New York Knicks: Erasing An Era

[VincentB]

After a week of preseason basketball, here's an update of what's going on around the league.

Washington (4-0) Denver (2-0) and Orlando (3-0) are the only undefeated teams in the league.

Through those four games, Gilbert Arenas averaging 31 ppg and 6.5 assists on 47% shooting, and 55% from 3. In his last game he put in 18 against the Lakers to help them grab the victory. After the game he was quoted saying: "It feels good to get a win against a tough team when they're at their best. We feel as though we can beat anybody and we're looking forward to surprising some people this year."

Injuries

Reggie Miller - Pacers: Out 1.5 months with a torn ligament
Vince Carter - Raptors: Out 26 days with a broken foot
Matt Carroll - Trailblazers: Out 15 days with a sprained wrist

For the Pacers and Raptors it has to be tough knowing that they will be without one of their key guys to start the season, but it will give other players an opportunity to perform. I think both teams will hold their own in their player's absence.

[VincentB]

Quote: Originally Posted by shawnydee

how did you get those rosters ? id like to know please

Read the first post.

[VincentB]

Matchup Preview *|* October 28, 2003
	@
Philadelphia 76ers (1-2, 1-0 Away)		New York Knicks (1-3, 0-1 Home)
Stats Comparison 90.0 Points Per Game 88.8 .424 Field Goal % .434 .868 Free Throw % .857 .321 3-Point % .351 35.0 Rebounds 38.0 5.3 Blocks 4.8 11.7 Steals 4.3 16.7 Turnovers 15.5 92.0 PPG Allowed 101.3 Projected Starters Allen Iverson Point Guard Stephon Marbury Willie Green Shooting Guard Allan Houston John Salmons Small Forward DerMarr Johnson Glenn Robinson Power Forward Tim Thomas Samuel Dalembert Center Dikembe Mutombo Injury Report Game Notes Fifth preseason game.

The 76ers are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. They get a lot of steals due to their guards having quick hands and their bigs block a lot of shots as well. They are in the top 10 statistically in both categories. During Tuesday morning's team shootaround, Stephon Marbury addressed this: "They like to make plays on the defensive end of the floor. Their role players feed off of that and it gets them going. We will have to take care of the ball and not make careless mistakes when we meet at the Garden tonight."

[VincentB]

Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks
Oct 28, 2003	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Philadelphia (1-3)	21	26	16	13	76
New York (2-3)	24	32	35	17	108

Philadelphia 76ers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Allen Iverson	30	6-9	0-0	7-8	2	2	1	0	6	19
Willie Green	26	3-8	0-3	0-0	2	2	1	0	1	6
John Salmons	20	2-3	1-2	2-2	0	2	0	0	1	7
Glenn Robinson	27	2-8	0-2	2-2	7	1	1	0	3	6
Samuel Dalembert	30	4-7	0-0	1-2	1	3	0	4	0	9
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Derrick Coleman	18	1-3	0-1	0-0	2	2	0	0	1	2
Greg Buckner	21	3-4	0-1	0-0	3	1	2	0	3	6
Marc Jackson	20	4-8	0-0	0-0	5	1	1	0	1	8
Kyle Korver	26	3-9	1-4	2-2	8	0	0	1	0	9
Eric Snow	18	2-8	0-0	0-0	1	4	0	0	3	4
Aaron McKie	3	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zendon Hamilton	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Amal McCaskill	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		30-68	2-14	14-16	32	18	6	5	19	76

New York Knicks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Stephon Marbury	31	10-20	3-5	1-2	3	7	1	0	0	24
Allan Houston	31	9-14	4-6	4-4	2	5	1	0	1	26
DerMarr Johnson	23	5-10	0-2	2-4	3	1	0	0	1	12
Tim Thomas	16	3-4	1-1	2-2	2	2	1	0	1	9
Dikembe Mutombo	21	5-9	0-0	0-0	8	0	1	1	0	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Kurt Thomas	20	0-1	0-0	0-0	2	1	1	1	0	0
Mike Sweetney	31	3-9	0-0	2-2	9	3	2	0	3	6
Anfernee Hardaway	29	3-10	0-2	0-0	3	3	2	0	1	6
Frank Williams	17	1-3	0-1	1-2	5	2	0	0	0	3
Shandon Anderson	12	2-6	0-0	2-2	1	1	1	1	1	6
Vin Baker	5	2-3	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	0	4
Nazr Mohammed	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		43-89	8-17	14-18	41	25	10	3	8	108

The past two games have been marvelous for the Knicks. They have won them by an average of 21 points and they're beginning to gel as a unit. "We are taking care of the ball and Steph is getting everyone involved on the offensive end of the floor. Tomorrow night we have our last preseason game and we are ready!" - Allan Houston

[VincentB]

Matchup Preview *|* October 29, 2003
	@
Seattle Supersonics (3-2, 1-1 Away)		New York Knicks (2-3, 1-1 Home)
Stats Comparison 109.8 Points Per Game 92.6 .482 Field Goal % .444 .828 Free Throw % .840 .500 3-Point % .372 38.0 Rebounds 38.6 4.0 Blocks 4.4 5.8 Steals 5.4 16.2 Turnovers 14.0 110.2 PPG Allowed 96.2 Projected Starters Luke Ridnour Point Guard Stephon Marbury Ray Allen Shooting Guard Allan Houston Rashard Lewis Small Forward DerMarr Johnson Vladimir Radmanovic Power Forward Tim Thomas Jerome James Center Dikembe Mutombo Injury Report Game Notes Sixth and final preseason game.

On Wednesday night the Knicks will play their final preseason game against the Supersonics. They're the highest scoring team in the league and Ray Allen is averaging 30.2 points per contest on 47.5% shooting. "He definitely can fill it up and Allan, DerMarr and Anfernee will have to play tight defense on him every minute that he is in the game", said Knicks coach, Lenny Wilkins. "We will look to attack them inside and drag them off of the 3 point line. As a team they're shooting 50% from deep and if we let them get clean looks it will be a long night for us."

[VincentB]

Seattle Supersonics at New York Knicks
Oct 29, 2003	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Seattle (4-2)	20	27	34	29	110
New York (2-4)	22	31	25	30	108

Seattle Supersonics
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Luke Ridnour	29	7-14	2-5	3-3	7	5	1	0	0	19
Ray Allen	40	8-19	6-10	7-8	13	6	0	0	1	29
Rashard Lewis	38	10-22	5-9	4-4	8	2	1	0	1	29
Vladimir Radmanovic	37	3-5	1-1	0-0	4	4	2	0	4	7
Jerome James	19	3-5	0-0	2-2	3	0	0	1	1	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Antonio Daniels	27	1-4	0-0	0-0	2	4	0	0	6	2
Brent Barry	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	3	1	0	0	0
Reggie Evans	11	2-3	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	4
Calvin Booth	29	5-10	2-2	6	0	0	0	0	0	12
Ronald Murray	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Richie Frahm	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Vitaly Potapenko	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		39-84	14-25	18-19	44	24	5	2	13	110

New York Knicks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Stephon Marbury	43	14-28	3-8	4-6	4	11	1	0	4	35
Allan Houston	39	9-17	3-7	5-5	3	4	0	0	2	26
DerMarr Johnson	27	4-8	0-3	2-2	5	2	1	0	1	10
Tim Thomas	17	4-5	1-1	3-3	3	0	0	0	1	12
Dikembe Mutombo	36	1-7	0-0	1-1	12	2	0	5	1	3
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Kurt Thomas	31	7-10	0-0	0-0	6	1	1	1	0	14
Anfernee Hardaway	29	1-8	0-3	0-0	4	2	2	1	2	2
Mike Sweetney	12	1-2	0-0	2-2	4	1	0	0	0	4
Frank Williams	5	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	3	0	1	0	2
Vin Baker	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shandon Anderson	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Nazr Mohammed	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		42-87	7-22	17-19	41	26	5	8	11	108

Ray Allen was simply dominant! He filled up the stat sheet and shot 60% from deep. He sparked the Sonics comeback in the 3rd quarter and hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers down the stretch to put the Knicks away. After the game DerMarr Johnson commended Ray on his great performance: "He's clutch. Nobody on our team could really contain him, but I'm not knocking my teammates. That's no easy task. He's one of the best all-around scorers in the NBA. When we meet during the season we'll get them back."

[VincentB]

After two weeks of preseason basketball, there were definitely a few surprises. Many people may take this with a grain of salt, but a couple of teams have showed immediate improvement over last season.

While the Cavaliers may have had a 2-4 record, rookie forward LeBron James didn't disappoint. Through six games he averaged 22.7 points per contest to go with 7.8 rebounds and 4 assists. Cavaliers head coach, Paul Silas had this to say about his young franchise player: "He's shown that he is both willing and able to lead this team. He's very unselfish and his feel for the game is excellent. He has a bright future ahead of him."

It seems as though Ray Allen has also elevated his game over the summer. In his first 6 games as a Supersonic, he averaged 30 points per game and 7 rebounds. In an article posted in the Georgetown Gazette, Ray Allen said that the transition to Seattle was an easy one. "We have some solid young players here on the Supersonics and my teammates have made it easy for me to score. Coach McMillan has named me one of the captains of the team and I believe that I can help us get to the playoffs."

Ironically the team that Ray Allen was on last year, the Milwaukee Bucks haven't skipped a beat, finishing the preseason with a record of 5-1. Michael Redd averaged 28 points per game on 55% shooting. It's highly unlikely that he will maintain that pace for an 82 game season, but who knows. With Keith Van Horn being out for 2 months he may need to put up ridiculous numbers.

The Denver Nuggets were the only team to finish undefeated, (6-0) and going into the regular season they have to feel confident. Carmelo carried Denver offensively averaging 26 and 6. "I'm just having fun and letting the game come to me. Coach Bzdelik has told me that he wants me to look for my shot and take over when I can" said Carmelo in a post game interview after scoring 32 to defeat the Utah Jazz (100-95) in their final preseason outing. So far it seems as though Carmelo and LeBron are the front-runners for Rookie Of The Year.

Opposite of the Nuggets, the Hornets were the only winless team in the preseason. Granted, they did have a few players out with injuries (Steve Smith and Jamaal Magloire) but they have lost each game by an average of 11 points. Despite this, New Orleans point guard Baron Davis remains upbeat. "Yes, we dropped a few games, but when the regular season starts the preseason will have been meaningless. We will be fine."

Injuries
Keith Van Horn - Bucks: Out for 2 months with a hernia
Reggie Miller - Pacers: Out for 40 days with a torn ligament
Vince Carter - Raptors: Out for 3 weeks with a broken foot
Robert Pack - Nets: Out for 19 days with patellar tendinitis
Travis Hansen - Hawks: Out for 2 weeks with a sprained ankle
Matt Carroll - Trailblazers: Out for 9 days with a sore wrist
Steve Smith - Hornets: Out for 1 week with a sprained ankle
Jamaal Magloire - Hornets: Out for 5 days with a sore knee

[VincentB]

On the eve of the 2003-04 NBA regular season, first year Knicks general manager, Drew Reid is excited. In an interview with ESPN, he was quoted stating the following: "We have definitely improved throughout the preseason. Both Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston are playing well and they look like they will form a formidable backcourt this year. I'm content with our team makeup, but I do plan on upgrading our wing players and reserves this upcoming offseason. With that being said, the current roster is set and I'm stoked about our game tomorrow night against the Sacramento Kings."