Comments on: 2012-13 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Heat

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:17:08 +0000

The other thing that’s funny with how the media covers these teams is that when the Knicks win because Melo scores 40, there’s always an undercurrent of “sure we won but it’s because Melo played hero-ball which is non-sustainable”, as opposed to the Heat, who are literally 150% dependent on Lebron playing like Superman on both ends of the floor to win these games. If Lebron went down with an injury, Miami doesn’t even make it out of the 1st round.

LBJ is amazing though – that was about as casual a 29/11/7 game as I’ve ever seen.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:05:36 +0000

And last thing – other than maybe not playing Amare more, I can’t kill Woodson for this loss. I went back on Synergy and watched all 29 of our 3 point shots, and literally 22 of them were wide open/unguarded. We shot 7 for 22 on those shots, with most of them being shot by above average or very good 3 pointers (Novak, JR, Melo). Any offense that creates 22 wide open 3 pointers in a game is doing its job. In the first quarter alone we missed 5 wide open 3s and as I noted above, JR missed 7 wide open 3s in the game by himself.

This team is going to live and die with its 3 point shooting, which is ok as long as they are good shots. Yesterday we died by the 3, but the offensive process was good overall IMHO. The other thing that killed us were the unforced turnovers. Neither the missing of wide open 3s nor unforced turnovers should be blamed on Woodson. If we would just stop traveling (I’m looking at you James White) and stepping out of bounds for no reason, we win this game also.

My guess is that Miami is happy to win the game, but that Spoelstra and co. will not be happy when they watch the film.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:00:29 +0000

I was actually not so upset about the game. I was pretty worried we’d be blown out, so a close game was a bonus for me. Not saying much I guess. Few thoughts-
- JR had TEN 3 point attempts in the 2nd half. Out of those 10, 7 of them were wide open (and I mean wide open where there wasn’t a Heat player within 8 feet) and 1 was a corner 3 which was pretty open (but a good closeout). So out of 8 very makeable shots he made only 2. If Miami is going to live and die by JR missing wide open 3′s, I’ll take my chances with that. We win this game if JR makes even half of those.
- Loved that Felton kept attacking all the way through the game even though his #s sucked. At the end of the game, was Miami purposely letting him drive? Melo basically didn’t touch the ball the last 2-3 minutes.
- White should be cut. I just don’t see that he gives us anything other than a body to put in front of Lebron. Keeping White instead of Brewer might have been a big mistake. 2 turnovers and 3 fouls with a -6 in 8 minutes. Nice. My guess is he’s gone in the offseason in some sort of a trade using his nonguaranteed 2nd year.
- completely agree that Amare is a huge mismatch against the Heat’s frontline. I’ll take my chances with Amare vs. Bosh or Amare vs. Chris Anderson any day of the week.
- maybe biggest play of the game was the LBJ block/foul on Tyson, then Tyson not hustling back, leading to LBJ getting the O-reb putback. There’s no question Tyson got mugged on that play, but in a game like that he has to get back on D. Inexcusable from a guy who is supposed to be a leader on this team.

By: jon abbey

jon abbey — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:05:59 +0000

here’s something that just occurred to me: if you insist on using a token 5th starter and not Amar’e as it probably should be, why not start Kenyon Martin at SF instead of the obviously worthless White?

By: Mr.RIGHT

Mr.RIGHT — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 07:43:17 +0000

Dp you mean to tell me that J.R. Smith & Raymond Felton as opposed to having Jeremy Win & Jamal Crawford (and/or a Tony Allen type) is superior???

…I think NOT!!!!!

By: BigBlueAL

BigBlueAL — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:23:59 +0000

Will the Thrill: People keep talking about Woodson having to “figure it out” but he is notoriously known for NOT figuring things out.He couldn’t for the life of him figure it out in Atlanta when they couldn’t win a road playoff game for multiple years and has had ample time to figure it out here. His stubbornness reminds of D’antoni, even though I know that he stands for exactly what D’antoni doesn’t (which is probably a good thing).

The perception is that Woodson stands for what D'Antoni doesnt but the reality is that this team is playing identical to a D'Antoni team. Woodson sounds different than D'Antoni in interviews and post-game press conferences but it doesnt show at all on the floor. During the off-season the Knicks made several moves it seemed to distance themselves from playing a D'Antoni type system yet Woodson now refuses to play big and has all these bigs wasting away on the bench while force-feeding a style of play on offense that seems ill-suited for the roster right now. Plus Woodson was supposed to be a disciplinarian and tough coach yet the team still gets needless techs and they still constantly complain to the refs while not hustling back on D. I actually give Woodson credit for adapting many (if not all) of D'Antoni's offense and the players do seem to like and play hard for him. But reading alot of Knick fans on Twitter and on some different Knick blogs/sites today I found it hilarious how so many of them are now complaining about Woodson with the exact same complaints they had about D'Antoni last season. Although lack of playing time for Amar'e was never a problem with D'Antoni lol.

By: nicos

nicos — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:18:08 +0000

maxwell_3g: Damn.you guys all think stat “lashed out” against woodson….based on this performance????I will admit that amare’s D did not stick out like a sore thumb today, iand i give him credit for that.but before lashing out at the coach, a player better be certain that they are doing everything that they can with the time that they are getting.perhaps amare should “lash out” on the boards instead of the coach, and I would think his complaints (if he has in fact made any, which i doubt he has) would be more justified.hes a max player at PF.2 rebs???? against a soft heat frontline?? and we are supposed to think that somehow he has been wrongfully benched at the end of games??

I doubt Amar'e lashed out at Woodson- if he was really ticked off I think it'd have showed up more on the court and you'd certainly see him sulking on the bench which you really haven't. As for his play- you know how many regular rotation guys have had a TS% of over .640 with a usage of over 25 in the history of the NBA? Three- Adrian Dantley twice and Barkley and Amar'e himself once each. Durant is on pace to do it this year along with Amar'e. So you're talking about a guy who's having an incredible scoring season- not just very good- it's almost unheard of. You'd think Woodson could find more than 21 minutes for him especially given how the team was struggling to score in the second half. Defensively, I really think he's an adequate four (a little below average but not awful) but a poor five and his defensive struggles there are compounded by the fact that when he's had to play the five the fours have been either Novak or Melo- neither of whom are great rebounders (though I think Melo's attention for boxing out is one of the reasons JR and Shump have rebounded so well this year) or protect the rim at all.

By: jon abbey

jon abbey — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:52:28 +0000

it was depressing to see Chandler and Melo fuck up that pick and roll late by both sticking with LeBron and letting Bosh go totally free to the basket. dunno if that’s on Woodson or the players, but either way, depressing.

By: Will the Thrill

Will the Thrill — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:38:13 +0000

People keep talking about Woodson having to “figure it out” but he is notoriously known for NOT figuring things out. He couldn’t for the life of him figure it out in Atlanta when they couldn’t win a road playoff game for multiple years and has had ample time to figure it out here. His stubbornness reminds of D’antoni, even though I know that he stands for exactly what D’antoni doesn’t (which is probably a good thing).

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 04:35:23 +0000

Stupid Indiana just had to win, didn’t they?

A couple of crazy blowouts tonight. San Antonio beat Detroit by 39 and Houston beat Dallas by 33. Yikes.