Game Thread 2012: Preseason vs Nets
December 21st, 2011 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
Have at it boys.
Mike Kurylo is the founder and editor of KnickerBlogger.net. His book on the 2012 Knicks, "We’ll Always Have Linsanity," is on sale now. Follow him on twitter (@KnickerBlogger).
Firsties! That one’s for Spree. I have become what I hate.
For serious tho – really good Nix preview article from the guys at Ball Don’t Lie:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/New-York-Knicks-2011-12-Season-Preview?urn=nba-wp12159
Knicks sign Novak—is he the kind of guy that thrives in this offense? That’s one of those contextual issues. From reading the junk, he’s really quite the three point specialist. Could be a sneaky cool signing. He’ll get his looks if he can do anything else on the court. Deron is giving me the yips tonight. I think the results of this game mean more to the Nets. I hope Toney has a nice game, which I expect. I am really looking forward to the distorted and yet heavily nuanced Melo Point3 Experience. Maybe we will see some of it tonight.
Thanks man you ROCK!
Thanks for the Yahoo article. Loved it.
Since Jeffries n’ Ball Wilker are out tonight, that means…more JORTS!
Commence rejoicing!
Did you know Jorts has his own clothing line? Including, of course, signature jorts:
http://shopjorts55.com/Josh-Harrellson-Signature-JORTS-JHS913.htm
http://chanfeed.com/15547/watch-new-jersey-nets-vs-new-york-knicks
how bad is walker hurt?
Not much has been written about it, but they’ve been referring to his injury as a “pulled groin” for a few weeks now. Those injuries can linger.
nice play Landry
Fields with a nice move!
All I hear is williams this and williams that, and 2 williams are not even playing.
STAT looks spry. Please keep his minutes around 33.
Lopez turning into Dejuan Blair on the O-glass
ugly interior D and rebounding
I remember the last MSG renovation, all I care about is winning.
lol @ Clyde “I don’t even eat New England clam chowder”
DAMNNNNN BALKMAN!!!
wow balkman
We finally have an interior defender to take Ewing’s shoes AND Balkman is back? I am in heaven….
Camby’s shoes. ;)
And as much as I’d love to believe in the Balkman, I have to see D’Antoni play him in a regular game before I can truly believe.
I keep trying to post a link to the game for some people for whom league pass isn’t working etc., but the comment doesn’t seem to be going through. Does KB now detect feeds and block them?
Wow. We’re really going to struggle on offense with this lineup, especially if Chandler is option 1. Time for Shumpert to stand up.
Some ugly basketball right now.
Jorts!
And then some awesome basketball. ;)
Shump!
Harrellson has range. You see this kid during the tournament? He can play.
Balkman will never get serious run….
Although, if he could get behind Chandler perhaps he is starting to see the light….
It’d be hilarious if Harrellson actually became a legitimate NBA player.
Booing Humphries? BC OF THE KARDASHIANS?!?!
wow i know that shot didn’t count b/c of the foul, but shump shump stroked it!
Landry still looks pretty bad. Forcing things out there.
I think the Knicks need to find Chandler in the post a few times just to keep the defense honest. He’s gotta have something more than put backs, right?
I like seeing our superstars getting down and dirty with Defense and hustle
The Knicks are really hustling on defense. Good stuff.
Melo has to get his hands up on those.
Clyde is so awkward sometimes.
But yeah – idk why Humphries is getting booed. If anything, we should all feel bad for him.
The first couple of months will be some ugly basketball.
Clyde: WHY ARE THEY MAD AT KRIS HUMPRHIES!? HE GOT DUMPED! REALITY TV? A LOT OF GUYS WOULD LIKE TO BE HIM.
will take till the playoffs to burn off the rust at this pace.
Humphries is getting boo’ed because he even appeared on that crap show, knick fans won’t forgive you for that kind of gimp move.
D money and C money (melo), both looking sharp.
Shumpert only played one minute less than Fields, but neither looked super effective.
Nice help defense by Chandler on the Williams drive and little kick for the Petro brick.
A little John Lennon now
“All we are saying, is give Fields a chance”
The top 25 knicks moments of 10-11 on msg at 6 before the game was awesome. Anyone catch it? A lot of wil chandler throwing it down on everyone. that reverse dunk he had on javale mcgee last year wass obsurd. what are the chances we can get him back one day to be the 6th man and lead scorer off the bench who can play the 2,3,4. Any shot that happens after this season? Would he take mle?
I admit it. I’m really stupid to think Carmelo is an elite ball player. We should get a better passer who doesn’t need the ball in his hands so much. 6-11 for 18, 2-4 from 3pt but only eight rebounds.
I don’t think WC will be back, he can get a major payday from denver, it might be his only shot at getting a major payday.
“Both teams wishing they were swishing.” Ahhhh…. my first Clydism of the young season.
Q-rich and Lebron just had a brief mini shoving match. Ooooo…
I love how every time amare goes to the rim, he yells “AND ONE!” To be fair, he prolly IS getting hacked every time
Toney showing some signs
The baron davis era cannot come fast enough!
@53 – are they on the same team or opposite teams? I can’t keep track of where Q ended up…
Toney showing some life, and we also have to remember that Deron has been guarding him for the majority of his minutes this preseason. I’m sure that has had an effect on his play.
Toney shooting and scoring has never been the problem. His decision making as a point guard is atrocious.
3 quick observations from tonight’s game.
1. I have obviously overrated Douglas’ defense. He looks really sloppy tonite. So I will say this until he proves me right: Douglas can be a great defender at the point of attack. He seems to be letting his aggression on defense numb his brain. I kno Deron Williams is a world class PG, but he’s gettin what he wants off of Douglas. Mayb Douglas just doesn’t study opposing PG’s enough. Or he’s foolish enough to believe athletic ability is enough to play great D.
2. Chandler is gonna be HUGE for us if we can keep him healthy.
3. Melo is really good. And Jorts needs to be in the rotation.
Maybe Balkman takes Jeffries’ spot. They’re essentially the same player, but Rey seems to be better on offense. Hmmm…
Ok I lied that was more than 3…
TDDWTDD as a vinny johnson/microwave type would be perfect for this squad. If baron can get healthy and give us 30 minutes a night, thats all we need.
worst thing about internet feeds, I’ve seen the same 4 highlights from NBA seasons past
THERE you go, Melo!
Shumps has a better feel when he brings up the ball. TD is lost as a playmaker. I don’t think he knows how to throw a lob.
Did anyone notice how high Shump was on that rebound a min ago? I didn’t realize it was him at first.
Melo is flat out baller!
Jorts is gonna be the new Turiaf
I like Melo’s drive-and-pass efforts. It’s not there yet but it will come if he keeps at it.
Jorts, if he sticks around, may have the game to be my new man crush….
I wanted Chandler to dunk on him so badly lol.
How is Marshon Brooks still alive? Balls of steel.
CHandler almost ended brooks’ life there
I think that was the first time I’ve heard Clyde talk about playing defense with feet instead of hands, instead of the other way around…
In other news, we’ve only scored 65 points. What gives? Is this really how ugly basketball will be?
Am I wrong or is Amare prone to too much one on one? I cringe when he tries to take someone off the dribble.
Chandler makes so many energy plays, as does Jorts.
A preseason game and Knicks have been on the floor a lot.
Shump is going to take Fields’ job unless landry gets his head out of his butt soon
Jorts nice D on the bigger Lopez
Is it me or does Jorts look like a taxi driver that threw on some shorts and joined the Knicks? He seems to be in the middle of things all the time.
Jorts is awesome and I’m loving the Shump/Douglas backcourt.
Jorts w/ the moving screen – needs to work on that.
Jorts is working his ass off. I love it.
and Shump WAY too trigger happy. Damn rooks…
I wanted to slap Shump on Shump wrist after those ill-advised pullups.
Glad you guys noted that. I was gonna complain about Shump a bit. Some forces.
Balkman has come back to earth a bit
Jorts is my new favorite Knick
nice hustle, balk
nice set up by Green, but Jorts too soft
I like that D’Antoni is letting the bench play. need to learn more about them.
Balkman RIPS down the board and then throws it away on the outlet. If that doesn’t epitomize him, idk what does.
Perhaps his new nick name should be “Shump Slump”. Or maybe “Dump Shump”.
That play was a perfect metaphor for Balk’s career, great energy play getting the board, then over excitedly throwing the ball off his own guy.
D’Antoni was telling him to calm down as he headed to the bench.
Geez…:) had the same thot
Ha harrellson airball and then balkman with a great rebound and throwing it immediately out of bounds was very comical only cuz its preseason
I think Balk has done ok aside from the turnovers. 5 boards in 11 minutes.
The starters have outplayed the bench this game and rightly so, but it’s hard to gauge a preseason game against the Nets.
Nice charge, BALK
Ha we want humphries chant is classic
I’m loving this unit crashing the boards
Balkman with a great outlet, if that doesn’t sum up his game idk what does.
So Balkman’s going to be in the rotation Christmas morning, right?
WHY do we “want humphries”? I have no idea what’s wrong with the Garden tonight.
Great D by Shump on Deron
Green with the rare “advised” jumpshot.
shump!
8-0 run by the subs
RENALDOOOOOO
The Balk Man! (I’ve been waiting all game for this moment lol)
I sure hope so.
shump and balk, standouts in this short preseason
Anyone else catch Balkman looking at his left hand like Shaq after making that shot?
Balkman loves when people talk ish about him. I for one–perhaps the only one–am very happy to have him back.
Nice to see Balk getting involved. thought he had disappeared for a bit out there
Knicks have cleaned up the boards here in the last few to fuel this run.
shump just has that “nba” look, if that makes sense.
Shump’s D is quite impressive. Also agree that I would initially like to see Balk in the rotation.
Running these subs hard tonight
And this is what good teams do. Execute at the end of the game on both ends.
Not too many comments about Melo’s D tonight on the board but is was quite energetic and strong.
Anyone else notice that Tyson was up off the bench and almost onto the COURT during that last defensive sequence? LOVE his energy, on AND OFF the court!
Right with you.
tony just looks more comfortable with that second unit.
I’m not so sure our forward situation is as bad as we all might have thought.
Jorts and Balkman are doing some nice things
So Mike Bibby looks done, right? Devin Green looks better. DEVIN. GREEN.
I know the Melo deal was the worst and most lopsided trade in the history of the NBA, but I have a hunch he’s going to have a MONSTER season and a career high in assists the way they’re running the offense through him.
“We want Humphries” after booing him lustily in the first half. Weird crowd tonight.
Toney SHOULD be toying with the Nets’ second unit.
Amar’e put on 20 pounds of muscle to play the perimeter more often? I don’t get the logic lol.
hopefully count bibby will stay buried deep on the bench
Bibby out with back spasms
Okay. Harrelson is awesome. so easy to root for.
Nice block-n-grab by Jorts.
If we can continue to win games in the 80s, I’ll be very happy. Screw Showtime – I’m all about the ugly wins.
Boy, Baron looks stiff standing there
Love Love Love the energy out of this team. The execution will come but energy always has to be there. Love it. It is a new day!
Anybody just see Balk Man viciously attack that guy on the box out?
Deron sitting there thinking, what the hell did I do?lol
Bring on the regular season! yeah boyyyyyyy!
One last thing then back to studying:
Tyson hit the floor 3 times tonight and it was just preseason. I have a feeling our season will ride on whether or not he can stay healthy. Let’s keep those slippages to a minimum!
Clearly they wanted to boo him again.
Yeah! I was thinking “that looks like a reverse tackle masquerading as a box-out”.
i know this is the preseason , but i havnt seen a knicks game when they played defense like that, steals, aggressiveness sneaker squeakin boxin out rotating…. brb need a drink!
and nobody adds 20 pounds in a summer. Simply can’t happen…naturally.
anybdy think jorts reminds them of a bigger nick swisher
No Knick had more than 3 assists! Granted, Melo had at least 3 of his assists blown, but we need to pass the ball better.
tyson just plays with kind of passion, probably why he has been hurt so much. He’s not going to change now. We’ll just have to cross our fingers.
Not to be a wet blanket, but as fun as Harrelson and Shumpert were to watch, they were a combined 4-24 from the field.
Wondering if we should be worried about the 5-14 performances by Stoudemire and Douglas. Amar’e hasn’t looked comfortable offensively for more than a game at a time…well, since the Melo deal.
I’m psyched, defense chants, players up off the bench, these guys know that this is it. Nobody is blowing this team up. They can bond for real, and make a run.
the scoring will come. I think the D is the key and they seem to be playing together more than before. They are rusty.
We need someone to get him the ball at the rim! That’s his whole game.
Amare realy misses the kind of point guard he needs. Felton fit the bill. We need a healthy baron to maximize amre’s potential. Till then he has to focus on defense, boards, inside scoring, midrange.
He can’t force his game (amare)
Melo did take a couple really bad shots tonight. Hopefully he doesn’t do that too often when the games start to count.
And can we please make some free throws?
With Melo on this team and now Chandler and everyone else do we still need Amare? He needs a certain kind of offense and a specific players around him. He needs a good point guard and shooters to open up the pick and roll and a scheme that keeps the paint open. Honestly I’m wondering if he is really suited to play with Melo.
I wonder i it’s not better just building a iverson sixers kinda team. A bunch of low usage high efficiency players with limited offensive skills and great defensive hustle with one high usage scorer taking all the shots.
I couldn’t agree more.
Ben R,
I think you make a good point. However, the pressure a player of Amare’s stature takes off of Melo cannot be measure in pure stats. Amare will be fine. He is still working his way back into game shape after that back injury. Once he loosens up and Baron Davis starts pick and rolling with some nice lobs, all will be fine.
In 30 min., Melo was 8-17, 21 pts., 8 reb., 3 assists (should have been 6) 1 steal and 1 block. I think we can deal with a few bad shots here and there.
(sorry for the double post)
I thinks so. No one is hot every night. Having two high percentage options and two guys to draw lots of attention if not doubles is great even if Amare isn’t perfectly suited to the main style of play.
Shumpert looks like he could be an all-d team defender somewhere down the line- really good. But a guy with his handle and quickness shouldn’t be settling for pull-ups and chucking 3s- he needs to make a concerted effort to get to the rim- he does that and he should be very solid.
I thought Balkman played well again- especially in the 4th on the defensive end- hopefully D’A took note of that rather than the two threes he missed late. It’d be nice if he could crack the rotation.
Everytime I see Harrelson running down the court, I can’t stop picturing him in front of a Weber grill with a spatula in one hand and a PBR in the other. That said, loved seeing the rooks getting burn and increasing the lead. Would have liked to see Jordan however.
Maybe a cross between Randy Quaid and Nick Swisher?
I really hope that I’m right but I think that quite a few of the bad plays from Shump tonite were for the crowd and it being preseason. I doubt he’ll take as many bad shots as we’ve seen from him. I also think he’ll look to drive a bit more as he starts fitting in better.
I love Balkman, I really hope he is in the rotation. I like Jorts on the defensive end but he seems a little tentative around the basket on offense. I want to see him attacking the rim not falling away. Shumpert has all the skills to be a stud I just hope he makes better choices with his shots as the season progresses.
Hollinger is being attacked on Twitter for picking the Knicks to finish 7th.
7th really. Hmmm
Miami
Orlando
Chicago
Okay I’m sorry, what are the other three teams that are supposed to finish ahead of the Knicks? Seriously. I’m at a loss. Boston is way too thin. Pacers are not there yet (are they?). Philly, meh.
Hollinger is being attacked bc he’s made taking unnecessary potshots at the Knicks simply to bait the dumber half of our fans into an art form.
In fairness to his predictions, he did say merely two games separated 5-6-7 seeds. And it’s not crazy to think this team may struggle to find cohesion. We will be a work-in-progress for much of the regular season. And frankly I think the predictions of us finishing top 3 in the east are more ludicrous than us finishing 7th, 2 games short of 5th.
Also, he did predict would be a much better team by the playoffs.
Does anyone here really care about our seed? I don’t think you should. Make the playoffs, establish everyone’s role, find cohesion, and keep everyone healthy. Those would be my goals for this compressed season.
why do people pretend Atlanta is not in the East anymore? did they lose anyone besides Jamal?
there’s a good case to be made for NY ending up 6th or 7th in the regular season, they’re fitting in one huge new piece in Chandler and then another at some point in Baron and the schedule allows for something like six practices over the entire regular season. dangerous by playoff time this year and maybe legit contenders next with a few more pieces is where I see it right now realistically. but it should be a crazy and unpredictable year, since there’s never been one scheduled this way before. we’ll see who’s healthy in April…
some notes from tonight’s game:
Shump Shump is a really fun thing to say, endless ways you can go with it to convey different emotions. so even when he mostly sucks like tonight, Shump Shump in an admonishing tone helps ease the pain.
on a related note, since we are seemingly supposed to be the collective rational voice of Knicks fans, let’s make a pact to not project Shump Shump to Wade or Sprewell again anytime soon. those were first-team All-NBA players.
Balkman looked great, and if he actually knows he will get consistent minutes, I can only imagine that he will keep improving. with the compressed schedule, he’s going to play a lot, I think.
D’Antoni really has his work cut out for him with this set of personnel and his offensive approach, Melo has such dumb/lazy shot selection sometimes.
Owen is back, that is almost as exciting as Balkman’s reemergence (OK, not really). welcome back, dude!
I don’t think we need to go to the extreme of the Iverson Sixers, but I agree about Amaré. He needs a point guard who understands his limitations and gets him the ball in the very specific places where he excels. I’d rather have kevin garnett, even at his age, than Amaré — someone who can play d and knock down an 18 footer.
Atlanta got outscored during the regular season. They shouldve finished below .500 last season not win 44 games. They lost Crawford and Hinrich might miss first month of regular season if not longer.
I’m pretty sure Amar’e has a deadly 18-footer. We did see a ton of those last season. As far as defense goes, that’s another matter.
Then there’s this quote from the locker room post-game:
Harrellson to Stoudemire: “What’s up, fresh?”
Stoudemire: “What’s up, smooth?
Harrellson: “Where we gonna hunt?”
Stoudemire: “We’re gonna hunt in South Florida. You know what we’re gonna hunt down there, right? We’re gonna hunt LeBron and D-Wade. I got the rifle, man.”
Really funny stuff there guys. You two are a regular Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding — except with far more creepy gun/killing/hunting references.
has he ever played next to a real center before, besides the remnants of Shaq really briefly? my impression is that he’s capable of being a lot better at defending PF than C, then it’s a question of how often he does it.
I forgot about Atlanta. But in my defense, most of Georgia forgets about that team.