Man, the refs really were pissing me off in the 3rd and 4th quarter, especially near the end where they got back to back free throws and called straight up bullshit fouls. They wanted the knicks to lose, that's for sure. I don't understand flagrants anymore. They call them when it shouldn't even be a regular foul, and then don't call them when the players get mauled. What a joke. I saw that crap in the Heat game, too. Double standards are not cool.
Well you can never blame the Refs for another team catching up to you when you have them down by 30pts. I kind of see Melo as the team leader and should set the tone in not getting Technical Fouls for bitching about a call that wasn't called as well as Camby doing the same and getting ejected. You would think Stoudemire would of lead in Technicals but he doesn't bitch anymore and just runs down court which Melo gets a Technical then allows the player to drive down court 4 on 5 and draw the foul get a and one or just the simple fact of a technical shot plus possession. You cant let teams back in the game. Also Melo has to realize when he is not on fire he should pass the ball to guys like JR and guys like Shumpert who are on target for the night and just roll with the punches.
^^ Amare had 4 techs season and play in like 30 games for us. He hasn't stopped, he just hasn't been healthy. And I'm waiting for someone to write "Are the Knicks better without Tyson Chandler?" article. I mean we beat MIA once by hitting 20 3s and the next day, "are the Knicks better without Melo". We go 6-2, no Tyson Chandler stories? I'm joking by the way, it's just silly overall all these "better without so and so star" . The answer is no.
Yeah it's a love hate relationship with fans ... I guess being a team that hasn't seriously competeted in a while people want excellence every game. In no way shape or form are we better with out Chandler or Melo but I will say when Melo is out the ball moves much more and doesn't come to a dead stop once it touches his hands. Also Martin has been a great addition to the team and has been doing a heck of a job getting scrap points. To bad we lost Amare and Rasheed because that would add a great element to the team.
Woodson went to Indiana, Melo went to Cuse. Looks like they made a friendly wager as Woodson did today's interview in an Orange Knicks shirt holding an orange. He might have to wear an orange tie tongiht. Melo also tweeted this Carmelo Anthony @carmeloanthony 18h Indiana just got taped!!!!! @DwyaneWade @stevenovak20 You guys will be next!!!!! As Cuse plays Marquette. Will be fun to see what either Novak or Melo has to wear if they lose
Missed the game, but watched some highlights. JR first bench player since 1990 to have 3 straight 30 point games off the bench in a row. The kid is balling our right now. Congrats to Woodson who figured something out that others couldn't.
Celtics announcers say Shump hasn't been htting the 3 recently. Shump has been hitting 50% or better in the winning streak from 3.
The one that actually holds merit, however is Amar'e and it pains me to say it, because I've been his biggest advocate. Our best play of both last year and this year has come with him out of the game. Our team is night and day with him on the court. When we opened the season with an 18-5 streak, Stat had no part of it. He came back and we went back to a .500 team. I do realize he was never at 100%, so who knows if he'd have gotten healthy what could have happened. But now we've hit 8 in a row and again he's not in. I think the reason is the defense. We're holding teams to around 90 points again. Chandler's absence is not as badly noticed because Martin has been playing lights out on D and is better offensively than Chandler. Last season when we lost Chandler, our team was terrible and lost like 6 or 7 in a row. Also JR Smith has been playing very well which makes up for the lack of offense without Amar'e. I just wonder how long this JR hot streak will last before he goes back to hoisting up shots and missing while the ball doesn't move at all. Do we literally live and die with JR smith now? It sure seems like it although Kmart is a big part of this. I gotta give Woodson props. Bringing in solid aged vets is risky, but smart if you're looking for a low salary cap hit and veteran leadership.
It has nothing to do with Amare not being in why we are winning. It has to do with we Are doing like we did in the beginning of the season. We are rotating players in and Out Especially guys like Copeland who isnt gonna learn on the bench. Keepimg guys fresh and giving them blows is huge in the 4th quarter. Plus JR is driving to the hole drawing fouls or hitting a stop and pop far better percentage . The team is moving the ball enough and looking for an open man to shoot not just letting it stop at Melo and he post up for 15 seconds. Team Ball Offense and Defense is overall good we communicating plus Felton is blowing by dudes who are a mismatch and getting easy layups. I think everybody brought into Woodsons system of Defense. When Amare was in he even focused on his defense more.
We haven't played a team with a top 15 offense, so it's a good sign we are getting back to beating bad teams and taking advantage. Tuesday night will be a fun test, actually this remaining week will be with OKC on Sunday I believe. We always lived and died by whoever could score next to Melo. Right now that is JR but later it could be Felton or Novak or Shump or etc. Amare's defense was always a problem, and it will be. He readjusted his offense which was amazing to see but hypothetically we make it to the conference finals and Amare is healthy, Woodson has a tough decision. We need that big body, but if JR is providing this scoring punch, Thomas/KMART/Sheed fit much better as defenders and rebounders for us. Big thing is that Melo even when he stops the ball is going towards the rim. Drawing 2-3 defenders allowing KMART or others to clean the boards. JR driving has opened holes for Felton to cut/slash as JR takes a defender with him. Can't believe nobody has mentioned this, we haven't lost game since Prig started alongside Felton. Felton has played much better with another PG next to him (Kidd in the beginning of the year) and Shump has taken Brewer's role in the beginning of they year (except much more reliable). I think Chris Herring of the WSJ wrote an article a couple days ago, our stats with 2 PG or more in the lineup vs 1 or less is lopsided towards the 2 PG lineup.
Knicks better win though. I don't think it's lame, that much easier to make a run to over take Indiana. That home court advantage in round 2 is going to be huge. This is just another game tonight, the real showdown will be in the ECF if the Knicks can manage to get through the first couple rounds. I have 5 full strips of tickets for the playoffs, if they play the heat I'm gonna be able to buy a new Lexus
yes, it is confirmed. The Heat are tanking tonight. Line dropped from 7.5 to 1. Miami Heat Injuries Updated Pos Player Injury Status Games PTS REB AST STL BLK 04/02 G Dwyane Wade rest OUT 66 21.3 5.0 5.0 1.9 0.8 8:38am is OUT Tuesday vs New York. 04/02 F LeBron James rest OUT 72 26.9 8.1 7.3 1.7 0.9 8:38am is OUT Tuesday vs New York. Players listed as OUT 04/02 G Mario Chalmers ankle OUT * 8:39am missed last game, is downgraded to OUT Tuesday vs New York.
I don't recall the whole thing about resting players ever being as common as it seems to be now. Am I just hearing about it more now, or is this something new, perhaps originated by Popovich but now embraced by more teams?
