2012 Game Thread: Knicks @ Wizards
January 6th, 2012 by Jim Cavan | @JPCavan | Comments | Permalink |
How many times has a Wizards game been a must win? At least once.
Beyond his work for KnickerBlogger, Jim is a contributor to the New York Times Off the Dribble NBA blog, ESPN.com, and The Classical. He is currently working on a biography of Robert Silverman, titled "Clownin' and Astoundin.'" Follow him on Twitter @JPCavan.
SHUMP SHUMP
I’ll go ahead and second that emotion.
complete and utter must win if there ever was one so early in the season tonight….in fact, I really think they need to take these next two to right the ship somewhat (including tomorrow night’s game at detroit).
The Wiz are the worst offensive team in the NBA, with a whole rotation full of sub-.500 TS% players. Luckily for us their defense sucks too.
If they go off for 116 points and beat us, I won’t even know what to say.
It’s pointless to watch this. If we win, it’s because we should’ve – easily. If we lose…
And yet, I will watch.
I have to say I’m expecting a loss tonight, sad as that may seem. the Wiz had a team meeting in between their last game and this one, they’re even more desperate for a win than us.
Not that I’ll be able to watch this (#Time Warner/MSG) but if the Knicks don’t win by double digits, this team sucks.
Shadow – go here to watch the game. It’s not technically legal, but eff ‘em.
http://www.firstrowsports.tv
Shump Shump means firsties in german….
You think THCJ hates Shump Shump as much as he hates firsties??
Though, I forgot about Blatche. He wil have at least 22 tonight
Amar’e sucks right now. Absolute garbage.
Amare Stoudemire misses 20-foot jumper
That sounds familiar.
Wow, this is ugly basketball on both ends. I love how NO ONE on the team decided they should run back and help Amare in case Wall got that loose ball…which he did.
If past performances so far hold up, Young should be detrimental to the Wizards due to him being an idiot and Shump shutting him down. Carmelo will forget to rotate to an open Lewis 3. Blatche will blow past Amar’e. Tyson and Javale might just neutralize each other.
Love that Chandler perimeter D with Fields in the paint on McGee… DUNK!!
Amar’e just looks terrible. And slow.
STAT was excellent at start of last season before he and felton built chemistry and had the pnr down…and he has played well in limited action without strong PGs before as has been referenced on this board before, so I don’t know what is wrong with him….
I actually wonder if there is some linger back issue we don’t know about…he looks clumsy out there…his ballhandling, which he claimed to have worked on, looks shaky at best…is this just a situation where he was able to take advantage of centers guarding him before? I don’t get it…he doesn’t even resemble the player we knew from start of last season to me…even his leadership has tailed off…he seems subdued out there.
don’t worry – the Magic will give us Howard for him straight up. Wait a sec…
For all you masochists (like me), here’s the working link: http://www.ilemi.me/39124/2/Watch-Washington-Wizards-vs-New-York-Knicks/
We’re losing and TDDWTDD and Stat are bricklaying. Again.
Agreed. Stat might as well be benched. I know that is hard to say, but he gives us NOTHING on defense, and appears to have taken about 4 steps back (huge steps) on offense. It’s just sad.
In other news, why is Fields still starting?
Maybe the fact that amare couldn’t work at all on his game over summer except for the one month leading up to season is having an impact…his shot is turrrrrrrrible and last season it was completely money…he seems to have lost a step, too, of his explosiveness.
He actually is one of the worst starters in the league w his combo of o and d right now
I never thought in a million years our entire season would pretty much be riding on SHUMP SHUMP and B. Diddy….amazing!
Mike Bibby on John Wall should be fun.
Or not
maybe they are trying to get d’antoni fired
The sad part of that is that at least 2 Knicks starters are worse than him.
Christ this is painful. I’m calling my sponsor. Lucky for me, he’s a Celtics fan.
These pretzels are makin’ me thirsty.
So… what PG’s will be available in the draft next year? Do we even have a pick left? Cause Bibby and Douglas won’t work. And I’m afraid BD is ancient and likely out of shape. We are in major trouble.
How was that foul on Melo?
as a met fan and a knick fan maybe i’m conditioned to enjoy this ineptitude. The knicks are now in the there are so bad it’s good territory.
Fields for Ridnour? Would Twolves bite?
I just tuned in… what the fuck???
Like you don’t already know!
Wow. Just unreal.
This team is a fucking disgrace right now. The offense is bad enough, but my god-the defense is terrible.
I am a die hard met fan too….I thought the mets’ current ineptitude would be offset by knicks’ success, as knicks’ patheticness was somewhat offset by Mets’ competitiveness from 2006-2008, but I guess not….
just pathetic….no other word for it…I feel disgusted….absolutely no fire on this team from anyone either.
Is Landry even playing?
He hasn’t recorded a single statistic. That’s a good way to keep your win shares up.
bibby is so useless. Especially against the fastest point guard in the nba, john wall. Why is he playing? Is dantoni trying to get fired?
32 points to the worst offensive team in the league.
We might not even make the playoffs with our “new and improved” defensive team.
Amare needs to be benched. Literally not starting next game.
So tonight it’s Nick Young???
5-6, 2-2 from three.
So the list goes, Bargnani, DeRozan, Diaw, Henderson, Nick Young.
Putrid.
the mets situation combined with this debacle has really killed my sports passion for the time being. It’s hard right now. Football is a distant 3rd for me. At least I can watch a Giants playoff game this sunday.
down by 16, i’m actually rooting for the wizards now.
The Wiz are kicking our effing asses. At some point this has to come back to the coach. This team is too talented to play like this.
i want a 40 point blow out. Then maybe dantoni will be fired.
Nice Douglas you fuck.
Fun fact: Toney Douglas TS% is now .000031.
Amare with the flush! What do you know, he still remembers how to dive to the basket
This made me giggle.
Knicks looked more organized that night against the bucks when melo and billups made their debut just hours after arriving on a plane from denver.
But seriously, these are mostly the same guys that took a healthy Celtics team to the wire in game 1 of the first round. How does swapping Chauncey for Tyson change the team THAT much?
douglas is aiming his shots. No confidence. Dantoni has to go. He does not inspire or instill confidence in his players. He absolutely needs to go! I’m going to have an anuerysm!
Gotta bench Douglas there.
WELL IF YOU’RE JUST GONNA GIVE UP AND NOT EVEN RUN BACK, DON’T EVEN FREAKING PLAY
IM SO MAD RIGHT NOW
We’re the worst team in basketball right now, right? The Wizards are blowing us out.
amare with the 18 footer right after he dunked it. How about taking it to the hoop?
Douglas is 0-5 with three turnovers. He has completely forgotten how to play basketball.
So, who is coaching this team tomorrow?? Woodson?? Isiah?? Lenny Wilkins?? Larry Brown?? Hubie Brown??
Play Lin, Balkman, and Walker. Players that kind of give a shit.
I’m not beating the “Fire D’Antoni” drum, and especially when we’re only seven games into the season, but it does look like this team has quit on him (and each other, and themselves and so on).
They can’t stop anyone, and I mean anyone (Boris “ManBoobs” Diaw being example 22.B) from driving the lane. It’s astounding.
I vote me.
are there problems in the locker room? this is inexplicable that they could possibly play this lethargic after the last 2 outings….I mean no energy at all…completely listless…I can accept bonehead plays….they have no floor general, I understand this could in a normal season be equivalent of preseason game….but the team looks just completely clueless and out of it out there…besides being in disarray….truly concerning.
yessssss, 16 point lead again. I really wish this was the garden, so we could hear the boo’s and the fire dantoni chants. That’s all I have to look forward too now. Paul wetpaul, van gundy, phil jackson, herb williams? anyone but dantoni.
Clyde for interim coach until we can get the money truck to Phil Jackson’s house.
Amare should really only dunk.
Btw – I finally figured out why they don’t run more PnRs:
1) Douglas can’t pass
2) Amare can’t catch
QID
I’m pissed we missed our window to trade Douglas and/or Fields.
the wizards announcers on league pass are marveling that the wizards have 17 fast break points already.
by the way i hate this wizards broadcast. The announcers are taking homerism to a new level.
Amare spin move looked like early last year…is there hope?
Yeah and not to jinx it, but the D has stepped up a bit.
Amare might be remembering that he’s really tall.
Oh and another point – Imagine if we had traded fields instead of Gallo in the Melo trade last year. How come no one ever brings that up? I bet they wanted fields more – he was more highly regarded at the time.
One of this team’s main problems is that they have no really good 3-point shooters (at least, ones that can do other things decently too).
I blissfully have the sound off.
I think the phrase you’re looking for is “Just enough rope to hang yourself.”
And it’s QED, rohank.
Robert, can I be your “defense” assistant?? I promise no switching!!
What the hell is wrong with people actually going to these home games? EVERY. SINGLE. FAN should not pay for a Knicks home game.
amare needs to get his 6’10″ ass in the paint like that all game!
You’re in BBA. THCJ is coming along too as stats guru/gadfly. Hope that’s Kosher
TOO LATE!
The only positive I will say about Amare so far this season is that he looks to be getting after it a bit more on the boards, although that hasn’t really shown up in the stats thus far…maybe the extra bulk will boost his rebounding number, but that has been offset by underwhelming rebounding stats from chandler thus far and I would gladly take the STAT who scored over 30 9 games in a row over this one who is less spry, can’t shoot, and maybe grabs a few more boards/game.
Did Singleton attend Florida State for 12 years? He looks like he’s in his mid 30′s.
Oh man, that’s embarrassing. I’m supposed to be good at math…
Shump Shump with the matator D.
We can talk about defensive schemes all night long but the fact is the perimeter defense is atrocious, cant cover anybody one-on-one and keep them from penetrating.
Lol, I love Booker. Who exactly does he think he is?
Blow by Shump once but not twice.
who wouldn’t want to go to a knicks home game?
1)100 dollars “cheap seats”
2)11 dollar beers
3)Loud ass DJ blaring music all night
4)Watch a team play no D
5)Watch the worst offense in the NBA
Shump Walker Melo Amare Chandler: next game’s starters?
Smart foul by Walker.
btw….observation: Bill walker has committed some of the worst fouls I have ever seen in my life so far this season.
Nick Young… Gerald Henderson…. Rasual Butler… Notice a trend among these players that have destroyed us recently?
Hint: They’re all middling SG’s that Fields couldn’t hope to stay in front of.
It works the same with middling, overweight PF Boris Diaw. Amare NEEDS to be putting up 25 ppg on 60% TS to even make up for stuff like that.
Shump has some awful shot selection.
Put in Lin. Can he really be worse?
Not feeling Shump Shump in this game.
Lin is worse.
Ah great…Walker hustles gets a block, so D’Antoni pulls him for “wide open” Fields.
How long before Melo demands to be traded? lol
looks like shump is learning to shoot from the landry fields school of shooting.
Yes, see Sacramento game.
Man, I don’t think Douglas is coming back. That dude just plain sucks.
And Landry’s next.
Is there really no chance that Baron can play tonight?
Can’t we bring a Bayhawk up? Seriously, we need some players.
fields with the offensive foul. Between him and bill walker, the knicks must lead he league in offensive fouls. Goofy bastards!
The thing is, I still think we’ll win this game if we just don’t play TD or Fields the rest of the night.
Someone got me tix for Monday. Woo.
Trade Douglas and Fields NOW….we can get SOMETHING for them, right? someone who can run a pick and roll, no? Augustin? Bobcats would probably reject that….
can we trade a ton of middling personnel somehow for Tony Parker?
danotni just pacingon the sideline. He is a dead man walking.
We’ve slowed the offensive juggernaut that are the Wizards down this quarter.
That’s called “selling low”. Real low.
I don’t care if Shump misses every shot by a mile. He has to be on the floor. he’s the only player that looks like he gives a damn.
Imagine a world where we still had Felton, Gallo, or WChandler instead of Fields…
Knicks will win this game, possibly by double digits.
It may be selling low, but if we hold onto them, we may just ride this baby all the way down virtually to zero.
Melo and Amare are playing much better this quarter.
I love how there’s 120 comments and it’s not even halftime and it’s Friday night.
Outside of Chandler, STAT and Melo, the Knicks are 2-15 from the field. Delicious.
I have no life.
I think (hope) the chipiness woke the Knicks up. Is tha possible?
Listen, I definitely have no life here. Newborn baby, nagging wife. All I have is friday night knicks unfortunately. Having said that, thank god for Knickerblogger. Giving me an outlet.
Not to complain about the complaining, but we’ve managed to come back here. There’s really no excuse if we lose to this garbage team.
Wow, what a sea change.
Damnit, stupid shot by Melo to end half. Couldve been up at half-time.
Eugh
Between the corpse of Bibby and the Ghost of TD, I would give Lin a few minutes to give Shump a breather.
One thing that really irks me about the melo trade is how the media constantly point out how we opted to “hold onto” Fields and keep him out of the trade as if we preferred him as a player over Wilson Chandler and Gallo…clearly denver dictated the terms of the trade once we lost all leverage due to Dolan’s influence…DENVER chose our players…I don’t think we decided to keep Fields because we loved him so much….that is just how the trade went down…but I constantly here criticism of management that we should have not insisted on Fields being kept out of the trade, and I really doubt that is accurate.
Ok, I won’t mention Melo trade again rest of month….promise.
What happened to Steve Novak?
I lease a life with an option to buy. I’m still scared of the “Robert Randolph and the Family Band Friday Night curse” holding over from last season.
jordan hill starting center for the rockets vs. okc.
4 players scored for the Knicks in the 1st half, the Big 3 and Shump. Thats sad.
Does TD start the second half? Interesting to see what the guard rotation is going to be- at least Fields played a little better defensively when he finally got back in but is giving zero on offense. Could we really wind up with a starting backcourt of Shumpert and Walker?
For your halftime entertainment, feel free to take a gander at this NY Times ditty. (though the editors there don’t seem to fancy my verbosity and have sliced and diced it as Clyde would say – badly cut it to ribbons. Grumble, grumble)
http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/humphries-the-boo-birds-new-king/
when we play the rockets, luis scola is going to destroy stoudamire. He has the type of game that must give amare nightmares.
This made me cry.
That song sounds downright sinister to me at this point–like the string pluckings from The Shining.
And congrats!
Amar’e Stoudemire is far too vain for things like nightmares.
nice piece. The humphries hate appeals to the casual fan. The ones that definitely don’t come to watch the game, but more the spectacle.
Only against the Wiz can a team shoot 0-7 from 3 point range, commit 11 turnovers and only be losing by 1 point.
I dragged my prego wife to bar in Bklyn w directv so I could watch and drink heavily. My life
I’m just really curious as to what exactly is D’Antoni’s defensive strategy… “Over-press, over-double team, over-switch”???
Got my Direct TV. Picture is great btw and it’s cheaper than TW. At least I can watch. Why do the Knicks start so slow each game? Is there a game plan for each team? Amare looks much better tonight and Melo is penetrating, the other’s, not so much. llcoolbp—you’re one lucky dude, enjoy it. My grand kids are already double figures!
This made me cry even more.
sorry for double post—cgreene—your wife should get a medal.
can we pry luke ridnour or JJ barrea away from the t-wolves. What would it take. Landry straight up?
nice! she’s a trooper.
cgreene with the post of the night.
A few notes:
1) Bob, great (short) piece. My guess is that people hate him for his combination of dumb fame (being famous by association), dumb luck (being tall and athletic) and dumb brain (dumb). No way to know. But if he’s hated, that means America’s at least got one thing right. If people wise up to how much SOPA will destroy the internet as we know and love it, this will be a good month for the average American.
2) In hindsight, Shumpert is a great pick. Either he exceeds expectations by (gasp) developing a jump shot, or his “athleticism” compels D’antoni to let him shoot eighteen times a game and his per-game totals make him a valuable piece in a STAT trade for Kevin Love (who would be perfect learning to play D next to Chandler). Will this happen? Of course not. But a man can dream.
3) Re: halftime score… HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH SUCK IT, STAT HATERS
I have work later tonight so I’ll be here until then.
@153
Thank god people care about SOPA as much as I do. I post about it on Facebook and no one appears to give a shit.
Wow – I’m REALLY liking this lineup
When you play defense, the offense takes care of itself! =)
Shump is a plus lus defender. Nice
the shump era has officially begun. Goodbye TD.
Thanks THCJ.
And I too am so effing pissed about SOPA I could scream.
Plus I take back everything I said about Shump not starting. I was 100% wrong.
league pass is constantly crashing on my laptop. Grrrrrr.
Which bar in Bk? I may join you – but slow down there, hoss.
ooooh. Shump Shump with teh court vision
Chandler is so good at drawing fouls inside it seems that if he could finish more of those contact dunks/layups he would be an all-time great in terms of efficiency
really liking shump shump with fields melo amare chandler. he’s making good passes and decisions. he seems more in control than TD
Without Landry’s 2 points we’d only be up 3 right now.
Whoever was asking for that curl play with teh STAT 15-footer – your wish is granted
I’m in DUMBO at PUb One. Love to say hi. Wife is keeping me in line.
as clyde would say, “now we have some nba action!”
Clyde: “All the Knicks with the knack.”
I’VE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR HIM TO SAY THAT AGAIN! =)
Melo is just abusing poor Chris Singleton.
melo in beast mode now.
i wish i cold hear clyde say that.
Please let this become the laugher that it always should have been…
Toney Douglas enters the game and the offense comes to a screeching halt.
Toney D comes in and the team IMMEDIATELY starts playing like crap. Put in Bibby fer chrissakes.
how does TD even get any playing time after this game?
TD is just clueless. Jeez.
douglas absolutely sucks…take him out
I think Toney is only getting playing time so his confidence isn’t completely depleted.
Toney’s head is just not right. He’s not a great player but he’s not THIS bad. He’s a completely liability out there, a black hole.
TD is single-handedly bringing the Wizards back into the game.
Regardless of the wiz record respect for ur opponent is a champion’s subject
You have to feel bad for TD. But this is business. He needs to sit. It’s a cruel world. he had his shot. He blew it. Costing him and his family millions.
I’m almost as stunned by Toney’s crash as I am by Landry’s. Both of them look shell-shocked.
Apparently, winning ACC Defensive Player of the Year is akin to winning the GOP presidential nominee…
TD is out. as we have seen once dantoni turns on you, you are done.
Bibby ur dad played for the Knicks … Make some 3s
Night of the Living Bibby!
the “td is ‘our guy’ and let him grow into the job” crew seems to have beat a hasty retreat……
lol!
Calm done please
It’s like I’ve been saying over and over, play Bibby more!
it’s alive, it’s alive…..
I think I wouldve rather been blown out than lose by blowing a 9 pt 3rd quarter lead.
Clyde gets biblical: “Like Lazarus rising from the dead, Mike Bibby cans the corner three”
mike bibby outplaying TD and landry fields. Just speechless right now.
If its smart I don’t get it please elaborate …
Bah-dum dum!
I was never a major TD supporter on this board….EVER! and I certainly don’t like him as PG….Jason Terry is his ceiling…that is what he could become if all goes well for him in his career…maybe I am even giving him too much credit. I was much more pro Gallo of the homebred guys.
you think clyde reads this blog? and has heard the term, mike bibby’s corpse? lol
Landry’s actually a +4 right now. I guess he’s mostly staying out of the way and not turning it over.
I’ll be here all night! Tip your waitress…
amare playing goofy again. Stiff bastard.
That shoulda been a goaltend. The refs have been awful tonight – for both sides.
Lol at the montage of Knicks actually driving to the basket. It’s like the caveman discovering fire. “Wait… this is good!”
Wow. Def. a goaltend, but Jorts got up!!!
Atleast Fields has a pulse today, I have never seen a NBA player look more clueless than TD. They need to move him ASAP while he has any value left
Well, if this game stays close (which it has no right to be) at least it’s comforting to know the best player in the building is on our side.
Just tuned in because I had to have dinner with the family but judging from the box score at least the “big three” seem to be performing more or less as expected.
Clyde?
shump with 5 steals tonight. Just for that reason alone he has to start from now on.
and now the 3!
It’s the Bibby and Shumpert Show!
Rumours of the demise of Mike Bibby have been greatly exaggerated.
I never in a million years thought i’d say this, but mike bibby has energized the knicks
did bibby get a blood transfusion before this game?
Dantoni’s having a good game- making the right moves
No worries, cats. Mike Bibby will play this well every game. We’re fine!
“Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!”
Bibby: “But I’m not dead yet!”
well, folks your new starting backcourt for your 2012 new york knicks, bibby and shump.
He’s taking open shots, he just has to calm down and make them. Landry needs to take notes. Just set your feet and do what you have been doing for practically your whole life
Bibby regresses to the mean at last. Now it’s TD (and Fields?)’s turn…
Shump Shump is a whopping +22 tonight.
shump is just so active, and keeps his dribble. Good things happen.
Wall routinely beating the cameramen down the court.
Has anyone’s game in the league fallen off as much as Rashard Lewis? What has happened to that guy?
Steroids, ennuis.
I seriously LOL’d
Bibby has had a couple of nice defensive plays on Wall tonight. Stole the ball from behind in the first half and now draws the charge
Damn, I think that hit disintegrated all of Bibby’s marrow…
Melo is such a good catch and shoot player, I wish that the Knicks would find ways to take advantage of that more often. Sadly, I don’t think it’s possible with the current crew of players, but maybe when Davis is healthy it will be.
when carmelo gets fouled but doesn’t get the call, he needs to hustle his as back down the court!
If Carmelo keeps this up for the whole season, I will take back everything I said about him.
Except the whole part about “risk” and it being a bad thing. I was right about that.
something about flip’s bad haircut, dull grey poorly tailored suit, and ugly tie makes him look like he is a used car salesman from the 80′s
He’s been doing that for seven years. It’s not gonna change now.
It seems like every single Wizards possession is John Wall beating his team down court and either finishing or getting fouled by one of the Knick. Kid is a one man fast break.
Wizard’s offense: Give Wall ball. Wall drives directly to basket, scores.
Hey, if it works…
Melo, please stop forcing shots. Even when you’re “hot”
Classic Nick Young showboat step-back three. He’s the worst.
knicks need to close this one off. Dantoni still needs to go.
That’s it Knicks, leave the door open, wouldn’t want to win this one going away or anything
THAT’S the play you make out of a time out? Words… they fail.
another great play out of the time out for dantoni.
Not Knicks related, but Spencer Hawes has been killing it this year. Where did this come from? Every time I check a Sixers box score I expect to see him come down to earth but he never does.
What happened to shumpert? I can’t hear?
great foul by bibby. good block by the wiz. Knicks want to lose.
This team is a load of shit. Wake me when they fire the coach.
What a horribly ugly sequence!
Great foul by Bibby there.
Really, Amare???
REALLY??????
I know Wall is fast but there is no way he should be beating everyone down the floor every time.
Oh crap. So instead of getting blown out, we’re going to lose by going scoreless the last three mins. Outstanding.
Holy shit. What a pathetic display. Worst loss in 5 years
oh this is delicious. it all comes down to this. can the knicks win. if not, is dantoni gone?
Wall, Augustine.. ive seen too many fast pgs get in the paint in the past few days…
I love how we abandon all passing in the last 45 seconds and switch to ISO jumpers. Brilliant.
THIS TEAM IS GIVING ME A HEART ATTACK!
Hahahahaha
i love it. Still 15 seconds. I’m torn. I want the win. But i want danphony gone.
If that elbow to the face by Melo was intentional….well, good. Whatever gets the job done.
llcoolbp – I heard a rumour that you want D’Antoni gone. Is that true?
if mcgee somehow gets the ball do you intentional foul?
Finally
shump to hopefully ice it.
The Wizards want to lose this more than the Knicks do.
Knicks screwed up that D play anyway though. Two ppl chased someone on the Wiz out to the top, leaving someone open. But the inbounder didn’t make the pass.
Btw – down 3, STATS SAY FOUL!!!
@264
No such luck.
wiz still alive. Daphony is crapping his pants right now.
Sigh
LOL at McGee desperately calling for the ball by the rim on the final play.
ok, i’m a diehard. I’ll always take the win. Nice to see the start of the iman shumpert era. Looking forward to him hopefully starting the next game.
Sump + 20 for the game.
Not a great night shooting the ball for Shump, but: 7 assists, 5 steals, 3 rebounds and a block to go with his +20 for the game.
Shump Shump leads the Knicks with 7 AST, 5 STL, and +20!!!
Oh and only 2 TOs… A PG in the making?
Well, at least Melo still scores, Shump is a top player on the team, Amare remembered to attack the rim (still clunking tho) and TD is officially in Nate Robinson land…
What did we learn tonight?
1) Shump starts every game from here on out
2) Mike Bibby has a pulse
3) The Knicks are 3 points better than the worst team in the NBA
Scooped by JK47!
I like how Shumpert directs on Defense the best. I hope he really progresses and stays around.
even if b diddy comes back, shump has to play the rest of the season. On this team, the way they are constructed, he just fits. I don’t want to hear about landry fields first 50 games last year. That was 2 teams ago. The guy lost his chance. I’m still willing to see if TD can turn it around as a 6th man.
Have there been any significant cases where a the first half of a player’s rookie season turns out to be the best stretch of his career? Just wondering
Melo hurt his groin according to Tina Cervasio.
Love seeing Shump talking to BD at the end of the game, getting some pointers, talking about that last play. Good stuff.
SHUMP SHUMP
Shump needs to not shoot, but otherwise he’s great. Is tony hurt? Did he not touch a ball during the lockout? He absolutely should not be this awful. Nice to see the chandler we’ve been waiting for tonight
SHUMP SHUMP
+20
SHUMP SHUMP
Stray thoughts- Nice to see Bibby finally walk amongst the living once more- those 2nd half shots he hit were huge but I’ll be keeping my distance from the local graveyards tonight just in case a stray meteorite may have caused all the dead to rise! Melo actually played within the offense for the first 3 1/2 quarters and then…wow. I know he scored the last 10 points for the Knicks but that was truly awful. The Knicks can’t stop the ball at all in transition- that really needs to change. TD’s stint in the second half rivaled Jeremy Lin’s run in Sacramento for the worst play I’ve seen by a Knick this year. A couple of breakdowns against Blatche aside, Amar’e was okay on D, a few late rotations but at least it seemed he had a clue where he was supposed to be.
channing frye
nice to see someone actually running the offense in the half court (of course I mean Iman), that stretch where Toney came in to replace him was just painful. get better soon, Baron!
is the melo groin issues serious? i don’t have the msg feed.
Totally agree with nicos- Melo played great until heroball started in the last few minutes- that was ugly. Good thing he hit the big 3 to win the game. Hard to argue with 37 points even though it took 33 shots to get there.
Call me crazy and overreacting to a couple of games, but i think it’s not a stretch to say that Shumpert will be the best defensive guard the Knicks have had since Derek Harper was allowed to handcheck guys into the 1st row. He is ALWAYS in the passing lanes, sticks like glue to his man, rebounds, everything. He had 5 steals and probably caused 3 or 4 turnovers. Now of course we’re talking the Wizards here and not exactly Dwyane Wade or Derrick Rose. But wow does he make a difference on the court, on both ends.
Celtics lost at home to Pacers and scored only 74 points. Philly leading the division right now.
also another great job by dantoni playing STAT 41 minutes on the first night of a back to back.
Shump has great reflexes in addition to his great athleticism. There were a couple of occasions tonight where a Knick was open underneath the basket and BOOM, quick pass for a layup or free throws. None of our other guards have the ability to do that, so we rarely get easy baskets when Toney D, Fields and Bibby are handling the ball. Shump just needs to limit the long jumpers and he’ll be a really nice piece for us.
Decent win. Shump is looking good, but a bit of a chucker. At least he’s confident. Remember that cool shot with his family when he was drafted? I think that is important and I hope he maintains that chip on his shoulder (opposite of entitlement). Also, his eyes look focussed during the game. Coach learns best by trial and error. What is SOPA?
Hey, just curious, what’s your opinion of Coach D’Antoni?
shump needs to realized his limitations (the long jumper), if he dose this, dare I say, he can be a poor man’s Rajon Rondo.
Knicks really miss Jeffries right now. Shocking I know but its the truth.
Latrell Sprewell? How soon we forget…
I hope they give Melo the night off. He has been carrying us on his back and he needs to let whatever it is heal up. Lets get him back for the Bobcats on Monday. Maybe Amare can remember what it is like to be the man and revert to his MVP form.
Did Melo not just will his team to a win tonight? He’s playing like the MVP right now, even if many Knicks fans don’t like it.
You just made that argument. Mediocrity.
And just because he’s the best player on a shitty team doesn’t make him “great.” Kevin Love syndrome, right?
The “Stop Online Piracy Act”
Gov’t trying to censor the net, in a nutshell. Networks/newspapers aren’t covering it b/c they want control of the internets. Read here for more info: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/05/1051956/-STOP-SOPA-NOW!
Mediocrity?
Melo needed to make and take shots tonight, once again. He wasn’t playing to maximize his individually efficiency, which would have had him passing to guys so far offensively incompetent– Melo was playing to win.
Kudos for making the shot at the end of the game, but honestly, Melo almost blew it. he was 14-25 midway thru the 4th and then started chucking and/or turning the ball over. There’s a reason they went scoreless for 3 minutes at the end of the fourth a lot of it is b/c Melo wouldn’t stop shooting, missing 7 in a row before the trey at the end.
What’s with Melo’s groin, is BD’s herniated dick contagious?
Parting Shots – Landry!!! Holding onto you cost us Wilson and this is how you perform? Landry needs a semi-competent PG who can get it to him on the break to get his confidence up, or those 3′s will keep clanging away. I don’t think replacing him will help, we need to start Shump and Fields until Dizzle comes back, then we need to move Fields to backing up Shump and Melo. I really don’t even know where TD fits anymore, seems like he’s mailed in this season. And he’s not good enough to mail in anything
Wow. Melo needed to go 20-33 for 47 pts tonight to please the peanut gallery. In the context of what the Knicks are right now, Melo did what he needed to win the game.
I am one of, if not the biggest, Melo supporter here but he did help in almost blowing the game in the end. Granted his 16 for 33 included like 5 blocked shots, a couple of them being very close to goaltending and it looked like Melo wasnt getting his usual foul calls when driving.
Berman just tweeted:
Anthony injury is actually lower sore back, Knick official said. Not a groin. Said he’ll play.
I hold polar opposite positions regarding censorship of subject matter as contrasted with governmental enforcement of intellectual property rights. I will definitely check out the site. Thanks for the link Robert.
Correction on my comment earlier, according to ESPN Melo had 7 FGA blocked.
Re: Amare — not a great offensive line tonight, needing 21 shots to get 23 points. But I thought he played significantly better on defense tonight. Sure he had a few lapses but overall I thought he was much more active. Two games in a row with 12 rebounds. Maybe most significantly – he looked like someone finally told him he is NOT allowed to try to run a fast break on his own — he stopped and found a guard just about every time. Definitely some signs of progress. If we can just get him to stop shooting turnaround J’s that would be great.
It is hard to watch because he actually MAKES so many shots while driving into three guys… you start to believe those are good shots for him to take. If he can just drive and dish a little more, he would be a really great player.
http://knickerblogger.net/quick-reaction-knicks-99-bullets-96/
Quick Reaction is up. First one to find 10 spelling errors gets a dollar.
He had a horrible whistle 2night. easily a 45 pt game on 5-6 less shots if he has a decent whistle…. but he was mediocre lmao
guys need to start making shots… Melo is playing to win basketball games.
Yeah, but I think the point everyone is making is that “Melo trying to win basketball games” can be bad for the team. He was taking bad shots. When they went in, swell, but when they stop falling or he isn’t getting the calls, it’s a big, big problem. The rest of the team gets stagnant/out of rhythm. And he’s gotta stop kvetching at the refs while the opposing team is racing down court.
If you’d like a less statistically inclined/analytical blog, I can certainly direct you there.
Save the snark. You clearly aren’t contextualizing the situation. Melo is not a point guard who is going to spend the game ensuring everyone is in proper rythym. he’s playing on a team without a competent pg, who is severly struggling to make open shots and make proper decisions.
If this team is going to win games in the interim, Melo is going to have to be a hero.
Who said he has to be a PG? There’s a big spread between playing PG and not forcing shots when they stop dropping. That’s all anyone here is asking (that and get back on D).
Guess what – Melo “being the hero” hasn’t worked most of this season and statistically, he’s having the best year of his life. Maybe trying something else would be better?
AS you say after a win, when once again the supporting players were average at best. Maybe Melo should do a Kobe (game 6 Semis) and just let everyone else figure it out….Maybe that would get the point across that he’s doing this because he has too. When guys start playing better (collectively) around him, the usage will go down as well.
BTW, Melo has had better stretches than this.. for sure…He started the 2007 season first two months at 31.5 ppg 4 dimes +50% fg (then the MSG fight and Iverson trade) as well as the 2009 seasn before he got hit with injuries. This could be the year Melo stays healthy and finishes with a 24-27 PER, 30 ppg 4-5 apg….but this team is going to improve
It wasn’t pretty, but “SHUMP SHUMP” is 1-0!
Dare u not