Warriors… Come out to playyyyy.
Rematch. They blew us out last time and they didn’t even have their whole squad at the time.
Warriors are an interesting team to me because they continue to play well in the western conference despite certain handicaps I thought they had:
1. they lost a big part of their offensive production when Jason Richardson was sent packing to the Bobcats.
2. their rookie Belinelli, who was tearing up the summer league, has not been a factor thus far in the regular season.
3. the guy they got back for Jason Richardson, Brandan Wright from North Carolina, has not been a factor yet either.
So how does Nellie’s squad do it, you ask? Well, the have Baron Davis healthy and playing tremendous basketball, they have the kid Isiah was thinking about drafting Monta Ellis (or as I like to call him, Iverson, Jr.) picking up the slack and contributing with his scoring ability and of course they have two great players in Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington doing their thing on the court. They have the making of a real team, and although their defense isn’t that great, they’re averaging just under 110 ppg, so this team just tries to out run you and out gun you. Biedrins is their answer to David Lee, very similar double-double hustle player, but Biedrins is a little taller and blocks a couple more shots every now and then. They also have our old friend Matt Barnes, who will probably hit at least one three tonight against us, and another role player named Azubuke, who can score the basketball.
Anybody catch the second half of the Lakers-Cavs game? They had Van Gundy, Mike Breen and Mark Jackson calling the game together. Talk about people familiar with dolan-signed paychecks. Yet there was no mention of the knicks, no cheap shots like there were during the Boston Massacre, probably because Kobe vs LeBron is enough entertainment for one night. That was a good game. I thought for sure once Varejao got hurt with the ankle injury that the Lakers would take it, but LeBron is basically unstoppable and even locked down Kobe on a few plays in the fourth (sorry DVJ). They had some problems with the shot clock that altered the outcome of the game but down the stretch, the lakers could not get a final shot off to send the game to OT. Kobe got out Kobed by LBJ…
So here we go, game one of the second half of the season for this Knicks basketball team.
LGK!
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I don’t think he was ever happy playing with Vince Carter.
I think he is doing the right thing. He is 34 yrs old. He doesn’t have much time left and his team is not going anywhere.
What UPPPPPPPPPPPPPP Defenders!
@African, you got to do better than Cry Me River, “I disagree with everything African writes”
the facts once again don’t support your contention…A clear search of the posts will indicate other wise…
Also, Mr. I’s, Me’s, and Mine’s, once gain you relent to baseless utterings off the cuff;
“But to use my agreement with a reporter as as fact of being disingenuous is way silly.
We all think we’re right when we post, or we wouldn’t post at all”…
Now African if you posts for those reasons so be it, Defender’s reserve the right profess their own reasons…
Also African, your insinuation that my motivation was to imply you were being disingenous,
only confirms your Third Eye is blurry, because you have no foundation to draw such a definitive conclusion. Nothing stated within our exchanges expressed such a thing…I’m not inclined to beat around bush…Maybe that was just your imagination???????
It is this penchant for unsubstantiated factoids Veiled as opinions, that make you truly a Bride Adorned for a Husband…PRIMA FACIA EVIDENCE
I’ll repeat, “You never have to qualify anything unless you’re unsure”…
@Modi, what up my good brother! I’m sure if you write that bottled up piece/column on your case for ECITY verses ZBO or maybe vice versa…LOL, it will be an interesting Read…But watch out for FOLLY, he may submit his own expose…Ain’t Ya’ll Funky Now…LOL
Like I told you earlier Harlem MD, you have been a POSTING Madman today, but the read is consistently engaging and entertaining…
LIVES, how is the Left Coast treating you? Holla!
Keep it POPPIN!!!
Nate as our point Guard? Why not?
Give Nate the mission and he will take it on and be it!
Last night Nate blew past the entire GSW team, Ellis included!
There has Never been such a talent in the NBA! His hops for his size,
his quickness 2nd to none and unharnessed talent in need of direction!
From Blocking Yao to slaming in a rebound to blowing by people like there in slow motion
and his shooting range….the problem here is Nate is an Enigma! No one has ever seen such
a multi-talented 5’7 player…..how can you ask someone…when nobody knows??
Cooley, I’m like a dopefiend today. LOL.
Re: #254–And you know I’m frownin’ on your covetous ways Dr. Harlem. The Full Force is not witcha. The ol’ school throwbacks stayed the gym tightin’-up their game for the next crew to come thru.
KD Jakes Cooleyhigh,
You know what’s good. You got the summary judgement from your deck action.
KFLL
Hey Steady,
I can’t help it bruh. The eyes are wandering at the fine girl in the corner and I’m fitting to introduce myself.
@ Cooleyhigh,
Your post are well-aimed, articulate, and strike at the heart.
I’m a little more brazen with mine, but you get the point……and that point is that African has and will continue to be exposed for the fraud that he is, trying to masquerade garbage (french pronunciation) for intellectual posts.
Perhaps back in the day he was, as Steady would say, “King of the F’kin Hill”, but that “day” is long gone. Gone are the days he could impress or even intimidate people with his pseudo intellect and harsh tone.
Talk about being an Emporer in his own mind!!! Utter nonsense.
He made a comment just recently that people were so shaken by him at one point that they resorted to coming in here under different names for fear of having to deal with his “wrath”.
I say, motherfucker get over yourself!!
There are truly heavy weights in this house!!
I take delight in watching people take turns giving African the business….
Today Cooleyhigh hit him with a barrage of verbal blows. A couple of weeks ago Bronxboy in Md let him have it so bad about his “Pink Eye” he probably had to go out and get a new keyboard…..he was spittin’ mad.
And last but not least, Statesman smacks him around so much it’s ridiculous.
How does it feel to be the blog’s punching bag, African?
Give it up, man. Don’t you know when you’re done?
I think I’ll start calling you Archie.
“MODI, If you’re arguing for the sake of some contrarian exercise”
Folly, I don’t ever write just for the sake of “some contrarian exercise”. I write what I believe. It probably won’t contain too much new information beyond African’s frequent posts, it will simply be a clear synthesis in one post more than I have been able to articulate piecemeal.
“Modi, what up my good brother! I’m sure if you write that bottled up piece/column on your case for ECITY verses ZBO or maybe vice versa…LOL, it will be an interesting Read…But watch out for FOLLY, he may submit his own expose…”
cooley, I would expect nothing less from Folly nor would I want nothing less from Folly. That is why I like Folly
! I don’t come to this site to find agreement, I come because because no other group cares as much about the future of the Knicks. If we are fighting for the same thing the conflict will never be contentious with me. When the goal changes, then we have problems (i.e. MSM making up storylines to sell papers)
PS: I’ve got the State of the Union in the background and your president is making me sick…
@ Rockstar!
Your out of line! Your boner with African seems personal!
Cooley’s articulation is something you don’t come close to having.
Cooley doesn’t make it personal, so quit while your ahead!
Bust African if he don’t come strong, but this ” I take delight
in people giving him the business” is not any defender’s wanton or willfull act here!
People’s posting back at weak shyt are the Judge and Jury here!
No one appointed you that position! Rock on but Rock steady!!!!
Rockstar, I couldn’t agree with Peaceman more. Your last post is in the spirit of what this site is about. Constructive criticism is always good and welcomed. African may be many things, but I can attest that African is anything but “a fraud”. Like anyone else on this board, he may be wrong in any given assessment, but he is completely 100% genuine. Now I haven’t followed all of the exchanges with African, but if there is anything this site should cherish, it is the role of free thinking. That is why I come here. The “ganging up” characteristic of your last post is childish and not warranted. Popularity does not mean “right” and it never has. And if we ever forget that, then we will just become a mini-replication of the very mainstream media that we so often criticize.
typo: I meant your last post is NOT in the spirit of what this site is about
I concurr with you peaceman.
I might have been swayed towards Z-Bo of late but certainly understand African’s bit about how difficult it is to find a big scoring threat from the center position.
Where I digress is the bit about Curry needing other to get him the ball in order to score. I believe one of the Force MDs made mention of the way Juwan Howard’s points come from rebounding on the offensive end. Additionally the ability to secure the defensive rebound- and conversly denying the offensive rebound to the opposition- insures that the Knicks as a team will have another possession in which the ball will eventually work its way into Curry’s hands. But that won’t happen if teams are outrebounding the Knicks and denying them additional offensive possessions and trips down the courts off of good defensive rebounding.
I say the following approach could be used against Curry no rebounds no touches- especially if those rebounds are of the type that Curry ought to be able to get over smaller players and with a little hustle.
Perhaps I’m being illogical.
What up Defenders!
@Steady,
Harlem MD has been blogging at a rabid pace, but like The Wizard from Westwood, he believes in posting quickly, but his thoughts don’t outpace the quickness of his fingers; He is an Ole Spirit in a Youthful frame…He has had to watch tapes of the 69 Knicks (TEAM PERSONIFIED) in action…LOL He moves quickly but not too fast…He’s MY DAWWWWWWWWWWWWG!!
@Rockstar,
I would be derelict and negligent if I did not say thank you for your kind words. And, I am in no position to direct you thoughts or behavior, or qualifiy your motivations, but my discourse and exchange with African or with any Defender is never personal (I fell prey to to my darker instincts once, and I felt silly after, because it was unnecessary); because I am not vested in the outcome of events and debates, and because I have learned on more than one occassion that I do not control the outcome, I’m more vested in the intrinsic VALUE of the Journey and its life lessons. If any writings or words led you to believe I think African is a Fraud, then I too most bear that label and handle myself. That was not my intention, and if that is how it was presented and perceived, I OWE AFRICAN and ALL DEFENDERS on this THREAD a hearfelt and sincere apology.
It is the exchange and the fellowship that drives and motivates this Defender’s participation. Not acrimony or conflict, but provocative and earnest agitation to encourage collective growth, fraternally, mentally, and spiritually. And Rockstar, if and when I FALL SHORT (And I will), I expect this Fraternal KNICK Fanship to hold me accountable and set ME BACK ON THE COURSE…recalibrate my compass…
@Peaceman, ONE OF MY FAVORITE BRUH’S FROM ANOTHER MOTHER, thank you for your understanding of my HEART…For Me, this is simply NYC on the corner Jiggy Juice Shake, not the OK Corral or Wild Wild West…Wounding another Defender spitefully is only a Self-Inflicted wound. THANK YOU!
@MODI, I co-sign post #260!!!!!! My Bruh your FORCE is contagious, that’s why I call you the Resident Scholar; plus your ability to constantly pull off the THE JEDI MIND TRICK…LOL LOL
Keep it POPPIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Somewhere above (too lazy to scroll), Lives or Statesman indicated that the reason PuffyC sat last night was because of the two fouls PLUS his inability to stay with the running game. I now co-sign on that post.
The walk-up offense suits THIS big man most. Now if his (Eddy C’s) blown-up frame is the result of some reaction to Prednisone (Peaceman to verify) or something health-related, then I say: “Hey work it out, get some stamina to stay in the game. Get on the bike or the treadmill.” Just Bloggin’.
Another topic that should be started is the effect or value of the zone. Another student of the game mentioned that here recently. This time, there is prima facia evidence that it was LINJ/LNY. You noted the 1-2-2 and you may recall that I was trying to get a certain mailbag totin’ hack to confirm if there were some considerations being given to the 2-1-2 zone. Some bloggers jumped all over the zone concept and even poohpoohed it. At the time, I just watched those skip passes go OB. On the blogospehere, there’s nothing personal–just the perceived self-respect and dignity shown to your cloak. Now her we have the zone coming out again. Anyone who recalls this stance from the summer based on their skidmarked draws, please edumacate once more. I still contend that the zone allows teams to:
1. play a more robust defense that is responsive to today’s Euro-flop Actors in American Basketball;
2. hide the deficiencies that may exist in one or two players playing together on the floor;
3. apply the concept of team defense with weakside support for ball-side penetration or Js; and
4. allows defensively defficient cherry pickers/slackers to hide their own skidmarked draws when the offense blows by them for lay-ups and dunks.
I could have stopped at three and allow for the body of knowledge to be increased by you honorable posters. But doing so would be un-Steady.
And BTW, Peaceman–don’t be giving away my cloaked name. The only name that is still unattibuted in Blessings. Since he’s always hanging with Peace, you (like Rockstar) must know what’s good.
Dr. Harlem–Yes indeed–I do recall our eyes steadily gazed at the royal blue dime with Knicks hat to the right. I’ve never seen a T-shirt on so tight.
KFLL
Clean-up in ailse #263. I admire how you scroll my beloved brother.
KFLL
The Euroflop began somewhere when Neville Chamberlain kept allowing Germany to acquire lebensraum and has become all the rage in the homogenous N.B.A. of Stern’s fame.
I will say that African made a pretty compelling argument with regards to the traditional importance of the big man in the NBA. But Stern’s N.B.A. is a product that follows the latest trend like teenybobbers to a boy band or Actors to silicone, botox, butt lifts, the latest fad diet, and miracle work-out routine.
I will always believe that a world bereft of diversity is a world drained of the essence that has place human kind here. To that end the homogenous N.B.A. that sells the Euroflop and shafts the Bigs is a diservice to the rich history and tradition of the game built on the backs Russel, Chamberlian, Reed, Jabbar, Malone, Ewing, Olajuwan, and Shaq. Tradition be damned because markets mean more than tradition and diversity that could be drawn from a rich tradition.
Just Bloggin!
Notice what ethincity all those greats are from?
Again Just Bloggin!
LOL @263
nice points at 264 & 266!
Posts #259 to #265.
Knicks Nation/Knicks Fix/KNICKSDEFENSE at its finest.
Cooley,
What’s poppin’ baby. The West Coast was all wet, but it was all good. When the squad headed to the Golden State, I flew back to the Garden State so that I could watch the game in the proper environs. Unlike HarlemMD, I enjoyed the game almost thoroughly. I hate losing, but the truth is that most of us on here (except for Peaceman) were of the mindset that without drastic change there would be no change in our misfortunes. Well there was drastic change; we lost our beleagured star PG which was no victory guarantee. In fact, if we were just considering skill and the loss thereof we would still be gettin’ our azzes kicked. But when you look at the DETAILS so you can appreciate the NUANCE and get the facts RIGHT, you know our pitiful early season blowout was about a lot more than skillz and nothing less than ABS + MSM + Monty v. Meburymess + A Ball Of Lockerroom Confusion. NOW, and just now, we can talk about the Knicks deficient individual skills more than we keyboard and scroll about the mess that the Knicks had become. Now we know that there is no coincidence between the Monty hiding the Marbury Guard and Zeke starting to coach like he knows a little something something about his squad.
I was happy with the GS game. I agree with BARF. THe Knicks should not have won that game. The fact that they played so well was great progress from even last year. Perhaps Nellie did outcoach Zeke (afterall Nellie’s team won) but every running team has been giving the Knicks the blues since IT saw Zeke get dragged to the bench. As I indicated when I proclaimed the Knicks turned “a corner” by my definition, Zeke has shown that he has regained the confidence of his team and that everyone left (maybe except for Curry) has bought into the system if not the playing time Zeke is giving them. They are playing like a team which is a huge progressive step.
I like what I see. The vision is coming together for Isiah. He is a lucky dawg because I woulda fired his azz a long time ago, but Dolan (the idiot that he can be and some say he is) for whatever reason (money, pride, prospecitve lawsuits) would not hang Zeke out to dry. Lucky freakin’ dawg. But also a skillful Mofo to convince the owner of the most valuable franchise in the NBA that he knows what it takes to build a champion and a championship culture –TIME.
One thing I know that distinguishes New Yorkers (people who live and work in New York or think they lives and work in New York) from everyone else is the New Yorker’s persepctive on TIME. New Yorkers think they own time, not just their own time, and everything is rush, rush, rush. In the US time starts here. The dropping apple signifies a New Year. It’s NYT (New York Time) not GMT (Greenwich Mean Time that sets the Amercian pace. NEW YORKERS ARE IMPATIENT.
Four years of Zeke feels like a long time until we are reminded that it took Michael seven years of progress to become a perennial champion. Isiah may not make New York a champion (he definitely has a foundation) but that GS game showed progress and having a whole cauldron of super-savvy Defenders analyze individual deficiencies doesn’t prove that this team doesn’t have a NBA winning foundation, especially since NEW YORKERS always analyze individual deficiencies even when the players are champions: just use Willie Joe Namath, Clyde Frazier and Ewing as references.
Bottom line: I like what I saw. That does not absolve the NYKnicks for the preceding mess, but where there was almost no season or reason to watch, now we got something to look forward to. If Zeke plays Mardy, we can do this without another point. We need a shotblocker to clog up the middle. We certainly could use Curry better, but Curry could certainly play better. He keeps acting like a kid. he keeps thinking like a kid and not a grown professional. “He is only 24″ says a lot, potentially good and bad, about him. Just listen to him. At least he is honest enough to tell us that his play is controlled by his emotions. If he doesn’t get the ball, he feels out of the game and plays like it on both ends. He plays scared to be taken out or fouled out. He plays nice like a little guy in a big body who is afraid he will hurt somebody or not be liked because he is the biggest guy in the room. CURRY needs a lot, but he needs TIME to grow up and grow into his body. He needs a mentor — a big mentor. CURRY’s deficiencies start mentally, even he knows it. Send him to ANTHONY ROBBINS or a sports hypnotist. Tell him that anytime he hears the bounce of a ball, he is an angry, fierce Kangaroo-acting tiger ready to destroy all in his path. If Curry played like that, this would be a CHAMPIONSHIP caliber team. If he passed, blocked, punted and kicked this would be a CHAMPIONSHIP caliber team.
TEAM is the operative word.
SO we are making progress. I can live with that for now. Tonight I expect us to win. EFFORT makes all the difference for the Knicks.
Steady,
If the Knicks can play a zone like they did against GS for the most part it can definitely be useful. The Knicks proved that. However, the Knicks lost because the zone failed, as it did most of last year and where it usually fails, to stop a hot perimeter shooter. Last year when we employed the zone, we did so against teams with adequate to great perimeter shooters. A team that thrives on perimeter ball movement with good shooters can do serious damage to the zone when we play it. Stephen Jackson finally got hot because he was wide open and shooting in rhythm. As I recall, our zone allowed players to have career offensive nights against us. But against GS, it was a necessary counter to their fast pace play. They are not a great jumpshooting team. They get layups early in the clock, which is hard to do if the game is slowed by a zone.
I agree with your stated benefits, but players need to be able to play the zone. The zone doesn’t hid deficiencies if the opponent can penetrate the zone and hit perimeter shots. I am interested to see how the zone works against Steve Nash who does not give up his dribble and will weave through a zone drawing defenders and freeing up cutters all night long. TJ Ford would do the same thing. Tony Parker to a lesser degree.
SO while I was impressed with the zone, I don’t think I would be overly reliant on it to win me games.
Rockstar, while Af has often been a bully and a boor with his opinion and presence, at the end of the day he’s still a valued insider. The ethos here is not to encourage undue personal attack even if you think someone “deserves” it. His general attitude almost begs for a pile on when it’s easy to make a counter-case but i believe the deadliest venom is still kept locked away for true enemies. don’t get it confused.
MODI, see, this is the test: you say zbo’s irredeemable flaw is his passing yet here he is passin his ass off. so i pose the question to you: IF things continue as they are, with zbo passin his ass off and curry continuing as he is, would you then change your mind to say zbo is the keeper if it came down to a forced choice between the two?
P.S. BIG HONKIN CO-SIGN (plus the downpayment) ON #270, Lives.
Folly: Yes.
Lives,
Useful post. Very useful.
KFLL
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