NYK 10: The Crossover

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Man I haven't been this hyped for a basketball game in a while. I was antsy all day! My impressions...

-T-Mac looked great. Especially for having not played in about 9 months. He shot well, he attacked the basket. He got to the line. He looked a little spotty on defense in the beginning, but he picked it up and was at the very least competitive throughout the game. He ran the pick and roll well with Lee a few times too, I expect this to pick up and McGrady's assists to rise.

-Eddie House had arguably an impact equal to McGrady's, if not better. He shot the lights out. I was so happy to see him make his first shot and then keep making them after that. His hustle was great, diving on the floor for loose balls. Hopefully some of that scrappyness he picked up on the Celtics rubs off on the rest of the team.

-Sergio Rodriguez looked very good out there too. He penetrated and got open looks for our shooters. His ballhandling isn't quite there yet, but he made some excellent passes and has good court vision.

-Chris Duhon only played 20 minutes.

On the downside...

-D'Antoni's screwy rotation. I thought we'd get to see some Toney Douglas out there considering Russell Westbrook ran circles around our entire defense. Then McGrady only played about the last 5 minutes in the 4th and all of two possessions in OT.

-Zero interior defense. I never realized how big an impact Efferies made until now. Westbrook, Harden, Durant, Green were getting whatever they wanted in the paint. Lee can't block shots or take charges. He might as well just wash their feet when they enter his house.

-Need bigs! We can't survive without another big man on the team. Free Candy may be listed at PF/C but he doesn't play there on either side of the ball. Bender is a 7'0 SF, he rarely steps food inside. Curry is always DNP-TOOFAT or whatever it is. We got killed on the boards, gave up 16 offensive rebounds.

-Chris Duhon played 20 minutes.

[Aces15]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Man I haven't been this hyped for a basketball game in a while. I was antsy all day! My impressions...

-T-Mac looked great. Especially for having not played in about 9 months. He shot well, he attacked the basket. He got to the line. He looked a little spotty on defense in the beginning, but he picked it up and was at the very least competitive throughout the game. He ran the pick and roll well with Lee a few times too, I expect this to pick up and McGrady's assists to rise.

-Eddie House had arguably an impact equal to McGrady's, if not better. He shot the lights out. I was so happy to see him make his first shot and then keep making them after that. His hustle was great, diving on the floor for loose balls. Hopefully some of that scrappyness he picked up on the Celtics rubs off on the rest of the team.

-Sergio Rodriguez looked very good out there too. He penetrated and got open looks for our shooters. His ballhandling isn't quite there yet, but he made some excellent passes and has good court vision.

-Chris Duhon only played 20 minutes.

On the downside...

-D'Antoni's screwy rotation. I thought we'd get to see some Toney Douglas out there considering Russell Westbrook ran circles around our entire defense. Then McGrady only played about the last 5 minutes in the 4th and all of two possessions in OT.

-Zero interior defense. I never realized how big an impact Efferies made until now. Westbrook, Harden, Durant, Green were getting whatever they wanted in the paint. Lee can't block shots or take charges. He might as well just wash their feet when they enter his house.

-Need bigs! We can't survive without another big man on the team. Free Candy may be listed at PF/C but he doesn't play there on either side of the ball. Bender is a 7'0 SF, he rarely steps food inside. Curry is always DNP-TOOFAT or whatever it is. We got killed on the boards, gave up 16 offensive rebounds.

-Chris Duhon played 20 minutes.

It doesn't matter either, Curry was never too much of a defensive presence down low and he definitely wouldn't be now. Excellent post.

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Well T-Mac did say his legs were shot in his post-game interview, so I guess I can't blame D'Antoni on keeping T-Mac out. 31 minutes was probably plenty for a guy who hasn't played more than 8 in almost a year.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Rodriguez is exactly the type of PG that we've always needed. Someone who can get in the lane and kick. Raymond Felton-ish. I love his game. He's the type of minimum contract player we need next year.

Check the Nate/Eddie House thread...I mentioned House is just eons more clutch than Nate could ever wish to be. I actually didn't realize he had a mid-range game/shot too .

Yeah, I know he's not going 20+ for the rest of the season...but we need those dead eye 3 point shooters.

Remember our winning streak from last year when we were just canning 3s.

As far as T-Mac, if D'Antoni can monitor his minutes, he'll be alright.

I'm just really disappointed in Harrington.

[econoodle]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Unfortunately Al Harrington is still on the team.

yep.
tyrus would have been sweet.

would have made lee expendable.
annnnd we would have a post presence.
wait, lee got 3 blocks!


yes this was a killer loss.
blew a 6 point lead with a minute left in reg.
4 point lead with a minute 30 in OT.

but there is an excitement.
wow the garden was rockin
can you IMAGINE lebrons debut??!

[mattlanta]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

So mad that DirecTV never shows NY games... I bought NBA League Pass thinking I would be able to watch the Hawks, Grizzlies, and Knicks! I don't have the MSG channel either.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

yep.
tyrus would have been sweet.

would have made lee expendable.
annnnd we would have a post presence.
wait, lee got 3 blocks!


yes this was a killer loss.
blew a 6 point lead with a minute left in reg.
4 point lead with a minute 30 in OT.

but there is an excitement.
wow the garden was rockin
can you IMAGINE lebrons debut??!

Please stop with the Tyrus Thomas talk.

When the trade winds were blowing earlier this year, Harrington was killing him. Wasn't even close as far as the 2 players go.

Tyrus is a garbage man IMO. Camby-like as you don't really draw anyything up for him but he can get you numbers here and there.

Al was pure buckets earlier this season. A chucker. But he was locked in for a good stretch.

And pump your brake on Tyrus making Lee expendable. I mean seriously. One of Donnie's best moves was not giving into the Bulls for Tyrus.

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Please stop with the Tyrus Thomas talk.

When the trade winds were blowing earlier this year, Harrington was killing him. Wasn't even close as far as the 2 players go.

Tyrus is a garbage man IMO. Camby-like as you don't really draw anyything up for him but he can get you numbers here and there.

Al was pure buckets earlier this season. A chucker. But he was locked in for a good stretch.

And pump your brake on Tyrus making Lee expendable. I mean seriously. One of Donnie's best moves was not giving into the Bulls for Tyrus.

You'd rather have Free Candy than Tyrus Thomas? I agree with Tyrus being a garbage man, but I'd much rather have that than Harrington. Offense hasn't been our problem. Maybe aside from lack of a go-to-guy, but Harrington is overkill in that position. He has tunnel vision, puts his head down and tries to spin to the basket through double teams all the time.

I'll take the zero offense, rebounding, and shotblocking of Tyrus Thomas over the chucking of Al "Free Candy" Harrington. Especially after watching this last game.

And don't forget Lee was the same way minus shotblocking. Garbage guy, couldn't draw anything up for him. He developed a mid-range game, improved handles, mastered the pick and roll and voila! All-Star!

[Pared]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Good god it sure is exciting to look forward to Knicks games again!

[DiceMan]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Amen Pared....good to see Mike D make the switch to Sergio starting tonite.

[ricanbxbomba]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Loving the fact Duhon has 0 mins in playing time coming into the 3rd.

Wow.. we need a center.. bring any tall player from the D-League or something.

[Jeffx]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

It was great seeing some of the sports heroes from my youth last night - the 1969-70 NBA Champion Knicks. Unfortunately they had to see the slop that's the current Knicks. No size, can't rebound, can't defend, no boxing out, and David Lee got owned by Andrew ****ing Bogut. What an embarassment. I've seen 37 years of ineptitude(is there any team with a worse draft history/bad contracts than the Knicks?). I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll be in the grave before this team wins another title, especially with Dolan in charge, the worst owner in the NBA. Oh well, at least I saw the first two.

Walsh is taking a major gamble, but I guess he has no choice. If he fails, we're done for another decade.


Here's where it all went wrong for our beloved Knicks(from wiki)....

Post-Patrick Ewing era decline

Despite the loss of Ewing, the Knicks remained successful in the regular season, as they posted a 48–34 record. In the NBA playoffs, however, they fell in five games to the Toronto Raptors, failing to get past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Soon, the Knicks began suffering through a steep decline. After starting the season 10–9, the team was stunned on December 8, 2001 by the sudden resignation of Van Gundy. The team, which named longtime assistant Don Chaney as their new head coach, ended up with a 30–52 record, and for the first time since the 1986–87 season, they did not qualify for the playoffs.

The Knicks attempted to improve during the 2001–02 season by initiating a number of trades and free agent signings. Among these included acquiring guards Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley, both of whom carried expensive, long-term contracts. These moves were criticized by many analysts and Knicks fans, as it was considered that not only were these players overpaid in light of their recent performances, but also because the contracts took up valuable salary-cap space. Such trades heavily contributed to the Knicks sky-rocketing payroll, which would burden them in the years to come. The Knicks improved slightly in 2002–03 but still delivered a disappointing season, posting a 37–45 record and failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second straight season.


Arrival of Isiah Thomas and Stephon Marbury

After a 15–24 start to the 2003–04 season, the Knicks underwent a massive overhaul. Isiah Thomas was named the Knicks' president on December 22, 2003 after the firing of Scott Layden, and eventually replaced Don Chaney with Lenny Wilkens behind the bench. At the same time, Thomas orchestrated several trades, including one that brought point guard Stephon Marbury to the team. The team seemed to have good chemistry following the Marbury trade as he executed the pick and roll successfully with the team's two jump-shooting big men, Keith Van Horn and Michael Doleac. However, that chemistry unravelled when the latter two were traded in a three team trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks, bringing in Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammed. The team qualified for the playoffs that year with a 39–43 record, but were swept by the New Jersey Nets in the first round. The series included a much publicized spat between the Knicks' Tim Thomas and Nets' Kenyon Martin, in which Thomas challenged Martin to a fight in the newspapers and called him "Fugazy".


2004–05

The Knicks fared worse in the 2004–05 season, as they ended up with a 33–49 record. Wilkens resigned during the season, and Herb Williams served as interim coach for the rest of the season. During the off-season, the team signed Larry Brown to a five-year contract worth about $50 million, hoping he would lead the Knicks back to the NBA playoffs.


2005–06

In the summer before the season, the Knicks acquired two centers. Jerome James was signed for the Mid-Level Exception for five years plus a one-year player option. Later, Chicago Bull Eddy Curry, who reportedly had a worrying heart condition, was refusing to take a controversial heart test, and was on the outs with John Paxson, Chicago's General Manager. The Bulls signed-and-traded him to the Knicks along with Antonio Davis for Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney, the Knicks 2006 first round pick, and the right to swap first-round picks with the Knicks in 2007, as well as 2007 and 2009 second-round picks. Isiah Thomas did not lottery-protect the picks, and the Knicks forfeited the second pick in the 2006 draft, and the ninth in the 2007 draft. The Knicks' payroll was the highest in the league at over $130 million, but the team finished the season with the second worst record in the NBA, just behind the Portland Trail Blazers, having finished the 2005–06 season with a dismal 23–59 record and capped off with the firing and $18.5 million buy-out of coach Larry Brown.

Over the last two years, Thomas' trades have been highly criticized, bringing in expensive players, such as Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Jerome James, Malik Rose, Jalen Rose, and Steve Francis. Moreover, Thomas has also accepted many bad contracts to make these trades, such as those of Penny Hardaway, Jerome Williams and Maurice Taylor, and given up draft picks. To Thomas' credit, his draft picks of David Lee, Trevor Ariza (later traded by Thomas), Nate Robinson, and Wilson Chandler are considered wise, as was his signing of free-agent center Jackie Butler, who later signed with the Spurs. Conversely, many considered his 2006 first-round draft pick of Renaldo Balkman very foolish, although Balkman's better-than-expected play in his rookie season led many to initially reverse this early sentiment before his play regressed in his second season.

Numerous anti-Knick websites have sprung up, most notably SellTheKnicks.com, who organized a march on Madison Square Garden, the home of the draft, to protest Dolan's "abysmal" management of the Knicks' players and coaching staff.

[ehh]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

We won't be "done for another decade", not with the cap flexibility we have and with Walsh making decisions. We may not win a title but we should be a consistent playoff team starting in the next year or two.

[Pared]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Let's pretend last night didn't happen.

[Jeffx]

Re: NYK 10: The Crossover

Let's pretend last night didn't happen.

It's a disgrace Marv Albert wasn't invited, but you know Brain-Dead-Dolan had something to do with that.