The Knicks ended 2011 on a very positive note blowing out the Sacramento Kings 114-92 in the former Arco Arena. It completed a 3 game West coast swing (the only one for the Knicks this season) that saw the Knicks go 1-2. Mark Herrmann of Newsday said that Josh Harrellson’s presence in place of an injured Amar’e Stoudemire was huge. Frank Isola of the Daily News also gave props to Landry Fields and Toney Douglas along with the neophyte, Harrellson. Howard Beck of the New York Times said that the surprising thing about last night’s convincing win was this: the Knicks clutch scorer was Tyson Chandler (22 pts, 7 Reb, 3 blocks). Meanwhile in related Knick news, Time Warner subscribers will be Knick and Ranger-less in the New Year after the cable provider could not reach a deal with MSG Networks on a new deal according to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times. Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee said that the youngest team in the NBA looked tired and listless and many were growing frustrated with Paul Westphal’s offense. Not good.
Great win by the Knicks. Given the state of the Knicks and how they played in their last two games it was nice to see another team give up late in the game. The Knicks went on a 19-2 run in the first quarter and really NEVER looked back and held a double digit lead throughout the game. Here’s what I liked about the Knicks last night:
– Interior passing- How many times did Landry Fields cut and wind up right underneath the basket for an easy lay in? It seemed almost throughout the first quarter and the fourth he was having his way offensively. Landry was flying throughout the court and it was interesting to see how much more confidence he showed without Amar’e on the court. Landry was flying for offensive boards and he recorded 5 rebounds (2 offensive) to go with his 21 points most of which was done thanks to his constant cutting and great ball movement by the Knicks. The Knicks made a concerted effort to go to the hoop once their shots stopped falling. The Knicks were intent on getting to the line and making the Kings have to guard close to the basket and finally the Knicks took advantage of their size and got inside the paint and scored. I loved how the Knicks constantly had flow to the offense finding guys open for shots that were falling and that was the difference.
– Great shooting night. Again, a team this talented will have nights where their shots aren’t falling and collectively having that is detrimental. However, tonight when their shots became non-effective and began to make questionable decisions the Knicks went back in to the paint area and found easy points right under the basket. This was because of constant movement by the guards, and not as much standing around and looking and waiting for one of their superstars to make plays. It was rather interesting to see how good this team can be when they make plays without having the shot fall in.
– Killer Instinct- The Knicks came in knowing they were the better team and they played like it. No Amar’e. No problem. Yes the Kings are inexperienced but think about this, the Knicks got that huge lead with NOTHING from Carmelo Anthony for the first 18 minutes of playing time. His first points of the night were at the 6:08 mark of the 2nd quarter. The Knicks stepped on the Kings and kept stepping showing the kind of grit that great teams must have. I loved the two hard fouls by both Bibby (Which got called a flagrant when it shouldn’t have) and the one by Melo to deny easy shots by the Kings. The Kings were terrible at the charity stripe and part of a smart foul is also knowing that the person you are fouling is TERRIBLE at the free throw line. The Kings shot a collective 63.4% from the line (26 for 41). They had 14 more attempts than the Knicks but the Knicks were smarter and also hit 88.9% of their free throws (24 for 27). The Kings had some runs where they almost got it to single digits but the Knicks were fervent and persistent in the paint and got timely buckets. In the second half they shot from the three only when they were leading by 20 or more showing that they were playing the game the right way. Get the easy buckets when you can get them. The Knicks constantly went into the post area where they knew the Kings had a lack of size (a majority of the time Tyson Chandler was being guarded by 6-6 Chucky Hayes).
– Josh Harrelson, Landry Fields and Toney Douglas- For the Knicks to be successful these guys MUST be active in the offense and active defensively and all three were both. Harrellson was probably the most effective in one particular light: he showed range from3. IF he can do that then that second unit becomes that much more effective. Hear me out: once Iman Shumpert returns (he and Jared Jeffries are being re-evaluated Monday after working out yesterday prior to the game) Shumpert’s ability to drive to the hoop will make it that much more dangerous if Harrellson all 6-10 are hitting those shots from long range because that draws the big men away from the basket which again gives the Knicks big man the ability to leap over the guards and forwards who will be left trying to get the rebound. Especially when you have 6-7 Carmelo and 6-7 Fields looking for the offensive boards and that’s where the Knicks must improve. Harrellson and that three point shot, if he’s hitting it with regularity, will be so key for the Knicks moving forward. Landry was a revelation tonight. He played with such confidence. Cutting under the basket at will and actively looking to make plays that it was like watching first half 2010-2011 Landry rather than the timid guy who finished the year after the Carmelo trade. He was playing with the kind of confidence that makes you believe that once he understands and gets his role down on this Knick team, and it will be interesting to see how he plays once Amar’e comes back, if he can continue how much more dangerous he becomes.
But all of that won’t matter if Toney Douglas can’t hit a man cutting to the basket on time. Peter Vecsey was all lady gaga over the passing prowess of the Spanish Pistol Ricky Rubio that he was daydreaming about Rubio in a Knick jersey running the D’Antoni offense and if you saw that game (which i didn’t by the way) against the Heat 12 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, one can only wish that the Timberwolve coaching staff didn’t ultimately grab every point guard with a pulse in that draft. Rubio even told the Timberwolves that if they drafted him he would not report to the team and held out for two years before finally coming back and signing to a two year deal. But I digress, the Knicks point guard situation is probably the most tenable and the one causing the most panic for Knick fans. What can possibly make Douglas better? Other than playing time and more time breaking down footage of himself with trainers and coaches? Lord only knows but one thing is for certain- the Knick point guard played a helluva lot better. Creating for teammates and also handling the pick and roll pretty well on four separate occasions. He found Tyson Chandler twice on easy alley oops that if you squinted your eyes you may have seen an actual point guard playing for the Knickerbockers. Was that Baron Davis? No. Douglas’ growth will be one for Knick fans (minus you unlucky Time Warner folk) to ponder and point at and constantly berate over Twitter. One thing for certain is that it will take time. Douglas can not be blamed in my estimation for his lack of flow as a point guard since the last two years in this system he’s been used sparingly at the point. This year expecting Toney to understand the nuances of the point guard position when he hasn’t really played it his entire career is unfounded criticism and I admit I’ve been guilty of this as well. Douglas’ time spent on the court creating for teammates and guiding his fellow mates into proper positions on the court is an on the fly stewardship which will see ups and downs but count last night as an open book exam in which he was able to use the Kings as practice for his eventual major exam against a worthy foe.
– Defense, defense, defense- Again, the energy on the defensive end has been the only constant for this Knick group and its exciting to watch guys with their hands up denying cutters the ball. The Knicks were great on help. Great on rotating. Great on d’ing up and great on not leaving their feet when they didn’t have to or falling for the ol pump fake. I remember an NBA TV show where Chris Webber talked about the first time he realized he had lost his original sin (i mean Skill), was when he double pumped with nobody around him. The double pump should only be employed when you have a man draped around you. NOT to fake a guy who’s only eventually rotating to you. You’re basically inviting the contested shot. The Knicks were excellent in the low post denying guys the opportunity for put backs which the Kings had plenty since the Knicks were once again paid customers as the rebounds went to the opponents. Love the energy and love the way that the stars, especially Carmelo is playing with. He’s obviously out there to destroy the myth that he can’t play defense. Again, its going to take work and effort and a lot of practice time and added attention to that area but once he has it, Melo will be listed as one of the top 5 players in the game. Right now his defensive inability makes him fall out while his offensive game gets all the due and praise it should.
Melo- Looked like he was headed towards a slow night where his shot was off again. That’s when he committed to go head on to the hoop and got the line using his superstar status and his ability to put on moves. The Knicks were led by their subs today but then you look up at the final box score and you see Melo’s line and you just shake your head. He ALWAYS puts up numbers even when it looks like he doesn’t. Great players always do. Headed to a 28-7-7 this season. If the Knicks go deep and win one of the top seeds he’s in the MVP discussion.
What I didn’t like:
– Rebounding- 51-43 edge overall but ESPECIALLY on the offensive glass where the Kings outrebounded the Knicks 22-17, though some of that blame can be given to the fact that the Kings were missing a lot more shots than the Knicks and alot of loose bounds were carroming right into surprised arms of the Kings. I’m not making excuses here but they just were. However I did see some extra effort on plays especially by Josh Harrellson who recorded his first double double of his young NBA career with a 14 point 12 rebound night. His second chances and ability to create new possessions for the Knicks were pretty awesome to see. The Knicks rebounding continues to be because of poor technique. The Knicks jump a second late almost everytime and seem to not have any clue about boxing out. The Knicks look flat when they don’t come away with the rebound and they are left just watching and star gazing. THATs where the Knicks need to improve and we saw effort last night that we hadn’t seen in the first four games combined.
– Jerome Jordan and Jeremy Lin- Not the way you wanna play if you want to get into the rotation. A few nights ago I, like many Knick fans were calling for Lin to come in JUST to see the young guy play. He played just under 4 minutes and got four fouls. Jordan came to spell Tyson Chandler after he picked up three quick fouls but was largely ineffective and drew some very stupid fouls. Need to see more aggressiveness out of that group especially if the Knicks need them to step up like they did with Jerome Jordan. I’ve always said: one thing you can’t teach is size. Jordan’s size is a valuable addition and yes, at 25, he’s virtually a rookie.
Now come the links:
ESPN’s Marc Stein runs down the year in numbers with the simple NIKE theme: Basketball Never stops.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo sports wonders aloud exactly what constitutes a Performance Enhancing Drug?
I found this article really interesting in one sense. Everytime there seems to be an answer to a problem it seems the crooks get smarter and find another loophole. And thus, the loophole. Look, I dont know if its good, if it works or if its legal but we do know one thing: players will ALWAYS look for that edge and if this doesn’t prove that- what does? It also shows that the best athletes in the sport, ones who will do anything to remain competitive, will do what it takes to stay relevant. Also doesn’t it make sense that Kobe and A-Rod are friends?
Clipper Darrell, the ultimate Clipper fan reveals to the world: Why the Clippers?
SB Nation’s Bomani Jones writes why Cam Newton SHOULD NOT have given racists a free pass.
I get that racism is a hot button issue and always will remain for my lifetime anyway. I think racism defers everytime people read into a sheet filled with an African American’s skill set. It always reads athletic, powerful and everything else that relates to his physical prowess however when it comes time to measure intangibles and his ability to read coverage and make complex reads it seems they indict the player on his intelligence and suddenly the race card comes up which brings us to Cam Newton. I wrote in my season preview that I thought Cam would have more rush yards than Vick this year. Now, people were confused as to why that was. I loved Newton’s offensive line. His running game. And his receivers in general. The Eagles had a terrible offensive line filled with inexperience. Did I see Newton passing for more than 4000 yards? No. I felt that Cam would rely on his legs more than his arm and that’s not an indictment on his ability to read coverages, its just that the pro game is quicker and many times rookies lean on their natural ability and nobody would’ve blamed Cam for that. But he stood in there and understood what it took to be great in this league and it seems that he has every single tool necessary to become a super star. He hates losing. He makes plays and he has an insatiable hunger to learn. Those are things that can not be taught. They have to come from within. Whatever made other black QB’s not successful don’t apply to Cam because there are more first round white QB’s who failed than one of color.
What’s Cam’s upside? He can be the greatest QB ever. That should be the discussion. I hope its not some dubious category like greatest black QB or greatest mobile QB. Either way, race should not be brought up or similar racial lines should not be the ones that we use to compare. Hopefully society has progressed since then.
Oh and there’s some game on tonight for all the marbles. For your information I predict the Jets win today but don’t wind up in the playoffs.
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