N.Y. Knicks: The Shots Heard 'Round The Garden

From the desk of:  DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP

Losing Streak Hits Seven

NEW YORK KNICKS: Derek Fisher Might Be Retired From Playing, But He's Still Quick On His Feet.

....and then the losing streak reached seven,

but just barely.

For a fleeting moment, Melo's game tying 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left in the game was the biggest shot of the Knicks season, that is until Trey Burke nailed his own last second, game winning, buzzer beating 2-pointer from the far corner to give Utah a 102-100 victory at a silent Garden.

The Knicks played without the still missing Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani, a resting Amare Stoudemire, and Iman Shumpert (who injured his hip in the opening minutes of Friday's game).

Yet, they managed 100 points for the first time this season.

Perhaps that's why Coach Fisher was so giddy afterwards when speaking with the media.  I call it smartly getting away with putting up a strong front after blowing a very winnable game.

The last minute of play was indeed thrilling.  As Coach Fisher put it - that was New York City out there.

He's right; the crowd was electric and Melo was on fire.

And there's the rub....

In truth, Friday's game looked a lot like something from last season, which is a bad thing.  Just ask Tim Hardaway.  It was a regression back to Melo Ball - when an inept team put the ball in his hands and hoped for the best.

The obligatory thrilling finishes might be good for ticket sales, but not much else.

Carmelo Anthony scored 46% of the Knicks points, and pulled down a team high 7 rebounds while his mates predominantly stood around and watched.  That also explains why Melo also made 16 attempts from the stripe while the rest of the team combined on just four free throws.

The Knicks collectively watched Utah shoot 51.4% from the field, and bury 10/22 from beyond the arch, while also allowing them 42 points in the paint.  You can't let a team have it both ways; certainly not the Jazz, man.

Utah additionally blocked eight shot versus just one for the Knicks, whom also got out-rebounded by a 39-31 margin.

Wait, there's more:

Once again, the Knicks suffered from poor ball distribution (regardless who's in the line-up).  The Knicks only had 15 team assists (vs. 25 Jazz) led by Shane Larkin's four, and Pablo Prigioni's three.   The Knicks two point guards at least combined on 20 points in support of Melo.

J.R. Smith, not so much.  He was not the second best Knicks player on the floor the way he should have, especially after Shumpert's departure.  Smith scored 9 points in 21 minutes off the bench, and was defending Trey Burke during the game winning shot.

Coach knows his best player scored 46 points and they still lost.  He knows they recovered from a faulty 1st quarter to build a 72-65 3rd quarter lead, but blew the game with flaky defense particularly in the paint.  He also knows the Jazz never once double-teamed Melo, thus allowing the Knicks to hang around in the first place, and that J.R. Smith failed to step up and make a difference.

So when the media failed to pounce with their post-game opening line of questions, Coach Fisher was able to preach how inspiring the undermanned effort, and the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden were.

Quick thinking Coach.

Of course, we see right through it.

Nothing short of personnel changes will help this team.  That's why Friday night brought back memories.




Mike

N.Y. Knicks: For Those Who Said Talk To Me In January

From the desk of:   DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP


NEW YORK KNICKS - Many Said Age And Injury Would Start Taking Its Toll In January And February.  The Team Is Certainly Not Without Issues.

Knicks Needs Ray Felton Back On The Floor.

 

...And Honey Nut Cheerios Too.

I can't fault Melo for continuing to go after Kevin Garnett.  What KG does, he does supremely well.  He talks vicious smack.  But we've known that for a long time.  And I get it.  That gets players even more mad.  Especially when the dude starts poppin' off about your wife and honey nut Cheerios in the same sentence.  How rich!  That was unnecessary on KG's part.  But as a highly paid professional athlete, you have to learn to ignore guys like Garnett and the Dennis Rodmans in life and stay within the game.  Riiight.  But yeah, on a more primitive level, a trip to the bus after the game might have been warranted.  That's so 1970's of me.  I know.  So now if you're Melo, you shut up and take your one game suspension like a man.  Too bad however, Melo didn't make the trip to the parking lot truly worth the effort.  You know what I mean.  If you're going to get punished, might as well go all the way.  What happened to the Carmelo Anthony we all knew and loathed in 2006; the punk who threw a cheap punch at Mardy Collins, then ran away?  He should have given KG some of that.


Grab yourself some Hatorade.  There's plenty.


With a 23-11 record, the Knicks are tied with the Heat for most wins in the Eastern Conference. Indeed, the Knicks enjoyed a stellar start to the season, raining three pointers upon opponents and playing surprisingly good defense.  But staunch pragmatists decided to hold off till January before assessing the team.  And well, here we are.  The Knicks are in first place of the Atlantic Division.


Happy New Year.


While earlier in the schedule the Knicks were playing like the team many thought they could be, they are now slowly morphing into the team many feared they might be.  Problem one?  Life has been a struggle without Ray Felton.  That's just my take.  Pablo Prigioni is nice off the bench.  But I don't think the Knicks want him getting extended minutes.  The longer Felton is out, the more minutes Jason Kidd must play.  The more he plays, the sooner he burns out heading into March and April.  That's the traditional thinking.  The Knicks also probably do not want to potentially head into the playoffs with Ronnie Brewer at the two and Kidd at point.  Do they?  I think Felton is more important to this team than he gets credit for.


Regardless of how I started this posting, I have nothing but good things to say about Carmelo Anthony this season.  He, Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith have been stellar.  The return of Iman Shumpert will add a lot of youthful spring to the Knicks legs too.  These four lend much to be optimistic about.


The same can't be said of Amare Stoudemire.  The doctor is ordering his minutes get cut back.  He will remain a compromised player for the foreseeable future.  Then consider the limited contributions of Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby, and Kurt Thomas, and it is easy to deduce the Knicks have major depth and size issues moving forward.


The age factor and injuries many thought could hamper the Knicks the deeper the season went, are indeed starting to hinder the Knicks as the New Year settles in.  The next seven weeks of Winter will reveal much about this team.  For now, I think Knick fans have to be happy with their season so far.  But the real fun, or pain, lies ahead.




Mike.BTB