New York Knicks at Charlotte Bobcats 10/30

[dav7z]

Raymond Felton is a machine. With the way we're currently constructed, the play of our point guards will likely be the key to whether we win or lose night in and night out.

I was happier with Chandler's performance tonight. I hope as he gets to 100% he fouls less on defense, but I'm afraid that the offensive fouls are part of his nature (since they're a career trend). I don't think his fouling out of the game was the turning point as others have suggested. When he left in the first quarter (4:22 left), we were +8. The team was +12 when he returned to start the 2nd half of the game. For 16:22 of game time we not only played even with the Knicks, we added 4 points to the differential.

Tyson had a nice 3rd quarter, playing all but 1:53 of it's entirety. The team was +1 over this span, increasing it's differential over the Knicks to 13. When he returned with 9:30 left in the 4th, this had been increased upon again as the differential was now 14. He would foul out 42 seconds later, so I don't think much can be learned from his -1 affect during this time.

Anyway, I expect this post to be dismissed, since I've developed the reputation as a number crunching troll, but it seems to me that Chandler's affect on the team should still be "", like it was after the Boston game. I think the biggest change in the game was that the Knicks could not score in the first quarter, period, and that Radmanovic should not play for 37 minutes. With the Knicks playing Lee at center with 4 others on the court to spread the floor, I guess LB thought Diaw and Vlad were our best options against that? Seems to me that we could've put one of the centers on Lee while Diaw rested and not played Radmanovic as much. It's possible that not playing either of the centers instead of Radmanovic, but instead, ANYONE ELSE (Henderson/Brown especially) for a larger percentage of his floor time would've yielded positive enough results to win this one in regulation.

Compleatly agree with Vald. Thing.
First i like DJ but he got killed the whole 2nd half . In the pick and role First the pick and DJ s man open . Brown made a adjustment late in the 4th it helped . But a big area for DJ is the pick.

Graham played great though i havn't liked him til now. The little things i can see why LB likes him .
another instresting note Boris had 13 in the first but let off in the 2nd Conditioning?
Did any one see Wallace set on that Knick player for about 15 seconds . It was like hell i can't buy a foul ill just set hear.

[spectre]

Couple of notes from QCH:

Gerald Henderson - The rookie had a great anticipation steal in the backcourt for a dunk - and earned a seat on the bench for the rest of the evening after forcing up a contested jumper early in the shot clock in the fourth (part of the Bobcats 7 possession drought).

Ahh, that explains some things.

The takeaway from all these positives and negatives: This team is still learning how to play together (and how to play for Larry Brown) and that will continue as players return from injury. The offense is going to struggle and have these mood swings so the defense will have to keep them in games. Against Boston, the D did a decent job but the offense was not up to the task. Tonight, they put together enough stops at the end to hold on and send the fans home happy.

Yup. And as the team gets healthier we'll be the stronger for it.

[BRNC]

It shows that we still (as a team) need to figure out how to close out against an opponent when we have them down...I was also disappointed in our rotations...LB really needs to work on it...

[G-Force for MVP]

i thought that derrick brown needs to hit the court a lot more but at least they won

[ebrown]

i thought that derrick brown needs to hit the court a lot more but at least they won

Yeah I think he deserved more burn than Vladi.

I think two things I noticed from the game.

DJ and his little frame has trouble busting through the screens on the pick and roll

Vladi is not a very good defensive guy. He would collapse to the lane and leave his guy wide open too many times on the wing and when his guy wanted to drive he was always several steps behind.

[Chef]

my 2 cents. we looked better, but they were the knicks. tyson is going to better for us than mek once he gets his sea legs. it was nice to see our center finish with dunks. vlad is terrible, we have a huge hole in depth and defense at the pf position. dj is going to be pretty good and get where he wants whenever he wants. not signing or trading for a scoring 2 guard is going to kill us. we can't score, nor have a go-to guy outside of crash who will be double teamed all year because we have no one else who can score. i hate to say it, but as we are currently put together, unless we can hold teams to under 70 pt/game we are going to finish with a high lottery pick this year.

[Scottley Crue]

It shows that we still (as a team) need to figure out how to close out against an opponent when we have them down...I was also disappointed in our rotations...LB really needs to work on it...

The main thing with LB's rotations is that he most likley in overtime(s) put out the 5 guys he trusted to get the job done. Givent that TC fouled out and our other centers didn't match up well with the Knicks style of play, I believe that's why LB went the way he did. Odds are you'll see a different rotation tonight. He's just putting out there what he thinks will be the most effective.

As a side benefit, nothing can help Boris get in game shape like playing a lot in a game.

[azfollower]

Just two thoughts on the game for me:

1. We really need another scorer. Or at least someone (Raja) who can knock down a trey or two. That one DJ three in the 4th was huge and we need more like that. Maybe Flip will help keep those offensive droughts at bay once he gets back.

2. Vlad should not be playing crunchtime minutes. He kept leaving Galinari open for trey balls and he didn't contribute on offense. He needs replacing.

[dav7z]

my 2 cents. we looked better, but they were the knicks. tyson is going to better for us than mek once he gets his sea legs. it was nice to see our center finish with dunks. vlad is terrible, we have a huge hole in depth and defense at the pf position. dj is going to be pretty good and get where he wants whenever he wants. not signing or trading for a scoring 2 guard is going to kill us. we can't score, nor have a go-to guy outside of crash who will be double teamed all year because we have no one else who can score. i hate to say it, but as we are currently put together, unless we can hold teams to under 70 pt/game we are going to finish with a high lottery pick this year.

Good news my rep told me last night Bell will be playing Monday night. I hope that takes care of this DJ, Felton BACK COURT?
Borris is servicable , Crash is playing bigger stronger and rebounding MUCH better than ever be for. Crash can give Boris a blow if need be. Brown can board so can Hendo . Those rookies look good in person . Yes we got things we have to clean up with about ever player . But this is a decent group that will contend for the fifth seed in the east.

Scoring is going to come . Our timing is still off but much better tan last game . I expect it to inprove ever game.

Felton is turning in to a monster strenth wize.
Crach all so
WE BETTER THAN YOU THINK.............

[KT#20]

You do understand that TC just started running for the first time in months a few weeks ago, and didn't have any time on the court (in practice or game) until the fianl week of the preseason? He is extremely rusty and will need time to get back in shape. Mek was in an entirely different scenario where he wasn't truly hurt, just another one of his bitch injuries, and was in perfect health upon returning, as he always was here. Also, seeing as how we have the same record as NOLA, I don't really se anything other than maybe it hurt them and helped us? Really, why don't you wait and see before you open your fucking mouth, like the rest of us are watching and waiting.

Yes, a sprained toe, which is what made OKC reject Tyson, is clearly a "bitch injury". Is being rusty why Tyson couldn't catch and finish a wide open dunk? Is being rusty why he airballed a two footer? Please. I'm not the only one who has called out Chandler, either.

And don't tell me you wouldn't have done everything differently either.

Do you mean would or wouldn't? Everything you said afterward leads me to believe it's the former.

And what if Vladi turns into an all-star? Or Lopez becomes a bust (Sean May had a great first year, too). Seriously, give it time. knee-jerking only hurts you, bud.

This takes the cake. Now, you're going into extreme hypothetical situations. What if Vlad turns into an All-Star? What has he done in his entire career that makes you think he'll be an All-Star? Not going to happen. Never was, never will.

As for May, he had a good rookie season, but it wasn't with Lopez'. For one, the differential in games played is huge. Even production wise, Lopez' outperformed May easily. If Lopez turns into a bust, it'll be because of a horrific injury, not because he doesn't have game.

But I guess you can't read very well, since I said I don't fault the organization one bit for taking Augustin over Lopez.

I appreciate the optimistic approach -- I'm optimistic, too -- but that doesn't mean you have to justify every single move this organization has made. Trading for Diop and Radman was terrible. Why is that Jordan gets ragged on for trading for Nazr, even though he produced quite well for us when given the time and we clearly needed a backup, but when LB's behind a trade that turns out to be terrible, he gets a free pass?