Jan 16 2012

Notes from the Knicks 102-93 Loss to Orlando

Amar’e Stoudemire was in foul trouble all game and Carmelo Anthony ran out of gas as the Knicks relinquished a fourth quarter lead and lost to the Magic at Madison Square Garden 102-93. Despite shutting down Dwight Howard, the Knicks defense was not good enough to slow Orlando down in the second half.

Here are some notes from the game:

  • A tale of two halves. The Knicks outplayed Orlando in the first half only to be beaten down the second half. In the first half, Carmelo Anthony was rolling with 16 points and the Knicks offense put up 51 points despite Amar’e Stoudemire sitting out most of the half with foul trouble. The defense, and Tyson Chandler in particular, held Dwight Howard and the Magic to 45 points. In the second half, Anthony began to struggle and Orlando’s perimeter shooting began to take over. Ryan Anderson went 7/13 from outside the arc thus burying the Knicks in the 4th quarter. The Knicks forgot how to guard the perimeter in the 4th quarter giving up 29 points. Late in the fourth, Orlando went to a zone defense in which the Knicks responded by running around like headless chickens.
  • Stoudemire must be better. 22 minutes. Stoudemire relegated himself to the bench with silly fouls resulting in him playing 22 minutes. Douglas played 22 minutes and Jeffries played 25. As much as I like Douglas (when he’s not running the point) and Jeffries, the Knicks will not win games with those guys playing as many minutes as Stoudemire. When Stoudemire did play, he was fairly efficient on offense shooting 4/7 for 12 points. After the game, Stoudemire looked depressed and sullen and I think this might be a turning point for him. In what I believe to be a positive sign, Stoudemire proclaimed after the game “I take blame for the loss. I got into foul trouble. Won’t happen again.” I think the fact that he grabbed his poor performance by the horns and made no excuses for his poor game (more on that in a second *cough* Melo *cough*) is a good sign and I expect him to come out determined on Wednesday versus Phoenix.
  • Oh Melo… After the game, Melo spoke to the media about his 9/27 performance. He claimed that he couldn’t control the ball because of his sprained wrist. I have a problem with this. I have a problem on two levels. One, why do you shoot the ball 27 times if you cannot control the ball? I did not have an issue with Melo’s shot selection today, I actually thought it was very good. However, he leaves himself open to criticism by using the wrist as an excuse. If he does not feel like he can shoot then why does he take 8 three pointers? I know he had 16 free throw attempts but if he could not shoot the ball he should have gotten to the line more. My second issue is that Kobe Bryant has not used that excuse once this year. He has a worst wrist than Melo does. Now I hate Kobe and it burns my skin just to be writing this but if you are healthy enough to play, you play and you give no excuse. I don’t believe Melo’s wrist is so bad that he can’t hit shots, clearly he still had a decent game with 33 points. He is not in Stoudemire condition like the playoffs last season when he could barely run around with his back, much less play basketball at a high level. I love Melo but I don’t love using his wrist as an excuse, especially when he shoots 27 times.
  • Walker only got 10 minutes in the game. He was 0/1 with 1 rebound and was a -11 on the day. Maybe D’Antoni and the staff finally read my blog.
  • Chandler was excellent defensively. Today showcased what Tyson Chandler can do for this Knick team. His performance today is why they gave him a 4 year 58 million dollar contract. He held the best center in the game to 8 points and 10 rebounds. 8 points and 10 rebounds. That is unbelievable when you think about Howard’s usual performance against the Knicks. Howard averaged 29 points and 15.8 rebounds a game versus the Knicks last year. This season, he is averaging 20.5 ppg and 15.2 rpg. He was almost a non-factor in terms of production today. It was a marvelous performance by Chandler.
  • Jared Jeffries was great today. He played a solid defensive 25 minutes and even contributed 6 points. Today showed why Jeffries is valuable to this team. Often berated by Knick fans, Jeffries is an important player on this team because of his defensive prowess at both the 4 and the 5. With Stoudemire eating pine all game, Jeffries stepped up and played some nice defense today. Had Jeffries not been available today, the Knicks would have had to play Chandler over 40 minutes (he played 34) and would have had to play either Balkman or Walker more minutes today.
  • Douglas played better today. I thought he provided a nice spark off the bench but like the rest of the club, he went cold in the 4th quarter.
  • I thought Fields was better today. His defense was good except for a couple times when he was mixed up on defensive switches and left JJ Redick open. His offense was okay until the late 4th quarter when he air-balled a shot and turned the ball over once. WIth Fields it needs to be baby steps. I do think he will be good this year and I think he just needs some confidence. His rebounding seems to be coming around as well. He has had 5+ rebounds in 4 of his last 5 games.
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Jan 16 2012

Analysis of Amar’e Stoudemire’s Offensive Game Versus Magic

Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire has struggled mightily this season getting his offensive game going. Over the past few games, I’ve paid more attention to where he was getting the ball and where he took his shots. Stoudemire has been cold this season but often times he is receiving the ball in a position that does not help his game. Today against Orlando, I decided to log where he got the ball on impact plays. Meaning, I didn’t record if he got the ball and passed it off but I logged possessions in which he shot, assisted or turned the ball over. Here is what I recorded:

1st half

  • left elbow coming off screen – travel
  • left elbow coming off screen- missed jumper
  • left post- pass out, near turnover
  • ran fast break – assist
  • post mid-left- blocked shot
  • right post- miss
  • middle paint on movement- hook shot-good

2nd half

  • free throw line off screen- pass: play was designed for STAT but taken away by defense
  • right elbow off screen- jumper good
  • left elbow off screen- penetration to the rim- shot good
  • left elbow- penetration- got to free throw line
  • left mid-range baseline- penetration- dunk

Overall: 22 minutes, 4/7 shooting, 2/2 from free throw line, 12 points.

Analysis: Despite his foul trouble, Stoudemire’s offensive game showed a few signs of improvement. His post play was poor but that’s to be expected against Dwight Howard. I liked Stoudemire’s adjustment of driving the ball in the second half as opposed to settling for jumpers. I thought Stoudemire did a nice job of not settling for stagnant jump shots. When he shot the mid-range jumper he was coming off a screen and shooting a rhythm jump shot. A lot of his success came against Glen “Big Baby” Davis who Stoudemire routinely destroys (as noted in my game preview). I thought he showed some great explosiveness on the poster dunk of Davis. It was the type of explosive move we haven’t seen from Stoudemire this year. It is one thing to drive the ball but I thought in the second half, Stoudemire did a good job of exploding to the rim to get to the line and get some shots in the paint. D’Antoni did a nice job of getting Stoudemire moving in the offense and not just isolating him 22 feet away from the rim. Against Oklahoma City, there were times where Stoudemire was running isolation beyond the arc which was asinine and ridiculous. Today there was none of that which was good to see and despite his smaller sample size of shots, Stoudemire was efficient today. I liked a lot of what I saw in terms of running him off screens and getting him rhythm jump shots.

However, there were a few things I did not like. How many pick and rolls do you see in that list above? 0. The Knicks did not run any pick and roll to Stoudemire. At times he set screens but there was no effort to get him the ball off the roll. The pick and roll what Stoudemire does best and the Knicks do not even run it. I understand there’s no point guard but that doesn’t mean abandoning the pick and roll is a good idea. Clearly Stoudemire is best moving towards the rim, why not even TRY to get him the ball on a pick and roll? Especially when Stoudemire’s jump shot has been cold and struggling. The second thing I did not like was Stoudemire’s lack of usage in the 4th quarter. He started the 4th quarter on fire and then the Knicks went away from him. Part of this is on Melo. Part of this is on the point guards and the coaches but I think Stoudemire needs to receive blame as well. I thought he did a poor job of presenting himself for the ball in the middle and late stages of the 4th. As a result, he barely touched the ball and when Melo went cold the Knicks were done.

Looking past his foul trouble and limited minutes, I thought Stoudemire played a decent offensive game. His impact was not felt after about the 8 minute mark in the 4th but he did show some good signs when he had the ball. His jump shot is still cold but he did show good willingness to adjust his game and get to the rim. Clearly he can get to the rim when he wants and I would like to see more of that from him. I want to see some pick and rolls as well but the Knicks seem hesitant to do it until Baron Davis gets back. Stoudemire must stay on the court first and for most but overall he did do some good things today.

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Jan 16 2012

Knicks-Magic: What to Watch For

The Knicks went 1-3 against Orlando last season. They come into today’s game on a two game losing streak and potentially without superstar Carmelo Anthony.

Here’s what to watch for:

  • How will the Knicks defend Dwight Howard? This will be interesting because this is the first Chandler versus Howard matchup. Last season, the Knicks mostly guarded Howard with the sterling post defensive presences of Shawne Williams and Ronny Turiaf, both of whom are no longer on the team. Howard averaged 29 points and 15.8 rebounds per game over the four games he faced the Knicks. It will be interesting to see how the Knicks defend Howard. Will they hack-a-Dwight like Mark Jackson and Golden State did last week? Or will they take the Atlanta Hawks approach and guard Howard one on one and lock down the perimeter? I think the smart thing to do would be to guard Howard one on one and lock down the perimeter, especially if Melo is not playing. If Orlando gets hot from 3, it will be a long night for the Knicks.
  • Will Glen Davis bring out the best in Amar’e? Glen Davis always talks shit about Amar’e… and Amar’e then shits on him. See evidence here and here. Knick fans, including myself, have been frustrated with Stoudemire’s struggles this season because we know him to be the dominant force he was last season. Could Glen Davis turn the Knicks tide? If Amar’e can go for an efficient 30 and 10 on “the big baby” then maybe he can get on a roll. I would love to see the Knick superstar get back on track today against fat baby Davis.
  • How will Amar’e be used in the offense? During the game, I will be noting, and then posting here afterwards, where Amar’e gets the ball offensively and the results. I noted in last night’s notes from the OKC game that often times Stoudemire got the ball outside the arc and then was left on isolations thus resulting in wasted possessions. It will be interesting to see if Stoudemire will try to get inside knowing that Dwight Howard will be waiting for him there.
  • If Melo is out, does Walker have to start again? I’d much rather see Fields. At least Fields will defend. Walker does nothing. The Knicks need to bounce back defensively after the last two porous games. If Walker is playing significant minutes, I think the defensive prowess of the team suffers. When Walker does not shoot, like Saturday night when he was 1/6, he is pretty much useless. I’d rather see Fields inserted back into the lineup and given a vote of confidence to see if he can get back on track.
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