Literally everything is falling, including a fallaway jumper by Prig with the shot clock running out. Knicks go up 15.
Knicks lead ballooned to 20 in the 3rd before falling back down to 9 at the end of 3. Melo got a flagrant 1 on Hawes for pushing him in the back fo the head on the rebound. As Hawes got in Melo's face and vice versa, Chandler came over and just shoved Hawes. No punches throws and Hawes/Chandler got a tech each. Felton limped off the court with his right shoe off at the end of the third
Felton returns to the bench. Besides a rough couple minutes to start the game, this is one of Amare's best games this year offensively and defensively. Chandler playing really well too, getting into it with Evan Turner.
Maybe we see him tonight if the game gets blown wide open, but it's only a 15 point lead with 8 minutes left.
JR and Jrue both have 3 three pointers in the 4th, cancelling each other out. Knicks lead by 10 with 4 and change left and Chandler at the line. Smith playing very well tongiht
A while ago I would have been so disappointed with this win. I would have been like we only won by how much? I guess now I'll take any win I can get. Ha
^^ Phi was coming off a game vs MIA last night .We beat them like we should, but had some issues of our own. Wednesday night will be tough with Curry/Thompson/Jack and then Lee on the inside.
Stats new nickname is officially, "Startemire". I can't be the only one who noticed the vast difference on offense when he was in the game. Duke needs more minutes. Watching Chandler try to make a post up move in the paint is like watching the special Olympics. He's a hero on defense, though and we probably woulda lost without him playing those clutch minutes. As soon as Martin starts playing, Startemire must take his true role.
Well unfortunately there is a thing called defense. The Felton, Smith, Melo, Chandler, Amare lineup has played 88 minutes together with an offensive rating of 112.6, a defensive rating of 112.9, a net rating of -0.3. This is a lineup with all 3 that we have a played the most, so if we were going to start/close games this is probably the most realistic bet. It's great offensively, but terrible defensively leveling out to a net gain of basically nothing. Compare this our Felton, Smith, Kidd, Melo, Chandler lineup that has played 210 minutes with an offensive rating of 119.4 and defensive rating of 95., net of (24.5). This lineup does not start, but the way Woodson does the rotations, this lineup closes and the stats currently say it's a great lineup to do that. Currently the black hole lineup is when Shump/Kidd/Felton/Melo/Chandler, our starting lineup. This is because Shump/Kidd are playing together. This has only been recently since Shump came back and it coincides with Kidd's drop in shooting. This lineup while defensively great (our best defensive lineup with >48 minutes of playing time), has struggled to put up points. This is the lineup that I think improves as Shump improves. If Kidd ever finds his shot, watch out, this can be lethal. If this lineup can get Shump or Kidd knocking down open shots, it can be great for us. So if we were going to adjust the starting lineup, Smith for Kidd is a much better bet than Amare for Kidd/Shump. Also try to figure out rotations with all 3 starting together. It's extremely difficult and gets even more frustrating to do if Amare gets foul happy as he has been (I tried to make the rotations work, it leaves our bench completely gutted and ruined) Yeah, use Amare like Novak in crunch time. If we need to get points, put him out there. If we want to keep a lead, then keep him off the court. Use off/def subs if the game is tied and such. If you go to Nba.com/stats you can play around with all the lineups and setting. The most promising lineup we have played >48 minutes with that has Amare/Melo/Chandler is with Kidd/Smith together with them. This lineup has a net rating of 18 if I remember correctly. This would be interesting lineup to see more of, but it requires Smith/Melo to be your main ball handler which isn't ideal.
Welp that's that for now Ian Begley @IanBegley On @ESPNNY98_7FM, Woody says he has no plans to start STAT. "I'm not sure that is the answer. I think he's very comfortable w/where he is."
I'm looking forward to the Kmart vs Birdman matchup. Then we have Shump flattop vs Cole flattop. Then of course the whining matchup, while you have Wade and LeBron who do their fair share, our whole team buys into whining to the refs, it's a team effort not just the top guys carrying the team. Then I guess the actual game should be fun.
Melo and Pablo are probable for tonight's game. Melo has a stomach virus and Pablo back spasms. David Lee for GS is questionable for tonight. The Warriors shoot the 3 very well, rebound very well, have great guard play, and push the tempo. Hopefully we can contain Curry and Melo decides to keep on bullying his way to the FT line (16 attempts last game)
