Game Thread: New York Knicks vs Portland Trail Blazers (2014/12/07)

Thanks for the great game thread. Dropped 7 in a row and all losing streaks must come to an end, but hard to imagine we can snipe a team like Portland with how we can't play 4 effective quarters. But, you never know. Let's go Knicks!

The Knicks are gonna win by 24.

Held our own in the 1st quarter, but more in the 'maybe we can keep this close' than in the 'maybe we can win this one' kind of way.

This version of the Knicks team shares the ball so much better than recent prior incarnations, still, our offense is so inconsistent.

The Cavs in town to play the Nets tomorrow and Lebron is in attendance at our game tonight. You can't tell me Lebron wasn't drawn by the lure of playing at MSG at some point, if only we had something, anything, to make him think we could have a built a championship team around him...but we didn't, not even close.

Offense/shooting definitely there in the 1st half, but defense was suspect. Are we primed up for another close loss? I guess we'll see. Let's go Knicks!

Mind-boggling that J.R. doesn't drive often every game.

Another good effort, but whatever, we lose again. What else is new? Lottery ball rolls on.

Stat played 36 and had a double/double. You can pretty much rule out getting Gasol or Aldrich so if Phil can convince Stat to give the Knicks a home town discount for a 3 year deal that might fill a hole at PF/C. If there were no concerns about his health he would be worth 6-10M the way he's playing now. I think we'll have enough cap space to pay him the full MLE so maybe he takes that even if he's offered more somewhere else.

JR with a (key) late turnover. Melo missed 3 shots down the stretch. We couldn't get a stop. Another comeback falls just short.

-We can show potential free agents how we were in every game... tee-hee... but lost it at the end... wink-wink... so we could land a top draft pick.

-THjr is starting to get into a consistent groove.

12/15 is a week from tomorrow. WE NEED TO DUMP JR ASAP. Give those minutes to develop THjr and "showcase" Shump.

Here's a list of free agents this Summer: Obviously, Gasol-Dragic are the prize... toss in a Henderson or Harris plus either Monroe or Jefferson... NOW WE ARE TALKING

Paul Mislap, R-Rondo, B-Lopez, Gerald Henderson, Al Jefferson, K-Love, T-Chandler, Greg Monroe, Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan, Amar'e, Bargnani, Dalembert, Boozer, Marc Gasol, Deng, Wade, Lebron, Granger, Asik, T-Young (?), Kendrik Perkins, Tobias Harris, G-Dragic, L-Aldridge, T-Robinson, R-Gay,D-Green, A-Daye, A-Johnson.

AS YOU SEE... tons of BIG MEN to snag. The question is PG. Rondo or Dragic. Both will probably take less money to leave their current situations. This is where we have to be all in. I want Gasol, but unless NY-Calderon-PJax can sway him, then we are doomed. He loves Memphis and they pay the most money... But, maybe, Dragic or Rondo, plus 2 bigs (Asik, Monroe, Jordon, Milsap, Jefferson) is better than just Gasol.

Imagine: Dragic or Rondo plus Monroe and Jefferson with T-Harris. BOOM. Toss in a lottery pick to go with cap space next summer... We are golden.

So, do not fret the Ls this season. We need to stink... only way to guarantee we get a stud in July is to get a top 10 pick.

Here's a question for you guys. If I told you the Knicks would be off to their worse start ever under Phil Jackson would you have endorsed Dolan hiring Jackson? Or would you be in the camp of the Knicks have to get worse to get better.

I'm pretty disappointed with the start of the PJ era, the golden boy ain't so golden and I suspect it'll be a failure just like the Isaiah Thomas years.

its not only PJ, fisher is new too, and for some reason, since I don't know how many seasons the coaches are failing to find a starting lineup. isn't that strange.... they keep going to the rookies who give us flashes of hope, but I guess they are damaging the chemistry. isn't it better to have a stable rotation? ok, I can try one player, but not keep changing every game....

The Dragon said:

its not only PJ, fisher is new too, and for some reason, since I don't know how many seasons the coaches are failing to find a starting lineup. isn't that strange.... they keep going to the rookies who give us flashes of hope, but I guess they are damaging the chemistry. isn't it better to have a stable rotation? ok, I can try one player, but not keep changing every game....

Click to expand...

I did say that before the season began for the Knicks to get off to a good start they needed to come out of camp with a set rotation otherwise we might struggle. Struggling is being kind.

DFish said he would like to play a rotation of 9/10 players but that nobody has separated themselves for him to do that. That's BS IMO, I'd rather see him lose with a consistent group of guys than this jumble of lineups he plays every night.

Phil Jackson: Knicks have a ?loser?s mentality?
December 8, 2014 by Steve DelVecchio


The New York Knicks are off to an abysmal 4-18 start to the season, and Phil Jackson doesn?t think his team?s struggles have anything to do with a lack of talent.

According to the Zen Master, the Knicks have the physical tools needed to win games. They just think like losers.

?It?s about a loser?s mentality,? Jackson said Monday, per Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. ?It?s not about the skill or the talent level.?

The Knicks lost their eighth consecutive game on Sunday. Despite all the losses, New York isn?t getting blown out. Their last four losses have been by five points or fewer. That?s little consolation for a team that has just four wins more than a month into the regular season.

?Obviously, we?re disappointed,? Jackson added. ?? I think guys understand what we?re trying to do. Hopefully, they?re getting to be more compliant. There?s some resistance to discipline and order and culture change and things like that. I will call it a crucible for what we?re going through here. The process, maybe the heat, is going to refine some of the stuff so that we come out and be a pretty good team after all is said and done.?

Jackson signed a five-year deal to serve as the president of the Knicks, so I?m sure he didn?t expect to come in and dominate the Eastern Conference right away. That said, the Knicks have been so bad that even the commissioner hasn?t been able to resist having fun at their expense. Things can?t get a whole lot uglier in New York than they are at the moment.

It's funny how people keep saying it can't get any worse, but it totally could be worse. We could be losing every game by 30 points instead of close games on final shots and the like the last few weeks. This team is competing right now, but if we don't start getting some wins, I wonder how long that will last. We are tied for most losses in the NBA right now, so you can argue we are one of the 2 worst teams in the NBA (at best, worst 3). Teams doing that poorly eventually stop showing up to play. Not sure how PJ and Fisher would handle it if that happened. Not sure I want to find out.