2014-15 Game Thread: Knicks @ Pistons

Brian Cronin Game Thread

Is it just me or does it seem slightly unreasonable to schedule in the first two weeks of the season two back-to-back games where the team is traveling from New York to the Midwest? Why not a back-to-back where both games are on the road? Or where the second game is not such a long journey? Just seems odd to me.

Anyhow, the Knicks take on the Pistons tonight, playing without a second key member of their rotation, with JR Smith being suspended for his “punch” towards Glen Rice Jr.’s groin last night. Seems like a stretch to me, but the league insists it is in keeping with how they’ve punished past players for similar incidents.

The key thing to watch tonight is to see if the Pistons’ head coach, the very astute Stan Van Gundy, will copy the ball pressure defensive scheme that the Washington Wizards used to great effect on the Knicks last night. And if they do so (which I imagine that they will), does Derek Fisher have a plan to adjust to the ball pressure? Let’s hope so!

Let’s go Knicks!

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59 thoughts to “2014-15 Game Thread: Knicks @ Pistons”

  1. First off…

    Shump Shump

    Secondly; PJax always made a point about not calling timeouts when the other team went on runs because he wanted the team to be able to figure it out and think on their own (I’m about midway through 11 rings and he mentions this numerous times).

    Fisher, on the other hand seems pretty quick to call timeouts early into quarters if they’re not going well.

  2. Yeah, that was definitely a very famous attribute Jackson had as a coach. I guess it is somewhat good that Fish is his own man, though, right?

  6. Aside from getting destroyed on the boards we’re playing okay, especially the Smith And Shump Show (SASS)

  17. Prigioni came down on Augustine’s foot. Now he’s down. At least he walked off the court on his own.

    Larkin’s getting serious minutes tonight!

  21. Been a long time watcher, signed on to posit this:
    Knicks are now down to 1 PG. Fish can play meaningful minutes and teach the Tri in game. Who would be better out there if they need a PG? The scribes will say NY Knx fans wouldn’t stand for it. I for one would and enjoy the experiment.

  28. You know the game sucks when Walt is more interested in talking about the vegetables he grows in his garden than the vegetables on the court. WTF?

  29. Really? Its not done but anyone know if its a rule?

    They were officially abolished when the league instituted a salary cap back in the early 1980s. Coach salaries have no cap, so teams could, say, sign Michael Jordan as a “coach” for $30 million and sign him as a player for $1 million.

    You’d think they’d just have a rule where player/coaches just count as players, cap-wise, right? But instead, they just abolished the practice entirely.

  30. Really? Its not done but anyone know if its a rule?

    It is a rule. It used to be done back in the 50’s-70’s, but it was changed because teams were using it as a way to circumvent the cap by saying a player was a coach and therefore didn’t apply to the cap.

  34. That was one ugly half of basketball. Melo, Amar’e, Josh Smith and Andre Drummond went 3-30 from the field.

  35. Bah- makes sense its a cap deal. I’d love to see it, tri is perfect for the p/c. Never happen even if legal.
    No spacing, no passing, except for Acy who was missed no offensive boards.

  36. The Detroit announcers did just say “Iman Shumpert is a good player. He’s really good”.

    Then again they cited missing Bargnani as a major detriment to the Knicks’ chances tonight.

  40. We are witnessing melo’s worst game as a knick

    Which makes me oddly encouraged that despite this, we’re only down 11.

  43. Penetrate, kick, drop three – how many times have the Pistons done that tonight and the ‘bockers keep falling for it, leaving their man, getting burned. Weak…

  44. Penetrate, kick, drop three – how many times have the Pistons done that tonight and the ‘bockers keep falling for it, leaving their man, getting burned. Weak…

    Well, if we want to count last season as well, I’d say somewhere around 10,000 or so times. Give or take

  45. The Pistons are shooting 35.3% yet are up 16 thanks to shooting 9 for 17 from the 3pt line, outrebounding the Knicks by 14 and taking 16 more FT’s than the Knicks (making 13 more).

  51. Everybody knows Bill Russell was player /coach for the Celtics, but few remember Dave De Busschere was player coach of the Pistons at the ripe old age of 24 before coming to the Knicks. DeBusschere also pitched for the Chicago White Sox briefly and had a 2.90 ERA over 102 innings!

  52. Josh Smith single-handedly kept us in that game. He might actually be a dumber basketball player than Bargnani…no small feat! Honestly, I never saw such a cringe-inducing player from a purist perspective.

  53. True, bobn! Also, Bob Cousy briefly served as a player coach for the Royals in 1969. He retired at age 34 and came out of retirement at age 40, playing in 7 games. One of those games was a disastrous cameo in the game the Knicks won to set the record of 18 straight. I actually watched that game live, it was miraculous!

    http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19691129&id=Uk5AAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tfIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4508,3025128

    Alas, that was when the Garden was Eden, so very long ago…

  54. With what we know about Stan Van Gundy, can you even imagine how much he must hate Josh Smith? He must wake up every day saying, “One day closer to the end of that contract. One day closer.”

  55. Down goes Lebron. Jazz win. James fell down with 3 sec left which freed up hayward to win the game.

    Lebron looked good but does seem to be playing below the rim.

  56. I’m enjoying watching the Warriors go up 25 in the 1st half. I have to say that, so far, this team is probably the most fun basketball team I’ve rooted for since the ’99 Knicks (minus those three weeks of Linsanity, of course).

    They play at the fastest pace in the league, and they are the #1 defense. Curry may be the most dynamic player in the league. Thompson is emerging as a star. Bogut is moving incredibly well. And, of course, it’s great it’s great to see Lee playing on a team that actually, you know, wins basketball games.

    Life is good!

  57. (This guy Draymond Green is pretty good, too. He was the 35th pick in 2012. JVG just said he’s going to command $10-$12 million this summer)

  58. I know how you must feel, Z. I’ve been thinking about leaving my wife of 22 years for this really smoking 24 year old model who is also rich and a Rhodes scholar. Fuck loyalty!

  59. I know how you must feel, Z. I’ve been thinking about leaving my wife of 22 years for this really smoking 24 year old model who is also rich and a Rhodes scholar. Fuck loyalty!

    Is your wife a psychopathic bitch that emotionally abuses you year in and year out? Are you only staying with her only because you said “till death do us part” 22 years ago? Did she cheat on you with a rich 7 foot Italian gif-maker?

    Loyal to the bitter end, huh?

    (and ps– the Warriors aren’t just hot and smart. They also have a great personality. They’re like Kelly LeBrock in Weird Science!)

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