Knicks Morning News (Monday, Jan 28 2013)
January 28th, 2013 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
Mike Woodson started Iman Shumpert at small forward for the second straight game Sunday night, and it sounds as if it's something he'll continue doing.
Carmelo Anthony said after Saturday’s debacle in Philadelphia he “couldn’t throw a rock into the ocean.”
Last night, in sweet, record-tying redemption, Anthony filled up the ocean with 3-point daggers and then snapped a late-fourth-quarter funk with a traditional 3-point play off an exploding drive that won the…
So of course there would be one more wide-open Hawk at the end, because so much of the night had featured various Knicks keeping their distance from various Hawks, treating the Hawks as if they had the flu, or worse, not wanting to get too close, avoiding their germs, just…
From hitting his first three shots to playing some tough fourth-quarter defense against the red-hot Jeff Teague to his array of assists â?? including a highlight-reel between the legs pass â?? Raymond Felton is quickly shaking off the rust and rediscovering the kind of game he had been playing before he got…
As soon as Knicks guard Iman Shumpert heard about Celtics star Rajon Rondo’s season-ending ACL injury â?? an injury that could impact the NBA’s playoff picture, and is the latest in a league-wide epidemic â?? he clutched at his own surgically repaired knee. Empathy, it appears, knows no team.
“I…
The concern regarding Jason Kidd’s back continues to grow.
Kidd started last night, played the first 5:24 and was yanked for J.R. Smith. Kidd never saw the court again and it’s unclear when he will again.
Woodson rested Kidd the final three quarters in last night…
The Celtics’ grip on the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference already was slipping.
Kobe Bryant had 21 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds, Steve Nash added seven of his 17 points in the final 5ALL½ minutes, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 105-96 Sunday.
Blake Griffin had 23 points and nine assists and the Los Angeles Clippers ended a four-game losing streak with a 96-83 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Shawn Marion’s 1,000th game was like so many others in his 14-year career.
Carmelo Anthony was so locked in, he didn’t even realize how far he was shooting from.
Carmelo Anthony completed a three-point play on a driving layup with 12.5 seconds left to lead the Knicks past the Hawks in front of a national television audience.
Kobe Bryant is taking on a playmaking role, and Steve Nash is accelerating his offensive game. With Pau Gasol coming off the bench, the Lakers beat the Thunder, 105-96.
Brandon Knight had a career-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers, and Greg Monroe scored 17 points and the Detroit Pistons ended a two-game losing streak with a 104-102 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
Ryan Anderson scored 22 points, connecting on seven 3-pointers, and the New Orleans Hornets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 91-83 on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant’s new pass-friendly approach helped the Los Angeles Lakers overcome the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 105-96 on Sunday as they attempt to reverse a woeful start to the season.
Boston Celtics star point guard Rajon Rondo will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Boston beat Miami in double overtime without Rajon Rondo, who was scratched before the game and later found to have a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
It was a remarkable, record-tying shooting performance from the Knicks best player but with the game on line Carmelo Anthony did what he does best; attack. Anthony’s three-point play with 12.5 seconds remaining rescued the Knicks, who hung on to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 106-104.
Clearly, these are not your father’s Knicks anymore. The crowd may still chant “Dee-fenseâ? at the Garden, but on Sunday the fans didn’t often complete those two full syllables before Atlanta penetrated for an easy basket in the paint or buried a wide-open jumper.
Iman Shumpert instinctively clutched his surgically repaired left knee Sunday as he began discussing Rajon Rondo’s long road to recovery. Shumpert’s painful journey ended 10 days ago when he returned to the lineup after being sidelined since last May with a knee injury. Rondo, the Celtics’ All-Star point guard, was diagnosed Sunday with an ACL tear and will miss the rest of the season.
The New York Knicks insist Jason Kidd just needed a rest on Sunday night.
But anytime you’re dealing with a 39-year-old and a balky back, there’s reason to be concerned.
Kidd spent the second half of Sunday night’s win over Atlanta in the locker room. The team said Kidd did not suffer any injuries and that he just needed to rest. He played just 5:24 in the first half.
“He’s fine, I just decided to rest him,” Mike Woodson said. “This is a marathon, one game isn’t going to determine anything.
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).
Part of me wants to believe that he’s just getting healthy and playing the way we all knew he was capable of. Part of me wants to believe that it’s a product of playing mostly against the opposition’s bench players. But either way, STAT has looked GREAT here lately. Good enough to make u say ‘he let’s start him!!” But this alignment with him anchoring that 2nd unit with Earl and maybe Kidd at some point, just feels right..perfect even. If Shump keeps knocking down his J’s..especially from 3, I wouldn’t mind a starting lineup of Tyson/Melo/Brew/Shump/Felton. But that probably allows defenses to pack the paint so maybe we start Novak or Cope at the 3. Regardless..I am intrigued by a 2nd unit that features Stat, Kidd, and Earl. Speaking of Brew..we really need him to re-discover his shot because I really think the team is missing his grit and intangibles. But his J is broken so his PT is way down.
Here’s a crazy statistic. After 12 games, including the first half dozen games where he, to be honest, mostly sucked ass, Amar’e is averaging 20+ points per 36, with a TS% of .606 and a usage of 24.1%.
Obviously it’s still a small sample, but if you survey the NBA this season and filter out the garbage time all-stars (i.e. anyone who has played less than 1,000 minutes by now, at the halfway point of the season), do you know how many other players are posting a TS% of at least .606 with a usage of 24% or higher?
Here’s the list:
1. Kevin Durant
2. LeBron James
… and that’s it.
So, yeah. I’m gonna go ahead and say that Amar’e is still an elite scorer. Remember, these are his numbers including his first few games, which were awful. And more to the point, anyone who has been watching these games should recognize that he could be so, so, SO much better with some more reps if he stays healthy.
Aside from maybe half a dozen possessions in the post (at most), we’re not even running any plays for him! He hasn’t had our best PnR point guard on the floor with him for more than 2 games! They’ve just kind of been winging it out there, and yet 12 games in, he looks to be on a really positive trajectory.
I heard the commentators last night say that sitting down with Mike Woodson, he stated that he did not believe that Amare will be an over 30 min per game player for the rest of his career. If that is actually what he said; I think he’s jumping the gun on that one. If Amare continues to improve the way he is – and I think he will – then the team would need his play for more than 30 min a game.
230-some minutes. No way he stays that efficient over the remaining 35 games.
Why not? That sample includes all of his worst minutes. He’s had no penetrating PG for almost all of that time and few plays run for him. He’s had entire seasons with a TS% in the mid .600s on even higher usage, and that was when teams prioritized stopping him. Now, he’s going up against 2nd unit defenders, scoring on defenses geared toward stopping Carmelo.