Half way through the season defenders and I won’t lie to you: it has been a tough season for the orange and blue. I want to know how everyone sees this going down, check out this survey and please take the time to be honest about these knicks.

Seems like we have some defenders representing at the knicks games lately with African at the Wizards game and DVJ attending tonight’s game in Jersey against the Nets. DVJ has informed us that he’ll be sitting directly behind the knicks bench–sweet seats man, how’d you score them? We’ll be looking for you–perhaps you could help us out and hold up a Knicksdefense sign during the timeouts to let us know it is you.

Last time we played this team they didn’t have Kidd and we took them for a victory. Now that Kidd is back, we don’t have Marbury–not necessarily a bad thing depending on how you interpret the team’s season-high two game winning streak coming into tonight’s battle for the Hudson River.

This Knicks team moved the ball and had an impressive collective assist to turnover ratio at 26:9. I don’t want to get overly excited about a two-game win streak, but if the Knicks keep that up for the rest of the season, we won’t be talking about being in the lottery come April.

Jamal was 6-7 from three point land and had 29 points on the night. That’s great production, hope he keeps up with the good shooting percentages.

Nate continues to impress me this month and I especially like the improved passing and decision making with the basketball. Now if we can get him to read those passing lanes and use his superior quickness to steal the basketball, we’ll see more dunks from Nate then he amassed in two NBA dunk contest finals.

That reverse dunk from David Lee in the fourth was sick like the flu (C. Mack).

Q had a dunk!! also, Q was on fire in the first half and eventually shot 50% through the game finishing with 13 and 7. Nice to see Q rediscover his touch and hope he can continue to give us that kind of production at the small forward position. Just think how good the Knicks would be if Q were in that kind of form all season long?

Randolph Morris saw daylight during the last minute of the game and committed a foul. David Lee jokingly came over to congratulate him for getting a mark on the stat sheet. What can I say, the guy should be in the d-league learning and getting good exercise.

No minutes for our unsung hero Wilson Chandler.

Caron reminds me of Artest in some ways. He’s a hell of a ball player.

Did you see Jeffries getting those consecutive blocks? Reminded me of charles Smith in the playoffs except he was scottie pippen and they were the knicks! Jeffries is my favorite Knick this year. Last year it was Mardy and Balkman. Speaking of Mardy he played 40 seconds and got an assist.

Zach might not be the problem at all, I concede, but we have to be careful not to blame this entirely on Stephon’s absence from the team. I’m not going to stick up for Stephon, however, I do think Isiah is finally making the changes that have been so obvious to some of us in terms of who should play (Nate, Lee, Balk, Jeffries) and who deserves to sit, depending on the players’ performances and not on their salary level or veteran status. Bottom line? If your best lineup last night is Nate, Crawford, Balkman, Jeffries and Lee, those guys should see minutes every night and should not rot on the bench as they have during stretches this season.

This is what I took from the Isiah post-game interview. Without naming names, he blamed this season’s poor performance on the player’s attitude. He said the losses were due to trying to manage some of the personalities on the team who care more for the name on the back of the jersey instead of the name on the front of the jersey. He could have been talking about Curry or Randolph, both players have been called selfish at times in their careers, but from watching the post game interview, it seems Isiah is “going though the process” to make sure certain people “fall by the wayside.” Anyone come to mind?

Should the knicks get a “W” tonight in Jersey, I might consider his point of view as plausible. As of right now, it seems to me Isiah is just now playing the players he should have been playing when the ball first went up in November. Just blogging.

And another reason I’m glad they won: I was beginning to think Kenny Smith calling Knicks games was a jinx for this team.

As far as tonight, you know when you play the Nets it is the big three you have to be concerned with: Carter, Kidd, Jefferson. Kidd especially because he was out last time. They dislike us, and we dislike them. But they haven’t played very well this year relatively speaking, so can the Knicks make it three in a row? Depends on how much energy I see from the orange and blue in the first couple minutes of the basketball game. You’ll know by then if this Knick team wants to do what it takes to continue to win, or if they’re content with winning a couple before going back to sleep at the wheel.

Jay Bee was right, that old post spanned a couple of days… Time for a new one.

STATESMAN says watch out for Caron Butler, well I have to cosign on that (he killed the Celtics down the stretch in their last outing), but also would add that Antawn Jamison is having a great season doing what we though Zbo would do for the Knicks, put up 20-10 numbers on the season. He’s stepping out and shooting three’s, so the Zbo-Jamison matchup will be an interesting one.

Stephon is starting to remind me of Spree in that he’s had enough chances at redemption and isn’t making the most out of them.

If only they’d put Nate in there with Crawford so we can see how the Seattle backcourt fares at the onset of the game. I think it is safe to say Larry Brown started Nate more times as a rookie by now than Isiah is starting him (just once all season) as a third-year vet during the same stretch of games. I know we need energy off the bench, but when I look at the bench, Fred, Balk, Jeffries and Lee is enough energy I would think. Lets face it, Nate’s height causes defensive matchup disadvantages for the knicks, but what he brings to the team in terms of energy and shooting (best shooter on the team this year) makes up for it. Think Isiah would ever start Nate and Jeffries in the backcourt together? No, he wouldn’t–but isn’t that worth considering? Jeffries did play some two guard for the Wizards before coming to new york. Nate, Jeffries, Balkman, ZBO and Curry. Three scorers and two defensive juggernauts. That’s the kind of stuff you should try when everyone on the knicks team either only plays offense or only plays defense. Just bloggin’ y’all.

Game time in a few…

I haven’t any coupon codes for discounted tickets for the game, but here is the link in case you want to go and pay full price.

Let’s see, the Pacers are playing .500 ball at 12-12. Their roster’s primary threats include Danny Granger, another one of those high-energy scoring forwards types the Knicks (7-16) have had trouble with all season, Mike Dunleavy, a solid fundamental basketball player, former Isiah Thomas project turned all-star forward-center Jermaine O’neal, and Jamaal Tinsley, the crafty point guard that is better than you’d think upon first glances. First guy off the bench for the pacers is probably Troy Murphy, who was recently clocked in the face by Chicago’s Ty Thomas.

Veteran point guard Stephon Marbury comes back into the lineup, not sure if Coach Thomas will be inserting him right back in as a starter or as a reserve, especially since Crawford and Jones have played well together the past two games. I don’t necessarily consider it a negative thing if Steph gets the start; the knicks just need to come up with a few simple go-to plays that get them playing as a cohesive unit–if either Zach and Jamal are taking all the shots tonight, that’s an indicator that the team aspect to the basketball game is again taking a backseat.

Eddy Curry broke out of his slump with a 20 and 9 game, good for E City (remember that nickname?). The knicks are as healthy as they’ve been in the past two seasons with Q back and I’ve heard crazy rumors Jerome may even start playing? The good thing about health is you get to see what you really have in terms of the knicks basketball team Isiah Thomas envisioned, the bad thing would be that the kids (nate, lee, renaldo, collins, chandler, even jeffries and jones) will again have a diminished role on the court on account of your big-contract vets being on the floor for the majority of the game.

The knicks should try to build up their confidence coming off a big win over the Nets, a team that usually has their number in the past 20-25 match-ups. We beat them, so we should be able to take Indiana. I believe. I also believe the garden wants to believe. Tipoff is at 7:30.

The highlights weren’t available on MSG network. No, there weren’t any highlights even at the Garden, assuming you’re a knicks fan. The highlights of last night’s game were here on Knicksdefense.com. You want to know how the diehard Knick fans really feel about watching their team get their ass handed to them by a rebuilding franchise two days in a row? Keep reading. (Peaceman may or may not owe STATESMAN a steak dinner due to the most recent knicks debacle)

bronxboy in Md
If Curry possesses any intestinal fortitude, it’ll be on display tonight.

What I see here is Zeke the “coach” having to justify Zeke the “GM”……

That’s why the better performers aren’t playing.

But if he want to last in NY, something will have to give.

At this rate, I don’t see him lasting till Christmas.
If Curry had an ounce of pride, he would’ve responded to Delembert’s comments with a monster game tonight.

I guess he has none. No heart, either.

STATESMAN
If Crawford is starting, your team is losing. The record does not lie. A 3rd guard at best. Never plays
D, and makes the CRUCIAL MISTAKE. Don’t let last night fool you, game became Craw w/ ball and do what he wants.
Zeke has to take Craw out of the starting 5.
JCHUCK
1 FOR 10. Look at shooting the last 5 games (w/ last night included. He is 3rd guard at best.
Too many jump shots. Feed the Post.

Knicksome
I personaly think Curry should’nt start, as you see Zeke takes him out and the guards can take it to the hoop or penetrate and pass it to an open man for the outside shot…..I really think curry should come off the bench…..let lee start

I’m so sick of curry…..cant rebound to save his life.

Guys straight up IT has to get fired, he does not know how to use his line up. I hate this shit I’m sick of it I’m sick of curry being lazy and out played. We should try and trade now beofre their trade value drops…..da only good thing to watch is da cheer leaders and they dont even put them on camera as much.

DaVonn,

I’m with you enough is enough, I’m tired of people saying its still ealry in da season. That is still unacceptable I want them to fire IT trade curry and rebuild around Zbo.
bronxboy in Md
@ DVJ..

Nah bruh..speak your piece…

We’ve mentioned it before,and I’m saying it again…

The Knicks seem to play better, more fluid ball without Curry, and to a lesser degree, Steph. Not saying that they’re a better team, just saying they seem to play better.

It’s the truth folks, whether you like it or not.

Did yall hear what Clyde suggested?

The same everyone but Isiah seems to see…

SHAKE UP THE LINEUP!!!!

We were in a ten point hole before we knew what hit us, and the bench brought us back..

The main culprit….Curry.

He doesn’t rebound, doesn’t intimidate ANYBODY..

and bogs down the offense.

Start Lee!!

DVJ

This is terrible.
Makes me ashame to be a Knick fan.
Somebody want to please explain to me how we have the highest payroll in the league and we can’t win one game against the “Sisters”?

Double digit hole…..AGAIN!!!!!

Peaceman
To reiterate a recent post of mine, the sixers gave Boston all they could handle
last game. If the Knicks think this is a cake walk tonight, we will get our ass handed
to us like an early Christmas present! The Knicks must play an A game, because Philly
is a dangerous team that has nothing to lose!

Davonn

I Guarantee we won’t lose tonight!
How much more shit can we pile up on this Knicks team this year?
ABS, Currys life threating event, Zach’s loss,the Suns game away, Marburys loss, the press
hounding for Zekes fireing? The Boobirds? You can’t make this shit up!
CHILL …we will be fine!

STATESMAN
I’ll bet you a STEAK dinner that the Knicks win tonight!
If I’m right, it’s @ Uncle Jack’s 9th and 34th st!
If your wrong(believe me you are) you choose!
Watch this Knick team the second Half!
Watch us work! WORD!
OK BronxboyinMD!
You can have some of this action!
Are you in or Out? Same deal as Statesman!

PC
Why do people continue to say that the Knicks are full of talent? What’s so talented about these guys?

I don’t see anyone doing anything talented. Talented people score and pass and play defense. Our guys are just a bunch of excellent athletes that were at one point in their career highly touted as having tons of potential.

Zeke has brought just shit$y basketball players to the Knicks. How can your startegy as a GM be to trade for guys that have never even sniffed wins. Meaning that they put up numbers but they suck and nobody wants to play with them

ESPN the mag did a thing on Brandon Roy and in the article they said that ZBO used to stand in the locker room after the game and just yell out what all his teammates deficiencies were. They mentioned this because Roy eventually called out ZBO and became the leader in the locker room. How does Zeke not know this guy is a disaster. He’s a big guy who shoots 20 footers and is allergic to defense — SIGN HIM UP!

Why’s Zeke still here after we lost by 45 points to the Celtics?

Someone needs to get benched. And I don’t mean take him out of the game. I mean never put him in the game. Curry and Randolph should just sit one entire game and watch in uniform. And see what it’s like. Let the inexperienced kids get some run

St_George
Bronx:

but they’re pathetic.

Hopeless, without focus, maybe psychologically F’ed-up, Changes are warranted. There is no way that professionals should conduct themselves this way against equal competition.

Sheet and double sheet

maestro
The problem is quite simple.
Jamal Crawford, has one good game in three.
Eddie Curry had one good game in seven.
And they are supposed to be our franchise players ???
And an even bigger problem is that we can not trade them. No team wants loooooosers.
And the biggest problem of all, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Post-up Prince
Emogh. This embarassment cannot continue. If they lose to Dallas, some heads must roll. Either a trade or two happens next week, or Zake is history. KFL.

D L T Knicks
I can’t take it anymore.

Someone has to go.

I watched the Knicks get BEAT DOWN 2 nights in a row.

And the sad thing is…………….no one on the Knicks seems to be upset.

Maybe Lee.

Zeke after the game “we need to get better”………duh.

“we need to feel good about ourselves”…..uh YEA!

Those who read my post in the past know that I wanted Zeke to get this done to shut everyone up.

Jokes on me, everyone seems to be right,I’m the one who is wrong…….WE STINK!!…BIG TIME!!

No fire in Curry’s eyes, doesn’t seem to mind losing.

I understand Steph being down,but not the whole team.

Those 3 hours on the court are suppose to help you forget everything else.

What excuse does Curry,Q,Balk and Zach have for playing this bad.

I want to sue the Knicks for making me pay for the NBA package from Directv….I want a refund.

We need something to happen….Now for the first time,I say start with Zeke.

ALL the players should be upset knowing Zeke personally reached out to get them here.

No passion for the game. no screeming,no bench support,no high fives.

Just let Philly(who also stinks) dunk,after dunk,after dunk,after dunk,after dunk,after dunk,after dunk,after dunk,after dunk.

This is my ALL-TIME LOW as a Knicks Fan……..but,I’m not going no where.

Someone has to go to wake this team up!!!!

Kevin Harewood
Time to make that change. This is not turning around. Something is missing even from last year

General

No head on the floor. A group of complimentary pieces. Dickless, ‘cept for Nate.

Minnesota Knicks Fan
Being realistic, Dolan isn’t going to do anything within a week of the star player’s father dying. That bought Isiah some time.

Just think how bad Dolan would look now if he pulled the trigger.

The New York Knicks (2-7) should be well rested and ready to go when they taken on top-flight point guard Baron Davis and the Golden State Warriors (2-6) tonight at 7:30pm. The Knicks look to stop their current losing streak which is now at six games, but the Warriors won’t go without putting up a fight, having just defeated the Raptors in Toronto. Don’t let the Warriors’ record fool you into thinking this will be an easy win, they’re a western conference playoff team who just got Stephen Jackson back and have now won two in a row after starting the season 0-6. Ellis isn’t shooting as well thus far this season. The knicks need to make sure to box out Andris Biedrins who is a walking double-double not unlike D Lee, only taller.

The keys to victory for the Knicks will be the same throughout the season: good ball rotation (don’t over-dribble, don’t over-rely on freelance scoring) get the ball inside, reduce turnovers, make free-throws (assuming you’re getting to the line), guard the perimeter scorers. The knicks simply must do all of these things if they’re going to turn it around this season. Sink or swim.

NBA.com has an interesting preview article here.

I’ll be unable to watch this one as I will be away from the TV. Hold the fort down as always.

Hey, a win is a win, right? It wasn’t pretty at times, I admit. It didn’t continuously thrill like that Cavs game the other night, but we learned a little bit about this Knicks team, seeing them play together, what they need to work on, ect.

The guards had a great night statistically. Stephon had just one turnover to go with his 7 assists and 17 points. Crawford was doing his thing with those isolation plays, he finished with the game high 24.

I included this stats sheet for several reasons. We note that the back court did well tonight, yet even when our front court isn’t playing up to their potential, they’re still getting us 29 points and 17 rebounds. That’s on an off night. Q is looking like first-year-in-NY Q, and that’s not a good sign. Still, the combination of Curry and Randolph assures that somebody is going to show up on any given night. Imagine if everybody in the starting five showed up. That has yet to happen, but it could.

Now look at the bench. Three key guys, Nate, Lee and Balkman bring in the energy and basically carry us close to victory every night. Once Jeffries is back, Isiah will have his nine-man rotation that should match up with most of the teams in the eastern conference. David Lee needs more than 27 minutes on the floor, he’s just too good for this team to be held back like that.

The defense still isn’t what it ought to be, but I assume the Knicks will continue to work at it. It isn’t just one guy doing wrong out there, team defense has to improve through communication and going over the pick rather than under it. Isiah goes zone at times and I’m not convinced how effective that is thus far. I do think that we’ve been getting some nice fast-break opportunities and that is a good sign for the transition. Crawford wouldn’t be throwing lobs to Curry on the break if there wasn’t some kind of defensive play at the other end.

Finally, I want to point out two new statistical categories in this box score. I’ve been looking at box scores since the late 80′s, this is the first time I’ve seen two stats on there. Look at the column towards the right, next to blocks–what the heck is a “BA”? I’ve never heard of that. Also the “+/-” is new. I’m assuming these are fantasy stats because I’m not into that stuff. There must be money in those fantasy leagues for the NBA to change the format of their box scores. Maybe one of you guys could explain it to me. For all I know, it is some kind of John Hollinger invention that will make Nike more money through LeBron’s statistics.

I’m not going to the game, any of you guys going?

I’ve been taking care of business away from the knicks defense, guys please help give our esteemed scholar MODI any info he requests for the piece he’s working on, I appreciate it!

Also, for those without MSG network, the radio of tonight’s game will be streamable through the sixers website.

Here are the preseason stats for tonight’s opponents.

It is important that the Knicks stay motivated and continue with the same intensity and urgency they brought to the table last time with the Celtics.

I have a new poll that I’m going to post in the next few days, but I think most of us are still on cloud nine from the win over the Celtics the other night, so I’ll wait a few.

The recent discussions about Nate are very interesting. Are great point guards born or made? Clearly Stephon has been altering his game over the past two years to benefit of the team. Nate will continue to shed light on his answer as the preseason concludes for the Knicks this week.

And another thing, is defense a skill to be taught, or is it mostly desire from within? Have there been many NBA players that have gone from no D to great D? Eddy Curry hopes to be one of them this season.

Anyone heard anything on Balk’s MRI results from yesterday?

If I were to guess at an 8 man rotation right now, I’d say Steph, Jamal, Q, Zbo, and Curry with three guys coming off the bench: Nate, D Lee and Renaldo.

Fred Jones, Mardy Collins, Wilson Chandler, Jared Jeffries and Malik are also reserves that will be used in certain situations, but I think there are 8 are the guys that Isiah is looking at getting regular minutes as of right now. That’s the best way to do it, 8-9 player rotation. We won the most games last season when everybody was out, because people got used to playing with each other on the floor. If you have to keep shuffling the deck to stroke each player’s ego, the turnovers are probably going to stay as high as they were last season.

Just bloggin’ homies.

Preseason game two has come and gone, and the Knicks are now 2-0. It was admittedly a tough game to watch, but I’m encouraged by some of what I saw and look forward to seeing this Knicks team again as they continue to learn how to play together.

Early on the Knicks looked nervous, Stephon and Quentin missed some easy buckets I’d like to think they’d make once they get into regular season rhythem.

Mardy’s got no hops yet coming off surgery, yet he did some great stuff including a spin move in the paint that dazzled. He had a few looks at the basket where it seemed he had no lift. I know from the Wheelchair Charity game last year that Mardy can throw it down, so I hope with more time he can redevelop his leaping ability. His defense was still very good, and he picked somebody’s pocket out there and pushed the ball on the break. That’s what I like to see from Mardy Collins.

Fred Jones played solid defense and challenged/altered some shots in the paint. I’d hate to think of what would happen if it were against a more athletic NBA player, Fred might get dunked on some times, but nobody said good defensive players don’t ever get dunked on–ask Mutumbo about that.

Nate looked like a real distributor out there. I’m liking what I’m seeing this year. His jumper looked good too–lookout AH7.

We’ve heard that Nate and Fred would be picking up their man at 3/4 court, yet I didn’t see much full court press tonight; I suppose we didn’t need it once New York took the lead.

Physically, Fizer looked like Boozer out there. He put on some weight while he’s been overseas.

I noticed they played Mardy at the Small Forward position some tonight, with Fred Jones and Nate Robinson in the back court. Very interesting lineup choice. There was some good chemistry between Nate and Fred, looks like that second unit is going to be a terror.

But what stood out most in my mind was Zach Randolph’s performance. He didn’t hit too many from the perimeter as he did in the first preseason game, but instead he showed great ability to score the ball with his lefty shot. Early on ZBO and Stephon played some promising two-man game, something to look forward to this season. All the rumors that ZBO doesn’t pass the ball once he gets it seem to be false, because I saw Zach passing to everybody out there, he just didn’t get any assists out of it.

Jared Jeffries had a nice dunk on the break, but he and Mardy still seem to be passing up open shots, I hope they develop the confidence and skill to take–and make–that shot this season.

The rookies: Chandler is very athletic, he has a shot too. Too bad Jared Jordan, Demetris Nichols and Randolph Morris played limited minutes, I’d like to see more from them in the next game.

Overall they looked rusty, but I like the team passing and I’m more than impressed that New York only had 11 turnovers for the game.

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I’m a lefty myself so it is nice to see such great lefties on this team like ZBO and DLee.

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I tried to get tickets to this game, the cheapest they had today at the Garden Box Office was $250. I couldn’t bring myself to pay that much for a game that doesn’t matter, even if it is for chairty. Outside MSG they were selling Maccabi jerseys and everything was very pro Maccabi Elite, I did not see much Knicks stuff at the merchandise tables. Suffice to say the crowd wasn’t a knicks crowd, they were still cheering for Israel despite being down by 20 in the fourth quarter.