New York vs. Miami

[Mr. J]

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*made by Knicks Analyst

@

Knicks 19-29 / Heat 36-14</div>
<font size="3">
Date: 2/9/05
Time 7:30
TV: MSG, NBALP</font>

<font size="4">Season Stats</font>

Previous Games:
Knicks: 102-99W @ Utah
Heat: 105-96W vs Golden State

Knicks
Record: 19-29 (.396)
Standings: Fifth, Atlantic
At Home: 12-11
On Road: 7-18

PPG: 95.5 Opp PPG: 99.0
FG%: .445 Opp FG%: .467
RPG: 40.9 Opp RPG: 42.2

Heat:
Record: 36-14 (.720)
Standings: First, Southeast
At Home: 20-5
On Road: 16-9

PPG: 102.0 Opp PPG: 96.4
FG%: .486 Opp FG%: .431
RPG: 42.8 Opp RPG: 41.1


*BOLD indicates leads team in that stat.
<font size="4">
<font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Starters</font></font>
PG: Stephon Marbury
39.7mpg 20.7ppg 3.0rpg 8.2apg

SG: Jamal Crawford<font size="4">???</font>
36.9mpg 18.6ppg 2.8rpg 3.7apg

SF: Trevor Ariza
17.5mpg 5.9ppg 2.8rpg 1.3apg

PF: Kurt Thomas
36.8mpg 11.4ppg 10.0rpg 1.9apg

C: Nazr Mohammed
29.1mpg 11.8ppg 8.6rpg 0.4apg

<font size="3">Knicks Bench:</font>
Jerome Williams<font size="4">???</font>
16.7mpg 4.8ppg 3.7rpg 0.6apg

Tim Thomas<font size="4">???</font>
26.1mpg 10.3ppg 3.4rpg 1.0apg

Mike Sweetney
17.3mpg 7.5ppg 4.8rpg 0.6apg

Jamison Brewer
10.9mpg 1.8ppg 1.3rpg 0.8apg

Vin Baker
8.1mpg 1.4ppg 1.5rpg 0.3apg

Bruno Sundov
4.7mpg 1.8ppg 0.9rpg 0.1apg

Complete Knicks Stats

<font size="4">
<font color="Red">Heat Starters</font></font>
PG: Dwyane Wade
38.7mpg 23.5ppg 5.2rpg 7.2apg

SG: Damon Jones
31.0mpg 10.3ppg 2.7apg 4.4rpg

SF: Eddie Jones
35.8mpg 12.7ppg 4.9rpg 2.7apg

PF: Udonis Haslem
33.0mpg 11.6ppg 8.9rpg 1.4apg

C: Shaquille O?Neal
35.1mpg 23.2ppg 10.7rpg 2.9apg

<font size="3">Heat Bench</font>
Malik Allen
20.2mpg 7.1ppg 4.3rpg 0.8apg

Rasual Butler
20.6mpg 6.9ppg 2.5rpg 1.0apg

Keyon Dooling
14.8mpg 4.3ppg 1.2rpg 1.9apg

Shandon Anderson
15.3mpg 3.3ppg 2.1rpg 1.0apg

Wang Zhizhi
3.2mpg 2.2ppg 0.6pg 0.1apg

Dorell Wright
2.0mpg 0.0ppg 0.0pg 0.0apg

Complete Heat Stats


<font size="4">
<font color="Red">Injuries:</font></font>
<font color="DarkOrange">NYK:</font>

<font size="4">?</font> and

<font size="4">?</font>
Moochie Norris, Allan Houston, Jamal Crawford(questionable), and Tim Thomas(questionable)

<font color="RED">MIA:</font>

and

Christian Laettner and Qyntel Woods

<font size="4">
<font color="Green">Matchups:</font></font>

vs.

PG: Terrific matchup we have the honor of watching. Wade and Marbury, Starbury and Flash. Two terrific ball handlers with lightning quickness who put fans in their seats. Marbury needs to play all of the defense that he can against Wade. He is bigger and taller than Marbury so he definitely has his hands full against Wade. Good defense against Wade will provide Wade with his biggest nemesis?turnovers. Currently he leads the league with an unbelievable 4 turnovers per game and had 6 in our last meeting. Marbury?s defense over the last couple of games has improved drastically. He has put in the extra effort which is why it has improved. If he puts a body on Wade and continues this great offensive play, he can take advantage of this matchup to the fullest. Marbury needs to force Wade to take jump shots which is not a strong point to his game. Contested jumpers will give Wade a hard time. Wade can post up well and beat the best of them with the crossover dribble. The Knicks whole defense will have to try a way to stop this. I think Jamison Brewer at the starting point or maybe even Penny Hardaway, will be a better challenge for Mr. Wade. Let?s see what goes down.

<font size="4">???</font> vs.

SG: Damon Jones signed with the Heat during the offseason. He has been a great right hand man for Wade. He fits into the Heat?s little offense perfectly. I have seen it. They run this little triangle thing where they go to Shaq, Wade and once they double, Jones makes them pay with the 3 where he shoots 38%. That?s basically all he does. Out of his 8 shots per game, 6 of them are 3?s. Crawford, Penny, Brewer or whoever is playing Jones can not forget about him. He can shoot the 3 and is not scared to do it either. If Crawford is playing he needs his dishing/smart game today. With Shaq patrolling the paint I doubt there will be many layup opportunities for Crawford, he?s not Steph. If he can penetrate and kick it out for open looks and create quality shots, we will be good. Jones is also a point guard too so he is capable of creating havoc through dishing the rock. He averages 4 assists per game and the presence of Shaq and Wade makes it even easier for him. That just gives us another reason to keep a check an eye on him.

vs.

SF: Eddie Jones is an established veteran player who has been struggling as of late since the start of the season. No Knick should think what I just said. Trevor Ariza needs to still play smart and tough defense on him. If you provoke him and leave him open, that 3 will kill you. His jump shot is still good he is just waiting for a chance to shine and break his slump. If JYD is playing against the Heat, I think we can use him to give Jones some pure hustle and defensive intensity and also a height disadvantage. Penny Hardaway if he is playing will have to step it up on defense and make sure Jones has ?just one of those games.? Taking a struggling Jones completely out of the game will benefit us tremendously and we will take the Heat somewhat out of their high powered offense. I think Jones is containable it is just about effort and smart basketball play. If our roster is depleted even more, we will have a really tough time playing against them. Last time we played without Crawford and Sweetney and we only lost by 8 points. Maybe we can do even better but, it is hope to some of our players injuries.

vs.

PF: Back in the day (October lol) I remember when Real Deal told me that he heard a Heat fan call Udonis Haslem the next Karl Malone. That?s pretty funny. Although he probably is not the next Karl Malone, he is still a solid role player for the heat. Although undersized, he is putting up 11 points and 9 boards a game. That?s pretty good so far. I wouldn?t want anyone else than Kurt Thomas on him. He is very athletic but, Kurt Thomas can still manage him. His jumpshot needs to be polished and his low post game is manageable by Kurt. I also think The Marbury/Thomas connection will give him problems as Kurt strokes that sweet midrange jumper. Kurt Thomas is also a very good rebounder like him also so a dramatic confrontation on the boards will take place. I hope Kurt Thomas shows dominance in this matchup and takes full advantage. We will already have our hands full with the following matchup?

vs.

C: Why am I even writing this? The only thing I hope is Shaq doesn?t get tossed around too badly by the likes of Mohammed. Gee I wish that would happen. Anyway, Mohammed is very capable of getting abused seriously by O?Neal. What can?t happen is Mohammed picking up those silly fouls. We need all the help we can get at this position. With Vin Baker at his dazed state, and Sundov..well being Sundov, we need Mohammed to step up. Kurt Thomas and Sweetney are both undersized compare to Shaq and hopefully Mohammed can spread the paint a little bit with his little 10 foot shot, and perhaps give Shaq a little trouble with young fresh legs and athleticism. Maybe Sundov wont be too bad to tell you the truth. Bruno can shoot and perhaps can keep Shaq out of the paint but, on defense is the only problem. Maybe if he played Shaq on offense only and switched up with someone else on defense. Interesting scenario that Herb will have to take care of. Last time there was nothing we could do about Shaq. Absolutely nothing. He had one of his better games against us for some reason. It was one of the worst feelings. It was like watching him kill us and nothing could be done about it. The only thing we can hope is Shaq gets into some early foul trouble or something. The whole offense is based around Shaq and many times when he is on the bench, teams start making runs. The Knicks need to try to get him into trouble and try and to get him on the bench. Maybe Nazr should punch him and after Shaq kills him, they will both get ejected and Shaq?s out the game for good

. Seriously though, there is no cure for playing Shaq and the Knicks can only hope for the best. If they let Shaq have his points but, get everyone else out of it, they will increase their chances of wining.

<font size="3"><font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Bench Summary</font></font>
If Crawford JYD, and Tim Thomas are gone, are bench continues to get weaker which is pretty much the reason for our struggle. If we look at the worse case scenario, our bench will be down to the triple B?s, JYD and Sweetney. Our bench is thining out which just puts more pressure on the starters. Our bench is weak right now, everyone on it has a significant role that they should take importantly. This is one of our skinnier benches this whole season in fact, it just might be the skinniest.

<font size="3"><font color="Red">Heat Bench Summary:</font></font>
Their bench is simply superb. They have Butler, Dooling, and two Knicks Doleac, and Anderson. Just a bunch of great role players playing their roles. That?s what makes them so effective other than the two stars. We need to keep their bench in check tonight because the starters are already enough to handle.

<font size="4"><font color="Green">Key Matchup:</font></font>
Flashing Stars
?Starbury?

vs.

?Flash?
Another key matchup by a mile. ?Starbury? and ?Flash? are two great guards clashing for the second time this season. The only thing different is on Stephon?s turf, and I really do mean that. New York home of the finest balers like Jordan, Steph, and mrj18, is really is home. Both penetrate at ease, put fans in their seats. Well not quite, their always on the edge watching these two. Another game for Wade but, another game for Marbury is like a fight. We have seen what he is capable of doing like in Utah. With the Raptors and the Celtics most likely losing tonight, seeing the scoreboard Marbury needs to take advantage of this game even if it is an NBA title contender. I think both will drop 20+ do to simply unstoppable offensive play. If Marbury can allow Wade to have his 20 points on a bad percentage with turnovers as the Heats leader and floor general, he will disrupt the offense of the Heat. If Wade puts the lock down defense on Marbury I think we can pretty much call it quits and hope the Knicks don?t lose by more than 30. The game is in Marbury?s hands. Wade does not have that responsibility but as I said, he is still a focal point to the team and with him gone it will put more pressure to the rest of the Heat who will have to make up for Wade?s absence and plus the addition of the Knicks hunger for their first win streak since December!


<font size="4">My Prediction:</font>
<font size="2">Home Sweet Home?</font> I don?t know. Actually I know, no. The Knicks are in one of their tougher fights. This will be a tough game but, even with our injuries, the fact that we are playing at home will somewhat makeup for their absence. The Knicks as of late are playing inspired basketball and returning home and seeing the playoff situation I think will give them a little more warmth to try and match the Heat. We really should not win this game but, there is something that I can feel is saying a W and in the Newspaper like the Knicks get a good win. That?s what I feel but, I aint a psychic. We really should lose this game by a score of like 102-92 or something like that but, I just really feel we will win and return from the road trip with a strong home performance. At least I hope that. Keep your fingers crossed everyone, this game might be in our grasp!

<font color="RED"><font size="4">THIS GAME IS BACK TO THE REGULAR 7:30!!! </font></font>

 

[Mr. J]

Halftime

<font size="7">Halftime</font>
Knicks 47

If they get the necessary scoring from Steph along with everyone else playing their roles epseically on defense, then I will have to go with them in a close 100-97 victory however, if they continue playing lackidaisical defense they will lose maybe by 12 or late single digits. It's all up to them. With Boston and Toronto playing and having chances to move up, games like this are so important. If we win this we will move up in the standings and we will get the needed us some confidence at home, give us the right attitude to battle elite teams like Miami, and take advantage of our less elite stretch. The game is in the hands of the New York Knickerbockers. Let?s see how the rest of the game fairs for us.

 

[KnicksUK]

We gonna lose. Not enough players who are 100% committed to the cause and it shows. Currently 89-77. 17 losses of 20 right? Wow.

Once again though nice preview&halftime report. Appreciate the effort you go to.

 

[Mr. J]

OT!!!!!!!

Not a good final offensive possesion but, at least it went into OT. We came too far to lose we need to snag a win!

 

[Mr. J]

We dug ourselves in a hole with Freethrows. Penny Hardaway also made a bad shot in the final minute. There are many positives we can draw out from this game like the run and also some negatives. We really should have won this game but, we have no one to blame but, ourselves. At least we have Boston on Friday, Charlotte on Sunday and then Philadelphia on Monday. Three winnable games that can put us up in the standings. I am dissapointed about Marbury's missed freethrows which shows he is inconsistent in the clutch. The Knicks have to win the next 3 games before the break!

EDIT: Also Tim Thomas had a good game for us. 13 points 5 rebounds 7 assists and a block. He made a key 3 to tie the game at the end, and to top it all off, he was playing hurt! I wish he could play like this all the time.

<font size="1">Btw, where have Knicks Analyst and Tribute to H2O been? They have not been online in a while.</font>

 

[Penny]

Free throws ..........................................

 

[Mr. J]

Why have they been choking from the line as of late. Especially Marbury. WHY???

 

[Tribute to H2O]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mrj18:</div><div class="quote_post"><font size="1">Btw, where have Knicks Analyst and Tribute to H2O been? They have not been online in a while.</font></div>

Sorry I havent been online as much. I cant speak for Knicks Analyst but I've been extremely busy lately. But I was still able to catch the 4th quarter of tonight's game and I was impressed with the fact that we got back into the game and actually had a lead but disappointed with the fact Marbury keeps missing those big freethrows. Does anyone else find it funny that Shaq hits clutch free throws and Marbury doesnt? We keep messing up these close games for no reason. There really is nothing else to say. Marbury is simply unclutch and we have noone at the moment who can step up and hit shots under pressure.

 

[Henacy]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">Sorry I havent been online as much. I cant speak for Knicks Analyst but I've been extremely busy lately. But I was still able to catch the 4th quarter of tonight's game and I was impressed with the fact that we got back into the game and actually had a lead but disappointed with the fact Marbury keeps missing those big freethrows. Does anyone else find it funny that Shaq hits clutch free throws and Marbury doesnt? We keep messing up these close games for no reason. There really is nothing else to say. Marbury is simply unclutch and we have noone at the moment who can step up and hit shots under pressure.</div>

Yeah, Steph has always shyed away in clutch situations. In my opinion Steph looks exactly right now, how he looked as a Net in 99'. Early in games he takes all the shots. But coming down the stretch in cruchtime he begins to shy away, looking to pass to lesser teammates for them to make the big play instead of putting the late game win/loss pressure on his shoulders as the teams best player. And every now and then he'll force up a bad shot down the stretch just to comfort his own mind of trying to make a big play. This is the Stephon Marbury, I hated watching in Jersey. The guy has so much talent but once a team starts to go south, he doesnt have the leadership or composure to bring a team back together that is why he really shouldnt be the best player on a team. He should be a all-star caliber 2nd option.

 

[KnicksUK]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mrj18:</div><div class="quote_post">Why have they been choking from the line as of late. Especially Marbury. WHY???</div>

Please see my post from before the game was over. I knew the team wouldn't be able to cope with it, they don't have the heart. No matter what anyone says Marbury is a mercenary. He does not love NY like Jordan loved Chicago or like Kobe loves LA. That's the problem.

 

[Mr. J]

^The funny thing about that is none of them were even born there. You would think Marbury would play extra hard playing for his hometown. I guess when you have someone riding your meat like that calling you "untouchable" you don't have to play hard on a daily basis. He's not going anywhere for a LOOONG time as long as Isiah is still here.

On a second note, he has been playing well as of late. Too bad he is inconsistent in the clutch.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">Sorry I havent been online as much. I cant speak for Knicks Analyst but I've been extremely busy lately.</div>
It's all good man, I understand. As long as you didn't abandon us here in the Knicks Forum!

 

[Beat]

Oh yeah I forgot about this, did Ariza know who Shaq was before the game started?