1/16 Orlando Postgame thread

[CoolKids]

OK.. I never blame the coach.. but today that changes..

First , we play a good defensive game.. not sure how the heck we let the bozo trio of anderson, stankylu and reddick, look like the celtics big 3, but just inexecusable..


the offense is still all melo, bail us out iso's, but at times we did have some good ball movement...


My big beef is with 6 minutes left, the magic go to a zone, and what does dantoni do? he goes with douglas? really, why not bring in harrelson along with novak.. why did we get him dantoni??? why!!!!!!!!!!! sit chandler, dwight was doing nothing, plus he can't hit FT's.. let amare guard dwight and let melo create and hit novak and jorts for shots.. shoot them out of the zone..

Honestly, if dantoni is going to mail it in.. just quit dude, QUIT!!! I watched vangundy go from Q richardson to earl clark trying to find matchups that work.. what do we do? we bench the best shooters while being stifled by zone...

yea, the players share some of the blame, amare still doesn't look comfortable, we missed open shots, but honestly, the coach didn't give us a chance to win....

To me, just trash the season if dantoni is going to mail it in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this

[nyknicks09]

NEW COACH! NEW ATTITUDE!

NOW!

I seriously can't take it anymore. This ball club needs a new direction. I'm not saying I blame everything on the coach, but honestly..he's just not good. Maybe a new voice would help this team out. It can't hurt at this point. How many times have we had role players just destroy us from the 3 point line? There's something wrong here. It's not just a lack of player talent either. I guarantee Stan Van Gundy would have us playing better with this roster.

I don't care if Mike is fired, but I am interested in what people think the new coach will be able to accomplish with such a flawed and shallow roster.

A good head coach knows how to adjust to the roster he has at hand. That's why teams have practices so they can figure who plays under certain circumstances.

This clueless of a coach needs to go.

[NBA Fan 1234]

he didn't play 8 minutes in the first before he picked up his 2nd foul....that was 8 whole minutes and he didn't take one shot in the paint...

Yes he did. He got blocked by Hedo one time and took a horrible fade away jumper like 8 feet away from the basket after double clutching...

[GONYK]

Right...Thibs would be better for defense, but he wouldn't help at all on the offensive end (which is what you were alluding to in your previous post, if I understood it correctly).

Amar'e has used his hook shot once all season...and that was against the 6ers. If he has one, he sure as hell isn't showing it/using it.

but would tibs allow his PF to spend the offseason working on his 3 pt shooting???

i think he would tell him to work on his back to the basket game and study defense defense defense...not shoot 3's!!!!!!!!!!

Best time to work on D is a training camp and it was a short camp, unfortunately.

How does one work on D by himself?

[KnicksScholar24]

The loss isn't even on Amar'e. He picked up a lot of stupid needless fouls, but when he was in he played well.

The problem was yet again Fields and Douglas, and Shumpert to a point. None of the Knicks' guards can shoot consistently so the Magic were easily able to go into a zone. There was one play with Melo at the top of the 3-point line and to his right, behind the 3-point line, was Toney Douglas and to his left, behind the 3-point line, was Iman Shumpert. I'm not passing to either of those players if I'm Carmelo Anthony. The GM and coach have to putter better options one the court. Fields and Douglas from last year would have been fine, but this year Novak needs to play more. The Knicks will have the same problem when Davis returns. The offensive will be better, but he's not going to save the Knicks. The only thing that can do that is to bench Fields and Douglas. Maybe JR Smith would make more sense than Keynon Martin.

Anthony got cold from behind the arc at the worst possible time in the second half. Melo got doubled all of the game, because the opposing team just left Douglas, Fields, and Shumpert WIDE OPEN and they made them pay by missing those shots. Shumpert made a couple open 3s, but then airballed the next 3-point attempt. Douglas only made baskets when he got in the lane, so basically most of his points were from layu-ps or floaters. Fields is just useless at every aspect of basketball.

A winnable game, but the spot up perimeter players from NY can't shoot, Melo went cold in the second half, Amar'e was on the bench most of the game, Tyson played a good game but didn't make much of an impact in the grand scheme of things, and all the Magic shooters (Anderson, Reddick, Turkoglu) KILLED the Knicks from 3-point range, especially Anderson.

_'Antoni was probably too busy drooling over Anderson's 3-point chucking, to realize the whenever Douglas or Fields are put into the game the Knicks give up their lead and go down to the opposing team.

Josh Harrellson played well. Jeffries was sometimes good, sometimes bad. Shumpert was good defensively (as well as Chandler). Melo was good offensively. Amar'e was okay. Everybody else was terrible.

Worst players of the game for NYK: Landry Fields and Toney Douglas.

What an unexpected surprise.

[mpharris36]

he didn't play 8 minutes in the first before he picked up his 2nd foul....that was 8 whole minutes and he didn't take one shot in the paint...

True, but to his credit, he was moving the ball better, which arguably works out better for the team as a whole.

correct but my strategy would have been take it right at Anderson who is having a career year and make him play defense and pick up fouls...if he is in foul trouble he doesn't get into that rythm and doesn't have the game he has today. We had the clear advantage of athleticism at PF and SF yet we didn't take it to the rim at all.

except for melo which was really successful

[br7knicks]

you're probably right about JJord with Jorts, but Jorts can hit the 3. i think the coach likes those players.

but balkman could've taken any of walker's minutes

Walker should never see the floor

i sure as hell will agree with you here GONYK

[MaseInYourFace]

^ Yeah that's what I am saying. You work on it at training camp with rest of team. By yourself can't really do much except maybe some drills to work on your reflexes, lat movement, etc...

[NBA Fan 1234]

Right...Thibs would be better for defense, but he wouldn't help at all on the offensive end (which is what you were alluding to in your previous post, if I understood it correctly).

Amar'e has used his hook shot once all season...and that was against the 6ers. If he has one, he sure as hell isn't showing it/using it.

but would tibs allow his PF to spend the offseason working on his 3 pt shooting???

i think he would tell him to work on his back to the basket game and study defense defense defense...not shoot 3's!!!!!!!!!!

You can study defense all you want, but until you actually practice/use it in games, you will not see much improvement. He should have worked on his post game...dude, I'm not denying that...but to say that Thibs would improve this offense (which I think you were alluding to before) is blasphemous.

[dk7th]

you find the best combination of players regardless of talent and athleticism because fitting together yields the best results.

bibby
shumpert
melo
harrolson
chandler

Amare not starting = Unicorn lineup

we lack depth and chemistry.

moving stat to the bench creates depth and he will fare better against bench players.

let him work pick and roll with lin, have floor spacing with walker, throw jordan, balkman, and douglas out there with stat.

[GONYK]

you find the best combination of players regardless of talent and athleticism because fitting together yields the best results.

bibby
shumpert
melo
harrolson
chandler

Amare not starting = Unicorn lineup

we lack depth and chemistry.

moving stat to the bench creates depth and he will fare better against bench players.

let him work pick and roll with lin, have floor spacing with walker, throw jordan, balkman, and douglas out there with stat.

You can give me all the reasons you want. Some of them might even make sense, but we both know that will never ever happen. No matter who the coach is.

[MaseInYourFace]

I know it's sorta a side issue but I hate how the refs officiate Howard. It's just like how it was with Shaq. How are you supposed to guard dude if you get called for a foul for breathing on him? That being said Chandler did about as good a job as possible. Kudos to him.

[CoolKids]

you find the best combination of players regardless of talent and athleticism because fitting together yields the best results.

bibby
shumpert
melo
harrolson
chandler

Amare not starting = Unicorn lineup

we lack depth and chemistry.

moving stat to the bench creates depth and he will fare better against bench players.

let him work pick and roll with lin, have floor spacing with walker, throw jordan, balkman, and douglas out there with stat.

you dont actually think that would ever happen though do you

[K_ick_God]

OK.. I never blame the coach.. but today that changes..

First , we play a good defensive game.. not sure how the heck we let the bozo trio of anderson, stankylu and reddick, look like the celtics big 3, but just inexecusable..


the offense is still all melo, bail us out iso's, but at times we did have some good ball movement...


My big beef is with 6 minutes left, the magic go to a zone, and what does dantoni do? he goes with douglas? really, why not bring in harrelson along with novak.. why did we get him dantoni??? why!!!!!!!!!!! sit chandler, dwight was doing nothing, plus he can't hit FT's.. let amare guard dwight and let melo create and hit novak and jorts for shots.. shoot them out of the zone..

Honestly, if dantoni is going to mail it in.. just quit dude, QUIT!!! I watched vangundy go from Q richardson to earl clark trying to find matchups that work.. what do we do? we bench the best shooters while being stifled by zone...

yea, the players share some of the blame, amare still doesn't look comfortable, we missed open shots, but honestly, the coach didn't give us a chance to win....

To me, just trash the season if dantoni is going to mail it in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this

It is really disturbing that MD is quitting and depressed. For $4 MIL, we get sulking and an absentee coach. At least fight you weakling!

This guy is a big fat zero. Even more so than I realized.

[ctorres]

you're probably right about JJord with Jorts, but Jorts can hit the 3. i think the coach likes those players.

but balkman could've taken any of walker's minutes

In the way our rotation is currently constructed, Walker and Balkman are two completely different players.

As much of a liability as Walker might be, he is almost exclusively our back-up shooting guard to Fields. Walkers gets very few minutes at small forward. Balkman cannot playing shooting guard in anyway and that is why he doesn't get a lot of minutes, especially now with Jeffries back.

[GONYK]

OK.. I never blame the coach.. but today that changes..

First , we play a good defensive game.. not sure how the heck we let the bozo trio of anderson, stankylu and reddick, look like the celtics big 3, but just inexecusable..


the offense is still all melo, bail us out iso's, but at times we did have some good ball movement...


My big beef is with 6 minutes left, the magic go to a zone, and what does dantoni do? he goes with douglas? really, why not bring in harrelson along with novak.. why did we get him dantoni??? why!!!!!!!!!!! sit chandler, dwight was doing nothing, plus he can't hit FT's.. let amare guard dwight and let melo create and hit novak and jorts for shots.. shoot them out of the zone..

Honestly, if dantoni is going to mail it in.. just quit dude, QUIT!!! I watched vangundy go from Q richardson to earl clark trying to find matchups that work.. what do we do? we bench the best shooters while being stifled by zone...

yea, the players share some of the blame, amare still doesn't look comfortable, we missed open shots, but honestly, the coach didn't give us a chance to win....

To me, just trash the season if dantoni is going to mail it in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this

It is really disturbing that MD is quitting and depressed. For $4 MIL, we get sulking and an absentee coach. At least fight you weakling!

This guy is a big fat zero. Even more so than I realized.

For $100M we get a PF who doesn't pay attention on defense.

Mike is a bargain

[br7knicks]

We lost this game because we were outcoached. Stan Van Gundy went to the zone defense and Mike D'Antoni (the offensive guru) had no offensive adjustment to offset SVG's defensive strategy. SVG showed great in-game adjustment skills to protect his star, Dwight Howard who had just picked up his 5th foul. We had no answers from there. Good coaching is often the deciding factor in close games between wins and losses.

IMAN SHUMPERT
Played good defense and has very quick, active hands. Needs to do a better job of fighting over NBA screens though, as he's constantly going under and forcing our big to switch, which creates mismatches. We got burned for 3pt shots because of this. Offensively he needs to drive to the rim and attack, attack, attack. He's an excellent FT shooter and a guy with his size, quickness and body should be making a living at the charity stripe. He's settling for too many jumpers. This game he was 2-4 from 3PT but he was again an inefficient 3-9FG overall. He'll be a much more efficient player offensively if he draws fouls. I am still high on him, he just needs better coaching.

LANDRY FIELDS
I'm pretty down on this guy. Don't really see any light at the end of the tunnel for him. I think he's a bad fit for this team and especially in our starting lineup miscast as a SG when he's really a SF. Really got burned by Redick a few times, leaving him open in the corner because he doesn't have the foot speed to defend 2's who run off screens. Offensively he is vaginesque and a liability out there. He hurts us on both ends so he's undeserving of playing anywhere near 30mpg. When Davis returns I'd hope it renders him as the 9th man, slotted behind Douglas, Harrelson and Jeffries off the bench.

CARMELO ANTHONY
I'll cut him some slack as he's playing hurt and gutting it out for the team in an effort to keep us afloat. He got to the FT line a ton today and had some pretty assists. But he forces things in his "get mine" moments and really disrupts the offensive flow with some bad shot attempts. He needs to just play team ball the way he has done in spurts, but do that 90% of the time. The other 10% should come when it's the 4th and we need "go-to-guy" buckets (or at the end of quarters).

AMAR'E STOUDEMIRE
He's been killing us. When he was in foul trouble in quarters 1-3 we played excellent defense with Jeffries and Harrellson manning the PF position next to Chandler at C. That Jeffries/Chandler combo really did a number on Howard. Stoudemire came back in for the 4th and although he scored early on, he really hurt us defensively and that's when the Magic got hot from 3pt land. How long until he starts hearing boos at the Garden?

TYSON CHANDLER
Excellent defensive game! This guy really exposed Dwight Howard for the fraudulent manufactured NBA superstar that he is. He is fully capable of defending Howard one-on-one and shut him down basically whenever they went head-to-head and were actually allowed to play. Then VIOLET PALMER decided she had to give Howard some help and he still couldn't do anything with Chandler despite her best efforts. So when she attempted to circumvent Chandler's defensive intensity we were forced to start doubling with Jeffries. The immediate effects were golden as Howard was relegated useless again. But it turned out to be fool's gold as it lulled us into a state of false security with constant the double-teaming when we really didn't need to, if it weren't for the influence of the refs attempting to put their fingerprints on the game. Then the Magic got hot and the rest is in the books as history. If Palmer doesn't enter the arena today, we likely walk out a winner with our heads held high. The NBA should be ashamed of itself.

TONEY DOUGLAS
Was having a nice bounce-back game for himself on both ends as he was taking it to the hole, hitting his mid-range shot and defending. Also didn't get hammered too hard on any blindside picks. But he negated all of that by going into full-on chuck mode late in the 4th when we went down by 5pts. Started taking unnecessary 3's when we had plenty of time to come back and played right into SVG's gameplan. Just not an intelligent player. Really don't want him or Fields on this team long-term.

BILL WALKER
This guy is useless. I keep saying he's not an NBA rotational player. That play where he barreled into Glen Davis, where the Magic also got the 3pt shot and the foul was a killer. 4pt swing in a crucial moment. I'm tired of his boneheaded play.

JARED JEFFRIES
Excellent game defensively and even hit a couple layups. Is a nice piece off the bench when playing in a lineup with guys like Chandler and Shumpert who have defensive BBIQ and know how to rotate and play team defense. He has a role here, especially with clear offensive options on the team like Melo and Stat which keep him from trying to do more than he's capable of. Loved the way he stood up for his teammate, Jorts when Howard tried to throw a cheapshot elbow. He definitely has a place on this team. Good glue guy.

JOSH HARRELLSON
Another solid game from the rookie bigman. He always makes me feel safe and secure when he's out there on the court. Hit a couple 3's, defended very well, and even showed some mental toughness when he got tangled up with Howard, who objected to a good foul and resorted to throwing a cheapshot elbow. Rook definitely didn't look scared or ready to back down. He commited a good foul and was simply tryna hold Howard up so he wouldn't get hurt. I'd like to see him get more minutes somehow.

MIKE BIBBY
Pretty useless when he's not hot from 3PT.

SOTN: tie between Ryan Anderson and Dwight Howard

i agree with this breakdown just about all the way. SOTN should be between anderson and Redick though lol.

other than that. i like all of your breakdown. until TKF comes back, you can take the reigns if they continue to be like this

[mpharris36]

Best time to work on D is a training camp and it was a short camp, unfortunately.

How does one work on D by himself?[/quote]

watch film. tell him to look at how KG plays...give him film of the best rebounders to show how to block out...all im saying is Mike D has been amare coach pretty much since coming out of High School....it has all he has known. There is a reason Amare hasn't learned a post up game, learned to box out, or learned to play on ball defense...he is a good athlete where these things should not be a problem...when do u look at the coach?

[Knicked_Up]

I am at the point where I am starting to wonder why the hell I even waste my time with this team. They show no consistency, the coach is a effing moron, Amare is lost in space and our guard play is beyond atrocious. I don't see any of this changing soon. These guys sucks.

[GONYK]

you're probably right about JJord with Jorts, but Jorts can hit the 3. i think the coach likes those players.

but balkman could've taken any of walker's minutes

In the way our rotation is currently constructed, Walker and Balkman are two completely different players.

As much of a liability as Walker might be, he is almost exclusively our back-up shooting guard to Fields. Walkers gets very few minutes at small forward. Balkman cannot playing shooting guard in anyway and that is why he doesn't get a lot of minutes, especially now with Jeffries back.

I completely understand why Walker plays. You're right.

I just don't think he he should, on account of him being terrible.

I hope when Baron comes back, Walker never plays again.