Dec 2 at New York

[alex42083]

NY has gutted their roster of talent and is doing everything they can to lose, lose, lose and get a lottery pick.

Their only wins since Zach departed came against defenseless teams with similar aims.

We can't possibly lose this game.

Agreed. They've proved they just want to tank the next two seasons. It'd suck to lose this game.. and looks like the Marbury situation is still a distraction, which is a good thing.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Marbury isn't playing and might affect the teams general attitude (hence the link below). I also think the team is shakened up with Z.Randolph gone and will be going through a transition period..
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-knicks-marbury&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

[ehizzy3]

we're gonna have to pound greg inside. and play our basketball, not change the game plan for them

 

[Real]

This is no gimmie.

That team does not have a lot of talent, at least among the players that D'Antoni puts out on the floor, but they play together, which is a lot more that can be said for previous Knick teams.

 

[repda503]

We are just going to pound it inside and get them in foul trouble. They won't have 5 players on the floor by the end of this one.

 

[MrJayremmie]

This game is a bit of a worry for me also, because of the way they play... they like to score, play fast, and play together for the most part.

I'm really lookin' forward to the game though.

 

[crandc]

I worry about the attitude that Portland "should" win a game. They "should" have beaten the Kings easily at home and we know what happened. I'll take a one point win, I'm not proud, but the attitude of "we should win" gets teams into trouble.

Hopefully Nate is keeping the team from a "should" attitude.

 

[Magnum]

Me too. Where are you sitting?

-Petey

I'm probably headed to the game too. I guess the blazers aren't hot tickets arounds here... or maybe that's the knicks doing but lots of good tix available on stubhub.

 

[hasoos]

why's everyone so worried about the game's tempo? The faster it is the better, because it means more possessions for each team, and the Blazers easily have the more talented roster.

No no no. If it is a fast paced game, that plays to NY strengths. If you go down the list of stuff that Portland is good at, you will notice that fast breaks, is not one of them. Portland will only win this game if they dominate the middle, use their size, and don't let happen what happened in the Golden State game.

In fact when it comes down to it, that Golden State game should answer your question for you. Is Golden State more talented than Portland? Well how did they win then? That is right, by running Portland out of the gym, and playing to their strength, running the break, keeping the tempo high.

 

[andalusian]

GSW did not win because it was a fast-pace game. They won because of these issues:

1. Anthony Morrow was channeling Reggie Miller circa 1996 and could not miss
2. GSW could not miss a FT
3. The Refs were all wearing bi-focal glasses with the part that looked at fouls on Portland missing.
5. Aldridge was in his shooting slump hitting only 2 of 7

The game still came down to the wire.

Add the fact that GSW is a much more talented team than NYK - I can't see this kind of a perfect storm happening again.

 

[hasoos]

GSW did not win because it was a fast-pace game. They won because of these issues:

1. Anthony Morrow was channeling Reggie Miller circa 1996 and could not miss
2. GSW could not miss a FT
3. The Refs were all wearing bi-focal glasses with the part that looked at fouls on Portland missing.
5. Aldridge was in his shooting slump hitting only 2 of 7

The game still came down to the wire.

Add the fact that GSW is a much more talented team than NYK - I can't see this kind of a perfect storm happening again.

Oh and they didn't win beause they forced Portland into 21 turnovers? I know the refs jipped Portland at the end, but you know, if you don't put yourself in a position to let the referee effect give you an "L", then that doesn't happen. Make all the excuses you want, but if you go back to pre season, and last season, Portland has had problems with Golden State. The reason?

Nate McMillan has the same problem Avory Johnson has from time to time. He matches up to other teams strengths rather than dictating the game to the other team, and making them adjust. Don Nelson will eat you up every time if you coach that way. The same can be said of Mike D'Antoni.

 

[Shooter]

Me too. Where are you sitting?

Section 222. What about you?

 

[andalusian]

Oh and they didn't win beause they forced Portland into 21 turnovers? I know the refs jipped Portland at the end, but you know, if you don't put yourself in a position to let the referee effect give you an "L", then that doesn't happen. Make all the excuses you want, but if you go back to pre season, and last season, Portland has had problems with Golden State. The reason?

Nate McMillan has the same problem Avory Johnson has from time to time. He matches up to other teams strengths rather than dictating the game to the other team, and making them adjust. Don Nelson will eat you up every time if you coach that way. The same can be said of Mike D'Antoni.

I have been to the GSW game in the Rose Garden last year when the Blazers ripped them apart. I know the Blazer's problems with the Suns of last years - but last year's GSW team was a lot more talented than this year - the pre-season game means nothing as we did not play our best player and were trying to force feed Greg.

The fact of the matter is that even with the bad turn-overs (5 of them on Greg trying to learn how to play) - we would have won this game if one of the 4 things did not happen. It was a perfect storm - and I will be shocked if the Knocks have a chance to get under double-digits at the end of the game. They are not that talented and Portland is much better now than it was when we played the perfect-storm GSW game.

 

[Minstrel]

Oh and they didn't win beause they forced Portland into 21 turnovers? I know the refs jipped Portland at the end, but you know, if you don't put yourself in a position to let the referee effect give you an "L", then that doesn't happen.

It wasn't just "at the end." The referees allowed Maggette to simply flop for a foul every time Aldridge took him into the post. If the referees refuse to allow a much bigger player to exploit a smaller player in the post, that's quite a problem.