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.

Check out the preview article by knicks.com

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.

>>>

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

>>>

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.

Probably not the last one to come, either. There is a website called Bleacher Report where literally anyone can write a sports article and be published by them. It is actually a sweet deal for the owners of the site, grant these writers access to the site so they can get free content. They get the rights to the articles, make profit off the banners and even have final editing rights before publishing. Here is such an article, a preview article on the knicks by a guy named Harris Beringer. Already sounds like a fantasy league guy to me. Below is my response. Unfortunately, you have to register to post your reply, so this guy may never know just how off I find his article to be.

>>>

I have to admit, this is absolutely the worst preview article I’ve ever read in my life.

there is no attempt to be unbiased, you could have effectively made the same case by editing down your article to “the knicks suck,” –i would have respected you more for it.

You dismiss Zach Randolph’s contributions to the team because of David Lee’s stats and what Randolph Morris did in summer league against rookie competition? Zach Randoph has been putting up 20 and 10 against the best power forwards in the league (previously found in the western conference) for years and Randolph Morris hasn’t even played 21 minutes in a single game yet, discussion over. David Lee still can’t shoot, Zach Randolph has incredible range for a big man, not to mention an array of moves in the paint. yes, 6’9″, 255lbs IS a big man. Karl Malone was a big man, Carlos Boozer is a big man, Zach Randolph is a big man. when you dominate all other power forwards in the league, you have earned the title big man.

Stephon Marbury’s game has statistically declined, which probably would matter to a fantasy basketball fan with no true concept of the game, but matters very little when the team is shifting it’s offense from the perimeter to the paint. you could have easily compared his numbers last year to the older Chauncey Billups, but instead focused strictly on the negative.

your synopsis of Crawford: “dump the ball to curry,” easier said than done pal. you make it sound like you could go out there and do it yourself. when the entire league knows you are trying to get the ball to one guy on the post, and a certain player has a knack for doing just that, you shouldn’t so easily dismiss the chemistry they have.

On Q getting hurt this season: well, you may have a point there, but I’ve never heard of any writer saying, “well, he’ll probably get hurt and miss a lot of time,” something is wrong with the way you phrase that. people may think it, but it is usually less negatively said.

eddy curry: again, you focused on the negative. you didn’t mention that his offensive game on the low block was unstoppable, which is true. it is also true that he can’t play a lick of defense, but if you are going to talk about the coin, why not present both sides of the matter?

“Rookies Wilson Chandler and Demetris Nichols may be assigned to the NBDL.” Shows how little you know about the knicks. they never share their players with the D league. I’d bet the farm they never play D league for one minute as knicks property.

Mardy Collins never punched a player in his life, that was Carmelo Anthony. You have the facts mixed up. Is that all you know about Mardy Collins? He did average 14p 6r 6a 2st per game over the last month of the regular season, in case you didn’t know.