This article explains everything

Paul1355

All Star
Tough Loss to Kings a Small Setback in Playoff Push
by Mike Slane, nyknicks.com


Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni sent out a message right before his team took the court against the Sacramento Kings in their final game before the All-Star break.

“We’ll fight all the way ‘til the end,” he said in his pregame press conference. “There’s no reason we can’t make the playoffs, really. I thought that from the very beginning of the year, and I’m disappointed that we are where we are, but there’s time to turn it around and time to get going.”

It looked like the Knicks were beginning the turnaround on Tuesday when they built a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Kings, but then they showed why they still have a lot to work on after blowing the advantage and suffering a 118-114 loss in overtime at Madison Square Garden.

“For whatever reason, the spirit just let out,” D’Antoni said. “We’re not fighting.”

Wilson Chandler led the way for the Knicks with a career-high 35 points, while David Lee added 21 points and 10 rebounds. But it was Kings rookie Tyreke Evans who stole the show with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as he almost single-handedly took the energy out of New York.

The Knicks have lost 11 of their last 15 games to drop 13 games below .500 for the first time this season and fall five and a half games back of the Miami Heat for eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The up-and-down season continues for the Knicks, who went 12-6 following a 3-14 start.

“We have to continue to play each game until the end of it,” point guard Chris Duhon said. “We have to play hard, continue to try to get better and try to win every game. You never know what could happen. We have to somehow keep our spirits up and continue to go out and fight each night.”

The Knicks fought against the Kings until the very end, but nothing seemed to click offensively as Sacramento chopped away at the big deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation. Things eventually got so bad for the Knicks in the fourth quarter that their final shot of the period was an airball on a three-point attempt from Duhon as the shot clock was expiring with two seconds left to play.

“They guarded it well and I just looked up, saw the shot clock going down and I was just trying to get it up on the rim,” Duhon said. “Give us a chance off the rebound.”

New York’s struggles began when the Kings switched to a zone defense in the second half and continued through the extra period. And it didn’t help that the Knicks’ best shooter was sidelined with a forearm injury on his shooting arm for the final 18 minutes of the game.

Danilo Gallinari left the game with 1:13 left in the third quarter after uncharacteristically airballing a free throw with his right arm before missing his second in a row while shooting lefty. He said he had no strength in his right hand after sustaining an injury to the muscle in his forearm for the second time during his second NBA season.

“It was the same thing that happened in the game against Orlando,” said Gallinari, who had nine points and eight rebounds before leaving the game. “It’s tough to find a reason why the muscle in the arm is weak, so probably with a couple of days it’s going to be back to normal.”

X-rays on Gallinari’s forearm after the game came back negative. He says he is still scheduled to travel to Dallas for All-Star Weekend, but he wouldn’t commit to remaining in the rookie/sophomore game and the three-point contest until he sees how his arm feels over the next couple of days.

“I don’t even think about that,” he said. “I will think about getting treatment tomorrow morning with the staff. I am trying to get this arm back healthy as soon as possible.”

And that’s what the Knicks will need him to do in order to have the best chance of turning the season around and making one final playoff push.



CHECK OUT WHAT I BOLDED.

Now let's break this down.

Mike D...ONCE AGAIN...has explained that this loss was because of a lack of energy but note that he changes the words to 'Spirit" to not sou d redundant because thats what he has been doing...giving us redundant excuses.

Duhon has no clue what he is doing on the floor. Duhon's quotes about fighting hard and hoping to come ouf of these slumps is just adding to the lack of "spirit" on this team. The "captain" has no answer and he says one thing and his team and himself never show it.

This news writer actually had the nerve to alk about "fighting to the end" and a "playoff push" PLEASE STOP TALKING LIKE THE KNICKS ACTUALLY TRIED TO WIN THIS GAME!

And here is the big mystery. Gallinari had problably his worst game as a knick and embarissed himself jsut as bad as Duhon and Jeffries did. Gallo is so off from the foul line that HE SHOT LEFT HANDED! Who the hell shoots with their opposite hand!?!? Not even Dwight Howard does that and he is the worst fuol shooter in the NBA!

Gallo had to leave the game because of a "forearm" injury". No people Gallo left the game because he needed an excuse to why he was SO BAD in that last game. Gallo is in a complete slump. He is only rebounding, everything else he is an F at right now.

Read this article...read what is bolded and tell yourself, "Is this not the most hopeless, lying team who have seen in the past decade?"
 

nyk_nyk

All Star
At this point Dantoni is trying to salvage his credibility as a head coach. You know the NBA coaching fraternity talks about how out of sync the Knicks are BUT they probably also talk about how inept Dantoni is as a coach for this team. Bottom line, there is no answer but Duhon and his Lover-Coach always have some excuse other than their own performance. Duhon has become the official team PR person.

Gallo's arm was so weak that he couldn't attempt a FT with the correct hand? That's some real punk s*** right there. If you can lift your arm then you can shoot a FT. Stop the BS! He didn't even TRY to make the shot which could have prevented the game from going into OT.
 
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LJ4ptplay

Starter
How is this different than the 07-08 Isiah team?

How is this different than the 05-06 Brown team?

Nothing really. In fact, I would say those teams had much more talent than the current team.

We have the worst roster in the NBA. Hands down.

D'Antoni is clueless about substitutions, drawing up plays out of time-outs and really sucks at communicating with his players. But I'm not going to blame everything on D'Antoni and call for him to be fired just yet. At least allow him to have a functioning NBA roster before we call for him to be fired.
 

Paul1355

All Star
How is this different than the 07-08 Isiah team?

How is this different than the 05-06 Brown team?

Nothing really. In fact, I would say those teams had much more talent than the current team.

We have the worst roster in the NBA. Hands down.

D'Antoni is clueless about substitutions, drawing up plays out of time-outs and really sucks at communicating with his players. But I'm not going to blame everything on D'Antoni and call for him to be fired just yet. At least allow him to have a functioning NBA roster before we call for him to be fired.

fine but does this not prove that a coach is only as good as his players? Mike D is no better than what Mike Dunleavy was with the Clippers
 

Oldtimer

Rotation player
Gallo's "forearm"

Gallo's injury is likely to be "nerve" related. Some tendon is irritating a nerve. Think of hitting your "funny" bone or getting up from a sitting position to find that your foot is asleep. Try shooting a foul shot right after you hit your "funny" bone.

If it is nerve related, it could be a continuing problem.

With or without the problem, Gallo's game has not been particularly good lately. Last year I believe he took a total of 27 free throws and made all but one of them. He has missed too many this year even without the forearm injury. He is a very poor finisher on the too rare occasions that he does drive to the basket. Often, as he gets off his feet approaching the basket, he turns and passes backwards-- very dangerous.

I believe the "job" that D'Antoni has assigned to him is to plant himself on the perimeter to draw defenders from the middle. But no one passes to him. Duhon will pass to Jefferies before he will pass to Gallo, even when they are equally open. Last night, Gallo played for 31 minutes and took only 5 shots. Should Gallo be more aggressive? Perhaps. But it is hard to be aggressive when you are instructed to plant yourself on the perimeter.

I do, however, expect Gallo to get better as he gets stronger, improves his handle, and accilmates himself to the speed of the NBA game. He will never be quick, but he will learn what his limited athleticism will permit him to do successfully.
 

Paul1355

All Star
Gallo's injury is likely to be "nerve" related. Some tendon is irritating a nerve. Think of hitting your "funny" bone or getting up from a sitting position to find that your foot is asleep. Try shooting a foul shot right after you hit your "funny" bone.

If it is nerve related, it could be a continuing problem.

With or without the problem, Gallo's game has not been particularly good lately. Last year I believe he took a total of 27 free throws and made all but one of them. He has missed too many this year even without the forearm injury. He is a very poor finisher on the too rare occasions that he does drive to the basket. Often, as he gets off his feet approaching the basket, he turns and passes backwards-- very dangerous.

I believe the "job" that D'Antoni has assigned to him is to plant himself on the perimeter to draw defenders from the middle. But no one passes to him. Duhon will pass to Jefferies before he will pass to Gallo, even when they are equally open. Last night, Gallo played for 31 minutes and took only 5 shots. Should Gallo be more aggressive? Perhaps. But it is hard to be aggressive when you are instructed to plant yourself on the perimeter.

I do, however, expect Gallo to get better as he gets stronger, improves his handle, and accilmates himself to the speed of the NBA game. He will never be quick, but he will learn what his limited athleticism will permit him to do successfully.
agreed that Gallo is suffering offensively because Duhon refuses to pass to him, but Gallo has to learn to get open and constantly call for the basketball. The fact that Duhon passes to Jeffries before Gallo is sickening.
And if Mike D is the real reason for Gallo being a statue on offense...then it makes me hate Mike D even more.
 

mafra

Legend
How is this different than the 07-08 Isiah team?

How is this different than the 05-06 Brown team?

Nothing really. In fact, I would say those teams had much more talent than the current team.

We have the worst roster in the NBA. Hands down.

D'Antoni is clueless about substitutions, drawing up plays out of time-outs and really sucks at communicating with his players. But I'm not going to blame everything on D'Antoni and call for him to be fired just yet. At least allow him to have a functioning NBA roster before we call for him to be fired.

I agree with everything here.... HOWEVER, I will add this: The first game post trading deadline (and from there until end of season).... Our rotation better consist of: Douglas-Chandler-Gallo-Lee-Hill (with Landry). These 6 better se the bulk of the minutes.... Sure, toss in another chump or two. But if we're seeing Duhon-Hughes-Harrington-N8 then D'ant is doing the future harm.
 

TR1LL10N

Hannibal Lecter
Paul..."lack of energy" or "loss of spirit" are euphemisms for..."we suck and don't have a star".

Dant doesn't have the luxury to call out our team on their utter lack of elite talent so he has to harp on energy He happens to be correct because 80% of D is intensity and only 20% is actual talent. Lee is the closest thing we have to a star and he is playing out of position and a number two option at best.
 

Red

TYPE-A
Call a f*cking spade a spade!
Gallo was a mistake and not worth the pick- especially since we had other needs, admit it.
D'Ant was a mistake and not worth the $- N*gga I'm from NY! Double talk and reading between lines is my forte, you can't fool me so let's break it down.
What D'Antoni is really saying is...
"I had no clue what to expect when I got hear- sh*t I had no real plan. I've tried going into my limited bag of tricks but to no avail! I am now realizing I can't outsmart or double talk my way through this so I must slickly ridicule the players in hopes of masking my own short-comings, of which I can't recall exactly how I'm qualified to rebuild a team. All the while I must remeber I am partly responsible for supporting some of the guys that are making us lose like Duhon. Sh*t I hope those NYers are too dumb to realize I got free paychecks for 2 years now w/o doing anything except setting them back even further by supporting picking my god-son so his finacial future is set. When I think about it I'm not really that bad, I got my self and a family memeber paid for nothing and everyone still believes I'm a great players coach. I'm just affraid to admit my own mistakes. Who knew this is what NY meant by keep it real."
 

TR1LL10N

Hannibal Lecter
Call a f*cking spade a spade!
Gallo was a mistake and not worth the pick- especially since we had other needs, admit it.
D'Ant was a mistake and not worth the $- N*gga I'm from NY! Double talk and reading between lines is my forte, you can't fool me so let's break it down.
What D'Antoni is really saying is...
"I had no clue what to expect when I got hear- sh*t I had no real plan. I've tried going into my limited bag of tricks but to no avail! I am now realizing I can't outsmart or double talk my way through this so I must slickly ridicule the players in hopes of masking my own short-comings, of which I can't recall exactly how I'm qualified to rebuild a team. All the while I must remeber I am partly responsible for supporting some of the guys that are making us lose like Duhon. Sh*t I hope those NYers are too dumb to realize I got free paychecks for 2 years now w/o doing anything except setting them back even further by supporting picking my god-son so his finacial future is set. When I think about it I'm not really that bad, I got my self and a family memeber paid for nothing and everyone still believes I'm a great players coach. I'm just affraid to admit my own mistakes. Who knew this is what NY meant by keep it real."

Is this tirade directed at me?
 

tiger0330

Legend
Gallo was a mistake and not worth the pick- especially since we had other needs, admit it.
D'Antoni is such a homer. Drafts his godson Gallo. Signs Duhon who played for his boy Coach K. Drafts Jordan Hill who played for Arizona where he's coached and still lives.

Don't know if Duhon and Hill have a connection like Gallo but it sure smells like it.
 

bfab99

Benchwarmer
if this team played hard defense, we'd be winning. Like I posted on the other thread. You can't tell me, Hughes, Chandler, Toney Douglas, Jared Jefffires, Jordan Hill aren't capable of shutting down teams! THese guys know defense, but we are unlucky enough to have a coach who only teaches offense.....
 

Oldtimer

Rotation player
Beck Article

There is a very good article by Howard Beck of the Times It is dated February 10, 2010. If I knew how to get it to the site, I would not call myself "Oldtimer."

The point of the article was "lack of talent." Think about it If we eliminate our free agents except for Lee and add him to next year's under contract team we have Lee, Chandler, Gallo, Hill, Douglas, Jefferies and Curry. Compare those 7 with any other team's top 7 Add in the fact that we do not have a 1st round draft pick and the other teams do. Is there any team worse off than the Knicks are in terms of talent level? Perhaps I would prefer the Knicks seven over Boston's seven, because they are old and their window of opportunity is closing.

Our only hope is to buy a star with our cap space.
 

robert56

Benchwarmer
The problem is not the lack of talent on the team, these guys all have talent otherwise they would not be in the NBA. The problem is that the coach is playing an 8 man rotation and they are not exhausted. He should have been playing some of the other players instead of benching half the team and then having a bunch on the inactive list.
 

DANUTZ39

Benchwarmer
I think you are talking about this Oldtimer.

''The temptation, upon watching the Knicks blow a 15-point fourth-quarter lead, on their home court, against a nondescript team, is to wail and groan and wonder how and why — all reasonable reactions for a tormented fan base. The Knicks surely earned their catcalls in a 118-114 overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.Even after a string of calamities this season — a 50-point rout by Dallas, a 9-point loss to the hapless Nets — this defeat was among the most humiliating. The Kings arrived with the fourth-worst record in the N.B.A. and had lost 13 of their last 14 games. So the Knicks had reasonable expectations for a victory, before losing a 15-point lead in the final eight minutes of regulation. Afterward, Coach Mike D’Antoni referred to a broken spirit. But the Knicks’ most glaring weakness is the one no one ever cites: a simple lack of talent. On any given night, indeed on most nights, the best player on the court belongs to the opponent. On Tuesday, it was Tyreke Evans, a supremely athletic guard and a top contender for rookie of the year. Evans destroyed the Knicks in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points in the final 6 minutes 48 seconds, all on drives to the rim. When it wasn’t Evans, it was Donte Greene, the rangy second-year forward, who alternately beat the Knicks with his athleticism and his 3-point shot. In overtime, it was Kevin Martin, the young sharp-shooter, who has averaged at least 20 points in four straight seasons. Evans and Martin could start for the Knicks, and Greene could make a strong case. The Kings might rank below the Knicks in the standings, but their talent is demonstrably superior. This is frequently the case. Going position by position, the Knicks will earn an occasional draw, but they rarely win the battle outright. It is hard to find a team that would dump two or three starters in favor of the Knicks’ best players. It is not even clear who the Knicks’ best player is. David Lee is their most productive scorer and rebounder, but in terms of talent, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler are considered to have greater potential. In any case, none are All-Stars. The Knicks have the league’s fourth-largest payroll ($83.7 million), but not the talent to match. Their highest-paid players (Al Harrington, Larry Hughes, Eddy Curry, Jared Jeffries) are the ones they are most eager to dump. In part, the talent deficit is by design. The team president, Donnie Walsh, traded the Knicks’ two best players, Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford, in November 2008 to begin the rebuilding process and to slash the payroll. He has refused to offer long-term contracts for the last two years, denying the Knicks a chance to add talent. The weak roster is mostly the product of a failed strategy employed by the last two team executives, Isiah Thomas and Scott Layden. Both tried to rebuild on the fly, by swapping expiring contracts for long-term contracts — usually attached to players overvalued in the first place. It guaranteed a decade of mediocrity in which the Knicks were never good enough to contend, but never terrible enough to benefit in the lottery. They never had the chance to draft Derrick Rose (No. 1 in 2008) or Kevin Durant (No. 2 in 2007) or Dwight Howard (No. 1 in 2004). Thomas also traded two lottery picks (No. 4 in 2006, No. 9 in 2007) to obtain Curry. Had the Knicks retained those picks, they could have had Brandon Roy in 2006. Their highest pick in the last 10 years is Gallinari, who was drafted sixth in 2008. Gallinari, at least, has shown signs of potential stardom at age 21. The Knicks’ other recent top-10 picks were flops — Channing Frye (eighth in 2005), Mike Sweetney (ninth in 2003) — or in the case of Nene Hilario (seventh in 2002) never played here. Jordan Hill, the eighth pick in 2009, is a question mark. The Kings have made several missteps since the Chris Webber-Mike Bibby era, when they annually contended for the Western Conference title. But they eventually reaped the benefit of losing. Sacramento had the worst record in the N.B.A. last season and, even after “losing” in the lottery, got the fourth pick, which turned into Evans, who looks like a budding superstar.
Of course, stars win in the N.B.A., which is why Walsh has been more focused on the payroll than the roster. He will have more than $20 million to spend this summer and hopes to land LeBron James or Dwyane Wade.
In the meantime, and in their desperation, the Knicks are chasing Tracy McGrady, the disgruntled 30-year-old Houston Rockets swingman.
The Knicks and Rockets have been unable to find a match and need a third team to make a deal. Washington has been involved, according to a report by Yahoo Sports. A person briefed on the negotiations confirmed that the teams were talking but disputed the reported details and said nothing was close to happening.
Acquiring McGrady would give the Knicks some short-term star power without wrecking their free-agency plans. His $23 million contract expires this summer. But he would be, at best, a temporary solution.
A permanent fix could come in July. If the Knicks can’t draft a superstar or trade for one, they will try to buy one outright.''


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/sports/basketball/11knicks.html
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LJ4ptplay

Starter
There is a very good article by Howard Beck of the Times It is dated February 10, 2010. If I knew how to get it to the site, I would not call myself "Oldtimer."

The point of the article was "lack of talent." Think about it If we eliminate our free agents except for Lee and add him to next year's under contract team we have Lee, Chandler, Gallo, Hill, Douglas, Jefferies and Curry. Compare those 7 with any other team's top 7 Add in the fact that we do not have a 1st round draft pick and the other teams do. Is there any team worse off than the Knicks are in terms of talent level? Perhaps I would prefer the Knicks seven over Boston's seven, because they are old and their window of opportunity is closing.

Our only hope is to buy a star with our cap space.

Yeah, good point. The article also states that on every night, the best player on the floor is on the other team...always.

The Knicks have the worst roster in the NBA...hands down. And like you said, it will be worse next year.

It really makes you wonder why any star would sign here this summer.
 

paris401

Starter
A permanent fix could come in July. If the Knicks can?t draft a superstar or trade for one, they will try to buy one outright.''
[=/QUOTE]

exactly how do u 'draft' a superstar when you have no 1st round pick?? will one be available in the 2nd round?? do we even have a 2nd round pick??
 
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