Knickstape – Page 4 – NEW YORK KNICKS LOYALIST

[Video] Carmelo Anthony Named Starter on 2014 All-Star Team

Carmelo Anthony has been named to his seventh All-Star team, the NBA announced yesterday.

After a slow start that saw him shooting under 40%, Anthony has improved his numbers to 44% from the field, 41 from three-point range, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

In last year’s All-Star game, Melo put up 26 points and notched 12 assists. Rounding out the starting five with Anthony are LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Paul George and Kyrie Irving.

The below graphic, courtesy of nyknicks.com, illustrates Melo’s excellent stats. The game takes place on February 16.

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[Video] Bargnani Tears Elbow Ligament on Botched Dunk, Out Indefinitely

Knicks forward Andrea Bargnani is now out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a torn ligament in his left elbow.

Bargnani suffered the injury while attempting a dunk in the third quarter of an eventual 110-106 defeat to the Sixers. Bargnani was undercut on the dunk and landed awkwardly on his elbow. He remained in the game until early fourth quarter.

Bargnani had played in every game this season, averaging 13 points and 5 rebounds.

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So how many bigs do we have left? With Stoudemire and K-Mart out, we’re left with Tyson Chandler, Jeremy Tyler and Cole Aldrich. Coach Woodson isn’t high on giving the latter two significant minutes, but we don’t have much choice at this point. The “indefinitely” tag has me worried we won’t see Bargs back until after the All-Star break.

A Change Is Gonna Come — Nets 103, Knicks 80

Remember that five game winning streak earlier this month? With the way the Knicks have played during this four-game skid, that streak feels like it took place last season. As you can see from the above quote and the look of disgust on Melo’s face, this team is in shambles from the top down. To show you how bad thing have gotten, this is the first time our rival Nets have blown us out since the move to Brooklyn. The Knicks were never in it: bad (switching) defense, vapid guard play and just overall weak decision-making.

As Avery Johnson pointed out during halftime, Carmelo Anthony (26 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals) can’t just will a broken team to winning with just a few more passes. Apparently, he’s also supposed to handle point guard dribble penetration and defending the perimeter. Y’know, be the “leader” some fans and critics claim he isn’t being despite the fact he’s the onl yplayer consistently playing hard every night.

Drastic roster changes are needed if the Knicks have any hope of keeping Melo, or attracting any other big name free agents for that matter, in the coming seasons.

[Video] Knicks Hold Off Suns in OT, Extend Winning Streak to Five Games

The Knicks blew an early 14-point first half lead, but showed the poise and grit that was missing from the first two months of the season to battle back and defeat the Phoenix Suns in overtime, 98-96. It wasn’t pretty and the defensive switching made this one harder than it needed to be, but the squad got the job done despite Melo working on fumes and refs making suspect calls in key moments.

FAST START AND SLACKING: Melo came out strong with 13 points in the opening 12 minutes to give New York a 28-21 lead. They went up by as much as 14 in the second quarter, but bad defense allowed the Suns to pull within four at one point. The Knicks had to settle for a nine-point halftime lead, 52-43, after Goran Dragic hit a three at the buzzer.

WHEN THE PROBLEMS STARTED: The Knicks took a 75-68 lead into the fourth, but Coach Woodson went with the lineup of Toure Murry, Tim Hardaway Jr., JR Smith, K-Mart and Amar’e Stoudemire. Murry uncharacteristically took back to back bad shots and Stat was continually expoited by Leandro Barbosa’s (21 points off the bench) drives to the rim. The lead was erased and Melo was forced to come back at the 9:03 mark, giving him little rest after already working hard to nab over 10 rebounds.

TIC FOR TAC: Even with Melo back in, the ball movement struggled and the teams traded baskets before NY turnovers and horrible help defense allowed for a Dragic open layup and a 88-83 deficit. The Knicks looked dead in the water, but Woody made a key substitution of Andrea Bargnani, who played solid interior man to man defense once paired with Martin. Unfortunately, Melo’s legs were gone on his jumper and he couldn’t deliver a dagger to knock out the Suns, including a missed wide-open mid-range shot. Nonetheless, he made one of the game’s most important plays in driving and kicking out to an open Felton who swished a three-pointer to put the Knicks up 92-90.

FINAL CHANCES: Now with the lead, Melo had to take a shot that would leave roughly 10 seconds on the clock. He was clearly fouled on the arm going up for a jumper, but the refs either missed it or decided to swallow their whistles (Melo had been jawing with the refs earlier, including a brief face to face that almost earned him a technical). Melo was furious and had to be calmed by Woody in the huddle.

Barbosa went for a drive and appeared to have been tied up successfully by Martin for a jump ball. However, the refs deemed this one a foul, and Barbosa hit two foul shots to send the game into overtime after JR missed good inbounds fadeaway (ironically, the same shot that beat the Suns in regulation last season).

MELO GRINDS IT OUT: Melo scored four of the team’s six overtime points to put this one away. One was a nice alley-oop from K-Mart, and the other a tough fadeaway in the post over Gerald Green, who had been giving Melo a tough time all night. The Suns couldn’t convert on open threes. K-Mart got two crucial stops on Dragic at the rim despite being switched off and having to cover him from the perimeter both times.

Although Melo didn’t shoot the ball well in the second half (9/24 overall), he found other ways to lift his team with his rebounding (16) and assists (4). K-Mart was huge on the defensive end in addition to several monster putbacks, contributing 8 points and 9 rebounds. And despite being torched at times by Dragic (28 points), Felton had his own moments with 19 points.

BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS…FOR NOW: This win put the Knicks ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for the final playoff spot in the East. If the Knicks hope to keep it that way, it’ll be important for Tyson Chandler to make his return tonight against the Bobcats since most of the starters will be dead tired.

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A Smart Return: JR Smith Ignites Knicks Over Sixers

That’s the worst feeling in the world, someone takes the game away from you, especially something you love. It’s all you know, you’ve been doing it your whole life. – JR SMITH

It took only one game for JR Smith to get his mind right (for now). Our knucklehead two-guard came off the bench in the second quarter and has his best 12 minutes of the season, scoring 11 points and dishing 4 assists to help ignite a 25-6 run and power the Knicks to their fourth-straight win. The Knicks are now poised to start climbing the playoff ladder.

SLUGGISH START AND OPEN PAINT: Melo had to sit early with two fouls and without their leader, the Knicks were sluggish all-around. No Tyson Chandler again (flu) had the paint wide open with the young Sixer guards like Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Wroten blowing past our defenders for easy layups. The Knicks were only shooting around 35% despite getting open looks and not defending the three-point line, allowing for the Sixers to take a 28-20 lead after the first.

JR’S SPARK: The team did a complete 180 with JR in the lineup to start the second. JR nailed his first three jumpers (one a three off a Melo offensive rebound), and everyone’s energy picked up. JR made sure to make the extra passes needed to keep Stoudemire and Melo feasting on the Sixer defense. When the smoked cleared, the Knicks had went on a 25-6 run over the last 8:40 and outscored Philly 32-12 in the period to take a 52-40 lead into halftime.

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NEVER PUT AWAY, BUT NEVER BACK IN IT, EITHER: The Knicks never delivered the crushing blow to blow this game open, but they never lost focus enough to let Philly back in it. The latter was great to see considering NY has blown numerous big leads all season. The Knicks were up 84-68 after the third and let the Sixers get no closer than 8 points in the waning two minutes of the game.

REBOUNDING IMPROVEMENT: With Chandler out, the Knicks are making a concerted effort to crash the boards. Everyone chipped in to give NY a slight edge in the board battle (39-38): Melo (9), Martin (8) and Shumpert (7) were the strongest in this department.

STOUDEMIRE CONTINUES TO TURN BACK THE CLOCK: Someone must have told Amar’e it was 2009, because he came out and stayed in beast mode the entire night. He made his first seven shots, which included a handful of nasty dunks. His post moves were crisp and he fought for rebounds, often tipping it to fellow players when he couldn’t get it himself. We saw this same Stoudemire before he went down with knee problems last year so we can only pray he stays healthy. None of the teams we’ve played during this streak have had an answer for him. And even more promising is he’s doing a lot of his damage working two-man ball with Melo on the floor. Stat finished with 21 points and 5 rebounds.

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TEAM DISTRIBUTION: The Knicks had 26 assists, a clear indicator the ball stayed moving. The stat lines for everyone were great with no one carrying too much of the load: Melo (18 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists), Stat (21 points, 5 rebounds), JR (14 points, 6 assists), K-Mart (8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks), Shump (7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals), Felton (9 points, 6 assists) and Bargnani (10 points, 4 rebounds).

The Knicks are back home on Monday to face the Phoenix Suns.

[Video] No JR Needed – Knicks Soar Against Heat 102-92

The Knicks put together the best home win of the season last night with a complete team effort in defeating the Heat. After two months, the team (sans JR Smith) finally looks to have turned a corner.

MELO GETS HIS HELP: The question going into every game is who will help Melo with the scoring load. At their worst, the Knicks predictably dump the ball to Melo, many times with less than 10 seconds on the shot clock, for a low-percentage isolation shot.

Outside of the first few possessions, the Knicks were at their best in terms of ball movement, guarding the passing lanes, and attacking Miami’s weak interior defense. Andrea Bargnani (19 points), Iman Shumpert (12 points, 9 rebounds), Amar’e Stoudemire (14 poitns, 11 rebounds) and Raymond Felton (13 points, 14 assists) were the “secondary Big Four” that took the load off Melo and allowed him to operate more freely on offense.

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MELO VS. LEBRON: We didn’t get to see as much of this as we should have. When they did guard each other, Melo got the better of it. LeBron was still able to have a monster stat line (32 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) just because he’s the best player in the league, and poor Bargnani found himself switched off onto him way too many times.

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MIAMI HELPS OUT AT THE FREE THROW LINE: The Heat could have made this a tighter game simply by hitting their free throws. They shot a very poor 52% (11/21) with Dwyane Wade being the main culprit (0-6). New York wasn’t any better at 50% (5/10).

TIM HARDAWAY JR: THJ made a new poster at the expense of Jesus Shuttlesworth aka Ray Allen. Yeah, our rookie got game.

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THE 16-0 RUN: After getting embarrassed by a LeBron baseline dunk, Bargnani came right back with a three-point play on Wade to ignite a 9-0 run to end the fourth, highlighted by two Melo treys and Hardaway’s spectacular tip-in dunk. Usually with JR Smith in the 2nd unit lineup that starts the fourth, the Knicks have been giving up leads and momentum. This time, the point guard play of Toure Murry had Bargnani and Stoudemire carving up the Heat in the post and at mid-range.

CLOSING STRONG: When Felton came back in, there wasn’t any drop-off. Ray continued attacking the paint, which collapsed the Heat defense and got nice looks for Melo and Stat. And when Melo got what appeared to be an isolation play, Felton and others cut to basket allowing for easy layups and dunks. Felton also keep the defense honest by hitting several long jumpers.

ROLES DEFINED: The Knicks are finally playing like a team and everyone appears to know their roles. You can see the confidence and they should have it, considering two of their last four wins have come against the defending Eastern and Western Conference champions.

JR SMITH: Our knucklehead shooting guard sulked on the bench most of the night, but did put up an obligatory standing ovation at the final buzzer. In the locker room, he pouted about whether he still has a “future” on the team. We’ll see if JR finally wakes up, but I think he’s earned at least 2 games on the bench.

[Video] Shump the Closer — Knicks 92, Mavs 80

It’s not the 3-0 Texas sweep it should have been, but we’ll take it. The Knicks came out with the same fire they showed earlier this week against the Rockets, but made better decisions down the stretch to pull out a 92-80 victory over the Mavericks, making it a 2-1 trip to the Lone Star state with an additional win over San Antonio.

MELO STARTS IT, SHUMP ENDS IT: Carmelo Anthony came out on fire in the first quarter, scoring 15 of his 19 points. The Mavs looked lethargic and the Knicks took full advantage on offense and defense, outscoring Dallas 29-17 and holding their shooting under 40%.

In the final minutes of the fourth with the Mavs down just six points, Iman Shumpert scored seven points in the remaining two minutes to ice the game, including a fearless layup drive around Dirk Nowitzki. His stat sheet will only show 9 points, but they were the most impactful of the game (along with his three steals, one coming late in the third to stifle a Mavs run). Defense wins games, and with Shumpert refocused in that area, there is absolutely no reason to not have him on the court during crunch time.

K-MART GETS NY THROUGH SCORING DROUGHT: Down 52-35 at halftime, the Mavs made a strong push in the third while the Knicks went ice-cold on offense. Vince Carter, Jose Calderon, and Monta Ellis all nailed treys to help get the lead in single digits. However, Kenyon Martin had one of his better games of the season, scoring the majority of his 14 points in the third quarter to allow the Knicks to maintain a 10-point lead (67-57) going into the fourth.

STOP THE JR SMITH LOVE AFFAIR, WOODY: I’m on record as giving JR until the All-Star break to get it together. Nonetheless, that doens’t mean play him when it’s a detriment to the team. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 10 points, including a crucial three-point play in the third. He provided good minutes early in the fourth before getting pulled for JR, who immediately had issues not turning the ball over and leaving Mavs guards open on the perimeter. If it wasn’t for Shumpert, the Mavs might have stolen this one.

JR did at least provide one hilarious moment during the game.

NOW DO IT AT HOME: The Knicks have been a decent road team and horrible at home. For the rest of the month, 10 of the 13 games NY plays will be at home. This will likely be the period that makes or breaks our playoff hopes considering the majority of the opponents have sub-.500 records.

Frustration and Futility — Raptors Complete Back to Back Sweep, Beats Knicks 115-110

Even with Carmelo Anthony out nursing a bum ankle, there was some hope going into these back to back Raptor games that the Knicks could find a spark and possibly go into the New Year just one game out of first place in the Atlantic Division. What New York and their fans got was a painful reminder of just how bad this Knicks team is. Despite playing hard down the stretch, New York displayed the worst of their defensive woes with needless switching and bad rebounding, allowing the Raptors to weather a late rally and storm back themselves to close out the Knicks.

KILLED ON THE BOARDS: The Knicks losing the rebounding battle is no surprise (45-37), but giving up 13 offensive rebounds is a death blow. The Raptors got so many second chance opportunities in the fourth. The Knicks were put into defensive scrambles that lead to open drives and three-pointers. Most disappointing here was Tyson Chandler, who managed just 2 rebounds in 27 minutes of play.

RAN AROUND THE COURT: The gave up three big runs over the course of the game that made winning this game unlikely. With the score tight early in the second quarter, the Knicks went into a zone defense and succumbed to a 12-0 run to go down 52-41. Overall, they were outscored 31-22 in the quarter and down 57-44 at halftime. In the third, the Knicks were on the wrong side of a 15-2 run and were behind by as much as 23 points before chipping away to take a 85-71 deficit into the fourth.

HAVE ALL THE 3-POINTERS YOU WANT, TORONTO!: The Raptors shot a deadly 47% from downtown (15/32), with Terrence Ross hitting a career-high seven treys. The perimeter was wide open and every guard, and even a forward or two, seemed to get in on the fun. The Knicks couldn’t rotate in time, and the constant, flat-out idiotic switching created repeated mismatches in Toronto’s favor.

THE PLAY THAT SEALED IT: Amar’e Stoudemire’s post-scoring, along with some good passing from Toure Murry, were the main factors in allowing the Knicks to trim the lead to six, 101-95. Demar Derozan had the ball and got away with pushing off Murry, who toppled to the floor. When Derozan tried to fly past, Murry reached out and swiped him, which Derozan sold well by toppling over. The hit was ruled a flagrant, leading to a five-point swing with both free throws made and a three-pointer swished on the extra possession, puting the Knicks in an 11-point hole (106-95) they never crawled out of.

JR THE PG: Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni being out continues to hurt badly. There were a few plays down the stretch that went nowhere due to JR having to be a playmaker and set up the offense.

THE POSITIVES BECOME NEGATED: Stoudemire (23 points, 9 rebounds) and Chandler (16 points) had solid scoring games, but the lack of defense neutralized that. The team couldn’t get stops or rebounds when it mattered. Woodson opted to sit Andrea Bargnani (12 points) in the fourth. Like last night’s game, Bargnani started strong in first and became a non-factor in the ensuing quarters.

NON-TRADE COMES BACK TO BITE US: While I think the Knicks made a good move not giving up so many players and a first round pick for Kyle Lowry, he sure did lit up New York tonight. He nearly had a triple double, going for 32 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists. The man out-rebounded everyone on the Knicks except Stoudemire. Speaking of guards…

NY BACKCOURT: JR Smith was 1-8 until late in the game, still managing to put up a respectable stat line of 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. However, with the Melo out the team was in dire need of scoring and playmaking, two things he couldn’t shoulder. Woodson went with Murry over Beno Udrih, who had already notched 4 turnovers before the fourth. Murry made some bad passes himself, but he at least showed some semblance of defense.

Iman Shumpert played like he wanted to be left in Toronto with Landry Fields and Steve Novak. He constantly gambled (and lost) on steals, leading to his man beating him backdoor for layups.

FRUSTATION LEVELS HIGH: Shumpert was seen barking back at Woodson in the waning minutes. Chandler also shoved Jonas Valanciunas under the basket. After the game, Chandler had to restrained by Herb Williams for some unknown reason.

FROM TERRIBLE BACK TO BAD: Is there any hope going into 2014? Well, at least when Melo finally comes back, the team will still be bad and flawed, but just a little less terrible than they are right now.

The Chucking Chronicles: JR Smith Speaks on His 17 3-Pt Attempts Against Bucks

The Knicks held on for a double overtime win Wednesday night in Milwaukee, largely in part due to a late jumper from JR Smith. While that play sealed it, the most eye-catching stat of the night among JR’s 23 shot attempts was an astounding 5-17 from downtown. To say our streaky shooting guard was gunning is an understatement. Below is what JR had to say about his shooting and what Knicks fans can expect in future games.

Long as NY wins, JR can shoot at his heart’s content.

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Tyson Chandler Returns to Starting Lineup Against Bucks

Knicks center Tyson Chandler has confirmed that he will return to the starting lineup tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Chandler has been sidelined since November 6 after fracturing his right fibula in a collision with Bobcats guard Kemba Walker. In his absence, the Knicks have struggled mightily on the defensive end, posting an overall record of 7-17.

In the four games Chandler has played this year, he’s averaged 7 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal and 2.5 blocks.

Coach Woodson has also confirmed that the addition of Chandler will move Andrea Bargnani to the bench, and Carmelo Anthony to the power forward position.

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Finally, some good news! I’m not expecting Chandler to be an immediate savior since the team’s problems are varied. In addition, it’ll take some games before his timing and legs are fully back. But from a morale standpoint, just his presence will be a huge energy burst for this team. The road to .500 begins tonight…

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