BOX SCORE
The roller coaster ride is over. All of the changes and permutations that have occurred this season, the ups and downs, the off the court drama, the frustrations of the defense only to have turned into the frustrations of the offense, the serious injuries, and of course the coaching change have left Knicks fans exhausted.
Miami is simply in another league than the Knicks both offensively and defensively. You just felt like Miami was coasting through this game and were dominating even though they were only up 10 for much of the game.
The Knicks did a poor job of finishing both quarters in the first half, but it was most notable at the end of the half, as the heat finished the half on a 11-2 run to give them an 11 point halftime lead.
Amar’e Stoudemire picked up his 5th foul in the 3rd quarter and Miami started pulling further away and you never felt that NY was going to make a comeback. Amar’e would foul out with 5 minutes left in the game with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 turnovers.
Once again, it was a lot of iso-ball for the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony scoring 35 points on 15-31 shooting along with 8 rebounds. In his defense, he didn’t really have any choice.
JR Smith, who the Knicks needed a solid game from to have to have any hope, was terrible on the night shooting 3-15 on the night and 0-4 from three point land. He was -20 on the night with 0 rebounds, 0 assists, and 2 turnovers. He was not in the game down the stretch directly reflecting his poor play.
All I can say is I hope JR doesn’t pick up his player option.
Mike Bibby, forced into starting action due to Baron Davis’ gruesome knee injury, gave it all he had especially early with 8 points in the first quarter. He finished with 10 points on 4-7 shooting and 6 rebounds and 6 assists and only 1 turnover.
I have to say that I was very disappointed in Tyson Chandler’s performance tonight. His defense was very passive and just seemed a step slow. If you look at the box score, he had 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, but we all know that Chandler’s defense isn’t predicated on blocked shot statistics.
It seemed like Miami was driving down the lane unchallenged way too much in an elimination game. Obviously, the Knick guards are to blame for this as well.
On offense, Miami did a great job rotating and playing Tyson for the dives to the basket and whenever he caught the ball, there was a defender waiting for him. He got a couple garbage baskets at the end of the game when it was already over.
I just expected more energy and fire from Tyson tonight. He has been the heart and soul for us all season.
There will be plenty of time in the coming days to discuss who is staying, who is going, the missing pieces, etc.
With regard to Mike Woodson, I think he has done a very good job with the Knicks and certainly deserves a look. Having said that, the front office needs to do their due diligence and go through the process and gauge the interest of Phil Jackson and any other coaches with NBA playoff success. Just my opinion.
While NY ended their playoff losing streak, Knicks fans certainly are not satisfied with that. There needs to a be a sense of urgency from the opening tip of next season, and they need a top 4 seed to have any hope of postseason success.
The positive to be taken from having to play the heat in the first round is that it truly exposes the flaws of the team. Unless they are exposed, they can’t be addressed in the offseason both through addressing personnel needs as well as coaching needs.
This offseason will be the biggest one yet for the Knicks as it will determine whether we will be contenders or pretenders going forward.
BOX SCORE
This was a very painful game to watch. The Knicks offense was non existent as it was simply one Melo isolation followed by a JR Smith isolation.
Steve Novak, getting his first start of the season in place of the self-injured Amar’e Stoudemire, was totally ineffective as he was 0-2 from the field and only had one three point attempt. He had 0 points and 2 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Novak as expected was ineffective on defense which is what you expect. The problem is he was just standing in the corner. I am extremely disappointed in Mike Woodson as there was no effort made to get Novak open. No screens, no having him run the baseline. If you aren’t going to make an effort to run plays and get him open, what is the point of having him out there? Somebody help me understand.
If NY had a player to break down the defense off the dribble, then Novak standing in the corner makes sense, but they don’t. Miami was not going to let Novak get off as they were glued to him, but don’t make Miami’s job that easy by letting him just stand there hoping his man will sag off him. Novak was -22 on the night
Carmelo Anthony was off the whole night, shooting 7-25 on the night along with 8 rebounds and 5 turnovers on the night. He was -25 on the night which was lowest on the Knicks.
There was no resemblence of any kind of an offense run by the Knicks tonight. Mike Woodson’s reputation as an isolation heavy coach is being cemented in this series.
There was absolutely no rythym to the offense as NY had only 8 assists with 18 turnovers on the night. Throughout the game, the backcourt would dribble the ball out near midcourt until there was about 8 or 9 seconds on the clock and then it was isolation time for JR Smith or Melo.
You have to credit the Miami defense for a lot of that, but you also have to hold the coaching staff accountable for not being better prepared.
NY shot a paltry 31.9% from the floor on the night and 4-20 from 3 point range.
JR Smith was 0-5 from three and 5-18 overall. I have to give Smith credit though for playing solid defense on Dwayne Wade for most of the game. Smith and Melo were a combined 12-41 from the field (29%).
The Knicks played great defense and frustrated LeBron James for most of this game, and left the game in the 3rd quarter with 4 fouls. James dominated when he came back in the fourth quarter as he had 20 points while finishing with 32 points. He set the tone, scoring the first 11 points of the quarter.
Mario Chalmers hit some dagger three point shots in the fourth as well as he 19 points including 5-8 from three.
While NY defended Wade well, he still finished with 20 points on 8-17 shooting.
NY has now set the NBA record for most consecutive playoff losses at 13 and counting. Memphis had the record at 12 between 2004-2006.
The Knicks are playing for pride as no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.
A lot of questions surround this team going forward with regard to who is coaching them, what players are coming back or are able to come back, what type of offense to run going forward, etc.
Judging by this series with the heat, the Knicks have a long way to go to catch up. It also should illustrate how important seeding is going into the playoffs and how there needs to be a sense of urgency during the course of the regular season.
The Knicks have a couple days to think about this before coming back in Game 4 at MSG. Lin will not be back, and Amar’e may be back, but who knows.
Knicks fans just want a playoff win.
Via Newsday
Novak might start
Carmelo Anthony will slide to power forward in Amar’e Stoudemire’s place Thursday night, but Woodson hasn’t decided who still start at small forward. Steve Novak said he “wouldn’t be shocked” if it was him.
“I’ll be ready and I’ll be excited,” Novak said.
If Woodson goes with Novak it might be because J.R. Smith is more comfortable coming off the bench and Woodson likes the instant energy and offense Smith provides as a sub.
Woodson said he should be able to play Jared Jeffries more Thursday night. Jeffries, who has been slowed by a stiff right knee, has played a total of 11 minutes in the first two games.
Not sure how I feel about this. Who is he going to guard to start the game? It certainly wouldn’t be LeBron as he would get schooled. Melo will be guarding him. He can’t guard Bosh either as they have been going with Chandler on him which leaves Udonis Haslem, who has been guarded by Amar’e in the first two games.
I worry about Haslem on the offensive boards in that matchup. I understand not wanting to start JR Smith if he is more comfortable off the bench.
If it were me, I would start Josh Harrelson as he can provide better defense and rebounding and perhaps even guard Bosh instead of Tyson. This would allow our best rebounder to be in better position for help defense as well as rebounding missed shots as opposed to being out on the perimeter.
But then again, if Novak is able to hit some three’s out of the gate, the Garden could be goin crazy.
Risk/reward.
Jefferies is a wild card as we really have no idea how he is feeling and how many minutes he can provide.
What do you guys think?
Via Yahoo Sports
New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler has won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.
The Knicks plan to make the announcement official Thursday at their practice facility. Chandler will receive the award Thursday night prior to Game 3 between the Knicks and Miami Heat.
Congratulations to Tyson for a great season with the Knicks. He almost single handedly (along with Iman Shumpert) changed the culture of a terrible defensive team overnight.
NY needs to find a quality backup to Tyson in the offseason as the dropoff in defense when he isn’t in the lineup is dramatic.
I detailed the case for Chandler a few weeks ago here
Thank you from all Knicks fans Tyson! Go win on Thursday! Beat the heat!
BOX SCORE
While the Knicks and Carmelo Anthony came out much sharper to start this Game 2, NY fizzled in the fourth quarter as they went 8 minutes without a field goal.
Melo came out hot in the first quarter scoring 15 points on 6-11 shooting as NY was running some sets to get him open and in better position to score. He would cool off however as he scored 15 points the rest of the game, including only 9 in the second half. He would finish with 30 points on 12-26 shooting to go along with 9 rebounds but only 1 assist.
Amar’e was invisible in the first half with only 6 points on 3 shot attempts, but he produced more in the second half finishing with 18 points and 7 boards.
With Iman Shumpert going down with a torn ACL, Dwayne Wade went to work on both Landry Fields and JR Smith. Wade consistently was posting up and getting the ball close to the basket for floaters and layups.
Wade finished with 25 points on 11-18 shooting on the night.
Baron Davis played pretty well tonight especially in the 3rd quarter with a couple threes and 4 assists for some easy baskets. He finished with 12 points and 6 assists on 5-8 shooting.
Tyson Chandler clearly was feeling better and provided much more spark for NY tonight as he was consistently diving effectively towards the basket (as was Amar’e in the second half) as he finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds (6 offensive).
The stark contrast between the two teams was Miami was getting wide open three point shots due to LeBron James’ penetration and kick outs versus the Knicks struggling to get their three point shooters open. James would finish with 19 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds as he was more of a facilitator in this game.
Mike Miller and Shane Battier were each 3-5 from distance and most of those were wide open. Miami was 9-21 from three.
Steve Novak was not getting any good looks as he was only 1-3 from 3, while JR Smith was 1-3. The Knicks as a team were only 5-15 and most of them were contested.
The Knicks became very stagnant in the 4th quarter as there was too much one on one basketball. NY would go 8 minutes without a field goal before Davis drove for a layup to end the drought.
NY is going to have to find a way to get others involved in the game early on as there is a trend of Melo starting off hot, but he simply can’t maintain that pace throughout the entire game. Especially having to guard LeBron who puts constant pressure on the defense.
Down 0-2, NY has a couple days off before playing Game 3 at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks were better tonight, not that there are any moral victories, but they still have more work to do before Thursday.
MSG will be rocking and the Knicks need all the help they can get. If NY can get some good shots from the outside to help spread things out that will help as well.
On to Game 3 on Thursday. Rest up guys
UPDATE 10:26 PM: Apparently Amar’e cut his left hand in a postgame incident. Word is he punched through a glass case holding a fire extinguisher. The Knicks said “doctors and paramedics” were working on Stoudemire, who was expected to need stitches.
UPDATE 10:43 PM Accoring to several media reports, his hand is heavily bandaged and his arm is in a sling.
According to Marc Berman of NY Post, he could have x-rays on it tomorrow.
Tyson Chandler on Amar’e: “One quick decision makes a mistake and now you gotta deal with the repercussions.”
Frank Isola of NY Daily News tweeted: “There is blood all over the carpet in the locker room”
UPDATE 10:55 PM
From Chicago Tribune
Knicks center Tyson Chandler said: “I can’t comment on that. I just know that he has a laceration and he’s probably going to be out. I don’t know how bad it is.
UPDATE 11:11 PM
Alan Hahn is on ESPN 98.7 and just admitted maybe Amar’e being out and Carmelo playing the 4 isnt such a bad thing.
UPDATE 11:23 PM
Just heard on ESPN 98.7 that Ian Begley of ESPN New York that according to league source, Amar’e would be OUT for Game 3 and possibily longer.
UPDATE 11:40 PM
According to Stephen A. Smith, all of the Knicks officials he has talked to believe that Amar’e will not be returning to this series. They are not doctors however, so there is no official announcement as of yet.
There has been a lot of talk of getting Melo the ball in the low post. This has been a problem all year. While many of us have been calling for Melo to get the ball in the low post more, the biggest issue has been the Knick guards and their low post entry passes.
There is a lot of hesitation on the guards’ part when trying to get Melo the ball on the low block. Having been watching some youtube footage of Patrick Ewing, you can see how quickly John Starks would get Ewing the ball. You simply can’t hesitate and give the defense time to recover. When Melo establishes his position on the block, their is a small window of opportunity to get him the ball in his spot. He can’t hold this spot forever as the defense will recover and adjust.
Much like a quarterback and receiver in football, there needs to be a certain chemistry between the passer and receiver. The passer needs to lead the receiver in the direction they are going.
Too many times, Melo has established position on the block only to have to come way outside to get the ball which then turns into an isolation play on the wing.
Why not take your 2 best offensive players JR Smith and Carmelo and have them play 2 man? Let JR feed Melo and if they double kick it to Smith for a catch and shoot 3 which he is much better at then shooting 3′s off the dribble in an iso.
BOX SCORE
The Miami heat simply totally dominated the Knicks in Game 1 of this first round series. There were certainly a LOT of issues with the officiating in this game, but NY simply gave away too many possessions with 27 turnovers in the game.
Tyson Chandler, who was still recovering from the flu, was called for a flagrant 2 initially on a pick set on LeBron James. The official later changed it to a flagrant 1. Chandler clearly was not his normal self as he committed 7 turnovers himself including several charges on pick and rolls. He was scoreless with only 3 boards in 21 minutes.
Carmelo Anthony never could get going in this game as he missed his first 7 shots. He got called for an absolutely pathetic technical foul for simply passing the ball back to the official. Melo took it hard to the basket several times and did not get the calls. He finished 3-15 from the field for 11 points.
Amar’e Stoudemire was extremely quiet as well. He could not really get anything going outside of a couple dunks in the first half. He was held to 9 points and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes.
Baron Davis kept the Knicks in it in the first quarter with 10 points including a fast break dunk and a couple three pointers, but his back stiffened up and he only played 17 minutes.
Iman Shumpert appeared to suffer a serious knee injury in the 3rd quarter and his status remains unclear as he was taken to the hospital.
These officials have gotten carried away with the technical foul calls as well as the flagrant foul calls. Officials look more on the reaction of the player as opposed to whether it is a legit play. If you look at an official funny you get called for tech. It has gotten out of hand. I understand not having guys constantly barking at the officials, but there has to be a happy medium.
Miami had 33 free throw attempts to NY only having 11.
While the officials were an issue, Miami’s defense dominated this game and NY simply could not get anything going offensively.
NY held Miami to only 7 fast break points, but they were operating at a different speed all game led by LeBron James’ defense. James finished 32 points on 10-14 shooting along with 4 steals.
It is one game and every playoff game has a life of its own, but the Knicks have a lot of work to do.
On to Game 2 on Monday.
BOX SCORE
Being a native New Yorker living in Charlotte, I get a couple opportunities a year to see my team play every year. It didn’t matter that it was a relatively meaningless game with Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, and Baron Davis sitting out of this game as they were resting for the playoffs.
There are a lot of transplanted New Yorkers here in the Charlotte area which was shown by the very New York centric crowd tonight. There were a LOT of New York Knicks Jerseys in the crowd tonight.
How New York was the crowd?
I actually saw a Renaldo Balkman jersey in the crowd. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically.
Amar’e Stoudemire could have rested, but he wanted to get some more work in before the playoffs. He certainly did not disappoint as he had a few highlight reel dunks that had the partisan New York crowd going bonkers. Amar’e played exactly 2 quarters, which was determined before the game. He finished with 21 points on 9-15 shooting.
Mike Bibby who has played well as of late finished with a season high 12 assists as he was moving the ball well dishing it to guys cutting to the rim all night. He only turned it over once on the night in 36 minutes. He played that many minutes as Toney Douglas was out with a virus.
JR Smith led the way with 22 points and 6 assists on 10-16 shooting.
Knick fans got to see Jerome Jordan in extended minutes as he had a career high 13 points on 6-11 shooting. He even had a nice foul line jumpshot.
Josh Harrelson, who has never been quite the same since the wrist injury, had a solid game with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
As this game went on and the Knicks broke away in the fourth quarter of this game, I couldn’t help but reflect on how far the Knicks have come since the last time I saw them play in January.
I was at the game in Charlotte on January 24th and NY had lost 6 straight. After that win, the Knicks were 7-10. They would proceed to lose 5 of the next 6 before the birth of Linsanity.
Fast forward to tonight, where they have dug themselves out of such a big hole, going from 18-24 under Mike D’Antoni to 18-6 under Woodson.
My oh my have we come a long way. I can’t help but smile as I feel we are headed in the right direction for the first time as far as I can remember.
It is a new season, and it is now official.
We go to Miami to play the heat. The Knicks are playing as well as anyone right now, with arguably the hottest player in basketball.
To be the best, you have to beat the best. As Tyson Chandler has said, “You have to believe”
Let’s do this.
GO NY GO NY GO!!!
BOX SCORE
Is the regular season over already?
The Knicks hope for the 6th seed ended tonight as the Bobcats lost to the Magic. The Sixers beat the Bucks tonight to stay tied record wise with the Knicks. NY has the tie breaker.
With the Knicks playing the Bobcats (who have lost 22 straight) tomorrow, the Knicks are locked into the 7th seed. If the Knicks lost tomorrow, David Stern might launch a tanking investigation.
Now onto tonight’s game against the Clippers.
Chris Paul sat this one out for LA with a strained groin.
For NY, the big concern defensively was matching up with Blake Griffin. As mentioned earlier, Amar’e has had issues keeping guys in front of him, so they put Tyson Chandler on him. Tyson did a very good job of staying in front of him and forced him into some very difficult shots. That’s all you can ask for.
With the Knicks resting their starters in the 4th quarter and the lead quickly slipping away, Chandler asked back in the game. He would then proceed to stay in front of Griffin and swat his shot out of bounds. He wasn’t going to let us lose this game.
While Griffin’s numbers looked good (29 points, 10 boards, 6 assists), the Knicks didn’t let him have a dunkfest and put him on the line where he is awful. Good players make tough shots.
The story of this game was mostly the Knick bench who played very well until the end when the offense got very stagnant with JR Smith ending up having to hoist shots up at the end of the shot clock.
Smith had a solid all around game on the night playing under control for the most part with 21 points and 5 assists.
Carmelo Anthony had 17 points in only 28 minutes of action as the starters played limited minutes.
Positives from this game include Landry Fields continuing to play with more confidence, Baron Davis penetrating well (although he only had one assist, he had 12 points on 2-5 from three), Steve Novak being Steve Novak (4-7 from three) and Tyson Chandler continuing his defensive player of the year campaign. Shumpert also did a nice job helping out on the boards with 7 rebounds.
Negatives include Amar’e’s defense again and Iman Shumpert turning his ankle again.
Dan Gadzuric played 7 minutes in the game in his Knick debut and didn’t make much of an impression with 2 rebounds. I noticed Mike Woodson barking at him as they were going to a timeout. I am guessing he will be seeing more minutes tomorrow night.
The Knicks are probably going to sit several players tomorrow I am guessing. If they don’t they will be playing very limited minutes against (in my opinion) the worst team in the history of the NBA. When the Knicks win tomorrow night (I will be at the game), the Bobcats will finish with the lowest winning percentage the history of the league beating the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers team that went 9-73.
Enough of the regular season. Bring on the heat.
