Knicks Morning News (Thursday, Dec 13 2012)
December 13th, 2012 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
Imagine if Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald got his first choice, and Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin were running the Knicks instead of Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton.
Certainly they wouldn’t be an Eastern Conference-leading 16-5 entering tonight’s Garden showdown vs. the 9-13 Lakers. As luck would have…
J.R. Smith wouldn’t allow back spasms to force him out of the game in the second half of the Knicks’ 100-97 win in Brooklyn on Tuesday, but it is unclear if he will be able to suit up tonight vs. the Lakers.
Smith underwent 45 minutes of treatment…
If the voting for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award were held today, Carmelo Anthony would be a consensus selection. But that’s not reality. One quarter of a season does not make an MVP.
At this point in 2010, Amar’e Stoudemire would have gotten his share of…
Mike D’Antoni and Carmelo Anthony are back together at the Garden for the first time tonight, their public divorce last March working out magnificently for the player and not so wonderfully for the former Knicks coach.
As D’Antoni’s purple-and-gold Lakers invade the Garden, Anthony is coming off…
Mike D’Antoni’s wife, Laurel D’Antoni, who is still living in Westchester with their high-school-aged son, Michael, said she can’t understand why Knicks fans would boo the ex-coach in his Garden return tonight with the Lakers.The way she sees it, her husband stepped away at the…
Maya Moore has excelled everywhere she’s played, winning championships from college to the WNBA and Europe. Now she’s leaving her mark on the Chinese women’s basketball league.
Mo Williams’ 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted the Utah Jazz to a 99-96 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night, snapping the Spurs’ five-game winning streak.
Open underneath the basket, Draymond Green made a layup with 0.9 seconds left to give the Golden State Warriors a 97-95 win over the Miami Heat.
Mike D’Antoni, whose Lakers have lost three straight, returns to Madison Square Garden on Thursday to face his former team, the Knicks, for a nationally televised game.
Behind Joe Johnson’s 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half, the Nets held off a late rally by the Raptors and ended a season-high five-game losing streak.
Mo Williams drained a long-range three-pointer as time expired to give the Utah Jazz a buzzer-beating 99-96 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
Goran Dragic made a short hook shot from the left baseline with 0.5 seconds remaining and the Phoenix Suns edged the Memphis Grizzlies 82-80 on Wednesday to snap a seven-game losing streak.
Paul Pierce scored 34 points, including a 3-pointer at the start of the second overtime to give Boston the lead for good, and the Celtics held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 117-115 on Wednesday night.
The snow has just started to fall in the National Basketball Association’s most northern outpost and all signs are pointing to a long, bitter winter for the Toronto Raptors.
Kevin Durant scored 35 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their winning streak to nine games with a 92-88 victory over the New Orleans Hornets 92-88 on Wednesday night.
Brandon Jennings scored 19 points, Monta Ellis had 17 points and 11 assists and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Sacramento Kings 98-85 on Wednesday night.
James Harden scored 31 points to lift the Houston Rockets to a 99-93 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Kevin Love spent the morning backpedaling and Nikola Pekovic spent the evening plowing full steam ahead.
Chris Paul had 19 points and 10 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 100-94 Wednesday night for their eighth straight win.
Draymond Green made a layup with 0.9 seconds left to give the Golden State Warriors a 97-95 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
Joakim Noah scored 21 points, Luol Deng added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls won their fourth in a row on the road with a 96-89 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
Paul George scored 27 points, and the Indiana Pacers overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-81 on Wednesday night.
Josh Smith and Jeff Teague scored 16 points apiece, Al Horford added 13 points and 13 rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks held off a late charge by the Orlando Magic for an 86-80 victory Wednesday night.
Joe Johnson scored 23 points, Andray Blatche had 14 points and nine rebounds and the Brooklyn Nets beat Toronto 94-88 Wednesday night, snapping a season-high five-game losing streak.
Jerry Stackhouse, the first major professional athlete in Brooklyn to wear No. 42 since Jackie Robinson, joined the Nets in honoring his idol.
To Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony is the toughest cover in the NBA. Tougher, even, than LeBron James.
“For me, yeah,” Bryant told Stephen A. Smith in an interview Wednesday.
“He’s always been a player that I enjoyed guarding the most,” Bryant said. “He was the most difficult because of his size and his speed.”
Listen to Kobe’s comments: Bryant added that Anthony’s shooting range, ability to drive to the rim and score in the post make him one of the most lethal offensive weapons in the NBA.
On Thursday, Mike D’Antoni returns to Madison Square Garden for the first time since stepping down as Knicks coach last March. The theory is that D’Antoni couldn’t co-exist with Carmelo Anthony and wanted out.
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).
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-simers-lakers-20121212,0,7570003.column?page=2
Who knows where the Knicks could be now if the NY media had a TJ Simers instead of all the bloviating wanna-bes.
I like D’Antoni, but I can’t beleive the Lakers passed over Phil for him at any Price.
Is it me, or is Dwight an ________?
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/224978/Dwight_Howard_Already_Knows_Where_Hell_Sign
it’s a no win position for those guys, the rules make it so they need to wait until after their contracts expire to get max money and they get endlessly badgered until then.
that being said, I’ve been betting ATL for a while for Howard along with his BFF Josh Smith.
Lost in the awesomeness of our shellacking of Miami and the great wins over Denver and BKN is the fact that our defense has been quite ordinary lately. Our opponent expected eFG% (based on shot locations) is 4th worst in the league – mostly on the basis that we allow the 7th most shots at the rim per game and 9th most 3 pointers per game. Our actual opponent eFG is 8th worst in the league. We’ve allowed 9 out of our last 12 opponents to post an off-eff of >103, which is sort of the line for worst 10 defenses in the league. The schedule has been a little tougher but this is a problem. Hopefully the eventual return of Shump will help that a little.
If Howard is all about championships, he needs to show it by improving his free throw shooting.
He’s pathetic 48 percent from the charity stripe this year, which is below his already terrible 58 percent career average.
I realize lots of great, big centers were terrible from the line – Wilt and Shaq to name two. I just think being 10 points off your average is pretty terrible and probably reflects his commitment.
Maybe I’m being too hard on him.
Brewer has been less effective, as has Wallace. Both have bad wheels – Brewer’s knee, and Wallace’s foot.
Camby has been out, and Felton has been less aggressive defensively with his hand. That leaves Tyson alone in the paint, and this is where Melo at the four is a bit of a detriment at 6’8.
Shump should help, and while Amare is no defensive savant, he at least gives Wallace fewer minutes, and perhaps fewer dings as the season progresses. As Amare at 6’10 is a dangerous weak side defender, as we have seen from time to time.
Speaking of Amare, Kidd’s comments about him and how he thinks He and Melo will be just fine was said with such authority, I have to believe he’s not just saying this.
If there is a player that can get Melo the ball in such a way that Melo doesn’t feel the need (or insecurity) to call for it, it’s Kidd. And if Kidd can do that, I have no doubt he is going to make Amare into a beast.
I have every confidence that both Kidd and Felton will make Amare and Melo into a devastating pair.
I simply can’t wait to see Amare get to his pre-Knicks 60+ TS%.
Watching Amare, he almost always reminds me of James Worthy. Amare is slightly bigger and somewhat better, but they are close in TS%, eFG% and they have similar styles of play. Amare, again, is bigger and stronger. In his prime, Worthy was an inch shorter and 20 pounds lighter.
Gasol is out again tonight, yay. Jamison will start at PF against Melo.
Artest always guards the opponent’s best offensive player, even if it’s Kyrie Irving and he stands no chance of keeping up with him
I’m more curious about how Chris Paul acts this off season. I think the Clippers are a bit overrated, but I admit I haven’t watched them enough to tell for sure. Don’t think they’ve caught up to the Thunder or Spurs though, and they were virtually even with Memphis last year and are probably in the same spot this year. Going to be an interesting year, there’s more parity in the league than I can ever remember
Amare could really help himself if he really dedicated himself to learning the 3 point shot (in addition to defense, etc.). If he could just shoot even 33-35% from 3 point range, he could play stretch 4 when Tyson’s on the floor, then beast in the PNR when Tyson sits. And the ability to play pick-and-pop in in addition to the dive would make him even harder to defend on those possessions during which he’s the primary option.
so Artest on Chandler then? :)
I have watched a decent amount of Clipper games and I think they are legitimately improved a lot from last year. Their defense is much better, Jordan and Griffin in particular have improved in their help defense and comprehension of team defensive concepts. And if they ever started playing Bledsoe more than 19 minutes a game, they could be even better, he’s averaging 1.5 spg in less than 19 minutes a game. But of course VDN is their coach so who knows if that will ever happen
Agreed. He is averse to even attempting to have Bledsoe and Paul share the same backcourt, though I’m not quite sure why. VDN is a truly awful coach. It amazes me this guy still has his job.