Where do we go from here?

[Sprewell-Houston]

Impossible to say, could be the conference finals or a first round exit, getting swept like last year.

We need more time that's for sure.

Lin needs experience, he's basically a rookie and last night it looked like he can't handle the playoff-type pressure defense yet.

Melo and Stoudemire need to be in top gear in order for us to make a deep playoff run.

Chandler needs to stay healthy, we need Shump to defend the best opposing guard and Baron Davis needs to find some kind of form, because right now he's doing a Mike Bibby impression.

[quiggle]

the problem here is that when Lin will reach his peak Melo will probably be decline.

[portega1968]

The way I see it, Heat were really tuned in to give us a lesson last night and Knicks were overwhelmed before they even got on the floor. Lin had an expression of shock all night, and 4 games in five nights definitely is a bad setup going against the top team in the east. You can see that passes were not crisp and Chandler was a step slower.

Next time, the Heat will be more confident and will let their guard down, and we will have worked out the kinks and be fired up to show them what we can do.

The adversity and struggles will make this team stronger. People need to stop yelling wolf every time we lose a game. It aint over till the fat lady sings. Staff will have a good look at the tapes and make the adjustments. Practice in the next couple of weeks will make us even better.

It was curious how we didnt use zone defense last night when we know that is a Miami weakness and the Knicks do a good job with the zone. I suspect Dantoni wants to keep that in the pocket until we face them in the playoffs, because using it now may allow them to learn from the mistakes.

[miked1958]

We'll do well enough to reach the playoffs and then get annihilated in the first round.

If you remember the Giants had some GREAT regular season games and also played some stinkers vs Seahawks, and twice vs skins. We didnt show up vs hornets and Nets. same kinda things..

Then the Giants in their 2 SB runs were beaten soundly by the higher up teams like GB and Dallas in 07 and This year they kinda stayed in those games vs GB and SF but still lost and were in midst of 4game losing streak and things didnt look good. Then you have the 2games vs Pats in 07 and 11. In which we lost in 07 but gained confidence and beat them in 11... I think we can continue to improve and take the good things out of the wins vs DC Dallas and the win over the Lakers. Also look at the Heat game and see what we did wrong and learn from it.

I would rather lose to them now then beat them when it counts. we only have to make the playoffs. The Giants Proved that again this season and in 07. You dont have to have the best record to make the playoffs. Ask TB, Dallas and GB of 07 and Falcons, GB and SF of 11 how that worked out for them.

[miked1958]

i think more then LIN being his 7th game in 10nights who was tired it falls more on our big 3.

Amare, Tyson and Melo have been in big games like that with their former teams. They didnt rise up and compete the way the should have in a game that huge. they were totally outplayed by Miami's big 3. I think together they scored just under 70 and our guys only put up a little over 40...

And worse at times it looked like our 3 didnt want to be out there just standing around acting like they were in a FOG.

Its not on LIN. it s more on those 3. I realize Melo has only been back a short time and Amare just over a week. but they looked bad.

also i am sure its been said but davis should have got the majority of the minutes and let Lin watch when it was clear in 3rd quarter that Lin just didnt have anything left in the Tank. Let Davis go out there and mix it up and get in the flow of game. He cant make an impact playing spot minutes like that.

[miked1958]

with all that said. I think this team can make an impact and make some noise in the playoffs. Just catch fire like the Giants have done.

Now i know what alot of you will say. Its alot different having to win a 1 playoff game against a 15-1 team vs having to go in and win a 5 or 7 game series. usually the better team will come out on top more times then not in that type situation. I just think if we can win a few emotional games it can steamroll and we can feed off it and then you just never know. Maybe there is another unlikely Victory Parade going down the Canon of Heros later this year.

[fender0577]

Someone said this in last nights game thread, these systematic subs have to stop, antoni needs to get a better feel for the game, c'mon man.There's no reason i should see Stat, Melo, TC, JR, all on the bench together, no reason.I know lin has been killing, but he looked like a deer in headlights last night, play BD, until lin calms down, not anotni, he basically feed him to the wolves.He has to balance out Lin, and BD's minutes our he's going to kill the poor kid.The only thing i see left to fix is coaching, he has all his pieces to his puzzle, now put the damn thing together MOA.

[p0nder]

I think this game shows us a lot of our limitations right now. We can destroy the hawks one night and get schooled by the Heat the next night.

The knicks need to come physically ready to play these top teams. After the ASW we have a tough 4 game stretch. The knicks should look to rebound well against these top teams for a real test of what being a good team requires. We know that we can run with the big boys, it's time to put our big boy shorts on and do it consistently. If we get though the likes of the spurs and the mavs with W's then confidence will be restored and we can start working on the chemistry.

Carmelo needs to go off for a big 30+ points game, that is the only way his shooting stroke and confidence will be returned. He loves being a top scorer and that is his strength. Lin needs to do as much as he can to facilitate this. Amar'es game is working itself back up and if he continues the way he has, by the time playoffs come around he will be beasting on teams. Hopefully with the return of Jorts Amar'e and Tyson can rest more often and that should help as well.

The rest during the ASW will be good for our team. Lin needs the rest and so does Amar'e, Tyson and shump. Surprisingly Fields seems to be one of the ones in better condition out there and doesn't appear to need the rest.

So from here we need to look for consistency. It's starting to click and you see some of the potential but we are not there yet, not by a long shot and the Heat game proves it. We still have some time before the playoffs so it's not a lost cause yet, just need to improve over these following weeks.

[BachaCho]

This loss and this matchup either win or loss was extremely helpful and big for us, you wanna know why? It was a matchup with the best NBA team in the league right now and what to expect and a taste of a extremely elite team

With that being said... Even though the Heat beat us by 14 I am not that impressed in what they were doing

-Lin was just plain scared and pressured because he was vsing the Heat thats plain and simple, but now he knows what its like to vs a very elite team and that wont happen like that again, he will look at the tapes and only improve after that

-Our other teammates were playing pretty bad, STAT had 6 TO's, Baron Davis didnt really play good, Fields was nonexistent really, Melo did eh really not enough plays for Melo

We had alot of turnover's against the best team in the league in scoring off turnovers and we only lost by 14... 14 is a pretty big number but its not discouraging because we were fighting the whole game

Heat is playing their best basketball ever according to Lebron and TBH i was really not that impressed in what they were doing, all of there shots were just landing, loose balls came to them, they had more energy obviously and it was in the Heat arena... these are not excuses but im just saying thats a big factor in why Lin was scared because we were playing in the Heat Arena and im sure it is pretty scary to be in there vsing the Heat for the 1st time lol

I truly believe the Knicks will be better then the Heat, were not better right now no way but after all-star break with practices and rest and beyond we are only going to get better... i have a feeling even though our schedule in March is tough, we will decimate our opponents besides like the Bulls and Heat

[Real NY Baller]

If the Knicks learn from their mistakes and learn to make real time adjustments in the games...we can go pretty far. The potential is there...it's just that it's hardly tapped in to. Time will tell...

[portega1968]

The Heat had a gameplan, it worked and now its our turn to make the adjustments.

Knicks didnt expect what went down. First the obvious: force Lin to go left. They would do this from the outset when Lin started to approach midcourt, and as soon as he was crossing they send Joel Anthony at him to shrink his working space and cloud his view, attacking his dribble. This having worked a number of times resulting in steals, he started to freak out and pick up his dribble when double teamed. Dantoni has to adjust our response to this. He needs to ensure that Lin is able to reach the 3point line near the right side without such difficulty, so he can see where everyone's at and start a PnR.

And on defense, for some reason we didnt zone defense the Heat, which is a clear weakness for them.

Now that we saw them at their toughest, team should be able to break it all down, understand the Heat gameplan entirely, identify how it can be exploited and practice solutions.

I'm confident the result of the next game will ne very different and in our favor.

[petescud]

Only way we beat the Heat is to play nearly as good defense as they do. And witnessed in last nights game, Joel Anthony was allowed to maul anyone near the basket and not get called on any fouls. I had Anthony fouled out at halftime, but i think the refs had called one or two fouls at that time. If you watch Wade, he also fouls out nearly every game by the 3rd qtr. Last night the refs had called 2 fouls on him.

I'm sorry, but the heat are a amazing team without the refs not calling any fouls on them. Did you see Lin's face in the first qtr. he seen it first hand. Mauling and no foul. I believe in great defense but i hate when teams are rreally good and they call the game in their favor with fouls

[sligoker]

I think they need time to gel, but there are obviously some major issues. In my mind ,the biggest is the play of Amare and it has nothing to do with Lin.