No. That's not what I'm referring to. I'm referring to what I've been saying for weeks. We need to post Melo and create some space. We can't continue to get him the ball on the perimeter.
But in the majority of instances it's an isolation and we don't optimise off of the double teams. It's still not a part of the offence in the sense that it should be.
First 5 game win streak under the STAT n MELO era; the first of MANY more to come!!!!!
Melo? Playing like an MVP right now!
Great defensive effort & production tonight guys. 4th was a scary quarter but we played well enough during 3 full quarters to hold em off. Brand was contained during the 2nd half.
The Philadelphia 76ers (40-38, 6th in the East) face off against our New York Knicks (39-38, 7th in the East!!!)
In Philly, where even the rims hang sideways...
Tonight the Knicks go into Philly to try and regain a hold on the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs! With a loss tonight they will drop back down to .500 on the season, but the Knicks are on a roll right now winning 4 straight. Who will emerge victorious tonight?
The Knicks come into Philadelphia this Wednesday night looking to extend their longest win streak since the blockbuster trade that has revamped, rejuvenated and reinvented the face of New York basketball. After a shaky start the Knicks have won 4 on the bounce, beating off the streaking Orlando Magic, and putting the demons to bed with decisive wins over Cleveland and New Jersey, who embarrassed the Knicks earlier this year.
Philadelphia return home tonight to try and get back on track after a loss to the division leading Celtics. This year has been unexpected for Philadelphia, finding extra production from the unlikely Elton Brand and their constant, solid Andre Iguodala. Brand however, is currently playing with a fractured hand. The Knicks will hope this deficit can help Stat to keep him under control.
Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni says the Knicks are looking to take the 6th seed back no matter what. "It's just something we want to do," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I don't know if it's important or not, I don't think we'll know until we look back on it, and you might not even know then. So it's just that tonight, they're playing well, (Philadelphia is a) hard team on the road, let's learn to try to win on the road, let's keep building on what we got."
On the road is key, with some players seeming to only show up under the bright lights of MSG. The Knicks will hope to build on four consecutive solid defensive performances at home and recreate that level of intensity without the backing of the rabid New York faithful.
New York finished a perfect four-game homestand with its second-best shooting performance of the season, a 57.7 percent effort in Tuesday's 131-118 win over Toronto. The Knicks had 78 points in their highest-scoring first half of the season, making 12 of 16 from beyond the arc in the first 24 minutes.
Toney Douglas made six 3-pointers and scored 28 points while Anthony had five 3s and 23 points.
"I thought we did a great job of getting the ball out fast, getting stops first and foremost, getting the ball out and running," Billups said. "Melo got hot obviously in that first half and he was rolling and we just kind of fed off his energy and his shots."
However the Knicks can't rely on those adrenaline 3's like they did against Toronto and certainly can't afford to let another huge fourth-quarter lead dwindle as they have done on so many occasions this year.
The Knicks currently trail the season series 1-2 and will certainly want to even the record with a team who the Knicks should be beating.
STARTING FIVE MATCHUPS
Chauncey Billups vs Jrue Holiday
Billups has just returned to form in perfect timing with his back-to-back solid performances in each of the Knicks home wins. A proven, veteran leader, Chauncey "Big Shot" Billups is likely to run a class today on how to be an effective PG. Jrue Holiday is performing well in his second season in the league, with averages of 13 points 6 assists however his 2.5 turnovers are a concern for the Sixers who run the ball through Iguodala on a regular basis.
Landry Fields vs Jodie Meeks
Fields will be looking to build on his performance last night as he returned from his own mini-slump post trade. Honestly I don't know anything about Jodie Meeks but his name sucks and I expect Fields to school this 1 year weak ass SG.
Carmelo Anthony vs Andre Iguodala
Carmelo has absolutley beasted for the Knicks recently and although Iguodala is known for being a good defender his hops are not going to help against the razor-sharp attack of Melo. The real matchup will be on the defensive end where Knicks fans will hope to see the kind of effort inspired by playing one on one against another top player.
Amare Stoudemire vs Elton Brand
Stat has been up and down since the trade but everyone knows he can go off at any given moment. Brand is a weak defender and Amare should exploit this going to the rim before opening up the floor with his trademark spot-up free throw line jumper. Brand has a similar offensive skillset, minus the athleticism, so Amare can cover him if he desires. Will that desire be there tonight for a guy who many think is running on fumes right now?
Ronny Turiaf vs Spencer Hawes
The battle of the beards kicks off tonight. Spencer Hawes bumfluff vs the mighty beard of zeus thingy. Yeah. Spencer Hawes is your average 7 footer. Whatever man this matchup is of no interest to me :lol:
KEY MATCHUP
Amare "King Kong" Stoudemire
VS
Elton "John" Brand
Amare Stoudemire (25 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blks on the season) will be expected to stem the tide of Elton Brand's dominance against the Knicks swiss cheese defense they have displayed most of the season. Elton Brand (27 pts, 9 rebs averaged vs New York this year) needs to be stopped. Stat needs to show he can hold down against a good offensive PF especially when they have a weak sidekick in the paint. If he can prove his competence tonight Knicks fans will breathe a lot easier looking towards his 1st round matchup against KG or Bosh.
SMOKES PREDICTION
Knicks 110 - Philadelphia - 99
Honestly my predictions are always the same. I just want us to keep a team under 100 points and win. Is that too much to ask?!
I want nothing but the worst for the Nuggets. Why anyone would root for that franchise is beyond me. They had no problems & never thought twice about taking as many pieces from NY as possible. Something tells me both NJ & DEN were working TOGETHER to drive the price up for Melo. If the Nuggets ever win a championship with those guys... The Knicks become the laughing stock of the NBA. Everyone will make it known we got killed. Not why anyone wants that for this franchise. I enjoyed Gallo, Chandler & Felton but I love this FRANCHISE & TEAM too much to roof for the same Denver franchise who could care less about our future. I care too much about this Knicks franchise to root for Denver to win a possible championship & leave NY scared for life. **** Denver & all the pieces associated with em.
Great game, didnt get to post during the game but was nice to see us hold a decent team under 100 and get a big win. They showed some resilence after losing the lead and came right back with that HUGE 3 by TD.
I can just smell the playoffs theyre so damn close!
But in the majority of instances it's an isolation and we don't optimise off of the double teams. It's still not a part of the offence in the sense that it should be.
That word you use ... "optimize", is on the players, not any special batch of plays you speak of. It's up to them.. to keep the proper flow to the offense by making the right decision and moving the ball. That, combined w the spacing is essentially our offense and it can be quite potent when run correctly.
Granted you do have slight variations where you look to get Melo the ball from 15, Amare the ball in the high-post, or when you look to run the high pick and roll w Billups/ TD, but the spacing is similar and the principles remain the same -- read quickly/ correctly take what the D gives, pass off of help if drawn, move it to the open man. Our offense is simple, but not easy to run due to the discipline and quick decision making involved. Guys need to be comfortable taking shots quickly and that takes some getting used to. TD's just recently come around completely to our principles as a scorer in this offense, which shows how long it takes to really get a feel for how to operate within the framework.
Melo is so good and so smart offensively that he seems to have a pretty good feel for it already. He looks really comfortable within our spacing from three. He likes that quick three. He's thriving in this offense.
I want nothing but the worst for the Nuggets. Why anyone would root for that franchise is beyond me. They had no problems & never thought twice about taking as many pieces from NY as possible. Something tells me both NJ & DEN were working TOGETHER to drive the price up for Melo. If the Nuggets ever win a championship with those guys... The Knicks become the laughing stock of the NBA. Everyone will make it known we got killed. Not why anyone wants that for this franchise. I enjoyed Gallo, Chandler & Felton but I love this FRANCHISE & TEAM too much to roof for the same Denver franchise who could care less about our future. I care too much about this Knicks franchise to root for Denver to win a possible championship & leave NY scared for life. **** Denver & all the pieces associated with em.
I don't necessarily root for them to win just for our homegrown Knicks Chandler and Gallo to perform well (and somewhat Felton since he made his mark on the league in NY).
I wouldn't be surprised to see one of these guys back in NY in the future and I enjoy watching exciting ex-Knicks youth like Ariza.
Were probably the only fan base to care for guys who we traded to get someone better lol. Hell I've seen fans hate some guys thats on their teams because they weren't shipped out(JJ hickson,Bynum,Shawn Kemp,etc.)