2012 Game Thread: Knicks v. Magic
April 5th, 2012 by Robert Silverman | @BobSaietta | Comments | Permalink |
I’m sure most of y’all are hip to today’s Team Stan/Team Dwight drama. But for those who, you know, have actual lives or at least jobs that prohibit you from gleefully reading NBA tidbits all afternoon in lieu of work, here’s today’s painfully awkward presser.
How will this effect Superman’s play tonight? Will Van Gundy the Younger go bat guano crazy during the game, start shedding his clothes during a timeout, and perform the greatest in-game striptease this side of Michael Ontkean?
Find out, True Believers! All your idle palaver and high-minded wordsmithery goes here…
Hey, did you know that in addition to banging the keys here and occasionally for the NY Times, Robert is a playwright, an actor and a wand'ring mendicant/gadfly? He also once wrestled a bear...and lost.
Fire Dolan!
SHUMP SHUMP
now we’ll win, book it.
Melo Melo
Okay.
SOrry, no way we’re winning this game. Dwight is super hyped, and our defense appears lackluster.
Turnovers and bricked wide open threes. Ugh
this is going to be a tough one. damn. this could be where it all slips away.
Can Baron get any worse? Just fucking awful. Please dear god, Jeremy Lin on one leg is better than this shit.
we’ve seen this knicks team so many times this year. the one that comes out with no pop. it’s obvious
Thanks for posting that clip.
AWKWAAAARD.
Nice to know the Knicks aren’t the only dysfunctional team.
Meanwhile, when did we join the Brickerbocker union?
Let’s hope SHUMP’s recent brilliance is the norm and last game was the anomaly…
Is there a consensus on here whether JVG’s history would keep SVG from accepting Dolan’s large transfers of money? I’d be pretty exited if he was available.
As bad as we are playing, the Magic offense without Anderson is not that good. We may need Jordan to hack a Dwight at some point though
Joey Crawford reffing this game. He’s beyond awful
Good hustle by Jorts.
shump shump
Shumpert hung in the air so long on that tip dunk I thought my stream had frozen
Didn’t he USED to be a good ref? Wha happen?
JR Smith, can’t live with him, can’t live without him
Fuck marv…how many series did Kobe win without pau or Shaq answer=0
How many series did wade win without shaq or lbj? Answer = 1 his rookie year
Gtfoh
I wonder why JR cuts his drives short. He should live at the FT line.
JR has this move. He drives , then stops suddenly, then does the MJ fadaway.
Nah. He has favorites. Ask Tim Duncan
I think Toney was better than Baron out there. He made a couple nice passes, missed 1 shot but he was fairly open. Baron just jacks up 3′s that have no zeus’ hell of going in.
Just going to say that Xman. “Watching” this on Gamecast. Seems to me that J.R. and Toney are playing better point guard than Baron.
…….I can’t believe I just said that.
D-Ho has zero points.
The Magic’s locker room has to be toxic now.
Knicks allowing Magic too many 3′s. Will they collapse again in the 4th?
My guess is that you can’t break people’s ankles at the FT line.
You’re always such a ray of sunshine.
Jorts was huge in that half despite having no presence in the box score. NY went on a 45-22 run before that last 3 by Wafer, two more quarters of that, please.
and Fields turned back into a pumpkin, that second 3 attempt where he didn’t even jump was painful to watch.
Dwight totally taken out of the game.
They’re showing the Dwight/SVG clip – oh my god, that was the “Dinner Party” episode of The Office-level awkward.
Someone at P&T posited this Machiavellian possibility:
Nah, he played this perfectly. All the focus goes on Dwight now. If he dogs it or if he sits, everybody is going to speculate that its on purpose. He has no choice but to go all out, and in doing so Stan has a great chance in goin on a deep playoff run. Its hard to fire a guy that gets you past the Bulls/Heat in the playoffs.
It was a brilliant move by Stan. He’s in a win-win situation right now. He can’t lose.
Good half for the Knicks. Orlando is a mess of a team right now though.
Xman, Knicks have shot just as many 3′s but have made 50% more. (9/15 vs. 6/15). I think they’ll be ok.
oop forgot “blockquote” tag
fly on the wall:
SVG: “So Dwight, if I quit right now, will you show up for the 2nd half?”
It’s a theory. I don’t thinkSVG is that calculating, nor do I think there was a better chance of fixing that situation that way. I honestly believe he don’t give a damn
ha
This is awesome. I can’t believe Orlando has this little heart. I know we were all scared that they would come out in this game all fired up and instead, they look like they don’t give even the slightest shit. It is such perfect timing for the Knicks. The Knicks have had such bad luck of late that I’m thrilled something actually went the Knicks’ way. I am beaming.
Has there ever been another instance where a coach actually said point blank that a player asked to have him fired?
Maybe SVG has money on tonight’s game.
long way to go.
Good point Brian. That Orlando crowd must be ready to riot right now.
I guess, but man, they look flat-out disinterested in the game. So I dunno if they’ll seriously be able to make up a 12 point halftime deficit. But yeah, fair enough, they can always get hot from three. I’m still smiling, but I’ll take it down a notch from “beaming”.
Wow I can’t believe how many empty seats there are, you’d think this was Charlotte or something
Is this the first half where both Melo and JR had standout offensive games?
By the way, my theory of Shump and Fields drawing from the same power source is showing up tonight. Fields is down, so Shump is up.
lollercats jameer nelson has missed 3 open layups…
You literally cannot give the ball to Landry at all on offense anywhere on the court. It’s surreal.
K Landry it’s bench time, you’ve made a series of negative plays. Dear god.
Landry are you kidding me? He’s just flinging his foul shots
Well, at least that cut was vintage Landry.
Howard wanted to make Fields better. That’s just how weird Howard is. “I just want him to like me!”
Look at Melo fight for the ball. Scary.
Unreal that there was no whistle there.
That was a hilarious possession. Between Fields’ free throws and that possession, sort of Keystone Cops-esque.
Landry! Landry! Landry!
FIELDS A 3 POINTER, HOLY SHIT
Did you hear the crowd gasp when the lane parted like the Red Sea for Baron?
Unreal turnaround for Fields. Sports is funny.
I’m stuck at work-can someone explain why Howard has taken only 2 shots? Is he not even pretending to try?
That was the sequel to Amare’s “OH SHIT OH SHIT OH YEAH OH SHIT OH YEAH” possession.
We deserve a classic Howard pout game, darnit!
Howard looks completely distracted out there.
How was there no foul with Melo there?
Offense is def not as potent with Landry as he can’t make the 3, but then he makes one, so it’s hilarious. With Novak and JR, you just have more weapons. With Davis and Landry, you really have no 3 point shooting.
I’m also stuck at work and just read the latest comments – so apparently Landry did everything wrong for a few minutes and deserved to be sent to the D-league, and then abruptly did everything right and is probably the next MJ? Very,very confusing (Landry, not the comments – I have no doubt they were accurate).
Watch for angry Melo dunk
I do feel badly for SVG. While I’m glad the Magic are doing this against us, I’ve always liked the VG boys.
Since Melo’s come to NY, he certainly hasn’t gotten the ‘star’ calls. Was that the case in Denver?
lol, it’s almost impossible to construct a coherent narrative of the game from reading KB comments.
Howard still hasn’t scored. Incredible.
why do they continue to double team davis and howard so they give up a wide open 3?
Gotta keep this lead double figures, don’t let Magic think they’re in it
stern really needs to step in when a player lays down like this. it is clear he’s dumping to show his displeasure. 2 shots from the field????
i guess jayson richardson didn’t get dwight’s memo.
Off and on. Depends on officials
Robert, why do you have a picture of Doug as your icon? Are you the same person?!? BUSTED!!!
NANDE?
glad duhon still isn’t on this team jeezus
SHHH YOU’LL RUIN EVERYTHING
LANDRY, TONEY D WHAT IS GOING ON
haha pity basket for Howard
It is unbelievable how Fields plays off of confidence…he hit a couple of 3′s and suddenly attacks the basket with a monster dunk…I am convinced his game rides almost completely on his confidence.
Clyde says he told Melo he should be a 20-10-5 guy. I love Clyde but other than Oscar, Wilt and Bird I can’t think of anyone who has done that.
also Robert is an incredibly handsome and intelligent man and we really ought to appreciate him more around here
[85] Clyde also wears snakeskin boots with actual snake heads on them.
I know. It drives me nuts. We’re lucky Orlando mailed this in. And we deserve some lucky lol.
Playing the Magic! It’s the cure for what ails ya!
TDDWTDUTD
Just when you thought it might be time to worry when they got within 10, Knicks now up by 17 points.
Could Orlando collapse right out of the playoffs?
17 point lead early on 4th quarter. Dejavu. Okay everyone start shouting Deeee- Fense. No repeat of the Indiana game
Maybe our luck will continue with a Chicago win against Boston.
This game feels completely different than Indiana.
I’m watching MSG what have they been saying about Howard on ESPN? Whatever happened to that religious bent they played up when he came out of HS?
I have zero sympathy for other team’s problems. If the entire Bulls starting lineup came down with the bird flu, I’d say yippee, good for us.
Hilarious that SVG is leaving Howard in with 5 fouls (and also that he left him in with 4 fouls early in 3rd)
Knicks beating Orlando in every category except blocks and FT%.
I agree, but after the game they have tonight with the Celts. :)
HOLY CRAP! Novak makes a 2 pointer!
Melo sitting the whole 4th? I remember why TD doesn’t run the offensive very smoothly. Just dribbles too much then the shot clock winds down.
Let me reiterate tho, TD playing pretty well. His defense has been great.
Thanks for the feedback Xman. I can’t get a feel for defense very well through Gamecast.
Hopefully TD getting some confidence back and we never see the corpse again
Yay toney douglas
A’s for everybody tonight
Most impressive is 18 assists between JR, Toney, and BD (7,6,5). JR has 7 assists. Wow.
Now 8.
Ok, so I know we won this over a Magic team in turmoil, and that the schedule only gets harder from here. But wow did this win feel good.
JR finishes the game one dime short of a double-double. Probably most impressive game of the year for him IMO.
Awesome game Knicks!! Great chatting with you guys. Thanks for making the Gamecast version of the game more enjoyable for me. Looking forward to the Recap!
If TD is back I’ll be pretty happy
Great win, Melo got to conserve energy in the 4th. Shot atypically awesome, 2 3′s from Landry. It was just pouring 3′s in that 2nd quarter that helped us. 6 missed FT’s by Landry tho, is seriously wtf.
Much needed win, makes Tuesday’s loss a bit easier to swallow although no less frustrating lol
Best part of tonight is easily TD’s play. Maybe this is a sign of things to come the rest of the season?? If so that would be HUGE.
very good, career high 9 assists for JR and Toney Douglas is back, baby!!!!
Damnit, they didn’t put in the human victory Jordan
Orlando at Philly on Saturday, could they somehow both lose? :)
Laundry needs to shoot 1000 FT per day in offseason.
Wow, TD 7-12 nice and actually 6 assists. Hopefully, it’s confidence builder. He had good history scoring pts, still below average passer for a PG.
Know we get Chicago in home and away game. I’ll be happy with split.
why am I not surprised that Rose is sitting tonight and said he’ll play Sunday?
Everyone wants play at Garden.
Looks like JJ and Walker will be back. Not sure Walker deserve minutes. Amare doesn’t seem to far off.
best post of the thread! :)
Sheesh Stan van looks like he’s having a mental breakdown
Lmao I was thinking the same thing
haha yeah. I was wrong. My mistake for making a prediction about the two most schizophrenic teams in the league.
I’ll give a shout out to Woodson, his subs was much better the game. Glad he didn’t change 4qt lineup.
Yea when our bench gets rolling its a problem for the other team…especially if toney Douglas is back from playing a Zombie from the triller video
Just… gotta feel really good for TD right now. I was rooting for every floater.
SVG shouldn’t have said what he said. Maybe he was trying to teach Dwight a lesson in personal responsibility and he doesn’t care about his job. But it wasn’t necessary to cause that kind of turmoil in the middle of the season when your team is losing. Can’t see that team beating anyone with whom they will be matched with in the 1st rd. I like SVG but that didn’t seem well thought out to me.
My smile is upgraded back to “beaming.” ;)
I don’t think it was thought out. He seems like a guy who just says whatever he happens to be thinking, whether it is smart of him to do so or not.
him and his brother both.
in SVG’s defense, Howard is rapidly emerging as maybe the biggest douche superstar in the league. on the other hand, SVG has always come across as super grating to me, so I’m not sure how many years I could listen to him coach me if I was a franchise player.
I strongly dislike Howard. Kind of always have. He’s an idiot. I never wanted him on the Knicks and, frankly, I wouldn’t want to trade Tyson for him straight up and I mean that. He will never win. Winning a championship takes more than talent. It takes brains and will and heart. He has none of that. Lebron has more of that than Dwight Howard and Lebron lacks some of the will and maybe the heart part. Carmelo has more of the winning intangibles than Howard and Carmelo lacks some them too. Howard makes Melo feel like Durant and Rose in terms of focus.
Question — What was Melo’s college position? Did he play much power forward? What was his playing weight in college?
Remember our 6-game losing streak that ended with D’Antoni’s resignation? Now we know what it feels like to be the other team.
So Fab Melo declared for the draft. Double-Melo time? Couldn’t care less about his inability to balance the sides of an oxidation-reduction equation, I like that he’s a 7-footer who plays serious defense.
My guess is that SVG’s thought it might motivate howard ala Phil Jackson jabs. He is trying to be alpha dog — “You want to talk behind my back? I won’t back down.” The alternative — to continue to let the passive aggressive behavior fester — is far worse. He could have gone up to him and said, “Look, you want me fired?” but the press is a great tool for these guys who without media pressure have difficulty seeing context, seeing the reality of what they’re doing, seeing that they’re being assholes.
Maybe Howard gave up this game, but when he goes home and listens to all the pundits, many who are ex-players, talking about how irresponsible he was to try to undermine his coach like that, and maybe he’ll become more cooperative.
uh oh:
@StevePopper: Carmelo said how impressive it is that Chandler is doing this with a fractured hand. Knicks quickly deny that. We’ll see.
Melo was the SF on that Syracuse team. Hakim Warrick was the PF and a big stiff named Craig Forth was the C. Melo was the best rebounder on the team though– he averaged 10 boards a game that season. He was a pretty sick player for the ‘Cuse although in the tournament they really lived off the incredible shooting of Gerry McNamara.
I’m not suprised that Howard’s character is finally exposed. One incident told me much about him.
In an All-Star game (the 2009 edition, I believe) Yao was posting up on Howard and cleanly beat him. The bigger man was on his way to a slam when Howard recovered by nearly taking Yao’s pants off.
Maybe Howard thought it would be funny, but it wasn’t. Nobody was amused. He seriously dampened the spirit of the game, for a moment. The fun resumed only because Yao laughed,
which showed just how much greater his character was than Howard’s.
It also showed me something else: that Howard’s happy-go-lucky public persona was not at all what he was like inside.
http://knickerblogger.net/knicks-96-magic-80/
This recap may include Python.
Chicago taking it to Boston right now. 17-7 run so far in the third for Boston.
Make it 23-9 for a three-point Chicago lead!