For example, Shumpert got stripped at least three times after he caught a pass/rebound. This is rust. Getting a bear grip on the ball is something you just can’t practice outside of game conditions. I have to imagine he will not have this problem going forward.

The Knicks got rejected a lot last night. Melo did not seem to have spring in his jump. Shumpert has regularly been getting rejected since he came back, since he is shying away from contact. Both of these problems can, and should, be fixed after the break.

My biggest hope is that ‘Sheed can come back and give 10 minutes per night. That should help bring ‘Melo down below 40 minutes per night. ‘Sheed will give a defensive anchor on the second unit, plus floor balance and spacing.

It’s okay if you see the same old Knicks. I do not. I think this team wins the Atlantic and wins at least the first round of playoffs. If they accomplish that, I think they have reached par for the year.

I’m not sure why Jason Kidd is playing 32 minutes nowadays. His 3 point shooting will eventually turn around, but 32 minutes is way too much anyway.

Was never a huge fan of his.

Carmelo is making 21 million per for this year and the next two. Gallo is making 9 per. Melo has been more productive this year, no question about it. Twice as productive as Gallo? Not so sure…

Gallo is not a bad player. Doesn’t have the usage of Melo. But a lot of the other numbers line up pretty straight….

Owen: There are plenty of people who think Chandler is better than Carmelo by himself. Some of us think he is a lot better.

Pretty sure he meant Wilson Chandler, not Tyson Chandler.
And I’d take Carmelo over Wilson Chandler + Gallo any day of the week. But you’re right – I’d take Tyson+Gallo over Melo alone any day of the week also.

To be honest, this team just looked tired last night. Sounds like they had a great but very intense practice on tuesday – maybe not the right time to do that?

Melo did not have any lift at all on jumpers or around the rim. Amare looked extra terrible – all the little flips/hooks that he was hitting 2 weeks ago were way off. And I don’t know what to say about all the missed layups and free throws. We might just have to chalk it up to one of those games. It was ugly, yes, but overall I think the offense created good shots. We had 34 shot attempts at the rim compared to 15 for the Raptors – except we only shot 41% at the rim – season average is 62%. We had more shots at the rim and from 3 point range – I will take that any day of the week. And I thought the defense was pretty good except WHY WON’T ANYONE GET INTO ALAN ANDERSEN????

The one positive from last night was that Shumpert looked a little more like himself. I’m not sure why he played so few minutes.

Uh, well, actually….

There are plenty of people who think Chandler is better than Carmelo by himself. Some of us think he is a lot better.

And frankly, after an abysmal start, Gallinari is going back to being exactly what we thought he would be. His Win Shares/48 is now up to .151 for the season, just shy of the numbers Melo put up last year and not that far a cry from what Melo is doing currently in the best season of his career. Gallo is also still under 25. And the Nuggets seem to be surviving with a small forward who only makes 9 million per.

It would be interesting to see how that poll would turn out here these days….

Chandler and Gallo or Melo?

Easy choice for me.

Hubert Davis: 60 wins is 28-4 from here on out.That’s not just outside, it’s outside, across the street, and down the block!

I probably come off as one of the more disappointed people here after a loss, but I still think it’s a good team.My problem is I deluded myself into thinking it could win a championship.I was high on the fact that I believed we presented a real matchup problem for the Heat, like the 2011 Mavs, and that we could get lucky and draw a San Antonio team we match up well against.

The full 82 game season is just drumming home the point that this is LeBron & Durant’s world, and we’re all just obstacles that they will overcome en route to their rematch.

As long as we lose to the Heat, and not Indiana, Brooklyn or (god forbid) Boston, I won’t lose my mind.

Then again, if we’re healthy in the playoffs, heck, who knows what can happen.

Haha, fair play. I won’t deny that it’s an outside chance, but Hollinger playoff odds still say best simulation is 61 wins. In the words of Jim Carey: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?”. Maybe let’s say very outside, and call it a day.

Believe me I commiserate with following the ups and downs of the team very closely, and I think almost everyone had the same experience of getting on that incredible high the first few weeks. It has been hard not to feel some sense of dissapointment because of that. All-Star break is a good time to pause and take stock of things though, and going back to the preseason I think we all said the goal was get out of the 1st round. Less than that would be disappointing, more than that gravy. We won’t know definitively for a few months but the team right now is on track to have a good chance to match or exceed those expectations.