500 @ Mecca Post Game Thread

[j4remi]

Look, I don't care what side of the TKF debate people are on any more, next person that brings him up instead of talking about the game is getting a suspension. There's no reason for his name to be brought in these threads unless people are mentioning the Keys To The Game that everyone misses.

[mpharris36]

At the same time, lets not act like he didn't "I TOLD YOU SO" in the past.

i agree he is the biggest fan of his opinion and actually didn't want to see the team succeed more than anyone but two wrongs don't make a right just forget about him and just be happy that we are a great team.

we won we are 7-1 lets talk about that

[god shammgod]

it is time to move on. he aint here so this wouldn't happen. bringing him up makes it happen. it's over. just let it go.

[boomann21]

I miss the keys by TKF

[NYKat]

y'know, post game analysis is kind of boring when everyone was good,

it's just like- "we were good, as ususal, next--"

[KnicksChamps]

Player notes:

Ronnie Brewer - My personal MVP of the game. The guys played his typical rabid D which include sometimes switching with Melo off screens and covering West early on. He also hit a mid range jumper, cut to the basket consistently and finished whenever he got the ball in a position to do so. The reason I put his performance over the big guns though is that he fought on the boards to the tune of 3 offensive grabs and shot efficiently. The third quarter run that basically iced the game was sparked by Brewer and Sheed more than any of the starters.

Melo - Poor FG percentage doesn't quite tell the whole story. Melo started the game hitting jumpers with ease but was absolutely dedicated to attacking the basket. He drove hard into Hibbert and West consistently and couldn't get the foul calls (partially because the refs don't give him those but I give Hibbert a ton of credit as a shot blocker/changer as well here). The zero in his assists column comes in light of him kicking the ball out to spark swing passes along the perimeter...he did pass. The zero in the TO columns speaks to him playing a VERY smart game. His rebounds on the defensive end were good and he had some nice grabs on the offensive side although tbh, a couple of those came as a result of following his own shot. I think one thing I'm starting to note about the Melo drives is he doesn't use a hop step too often. He's much more liable to have a one-two step gather which gives him momentum going forward instead of a hop into a two feet planted gather which would allow him to explode UP. Can't complain when the guy is getting to the rim but he'll lose efficiency points if he continues to fail on his first attempt.

Ray Felton - If his tear drop was falling, he would have busted this game open before half time. He was able to get into the lane but the Pacers have very good interior shot blocking and they challenged him every time. He also couldn't get his shot to fall. In the third quarter he was already sitting on 15 attempts and I was a little perturbed by it since he wasn't shooting efficiently...but he changed gears and just passed and did it well from then out. He had a legit 8 assists and played some intense D on his way to a solid performance even while his scoring numbers came back to earth.

Sheed - What a great performance in short minutes. He played 15 minutes but grabbed 7 boards and scored 9 points. He rolled three separate ways off picks (to the elbow once, the the three point line twice and to the hoop the rest of the way) which was great for throwing off his defender. He had an excellent block on a play where it looked like he got beat and he played great defense overall. Sheed has been a HUGE surprise to me, I was hoping for 10 minutes of not hurting us on D ball...instead he's been our second best guy off the bench.

JR - It's easy to look at a few of his weaker positions and assume he had an out of control game. There was one play in particular where he dribbled for TWENTY SECONDS and couldn't get anywhere. A couple of other times he slashed, got stopped and did that tough turn around fading jumper for bricks. That's a bit unfair though. He was 5 for 10 because he took plenty of smart shots as well. He had a steal and block but also got his hands on the ball multiple times defensively where it wound up out of bounds or being kicked back out. He had 7 boards and 2 assists to boot. He played hard, not always smart but not bad at all. He had a pretty good game.

Tyson - Rotated a LOT better in this one than he has in the past couple of games. Defensively he was everywhere, though he did have a couple of lapses on rebound positioning. He couldn't get much going on the pick and roll but like I keep saying, the Pacers have good interior defenders. This was his best game since the Mavs game for sure imo. 9 rebounds would have been more if not for some tough foul calls cutting his minutes in the first half. 2 steals and a block are results of him getting after it on D...good game.

Prigs - He seemed extremely hesitant to shoot and couldn't get anything to fall. That said, he picked up four assists because he made smart plays with the ball whenever the defense did commit to him. The obvious highlight for him is that pick and roll underhand bounce pass to Sheed that you might have missed if you weren't expecting a pass. Sheed finished on a one handed dunk in case you did miss it. When he gets comfortable with taking jumpers, he'll become a force off the bench. Not a great game but not bad either imo. I could see arguments going both ways.

Novak - I keep remarking that he sped up his release this season but the quicker release might also be a result of rushing some J's. The defensive gameplan against him has been to kill his space and as a result he's getting less opportunities which leads to less rhythm and a need to make rapid decisions. I think that's hurting his shooting even when he does get space...He's just not comfortable with the new attention from defenders yet. I think it will come around. Here's something that I like about his play this season though, he has improved his defensive rotations exponentially since the preseason. He's actually got pretty good hands with his on ball D and he's no longer a complete liability. He also threw an entry pass to Melo in the post (someone in a previous game thread mentioned that I should look for this aspect of his game) and that's no minor feat for a Forward. If Novak can get Melo the ball in the post once in a while, it takes a bit of the load off Felton and Kidd which is always nice. Overall, not his best game...Shot poorly and forced some...but he wasn't as bad as some people might make it out to be.

Kidd - Wasn't himself after getting hit in the head. He didn't handle the ball often and even had a poor decision on a pass that ended up a TO. Defensively he was all there though, without having any qualms I will say that J Kidd is the most important cog to making the small ball line-up work. How so? He is the designated double teamer on post ups and he does it really well. He manages to get to the double team effectively and release fast enough to recover either to his man or to his rotation target. It's beyond impressive. None of his numbers will leap out at you, but he played well and was key in keeping David West from running amok on Melo.

Camby - How refreshing to have him come in there and go to work. He got after the boards, challenged shots (including a big time block) and DOVE ON THE FLOOR FOR THE BALL! He doesn't at all look like a guy who isn't ready. He should continue to get at least 10-15 mpg from here on out despite pedestrian numbers that hide his impact on the floor.

Moment of the game - Melo checking Hibbert after a post whistle bump. Just showed the Knicks new identity which is so much tougher than we've seen in a decade that it's GREAT.

Scrub of the Game - Obviously Hibbert...He forced up a ton of garbage and for a change in the Knicks luck...the ball didn't go in more often than not. He probably should have been in foul trouble with the amount of shots he challenged in the hole and his battles on the boards. His TO's were a beautiful thing for us though, killing any rhythm his boys could possibly get into when you combine them with his awkward, forced post ups.

Game notes:

Seemingly for the first time today, we saw Melo at the 3 for a while. This came first with a Tyson Chandler and Sheed front court...then with a Sheed and Camby front court. It didn't last all that long but I was watching the size and length on the court during those stints and it was REALLY IMPRESSIVE. With JR Smith as a pretty big SG and average sized PG's...the team was just big and intimidating. I want to see this over powering line-up more often. Sheed was able to post up, Camby was able to fight for boards and the G's had pick and roll options everywhere. It was refreshing. Melo also had the opportunity to post up guys his own size and it allowed him to get inside the painted area effectively. I'm not saying to go away from a starting unit that worked for us all season, but I think Woody would do well to keep defenses honest. West started the game shoving Melo on the very first time down court (no call) and posting Melo consistently. When we go big, the PF's can't target him like that.

This was the first truly poor shooting game...as in, the team didn't play show lapses in mind set or execution but the looks they usually make weren't falling. It didn't matter though...because this defense absolutely OWNED the game. The Pacers weren't just missing looks like we were, they had no rhythm because we were all over them with pressure. They had to shoot late in the clock consistently and they could attack the basket with any consistency because the rotations were just BEAUTIFUL. This was an absolutely brilliant defensive effort to add to the set of defensive gems we started off the season with. It becomes a statement game to anyone who pinned their continual Knick negativity to "what will happen when the three's don't fall?" The Knicks shot 36% from the Field and 28% from three...it was ugly. They still absolutely controlled the game. Here's how, they took 19 more FGA's than their opponents thanks in large part to 9 steals and 19 forced TO's. They still had 19 assists on their 33 makes which tells you it wasn't a question of execution or team play...it was just an off shooting night and that wasn't even close to enough to stop this team.

GREAT GAME!

Great insight. Much appreciated. Everything you detailed was basically spot on. Against a team that doesn't run the fast break, we should definitely utilize the Tyson/Sheed or Camby combo more often.

[MSGLegendNY]

y'know, post game analysis is kind of boring when everyone was good,

it's just like- "we were good, as ususal, next--"

Yeah, we actually just man-handled a team we were supposed to to beat without any threat of losing. I can get used to this though.

[Rasho Brezec]

Tyson/Sheed with Melo at the 3 works because Sheed has no problems camping at the 3pt line. Amare can't do that and his defense is still worse than a 38-year old out of shape Sheed. Just saying ...

[Knicker23]

People know how the post game thread goes, having one persons keys after every game isn't really imperative. Prob easier that the same mod makes each one, but doesn't really matter.. So long as we don't have to deal with the unchanging same old same old of the said thread maker after each game. Post game thread makes it self.


As for the game, nice to see that a low scoring, sloppy game is actually in the Knicks favor... Because they can turn it on, and crack down on D.. And are bound to hit shots... Where as the Pacers hit a few, but never were able to.

One of Melo's best games imo. Mixed it up on the offensive end; getting to the rim and perimeter shots.

Felton was good as usual. That's all that was really needed.

[god shammgod]

Tyson/Sheed with Melo at the 3 works because Sheed has no problems camping at the 3pt line. Amare can't do that and his defense is still worse than a 38-year old out of shape Sheed. Just saying ...

what can't sheed do. he's a real post player. hes a good passer. he's a threat to hit the 3. good in the pick and roll. good defender. it's easy to incorporate him.

[markdeez33]

I got 3 hours of sleep last night, went to bed at 8AM, literally. Woke up at 11:45AM and watched the game. We destroyed them!!! Great win!!! 7-1. Prosperous.

[Rasho Brezec]

Tyson/Sheed with Melo at the 3 works because Sheed has no problems camping at the 3pt line. Amare can't do that and his defense is still worse than a 38-year old out of shape Sheed. Just saying ...

what can't sheed do. he's a real post player. hes a good passer. he's a threat to hit the 3. good in the pick and roll. good defender. it's easy to incorporate him.

I'm just trying to point out that we don't need Amare. Really, what added value does he bring to this team? Scoring? We're 7-1.

[Thugger HBC]

Do it Remi......

That was excellent.

Sent from my Asus TR700T-B1-GR using Xparent Sky Blue Tapatalk 2

[NYKat]

Tyson/Sheed with Melo at the 3 works because Sheed has no problems camping at the 3pt line. Amare can't do that and his defense is still worse than a 38-year old out of shape Sheed. Just saying ...

what can't sheed do. he's a real post player. hes a good passer. he's a threat to hit the 3. good in the pick and roll. good defender. it's easy to incorporate him.

I'm just trying to point out that we don't need Amare. Really, what added value does he bring to this team? Scoring? We're 7-1.

I think with his size and athleticism we beat Memphis.

Although, I think we beat memphis if camby gets 15-20 minutes also...

[Striders]

Nice game. Very encouraging to know that we can still win "ugly" games when the pace is sleep worthy, and nobody can buy a shot.

Sucks that Melo doesn't get any calls around the rim though. Like...we seriously don't get any respect from these refs...even on our home floor.

[god shammgod]

Tyson/Sheed with Melo at the 3 works because Sheed has no problems camping at the 3pt line. Amare can't do that and his defense is still worse than a 38-year old out of shape Sheed. Just saying ...

what can't sheed do. he's a real post player. hes a good passer. he's a threat to hit the 3. good in the pick and roll. good defender. it's easy to incorporate him.

I'm just trying to point out that we don't need Amare. Really, what added value does he bring to this team? Scoring? We're 7-1.

yeah man i know. you may have mentioned this before once or twice.

i was agreeing with you that it works better with sheed because of how versatile he is. still, they're gonna have to figure something out because you know he aint going nowhere. i guess we'll find out. probably melo will get pushed out to the perimeter when they play together.

[j4remi]

Tyson/Sheed with Melo at the 3 works because Sheed has no problems camping at the 3pt line. Amare can't do that and his defense is still worse than a 38-year old out of shape Sheed. Just saying ...

what can't sheed do. he's a real post player. hes a good passer. he's a threat to hit the 3. good in the pick and roll. good defender. it's easy to incorporate him.

I'm just trying to point out that we don't need Amare. Really, what added value does he bring to this team? Scoring? We're 7-1.

Amare is a bigger pick and roll threat at the very least. Plus with Amare, Sheed and Camby all available to add with Chandler you can go with overwhelming size all game long.

[mpharris36]

I'm just trying to point out that we don't need Amare. Really, what added value does he bring to this team? Scoring? We're 7-1.

the only thing amare brings (if healthy and explosive) is his ability to finish around the rim. I think he and prigs will work great in the second unit. Prigs really doesn't play with a P&R big that is an established finisher around the rim.

Also we seem a bit out of sync and reliant on Felton and JR jumpers if Melo gets into foul trouble. If Melo gets in foul trouble we still would have a go to guy with Amare.

I think Amare minutes should be limited 20-25 off the bench until he proves he can be reliable defensively.

[j4remi]

I'm just trying to point out that we don't need Amare. Really, what added value does he bring to this team? Scoring? We're 7-1.

the only thing amare brings (if healthy and explosive) is his ability to finish around the rim. I think he and prigs will work great in the second unit. Prigs really doesn't play with a P&R big that is an established finisher around the rim.

Also we seem a bit out of sync and reliant on Felton and JR jumpers if Melo gets into foul trouble. If Melo gets in foul trouble we still would have a go to guy with Amare.

I think Amare minutes should be limited 20-25 off the bench until he proves he can be reliable defensively.

Agreed completely...well said. I don't even think I have anything worth adding to this.

[Thugger HBC]

Guys....this is ridiculous.

Enjoy the win.

Y'all acting just like what you claim you don't like.

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