Dare I? NY Knicks back in the playoffs thread

The scary thing is, D'Antoni may very well still be coaching, and you just know the money won't be well spent. He'll just bring in even more scorers, and avoiding anyone who plays a lick of defense.

 

That is absolutely right. I Agree completely. But it works both ways sometimes. The Heat sometimes gets some questionable calls against them for no apparent reason other than to "even" out the calls, although one team is earning them and the other is not.

Funny one tonight though....James Jones got called for a foul that was clearly a foul because he left his feet on a pump fake and ended up then basically intentionally fouling his guy on a jumper. James Jones raised his hand then turned around and looked at Lebron and said "My bad"

The ref gave him a technical.

 

Some of the things these players are getting called for technicals is ridiculous. The officiating has just been particularly awful this year. You should watch some Clippers games if you want to see "Star Treatment". The **** Blake Griffen gets away with, and "fouls" he draws are ridiculous. Hell, against the Sixers, Tony Battie wraps Griffen up to try and hold him up after he gets cut off by Jodie Meeks on a fast break. Gets called for a Flagrant 1, Griffen gets all upset like he's about to start throwing punches. A few Free Throws later, Blake Griffen shoves Battie in the back like he's done on several occasions this season already, and Battie gets a foul called on him... Needless to say Doug Collins got ejected after giving the refs his opinion. Officiating has just been such a joke this year.

 

I will say this....I used to complain about teams that would ***** all game to the officials about calls..like those Piston teams and the current celtics team.

The Heat is quickly overtaking them with how much they complain. That could also be a factor why refs try to even out calls against them at times.


BTW KNICK FANS....MELO SAYS TONIGHT IS A MUST WIN ..Versus Orlando.

I was gung ho to bet Orlando tonight..and I mean..SEND IT IN. I will admit...I chickened out. Did not bet a dime. The Knicks can't lose EVERY game..can they? So yes, I did not bet against the Knicks because of the "They are due" theory.

IDK..I got a feeling that streak ends tonight.

 

If NY can't win with Nelson, Reddick, and Q Rich sitting out there is truly a problem. But we already know that don't we?

 

There is still a 6'-11" creature patrolling the paint for Orlando that the Knicks have no idea how to deal with.

Not a confidence game for me. When you start second guessing yourself...DON'T BET.

 

They are just trying to get the #8 seed so they can get their most favorable matchup...Chicago.

 

Never doubt my gut....

Walt Frazier: Everybody is on their feet! Winning and Grinning! OH YEAH!

THE KNICKS WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!
THE KNICKS WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!
THE KNICKS WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Celtics, Bulls and Magic all lose,...that is a good night.

 

Orlando bench saying the game was rigged at the end. Chanting "The fix is in" after Howard fouled out. (Chris Mannix)

SVG is gonna get fined.

 

The last 2 minutes and OT period in that game was just ****ing disgustingly officiated.

 

man..everybody is saying that...I was watching the MVP turn it over 10 times and lose to Philly at home and when I tuned in...the Magic bench was losing their minds as Howard fouled out.

 

Shocking.

 

it took the knicks playing an orlando team that could barely field enough players at the end to win a game at home. hats off to them for beating the magic while nelson and reddick are wearing suit and tie, with howard fouled out in OT, and carmelo traveling at the end of regulation with no call.

 

I assume you saw your Sixers win in Chicago....

How did you like the patented "fall behind, start tackling" defense the Bulls go to everytime they fall behind?

 

Luckily Walsh and Mark Warkentian are in charge not along with Houston.

BTW, dont know if anyone else caught this but as the knick players were coming down the tunnel at the end of the game, Walsh was using a walker to get around. Guy is not well. Not good for the NYK or NBA. Guy is world class.

Q is useless. I watched him be useless more then enough time in NY. But yes we have no one to handle Nelson other then Toney Douglas and D'Antoni would NEVER trade a good defender while having to sit a better offensive player. Redick is ok and a good shooter but hes not in the same league as Nelson. I agree Orlando is a matchup nightmare for NYK.

No one has any idea how to deal with Howard really well. But we figured out a good way...get him to foul out. Works as well as any.

Clyde is the best. When he and Gus Johnson or he and Marv albert were announcing games those were the best. As long as we dont have to look at Clyde's pimp suits every night lol.

SVG is a crybaby. Always has been always will be. Not even the best coach in his family.

The Carmelo travel was the only thing they missed.

 

I went to the Cavs v Clippers game just to see Griffin play and came away completely disgusted. After every possession he either complains to the refs the entire way down the court or (if he scores) stares down his defender the entire way down the court. I know people get into that whole intimidation thing - but the Cavs just pushed the ball down the court and had numbers (or Hickson was able to get position and score on Griffin). The Cavs ended up winning the game (and breaking the 26 game losing streak).

The NBA made such a huge deal about stopping all the complaining - but all they do is call T's on the lesser players - which only widens the gap between the calls for star players.

I miss the old NBA - there is no way Anthony Mason or any of those other enforcers could survive in today's NBA. It is just a battle of who can get to the line the most. I would love to see Durant or Wade play against the old 90's Knicks teams where you have to earn your points and not get bailed out.

 

WHOA WHOA..Slow your roll chief. Wade ripped apart the 05-06 Pistons that played as physical as the thug ball teams that Riley had in New York.

BTW...HAPPY COMIC SANS DAY!!

 

HA! I'll be at the game tonight. Look for me - I'll be the one boo'ing. Then leaving early when the Cavs get down by 30.

My point was more that in today's NBA guys can go to the rim and more or less flair the ball at the rim and get the call - so the physical play is neutralized because it just gets in foul trouble. The 90's teams could beat you around and be physical without getting a foul called at every turn. Guys had to drive with a plan of getting the ball to the hole and not just waiting for the call.

 

You are gonna have a heart attack when you see LBJ setting picks for Wade and running a two man game and actually not breaking off sets.

When he goes to the post and starts running the offense from there...the whole arena might start throwing crap on the floor.

You won't recognize his game..unless of course he decides to revert to hero ball since he is in Cleveland tonight.

 

I know - the biggest complaints here in Cleveland were that he refused to run anything other than "LeIso" and that he never recruited any players here. He's doing both of thoe in Miami now and it is damn near unstoppable - and annoying as a Cavs fan. Seems like he is finally learning how to win - without having to run everything through him. Him playing off the ball limits the amount of jump shots he can take and forces him to make quicker decisions (instead of waiting until the shot clock is at 2 and then dumping to freaking Varejoa for a jumper).

With the Celtics wilting and the Bulls running their starters into the ground, the Heat are hitting their stride at the exact right time. Hate to admit it but if LeBron doesn't try to turn into a hero in the playoffs they are going to be tough to beat.

 

Hey Phin-O..congrats man..

you deserve it. The Cavs forced the Heat to join the club with the Lakers and Celtics. Alot of energy and the Heat just had no energy or effort till they expended ALL of it on a 19-1 run to tie it.

The Cavs are a team full of 6 to 9 rotation players and they vastly outplayed the Heat tonight.

Congrats again man..I Know you were at the game..I hope you enjoyed it thoroughly.

Again...Congratulations..you deserved at least this night.

 

Yupp, what sect said. Outside of few ridiculous calls, caves outplayed Miami. Clearly, they wanted this more.

 

They needed it more than we did, the second seed will be ours sooon enough anyway.
Congrats to the Cavs.

 

Thanks man - it was a blast. I was at the game that broke the 26 game losing streak and to be honest, that one might have been louder. Hard to argue with how great the Cavs fans are when you consider how bad we are (no seriously, we start Alonzo Gee) and how we are still near the top in attendance / TV ratings. That is even after Varejoa and Jamison being hurt for the year and us trading the fan-favorite eMo Williams (no that was not a typo).

Seemed like LeBron was trying to force it a bit. As soon as Wade would become the focal point of the offense you could feel the air let out of the arena. And after that ridiculous call at the end of the 3rd to give Bron the 3* I figured the crowd would be out of it.

I don't plan on the Cavs being great anytime soon, but add our two top 10 picks in '11 to this team and we will be more exciting. The '12 draft is stocked and with the TPE, Jamison's expiring and Baron's expiring, we have a real shot to add more picks (this year and next). A contender may go after Varejoa the way OKC went after Perkins to add some youth as well. We could turn this around quicker than originally though (and by that I mean like 4 years).

(Yes I realize the clock started late so it screwed the Heat as well - but you can't make a rule that just becaues the clock started early a player can shoot after the horn. In this case it was probably fair, but what it if was 2-3 seconds off and the players stopped defending? There is no way in that is in the rule book. What did the ref do - count to 3 mississippi on the sideline and decide to count it?)

 

BTW - that play where LeBron sets the pick and if the PG goes under the screen he sticks his *** out and forces a switch so he can post up the smaller man? Yeah, that is scary. Rondo may be able to pester LeBron in that situation, but Rose is going to crap his pants.

 

The Refs asked the Heat TV truck if they had a side view because "THEY KNEW" the clock malfunctioned. The Heat TV truck said that they did not have that angle with the clock.

The refs then asked the Cavs TV truck if they had it..and they got it from there and determined that LBJ got the shot off.

BUT..they got the rule wrong. They needed to REPLAY those seconds if they COULD NOT verify it on video. A Cavs TV feed is not "enough" according to Stu Jackson.


BTW...Baron Davis is a bum. He is obviously one of the better point guards in the league. BUT he DOGS IT intentionally all the time. Because you can't explain to me how he ALWAYS plays big vs. the good teams and then has horrific games versus the bad teams. It's to the point where a contender should get him to start him versus other contenders and in the playoffs.

 

Baron Davis is a total bum - though when you are as bad as us it is fun to have someone get up for big games without the threat of being good enough to lose all our ping pong balls. The hope here in CLE is that he'll want to get out of here so bad he'll play his tail off and trick a decent team into taking him off our hands.

 

I was pretty shocked to know Cleveland has the 3rd highest attendence this year...good for them...

 

I think they made season ticket holders renew before the end of last year so ticket sales are there but Lebron is obviously not. If I was a Cavs fan Id be steamed

 

Let me ask Phin-O something...

have you watched LBJ play this year? and is his game that much better this year than before?

The reason I ask that is that I keep hearing horror stories about Lebron from other Cavs fans and they swear to me that the Lebron I am watching now is not the same one.

I have a NEW holy trinity.

Magic Johnson is the best OFFENSIVE player I HAVE EVER SEEN.
Michael Jordan is the BEST PLAYER I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Lebron James is the Third Guy in my holy trinity. The guy is great. Has he really improved or is he just listening now?

 

I don't know that they made people - but I think they offered incentives to do so.

But the seats are still packed - and more impressively our TV ratings are still extremely high. You can say people forced to buy season tickets would show up because of the investment, but the fact that so many people still tune in to the games is incredible.

 

I just think he grew up. He got put in his place a little bit by the backlash of The Decision and Riley (though him showing up at the Q with a two car entourage yesterday was a joke).

In Cleveland he would always be dancing and goofing off. He was always trying to make the highlight play. One of my biggest problems with him was the "Kobe Complex". LeBron is unstoppable when driving to the hoop. It is like that one run play in Super Tecmo Bowl with Bo Jackson - even with the perfect defense, there is no way to stop it. But LeBron wouldn't use it down the stretch - he had to try to hit a jumper in a guy's eye. He wanted to be a sniper and a killer, the way that Jordan and Kobe were - but maybe not realizing they developed that later in their career when their bodies couldn't drive to the hoop anymore.

But LeBron was so worried about having "moments" that we would lose games because he wouldn't just grind it out and get to the line and put it away. With Wade he respects him and lets him have his shots - and Wade is smart enough to grind out a 4th quarter for a win (which is why I still think he should be your go-to guy in the 4th - not based on talent, but patience).

I also think having guys like Wade out there make him step up and play smarter. He had a habit of coming down the court, dribbling for 15 seconds, driving to the hole and dishing off to a teammate. This is great when you are hitting shots (notice Boobie Gibson, Anthony Parker and Mo Williams all shot insane % from 3 when playing with Bron) - but all too often it would end up in the hands of Varejao for a 15 footer with 2 seconds left on the shot clock.

So while LeBron always got credit for this incredible Bball IQ, he would make some really boneheaded plays at critical times. Then people would blame Mike Brown (a horrible offensive coach - but lets not pretend he called for LeBron to run an ISO every single time down the court) or his teammates (who were admittedly flawed but if you look at the plan (surround LeBron with shooters to kick out to when he drives) it made sense).

And there are the things I've mentioned before - he is actively recruiting people to Miami, which he never did in Cleveland. He isn't allowed to be out partying all night (there is a famous story here about Bron being at a bar until 4am the night before a playoff game - that we then lost).

So I think LeBron has always had the talent - but he is finally being forced to do things he never had to do before. He is going in the post. He is setting screens. He is letting the offense get started and get in motion and being a PART of the offense without having to BE the offense. If he can keep his ego in check he should be 100% better next year than this year. If you can keep him focused in the gym he can do insane things. He improved his jump shot and his FT% when putting his mind to it in the offseason.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. If the Heat win I think it'll run smoothly, but if you go 2-3 years in the playoffs without a championship I don't think he'll put up with buying into the "system" and want to do his own thing. From the stories that float around here, he can be about as big a 'prima-donna' as there is.

I'd be interested to see if you've heard any stories about him - while I don't give much credence to the Delonte rumor, others, like a major fight in the locker room around the time of game 5 in Boston last year with Shaq getting involved, seem to have some legs.

(Sorry for the long post. Especially being off-topic in the Knicks thread.)

 

Well said Phi. Analysis like that should be welcome in any thread.

 

Great analysis. Thanks.

No. He has been a model citizen here, and he seems to have taken a real liking to Coach Spo. he keeps mirroring whatever Spo says...and I like the dynamic we have now where Wade is the Offensive "captain" and Lebron is barking and getting in teammates face on Defense effectively being the defensive captain..

They have a real partnership going now. You can tell those two guys really like each other.

 

I thought there was some tension Section with him and Spo, or is that more media driven non-sense.....they like showing LBJ walking past Spo like he is going to bump him...obviously he isnt....

He is the new A-Rod in terms that the media is going to hound him, and hate him, and try to prevent him from winning a ring.....the similiariites are there...notice how since A-Rod won a championship, they dont even bother with him anymore....

 

same situation. Lebron is a Spo disciple now.

 

Knicks have no defense, they may make the playoffs but in a 7 game series they dont have a shot against boston, miami, chicago. Sorry ny gonna have to wait til 2012

 

There's nothing I want more than to face the Miami Heat in the 1st round. I wish the playoffs would end today.