May 6 2012

Knicks Win First Playoff Game Since 2001

It is finally over! The Knicks have finally won a playoff game. It took an NBA record 13 losses before they could get this victory, but that is now irrelevant. Sunday’s thrilling 89-87 Knicks victory over the Miami Heat was just awesome. There’s no other way to describe it. Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire led the way, as the tandem scored 61 points. Did the Knicks play a great game? No way. Sure, Miami didn’t bring their A game, but I could care less. The Knicks won a playoff game for the first time since 2001 and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Here are my notes from the game: More

By • 2012 Playoffs, Game Previews/ Recaps • 0

May 6 2012

Analyzing Amar’e Stoudemire’s Awesome Defensive Rotation

There were 54.5 seconds left in the game. New York cradled a delicate 87-84 lead over the powerhouse Heat. Down 3-0 in the series, this was do-or-die time for the Knicks defense. Miami ran a high pick and roll between Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Bosh did well to quickly slip screen into the paint while both Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler were focused on Wade. The much maligned Amar’e Stoudemire made an awesome defensive rotation to push Bosh out to the baseline, where he then threw the ball into a back court for a turnover. Carmelo Anthony was fouled from three point land on the next possession and the rest is history. In this post, I am going to analyze how Stoudemire made the defensive play of the game for the Knicks.  More

By • 2012 Playoffs, Amare Stoudemire, Analysis/Opinions, X's and O's Breakdowns • 3

May 6 2012

Knicks-Heat Game 4: What to Watch For

In all likelihood, the 2011 Knicks season will come to an end this afternoon at Madison Square Garden. As we all know, the Knicks are down 3-0 against the powerhouse Miami Heat. Miami optimizes what the Knicks hope to one day become, although the Knicks sit miles away from that level. In game 4, the Knicks will try to snap their NBA-record 13 game playoff losing streak. For the Knicks, very little has gone well in this series. Carmelo Anthony has been horrible, shooting 34%, Tyson Chandler has been sick and ineffective and Amar’e Stoudemire sidelined himself by punching a fire extinguisher after game two. New York has been stagnant and ineffective on offense and unable to slow down the Heat stars on offense. It has been a complete disaster of a series for the Knicks.

In game 4, the Knicks will be playing for pride. To play devil’s advocate to my usually pessimistic self, the Knicks do have a slight chance of winning this game. Defensively they did with Miami in game 3 for the first 3 quarters before LeBron James put the game away with 10 minutes to go in the 4th. In game 2, the Knicks played Miami evenly for about 38 minutes of the game, but were killed by two separate 5 minute stretches in that game. There is a chance that Amar’e Stoudemire returns this afternoon, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I know he’s saying he wants to play and that he did in fact practice yesterday, but I just can’t see it. He posted that nasty picture of his hand yesterday, which looked like he had a baseball seam stitched onto his palm. As you can see in the picture, it is pretty clear to me that the meaty portion of his hand was in fact hanging off. I have a really difficult time he’s going to be recovered enough from almost losing a portion of his hand, to then playing a basketball game in a matter of days. Even if Stoudemire plays, he will have that hand covered up and nobody knows how effective he’ll be. We’ll see what happens today, but I would expect… well, the norm. I think the Knicks will be outplayed and they will lose. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.

Here’s what to watch for:  More

By • 2012 Playoffs, Game Previews/ Recaps • 0