Clyde & The Pearl
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Teams love playing paintball against Knicks
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%"> By Jared Zwerling
Tomorrow night, the Knicks take on the Rockets in Houston -- their second meeting of the season. The first one on November 14 is a game that Amare Stoudemire remembers far too well. If you recall, after the Knicks lost, 104-96 -- their fifth in a row -- Stoudemire publicly criticized his teammates while addressing the media by saying, "You just can't have guys complacent and comfortable with losing. I'm not used to that. We're not playing like we're on a four-game losing streak, now five. We don't have that sense of urgency. It's almost as if it doesn't matter."
Now that the Knicks have dropped three in a row -- their longest losing streak in a month -- you can bet Stoudemire, a co-captain alongside Raymond Felton, will talk to his teammates about coming out with a greater sense of urgency. On the plus side, after that November 14th loss, the Knicks turned the tables and won 13 of their next 15 games. But only two of those teams had records over .500 (the Hornets and Nuggets).
Since their consistent winning ways ended in mid-December, the Knicks' defense has been exposed, especially in the paint, as they're allowing 47.8 points per game there -- second-worst in the league. At this point, there is no question that the Knicks' interior needs more than Stoudemire's vocal leadership and dominating consistency, as he's scored at least 20 points in 25 straight games -- the third-longest streak in Knicks history. Yesterday against the Suns, the matter became more pressing -- even more so than acquiring Carmelo Anthony -- as the Knicks allowed a team, which averages 41.5 points in the paint, to score 58 in that area on the court. Not only that, the Knicks allowed two aging stars, Vince Carter and Grant Hill, to maneuver in the lane easily and score 29 and 25 points, respectively -- way above their season averages.
True, the Knicks knocked off the Suns back on January 7th, 121-96, by excelling in their fast-paced offense (they lead the league in points per game at 107.5). But for them to have any shot at beating the league's elite teams, like the Celtics, Heat, Lakers and Magic, they'll have to add depth to their center position to complement Stoudemire. The charts below show how the Knicks lost a significant edge to those top four teams around the basket, highlighting these four categories: points in the paint, second-chance points, offensive rebounds and total rebounds.
NEW YORK KNICKS STATS
<table> <thead> <tr> <th>GAME</th> <th>PPT</th> <th>2PT</th> <th>ORB</th> <th>TRB</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="last"> <td>10/29/10 NY @ BOS</td> <td>38</td> <td>7</td> <td>9</td> <td>38</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/15/10 BOS @ NY</td> <td>50</td> <td>14</td> <td>9</td> <td>35</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/17/10 MIA @ NY</td> <td>38</td> <td>19</td> <td>13</td> <td>41</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/28/10 NY @ MIA</td> <td>42</td> <td>18</td> <td>9</td> <td>32</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/30/10 NY @ ORL</td> <td>40</td> <td>15</td> <td>11</td> <td>35</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>01/09/11 NY @ LAL</td> <td>30</td> <td>9</td> <td>7</td> <td>42</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>Totals</td> <td>238</td> <td>82</td> <td>58</td> <td>223</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
NEW YORK KNICKS OPPONENTS STATS
<table><thead> <tr> <th>GAME</th> <th>PPT</th> <th>2PT</th> <th>ORB</th> <th>TRB</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="last"> <td>10/29/10 NY @ BOS</td> <td>54</td> <td>16</td> <td>14</td> <td>54</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/15/10 BOS @ NY</td> <td>62</td> <td>12</td> <td>11</td> <td>39</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/17/10 MIA @ NY</td> <td>46</td> <td>6</td> <td>8</td> <td>45</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/28/10 NY @ MIA</td> <td>56</td> <td>22</td> <td>13</td> <td>50</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/30/10 NY @ ORL</td> <td>50</td> <td>20</td> <td>17</td> <td>51</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>01/09/11 NY @ LAL</td> <td>50</td> <td>28</td> <td>17</td> <td>61</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>Totals</td> <td>318</td> <td>104</td> <td>80</td> <td>300</td></tr></tbody></table>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%"> By Jared Zwerling
Tomorrow night, the Knicks take on the Rockets in Houston -- their second meeting of the season. The first one on November 14 is a game that Amare Stoudemire remembers far too well. If you recall, after the Knicks lost, 104-96 -- their fifth in a row -- Stoudemire publicly criticized his teammates while addressing the media by saying, "You just can't have guys complacent and comfortable with losing. I'm not used to that. We're not playing like we're on a four-game losing streak, now five. We don't have that sense of urgency. It's almost as if it doesn't matter."
Now that the Knicks have dropped three in a row -- their longest losing streak in a month -- you can bet Stoudemire, a co-captain alongside Raymond Felton, will talk to his teammates about coming out with a greater sense of urgency. On the plus side, after that November 14th loss, the Knicks turned the tables and won 13 of their next 15 games. But only two of those teams had records over .500 (the Hornets and Nuggets).
Since their consistent winning ways ended in mid-December, the Knicks' defense has been exposed, especially in the paint, as they're allowing 47.8 points per game there -- second-worst in the league. At this point, there is no question that the Knicks' interior needs more than Stoudemire's vocal leadership and dominating consistency, as he's scored at least 20 points in 25 straight games -- the third-longest streak in Knicks history. Yesterday against the Suns, the matter became more pressing -- even more so than acquiring Carmelo Anthony -- as the Knicks allowed a team, which averages 41.5 points in the paint, to score 58 in that area on the court. Not only that, the Knicks allowed two aging stars, Vince Carter and Grant Hill, to maneuver in the lane easily and score 29 and 25 points, respectively -- way above their season averages.
True, the Knicks knocked off the Suns back on January 7th, 121-96, by excelling in their fast-paced offense (they lead the league in points per game at 107.5). But for them to have any shot at beating the league's elite teams, like the Celtics, Heat, Lakers and Magic, they'll have to add depth to their center position to complement Stoudemire. The charts below show how the Knicks lost a significant edge to those top four teams around the basket, highlighting these four categories: points in the paint, second-chance points, offensive rebounds and total rebounds.
NEW YORK KNICKS STATS
<table> <thead> <tr> <th>GAME</th> <th>PPT</th> <th>2PT</th> <th>ORB</th> <th>TRB</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="last"> <td>10/29/10 NY @ BOS</td> <td>38</td> <td>7</td> <td>9</td> <td>38</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/15/10 BOS @ NY</td> <td>50</td> <td>14</td> <td>9</td> <td>35</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/17/10 MIA @ NY</td> <td>38</td> <td>19</td> <td>13</td> <td>41</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/28/10 NY @ MIA</td> <td>42</td> <td>18</td> <td>9</td> <td>32</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/30/10 NY @ ORL</td> <td>40</td> <td>15</td> <td>11</td> <td>35</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>01/09/11 NY @ LAL</td> <td>30</td> <td>9</td> <td>7</td> <td>42</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>Totals</td> <td>238</td> <td>82</td> <td>58</td> <td>223</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
NEW YORK KNICKS OPPONENTS STATS
<table><thead> <tr> <th>GAME</th> <th>PPT</th> <th>2PT</th> <th>ORB</th> <th>TRB</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="last"> <td>10/29/10 NY @ BOS</td> <td>54</td> <td>16</td> <td>14</td> <td>54</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/15/10 BOS @ NY</td> <td>62</td> <td>12</td> <td>11</td> <td>39</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/17/10 MIA @ NY</td> <td>46</td> <td>6</td> <td>8</td> <td>45</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/28/10 NY @ MIA</td> <td>56</td> <td>22</td> <td>13</td> <td>50</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>12/30/10 NY @ ORL</td> <td>50</td> <td>20</td> <td>17</td> <td>51</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>01/09/11 NY @ LAL</td> <td>50</td> <td>28</td> <td>17</td> <td>61</td> </tr> <tr class="last"> <td>Totals</td> <td>318</td> <td>104</td> <td>80</td> <td>300</td></tr></tbody></table>
