks come out of this deal looking to go younger and looking to get rid of big contracts. Expect that trend to continue as the offseason progresses. Could we possibly see a J.R. Smith trade tonight instead of a Shumpert trade? Could we possibly see Jose Calderon be traded one day after we acquired him? A lot of new possibilities have emerged with this trade. I would expect the Knicks draft strategy to deviate after yesterday’s deal, so with that said let us take a look at who the Knicks might target in the second round and look at the chance that the Knicks still trade into the first round.

 Point Guards:

Before the trade I had the Knicks trading up to the 21st spot with the OKC Thunder to draft Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis. Trading Shumpert for Ennis would be a good move in my book and would welcome the addition of pass first point guard that has great court vision and plays defense. Yet with the addition of Shane Larkin and Jose Calderon the Knicks might draft a point guard with their later pick. The Knicks might target Louisville guard Russ Smith. Smith is a talented 3-point shooter, decent defender, and a good value for a late second round pick. I would hope the Knicks could find a way to trade Jose Calderon but if they don’t having Larkin and Calderon going forward would be an upgrade over Toure Murray and Raymond Felton.

 Shooting Guards:

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2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 23

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3-1 this week as the Knicks make their playoff push. Hahaha, just kidding about the playoffs. They beat two crappy teams and 1 good team missing 40% of their starting lineup and also got completely annihilated against a good team. The Knicks final 7 games are all against playoff teams so this will probably be the last semi nice rankings of the season. I forsee much bitterness in the final two weeks.
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Anthony, Carmelo At first I was thinking the Knicks have 43 losses, how much worse would they be without Melo? Then I realized the answer is they’d much much worse. 2
2 Smith, J.R. JR had a very good week, and played out of his mind against the Kings. I’m worried that he’s gone from about 10 shots a night to 15+, that doesn’t bode well for when he goes cold again. And he will. 5
3 Prigioni, Pablo His plus minus shows he knows how to run an offense. He gets shredded by opposing guards fairly often but at least he does many other things on the court better than the rest of our sorry backcourt. 3
4 Chandler, Tyson Would have put him 3rd for having a few good games but 1 point and 4 rebounds against the Suns? Shame on you Tyson. 4
5 Stoudemire, Amar’e Two good games before his streak of playing really well ended. He got some rest last night so maybe he’ll be ready to dominate during the Knicks EPIC PLAYOFF PUUUUUUSHHH, hahahahaha. 1
6 Shumpert, Iman Remember when Shumpert could play offense? He’s this high because he plays defense and contrary to Woodsons opinion defense does mean something. 6
7 Hardaway Jr., Tim His shot was off all week but he somehow posted a positive +/- in every game this week. Something we’re going to need for this exciting, riveting PLAYOFF PUSH!!!!!!! Hahahahaha. 9
8 Aldrich, Cole I like how Woodson is actually using a backup center sometimes. Not when Tyson is putting up 1 point, the Knicks are getting embarrassed though. Why try anything different when you are down by 30. 7
9 Felton, Raymond Trey Burke didn’t go off last night. That makes one straight game that opposing guards didn’t go off. Progress. Progress we’ll need for the final 7 games of the Kicks 2013-14 PLAYOFF PUSH, lol. 11
10 Shannon Brown Shannon Brown. 2 points and 1 steal in less than a minute against the Warriors. That’s the kind of productivity we’re going to need for the end of the season, totally exciting and realistic playoff push! 12
11 Murry, Toure’ I get it now. Woodson is saving Murry so he’s fully rested for all of these playoff games the Knicks will be playing. 8
12 Jeremy Tyler Only one game out! We’ll ignore that it’s 2 in the loss column and don’t have a tiebreaker so it’s essentially 3 games with 7 to go because Tyler is ready for the totally feasable, definitely doable PLAYOFF PUSH! 10
13 Martin, Kenyon I hope K-Mart comes back this week because if there is one thing he knows how to do it’s push for the playoffs. 13
14 Bargnani, Andrea Sucks for you Bargs. You were stuck on all those lottery teams only to get to the Knicks at the height of their amazing run to the playoffs and are too injured to play! 14

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Knicks vs. Timberwolves – 3-6-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

New York finally ended their losing streak, and their hero ironically was Raymond Felton, whom has recently been vilified by New York papers and tabloid for his illegal possession of firearms.  And rightfully so, especially if the allegations of him pointing the gun at his wife are true, but for now, that’s all it is, just allegations, and Felton will have his date in court soon enough. For one night though Felton was the hero.

            Raymond Felton had his best game, possibly all year, but definitely his best game since his arrest. Felton was great at getting into the paint and scoring, as well as facilitating the offense Wednesday night. Felton had the best +/- of any player with a +21 scoring18 points and handing out 8 assists, along with four steals. Felton made crucial plays in the fourth quarter, holding off any potential Minnesota comeback.

            Felton scored seven points and dished out three assist in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves made a 7-0 to cut the Knicks’ lead into single figure 107-99 with 2:43 remaining in the game. After a quick timeout, Felton would hit a clutch floater to push the Knicks’ lead back up to double digits. Then Felton would put a cap on his fantastic night by hitting a three that essentially sealed the game with 1:08 remaining, making the score 114-101. New York would go on to defeat Minnesota 118-106. Continue reading →

2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 19

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Four games and four losses since last week.  The Knicks have won 2 games since January.  It’s March.  Earl Clark and Shannon Brown got to play 1 game of meaningful minutes before being relegated to the bench with Murry and Aldrich.  This makes complete sense since the Knicks trio of JR, THJ and Felton started the game out 1-20.  Gotta snap out of that slump at some point!
       
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Anthony, Carmelo As much as I’d love to change up the top spot Melo couldn’t play worse than the rest of these jokers if he drop kicked the ball in the stands every time the ball was passed to him.  Thanks for still trying, sorry about the best year of your career being wasted on this trash team. 1
2 Chandler, Tyson Tyson Chandler averaged 17 rebounds over the last 4 games.  I’m thinking it’s easier to get a lot of rebounds when your backcourt shoots 11%.  Lots of bricks flying around. 2
3 Murry, Toure’ Murry got actual playing time once this week.  He played 24 minutes and had a +/- of -1 in a 23 point blowout.  That’s pretty good.  So of course Woodson benched him the next two games. 4
4 Stoudemire, Amar’e Amare had a terrible game against Miami, posting a +/- of -30 while doing almost nothing else and then sat the next game because he’s almost crippled.  Looks like the rest did him good because he shot over 80% the next two games and looked more like vintage Amare. 8
5 Prigioni, Pablo You can’t play shooting guard and not shoot the ball.  You can’t play PG and not pass the ball.  Stop being so passive, we all know you are better than this. Continue reading →

Knicks @ Pistons – 3-3-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

Make it seven! Seven game losing streak…for the New York Knickerbockers.

With New York looking straight up at Detroit in the Eastern Conference standings, and every game a must win, since maybe two weeks ago. The Knicks again showed their lack of desire and passion for the game of basketball. They showed that they have lost faith in their coach and each other. With as much as a 14 point lead in the first half, it was all but squandered away by halftime. New York held a five point lead after the first half 44-39 mainly due to the great play of the Knicks frontcourt.

Amare Stoudemire was inserted into the starting lineup, and immediately made his presence felt scoring eight points in the first quarter, and finishing with 22 points, in one of his more effective nights going 9/11 from the field. Tyson Chandler also had himself a great first half, almost collecting himself a double-double by intermission with 8 points and 9 rebounds. Chandler continued his rebounding rampage, averaging 14.2 rebounds in the last ten games, collecting 18 rebounds by game’s end.

Carmelo Anthony had his typical good starts to games, connecting on back to back threes to start the game Monday night. Anthony scored 16 points in the first half, with the last couple of baskets coming at the end of the first half in a very fortunate matter. Anthony was complaining about a no call on the layup attempt that ended up getting officially registered as Andre Drummond’s third block, even though Continue reading →

2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 18

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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

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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.

2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 15

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A 2-2 week.  Doesn’t seem to bad right?  Well the two wins were against some of the worst teams in the league and one of the losses was against literally the worst team in the league.  I really don’t understand this team at all right now, you never know what team will show up from night to night and unlike last year no game on the schedule is a definite win.
       
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Anthony, Carmelo Two weeks in a row at #1.  No one else on this team seems capable of stringing together more than 2 games of good play so this is Melos spot to lose.  His rebounding has taken a slight dip but considering how bad everyone else has been I can’t complain too much.  You have to wonder if Carmelo wants to stick around after this season considering the players around him.  Is the Knicks pitch to Melo going to be “hey this offseason we are confident we will be able to add the pieces necessary to beat the Bucks.” 1
2 Smith, J.R. Yes, the guy who spent the most weeks at the #15 spot is now in the #2 spot.  That’s what this season has come to.  He had one bad game, but looked surprisingly good in the other 3.  My theory: It’s too cold out to go to the clubs.  He’ll revert back to terrible, hungover JR around mid/late March, just in time for the playoffs. 6
3 Chandler, Tyson Never mind what said about Tyson looking like the old Tyson.  He looks like Tyson but old.  Seeing him get manhandled by Zaza Pachulia was depressing.  Still he played alright which is better than 12 other players on this team. 2
4 Prigioni, Pablo Pablo needs to be more aggressive.  He can’t go a game without a shot an another with only 1 assist.  Deficiencies aside he’s still the Knicks best point guard. 3
5 Hardaway Jr., Tim 3 great shooting nights before that stinker in Milwaukee.  Still, he has to get better on defense, THJ posted a +/- of -19 against the Heat despite being productive on offense. Continue reading →

Knicks vs Suns – 1-13-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee
Monday night’s match up featured two teams headed in opposite direction since the New Year. Phoenix came into New York with a two game losing streak, with their budding young star Eric Bledsoe sidelined after getting surgery last week to remove a piece of his meniscus. Bledsoe is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, which just might kill their playoffs hope with how ultra-competitive the Western Conference is. New York on the other hand are on a four game winning streak, and are only half a game behind the eighth seed in the disaster that is the Eastern Conference, even with the pathetic start this season.
               New York broke open the game on a 15-0 run, holding Phoenix to almost five minutes without a score. The highlight of the run was when Carmelo Anthony blocked a Gerald Green layup and sprinted down the court, knocking down a 30 foot three pointer in stride to give the Knicks a double digit lead. Anthony also had a four point play during the run, scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds in the first quarter. Goran Dragic also could not be stopped on the other end, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, but had little help from his teammates, resulting in a 28-21 Knicks edge after the first quarter. Phoenix attempts the most threes per game, launching 26.4 per game from beyond the arc, and are second in threes made per game, making 9.8. In the first quarter the Suns were very content with launching threes, attempting nine in the first quarter, but they had a cold start to the night, making only three, and shooting 31.8% for the quarter.
             The Knicks would start the second quarter on an 8-1 run to take the largest lead of the game, leading by fourteen points with 8:44 remaining in the first half by a score of 36-22. Goran Dragic continued his strong play in the second quarter, finishing the first half with a total of 20 points 4 reb and 4 assist. Dragic knocked down a buzzer beating three to end the first half to trim New York’s lead to single digits 52-43. Continue reading →