Thursday, March 14, 2013

The Bad, The Terrible, and The Horrendous

Pulling some positives from the Knicks’ 3/13 loss to the Nuggets.

While I sat at my kitchen table last night, slowly pulling out my hair to imitate the pain Tyson and Melo must have been feeling in their knee joints, I couldn’t help but ask myself if there was anything positive to take from this debacle of a performance against the fast-paced Nuggets squad. In short, not really much; however, if we dig deeper, the ultimate optimist can always find something good in the worst of situations.
"Man, you really think you're finding positive from last night??"

With that said, we must first acknowledge the horrific:

Tyson Chandler’s knee was contused after smashing into Corey Brewer’s own knee during an off-ball maneuver performed to place him in better offensive rebounding position. Please, please, PLEASE may this only be a bone bruise and not a more significant ligamentous injury. It seemed as if he was able to place weight on it, but not produce locomotion with said weight, so hopefully the Knicks’ fear of MRI/x-ray machines is warranted and Tyson can play going forward.


Melo's like, "You serious Tyson. Gotta out do this 'contusion' you claim to have."

Carmelo started off looking more spry and energetic than the game on Monday in Golden State. Unfortunately, all said fluidity of his knee joint seemed to cause some discomfort as he sat on the bench to start the 2nd, and worsened during the time he took for a break during halftime. I am not too concerned about the long term implications, but why is Melo not doing more work on the sidelines in between court time to keep his knee joint loose? ROGER HINDS?? Maybe I was not watching closely enough.

Finally, once the Knicks lost their two “healthy” stars to their separate knee issues, and without STAT already, they never had a shot at making this game close at all. Even worse, the big 21-1 run in the second quarter came when our two stars were still plodding along at a snail’s pace compared to the Nuggets Run-n-Gun attack. Time and time again, the interior of the defense was beaten by open cuts to the rim by bigs that beat our men down the court off missed AND made baskets. When that wasn’t enough, they would kick around the perimeter, pump fake, and drive and dish until they found an open dunk or three in the half-court. Basically, everything the Nuggets were advertised to do, they did.

Onto the bueno:

Iman Shumpert (20 points, 8-10, 4-5 from 3) looked brilliant last night. Early in the game, I noted multiple times where his active hands on the ball and his energy in using help defense to disrupt a lesser ball-handler or passer created a loose ball opportunity for the Knicks. Once Chandler subbed out, the team defense declined so much, it is hard to pin any specific problems on Iman. On the offensive end, he displayed some improved handles and confidence in changing directions off the dribble, albeit without the finishing touch around the rim early on as he missed one early attempt. From there on out, he took well set jump shots that found the bottom of the net. Whether it was directly off the catch or set up off his own dribble, Shump made sure to set his feet, elevate strongly, and flick his wrist softly to create a good backspin into the net. If he can confidently stroke it like that going forward, I feel pretty good about him playing big minutes come playoff time.

GOTCHUUU GALLOOOO. Look at that knee trust!

Kenyon Martin (5 points, 4 boards, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 4 hard-ass fouls) showed that what he lacks for in athleticism and burst, he makes up for in attitude, tenacity, and positioning. He hit the deck a couple of times to make a hustle play and was generally good at being in the right spot to contest inside shots. The downside; he is no Tyson. Take away the 7’1 frame and gangly arms of an octopi and you are left with someone who can’t swat away many shots, but will at least throw some hard fouls out in the paint and not be named Kurt Thomas or possess Kurt Thomas’ awkward arm/belly/everywhere flab.

Kurt Thomas was so much fun to watch in garbage time. Pretty much any time. That doesn’t mean he is a good player in the NBA at this stage of his career, however, FUNNY to watch.

James White came out BLAZING! Dude finished with 10 points?! He got to dunk in garbage time, too! YAY!

I guess this is a long enough comeback post. Point remains, game was overall sucky, just have to look hard enough to pull out a few positives; even if they are few and far between.

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