Knicks - 40

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
How the Knicks get to 40 wins

by RICH SANTONOCITO on 29. OCT, 2010 in KNICKS

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I predicted that the Knicks would win 40 games this season. After taking a closer look at how the Knicks could get to that 40-win mark, it doesn?t seem as easy as I thought.

Here is a W-L team-by-team group breakdown of how the Knicks can get to 40 wins:

New Jersey Nets: 3-1
Toronto Raptors: 3-1
Cleveland Cavaliers: 3-1
Indiana Pacers: 3-1
Philadelphia 76ers: 3-1
Washington Wizards: 2-1
Detroit Pistons: 2-1
Charlotte Bobcats: 2-1

*Note: By breaking teams into groups, it leaves room for error in predicting the record against each individual team. For instance, the Knicks could go 4-0 against the Raptors and 2-2 against the 76ers, but the record against the group doesn?t change.*

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In 29 games against those nine Eastern Conference teams combined, the Knicks should be 21-8. This group of teams is the key. These are games the Knicks have to win to get to that 40-win mark. If the Knicks really kick it into another gear, hopefully they will sweep the season series? against some of these teams like the Wizards, Pistons and Nets. The more wins the Knicks get against these eight teams, the more likely they are to reach the 40-win mark. At best, I could envision the Knicks going 24-5 against these eight teams, but that is a tall, tall task to ask for.

Minnesota Timberwolves, L.A. Clippers, Sacramento Kings & Memphis Grizzlies: 6-2

Add in a 6-2 record against four of the lesser Western Conference teams and the Knicks should be 27-10 in those 37 games.

Orlando Magic: 0-4
Miami Heat: 0-4
Boston Celtics: 1-3
Atlanta Hawks: 2-2
Milwaukee Bucks: 2-2
Chicago Bulls: 1-2

A 6-17 record against top Eastern Conference foes puts the Knicks at 33-27 and hovering above the .500% mark.

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This means that to hit the 40-win mark, the Knicks will have to go 7-15 against the Portland Trailblazers, L.A. Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz, all Western Conference teams.

Can they do it?

If the Knicks take care of business against ?beatable? teams, they should have a fighting chance at getting to 40 wins. And by saying ?take care of business?, I mean sweeping some of the season series against the so-called ?beatable teams?. Like I said in the intro, it?s easier to say 40 wins than find them on the schedule. The Knicks are going to have to get on some hot streaks and win more than six games against the better Easter Conference teams.
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LJ4ptplay

Starter
That is really interesting. Good find, Crazy.

Just saying the Knicks can win 40 makes it sound easy. Looking at how they do it is different. Definitely going to be more difficult than I thought. At some point in the year they're going to have to get on a hot streak and win a lot of games in a row, even against tough teams.
 

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
Thought I'd bump this thread after not only tonight's win, but as a reference to collate any Knick banter that's going on regarding our record.

Before you continue, be sure to read the initial article for a better sense of where the Knicks are, were and are headed. It's a very decent read.

ESPN's resident teste, John Hollinger, had this to say recently.

hollinger_john_35.jpg
John Hollinger
(Insider), in a discussion of the whole league (which includes noteworthy mocking of Wolves GM David Kahn), says to expect things to cool off a bit over the remainder of the season for the Knicks:
At 19-14 so far, the Bockers project to go just a game over .500 the rest of the way, largely because the schedule gets more difficult. New York has played the league's fourth-easiest schedule thus far, but that changes starting now. The Knicks' next five games in particular -- home versus San Antonio:whatever:, at Phoenix (winnable), at Lakers, at Portland(winnable), at Utah(winnable) -- make it likely they'll be dancing within a game or two of .500 for most of the season before an April stretch of patsies lets them close on a high note.

Additionally, I would submit the Knicks aren't as good as their current record for another reason -- they've outscored the opposition by only 0.9 points per game, which normally would leave a team just a game or so above .500 at this point in the season.

Margin of victory, it's worth noting, has the track record of being a better predictor of future success than won-loss record ... so ignore it at your peri

Ignore the condescendance and snobbery from this sphincter, and he does have a point about the margin of victory.

We need to step up the D.

Solution: Some would say Verajao, some Iguodala, some a new coach. Personally, I think Verajao would be good, but the contract that incurs is not. No to Iggy. And D'Antoni, if it is the case and he REALLY (I say really because I've only heard speculative comments about it) doesn't coach defence, then there needs to be a shake up with the assistant staff.

Thoughts, gentlemen?

http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/23575/john-hollinger-predicts-knick-mediocrity
 

BleedOrange&Blue

Benchwarmer
Thought I'd bump this thread after not only tonight's win, but as a reference to collate any Knick banter that's going on regarding our record.

Before you continue, be sure to read the initial article for a better sense of where the Knicks are, were and are headed. It's a very decent read.

ESPN's resident teste, John Hollinger, had this to say recently.

hollinger_john_35.jpg
John Hollinger

Ignore the condescendance and snobbery from this sphincter, and he does have a point about the margin of victory.

We need to step up the D.

Solution: Some would say Verajao, some Iguodala, some a new coach. Personally, I think Verajao would be good, but the contract that incurs is not. No to Iggy. And D'Antoni, if it is the case and he REALLY (I say really because I've only heard speculative comments about it) doesn't coach defence, then there needs to be a shake up with the assistant staff.

Thoughts, gentlemen?

http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/23575/john-hollinger-predicts-knick-mediocrity

Hollinger is a glorified stats geek, who in my opinion rarely makes correct predictions so listen to him at your own peril. As for the point about point differential, the Knicks aren't dominating teams the way the the Celtics, Spurs and Heat have, which tells me we do not have a killer instinct and a shut you down mentality as we often squander leads at the end of games.

Our Defense is not actually that terrible as we get an athletic and scrappy bunch, the problem here is rebounding as we ae getting beat up on the boards nearly every game. An example would be wen Big Z got 12 points and 9 rebounds in the first quarter against us, completely outworking Amar'e who was preoccupied with protecting the rim from Wade and Lebron. Now that Turiaf comes in for Gallo, we are a much better rebounding team and were able to limit San Antonio's second chance points while managing to score 128 points. Clearly Gallo's offense is overrated as we were extremely efficient without him.

The solution here kiddies is not to trade Gallo and Co. for Carmelo, but rather trade him and whoever else for a true center like a Jvalee Mcgee, Tyson Chandler or Marc Gasol to move players to their natural position. The following team will be solid defensively while all fitting into an uptempo system while still being damn good in half court sets come playoff time.

PG Ray Most Improved Player of the Year
SG Fields Eastern Conference Rookie of the year
SF Chandler Most Underrated Play of the Year
PF STAT MVP
C Tyson Chandler - The Missing Piece

Turiaf 6th Man
 
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