They’re 9-9, and pretty much as advertised. The Knicks have shown themselves to be an entertaining, competitive team that desperately needs to find some consistency and a steady third option. But, what do we know now that we didn’t know about the Knicks before the season started?
Amar’e really is good enough to carry a team. At the beginning of the season, Amar’e was extremely turnover prone and being asked to run isolation plays that seemed to expose his flaws. He was missing free throws. He simply seemed out of rhythm and perhaps not ready for the role he was being thrust in. But, as the season has gone on, he’s learned when not to force the issue, his post moves and abilities are coming along rapidly, he’s hitting big late game free throws (and threes), and he’s even making big defensive plays. He’s a willing leader and team spokesman, and he has an unwavering confidence that the rest of the team is riding on.
This team needs Turiaf in the lineup. Without him, the defense struggles immensely as both Amar’e and Chandler are forced to play and defend out of position. On offense, Turiaf plays within the system and moves the ball really well. He’s probably the smartest player on the team and brings much needed energy to the starting unit.
Gallo’s early struggles have helped him develop the rest of his game. Gallo hasn’t been inconsistent as much as just really bad for the first 8 or so games, and much, much better as the season has gone on. Gallo finally heard the demands that he start taking the ball to the basket more, and to use his mid-range game. As he’s done this he’s developed an incredible ability to draw fouls, rely less on the three, and become remarkably efficient on the offensive end.
Randolph looks like he’s never been coached. And maybe he never really has. It’s just bizarre. Hopefully he’ll get his chance and take advantage of whatever minutes come his way. I think most, including myself, penciled in a bigger contribution from AR.
Felton isn’t who we want him to be, but you know, he’s actually pretty darn good. Yeah, he has a really difficult time threading passes in the pick and roll, and considering Amar’e is an incredible PnR finisher in traffic, it’s really troubling. But Felton finally looks like a guy who is playing within himself and his strengths. He’s been aggressive and brings effort every night. He’s attacking and shooting well, and is proving to lead with his effort.
LOTS of interesting things going on around the league, but I’d be remiss to not begin the post with THIS!
Why, oh why, couldn’t we have had Marv Albert calling it: “OHHH, And Gallinari… with… the facial!!”
Continuing with the Marvisms: Have the Knicks ever, and I mean EVER, reached Extensive Garbage Time so early in a game?! Last night’s decimation of the Pacers was so spectacular, so ferocious, so complete that Jordan Hill, Toney Douglas, and Marcus Landry all got on the court at the beginning of the fourth quarter. D’Antoni literally could’ve pulled five random fans out of the stands to play the entire fourth quarter and the Knicks still would’ve won the game.
Quite simply, this is one of those games that gets coaches fired. Last year, the Knicks had a game in Sacramento where we steamrolled a listless Kings so embarassingly that Clyde remarked during the game, “Yeahhh, this is one of those games that gets coaches fired.” A few days later, Reggie Theus was axed. I know Larry Legend went on the record before the game to support O’Brien, stating that it’s the players not the coach who will be the first to go, but ‘yikes’…
Meanwhile, the Knicks’ team chemistry is at real high point. Lee, who I’ve always been weary of overrating, has been all-star calliber. He’s stepping into his 18 foot jump shot so confidently now, hitting at such a respectable clip, that he’s adding a nasty dribble-driving dimension to his game that I didn’t know he was capable of. Last night, he hit a turnaround J over Hibbert, where Hibbert shook his head in exasperation.
Additionally, Lee’s D has been really impressive, as has the whole team’s defensive effort galvanized by Jared Jeffries. I don’t think it can be understated how important JJ has been to the Knicks improved play this season. He’s going to get killed by guys like Hollinger for having a low PER, and by fans who can’t get over his awkward offensive game, but all I know is this: If I had the ball at the top of the key, the last thing I’d want to see is Jared Jeffries swinging his long ass arms wildly in my face. Yeah, Jared had one point last night, but it was a glorious one point along with some serious disruptive defensive effort, and smart offensive play.
Chandler has also turned around his season. Maybe his offseason surgery really set him back more than I’d recognized. All of the sudden, he’s taking it to the hoop, posting up, shooting more foul shots than three pointers. He deserves a lot of credit for the recent Knicks success, too. He and Jeffries have become quite a swat team tandem, too, double-up players in the post and making opposing teams miserable.
Is there tape of Gus Johnson calling Nate Robinson’s spectacular Atlanta game?
This has to be put on YouTube. Please. Someone. For now, this video sums it up pretty well. Favorite part of the vid — at the 1:10 mark, a shot of D’Antoni screaming for Robinson to run the offense, and Nate steps up and drains a three point dagger. Love it.
On the bell curve of NBA athleticism, Nate is clearly in the 100th percentile with Lebron James. It’s just shocking what he can do. But, just as rare is Nate’s ability to just go off — even after a 14 game layoff. I do like what Mike D had to say about Nate being ready,
“We pay these guys a lot of money to stay ready,” D’Antoni said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh boy, he stayed ready.’ ”He added, “I’m glad he did it, and he should’ve done it.”
Amen. (and, note to self, Eddy Curry). But, this was more than being ready. This was superhuman.
Will the Wizards void Arenas’ contract?
We all knew Gilbert was more than a little bit off, but this gun thing puts him into the Artest-a-sphere. WTF. Talk has it that Grunfeld is looking at ways to void Gilbert’s huge contract and I think he might be successful. Lord knows, NO ONE is trading for Gil’s 4 years and 80 mil. Really, I think this might have Sprewell choking Carlisimo ramifications. The image-conscious Stern is not likely to take this lightly.
Either way, the Bullets, er Wizards, have been such a massive disappointment this year that this had to be the final nail in the “time to blow up this team” coffin. Does Jamison land on the Cavs? Are the Heat interested in Caron Butler? There is some talent to be had on this team. All we need is for one trade before the trade dominos start to fall.
Will the Sixers waive Iverson, and official enter the John Wall sweepstakes?
Speaking of waiving players contracts, apparently the Sixers can waive Iverson soon so as not to have to pay him for the remainder of the season. Are the Sixers going to pull the plug on their season? Will they try to get rid of massive contract holding Elton Brand, at the expense of one of their better young players?
Cavs + Knicks = Rival schools, united by fate
Finally, if the Knicks manage to keep up their good play, take advantage of a weak January schedule playing 10 of 14 games against sub-.500 teams, and sneak into the playoffs, they’d potentially have a first round clash with… drumroll… The Cavs in the first round of the playoffs. Lebron has been laying some serious ass-wuppings on the Knicks the last few years. But, the prospect of Lebron playing playoff basketball at MSG leads to a LOT of interesting thoughts. Does Lebron get seduced by the awesomeness of MSG-playoff basketball? Does Lebron decimate the Knicks so badly that Lebron asks himself, “Why would I join this sorry squad?” Do the Knicks pull off an upset of major proportions against the Cavs, leading to Lebron thinking “If you can’t beat em, join em.” Lets hope the Knicks make it competitive and give Lebron something to yearn for.
Jonathan Bender is LONG. If he throws down one dunk in the same class as in this video, the signing will be well worth it. Very emotional soundtrack in the video, BTW.
And a sweet Gallo mix. When you throw a mix together of Danilo, he looks like the next coming of Larry Bird. At the very least, it puts Gallo’s very high skill level into perspective. Gallo gets a much more solid soundtrack to his vid.
I do. At least, I think I do. Certainly, some players are at least freezing him out on a subconscious level. How else can he be so open sometimes and get so few looks.
There has been a lot of talk about it recently as the playtime for the rookies, and in particular Danilo, has waned and ebbed. Some people are going so far as to say that Gallo is being frozen out by some of the other players, especially the vets. Alan Hahn wrote about it today.
My take on it is that guys like Nate and Harrington resent D’Antoni calling the unproven Danilo the best shooter on the team, if not best player. Clearly, Nate and Harrington are me-first players, anyway. Guys who only dish as a last resort. But, sometimes the way they ignore Gallo seems to go beyond any reasonable explanation. They simply don’t seem to have any confidence in him. The only reason I can think of for this lack of confidence is that they simply think they are better players than Danilo. All the more reason that I’d like to see Al and Nate gone.
Otherwise, I think lots of the problems stem from the fact that Duhon has started the season as the worst PG in the league. He only seems to be able to run the pick and roll with Lee, and even that’s come at diminishing returns since defenses know Duhon won’t shoot, thus collapsing on Lee and defending against other kick outs. Duhon just can’t find anyone besides Lee.
Defenses are also defending Gallo more aggressively. Some blame lies with him – he needs free himself up and come get the ball. But, really, SSOL isn’t about going to get the ball – it’s about the ball flowing and finding the open man. It all depends on 5 guys all being able to shoot. Right now, at best the Knicks have 2 guys on the floor at a time that can shoot. It just doesn’t work. Gallo tries so hard to play within this SSOL team concept. He sees it as a good thing if he is keeping defenses preoccupied with a defender, as it opens the floor up for others. He’s trying to be a good teammate. Unfortunately, others just aren’t getting it.
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