New York vs. Milwaukee

[Mr. J]

*made by Knicks Analyst

Knicks 17-21

Bucks 14-24

<font size="3">
Date: 1/22/05
Time 3:00
TV: MSG</font>

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

Previous Games:
Knicks: 92-91L vs Rockets
Bucks: 89-86W vs Pistons

Knicks
Record: 17-22 (.436)
Standings: Third, Atlantic 10th seed in the Eastern Conference
At Home: 11-9
On Road: 6-13

PPG: 95.5 Opp PPG: 97.7
FG%: .444 Opp FG%: .463
RPG: 40.9 Opp RPG: 42.3

Bucks:
Record: 14-24 (.368)
Standings: Fifth, Central 13th seed in the Eastern Conference
At Home: 10-8
On Road: 4-16

PPG: 95.3 Opp PPG: 98.4
FG%: .442 Opp FG%: .457
RPG: 41.4 Opp RPG: 41.3

<font size="2">*Bold Indicates Leads the Team.</font>
<font size="4">
<font color="DarkOrange">Knicks</font></font>
PG: Stephon Marbury
39.8mpg 20.4ppg 2.9rpg 8.6apg FG%:46.1 3P%:32.5 FT%:84.1 SPG:1.54 BPG:0.05 TO:3.00

SG: Jamal Crawford
36.3mpg 18.4ppg 2.8rpg 3.7apg FG%:38.5 3P%:33.8 FT%:86.0 SPG:1.45 BPG:0.41 TO:2.45

SF: Tim Thomas
26.4mpg 10.1ppg 3.4rpg 1.1apg FG%:39.4 3P%:34.5 FT%:78.8 SPG:0.61 BPG:0.33 TO:1.64

" target="_blank">http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/tim_thomas.jpg"></a>
*I apologize to any guests, the Knicks Forum and all JustBBall. It was intended to be a joke and a joke only. I?m sorry.

PF: Kurt Thomas
36.5mpg 11.7ppg 9.8rpg 1.9apg FG%:47.7 FT%:79.5 SPG:1.13 BPG:0.97 TO:1.21

C: Nazr Mohammed
30.4mpg 12.2ppg 9.2rpg 0.4apg FG%:51.9 FT%:72.5 SPG:1.21 BPG:1.08 TO:1.36

<font size="3">Bench:</font>
Jerome Williams 17.4mpg 5.4ppg 3.8rpg 1.3apg

Trevor Ariza 15.8mpg 4.9ppg 2.6rpg 1.3apg

Jamison Brewer 9.1mpg 1.4ppg 1.3rpg 0.4apg

Vin Baker 7.9mpg 1.4ppg 1.6rpg 0.2apg

Bruno Sundov 4.0mpg 1.8ppg 1.3rpg 0.3apg

<font size="4">
<font color="Indigo">Bucks</font></font>
PG: Maurice Williams
26.9mpg 9.0ppg 3.2rpg 6.0apg FG%:41.7 3P%:40.9 FT%:83.1 SPG:0.87 BPG:0.08 TO:2.58

SG: Michael Redd
38.6mpg 21.9ppg 4.2rpg 2.5apg FG%:44.3 3P%:40.7 FT%:84.0 SPG:0.84 BPG:0.05 TO:1.82

SF: Desmond Mason
35.5mpg 16.5ppg 4.4rpg 2.2apg FG%:45.6 3P%:20.0 FT%:80.9 SPG:0.89 BPG:0.29 TO:1.89

PF: Joe Smith
30.4mpg 10.6ppg 7.1rpg 0.8apg FG%:50.8 FT%:77.6 SPG:0.53 BPG:0.68 TO:1.13

C: Dan Gadzuric
21.2mpg 6.2ppg7.5rpg 0.5apg FG%:50.3 FT%:44.7 SPG:0.54 BPG:1.43 TO:1.03

<font size="3">Bench</font>
Mike James 24.8mpg 10.8ppg 2.5rpg 3.9apg

Erick Strickland 14.8mpg 3.8ppg 1.7rpg 1.8apg

Zaza Pachulia 19.2mpg 6.0ppg 5.0rpg 1.0apg

Keith Van Horn 30.2mpg 13.3ppg 6.2rpg 1.5apg

Marcus Fizer 17.4mpg 5.8ppg 3.4rpg 1.5apg

Toni Kukoc 13.8mpg 2.5ppg 2.0rpg 1.5apg

<font size="4">
<font color="Red">Injuries:</font></font>
<font color="DarkOrange">NYK:</font> Penny Hardaway, Moochie Norris, Allan Houston
<font color="Indigo">Mil:</font>T.J. Ford, Zendon Hamilton

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

vs.

PG: Marbury will be going against Maurice Williams young Buck (literally) played ball in Alabama. Marbury needs to take advantage of this guys youth. Just entering the NBA, there is no way he can stop the handle of a great pro like Marbury. He will need to constantly keep moving and penetrating making things easier for us. His decision making is somewhat questionable so, hopefully Marbury will exploit that to the fullest.

vs.

SG: Another bad night for Jamal Crawford not to play defense. Michael Redd the LEFTY from Ohio is a rising star in the league. Already this mans jumper is considered elite and what makes it even worse than him being left handed, is his ability to shoot so fast and accurately. If Crawford does not keep a hand in his face, he will light it up and the Knicks can ill afford another loss especially because of this man. Hopefully Crawford deceides to play defense tonight. Crawford can not take any ill advised shots either, this will just give the Bucks another opportunity to execute some their top notch offensive game.

vs.

SF: We wont see Van Horn starting but, we will see the high flying Desmond Mason from Oklahoma. The 2001 Slam Dunk champ is playing very well starting and he does not look to do any worse. TT needs to force Desmond Mason to shoot. Desmond Mason is a slasher and if you take away lanes and openings, you greatly decrease his scoring chances. Also transition defense must be stressed because with running mates such as Desmond Mason, and running PG?s such as Mike James, Mason looks to run! What can we really expect from Tim though? One question, when is JYD coming in?

vs.

PF: Kurt Thomas will be playing against Joe Smith. Joe Smith shouldn?t be a problem for Kurt Thomas. He has a nice little offensive game but Kurt Thomas can take on anyone in the league. Joes Smith is not scary at all. Kurt Thomas? jumper should keep him from patrolling the paint. Not too much trouble for Kurt against him.

vs.

C: Dan Gadzuric against our Nazr. Should be interesting. Nazr Mohammed struggling against Yao Ming but that was expected. Any way, Gadzuric is a solid rebounder and shot blocker. I see no trouble for Mohammed though. What Mohammed needs to do is clean up play defense and simply play his role. If he does all of that, then we really wont have that much trouble especially against Milwaukee?s less than special frontcourt

<font size="3"><font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Bench Summary</font></font>

We are still down without Allan Houston, Penny Hardaway, and Moochie Norris. Currently the Knicks only have 5 players on the bench including Sundov and No-Burn-Baker. I really hope they get some time today they deserve it especially with all of their injuries. JYD, and Ariza?s defense will be needed especially against such a gifted perimeter that the Bucks have. Let?s not forget about Brewer who is a great defender as well.

<font size="3"><font color="Indigo">Bucks Bench Summary:</font></font>
They don?t quite have Ford yet but, they do have our very own (yes still) Keith Van Horn. Man we should have never let this guy go. I guess you really don?t know what you have until it?s gone right? Keith Van Horn provides the already deadly Milwaukee Bucks with more perimeter shooting. Keith Van Horn shoots a blistering 43% from 3 and to tell you the truth, he might try and get a little revenge playing against his old team. Also Mike James is a good role player. Acquired from the Pistons in the summer, James provides defense and energy off the bench.

<font size="4"><font color="Green">Key Matchup:</font></font>
The Key Matchup is at the SG position.
Crawford

" target="_blank">http://www.nba.com/media/act_jamal_crawford.jpg"></a> vs.

" target="_blank">http://www.nba.com/media/act_michael_redd.jpg"></a>Redd
Great matchup. For those who are old school and love that sweet jumper, and for the new school of love the adept dribbling street ball moves. You have Jamal Crawford who can easily break ankles (ask David Wesley) and Michael Redd who can flat out shoot the rock. They both will have to contain each other tonight. No one has a real advantage. Crawford?s forte is driving, while Redd?s is shooting. Both need to try and contain each other. Fun matchup to watch, let?s see how it goes down!


<font size="4">My Prediction:</font>
I see this becoming a good and exciting game. Last time these two clubs played, it wound up becoming one of my all time favorite Knicks game. The Knicks down by 26 points, came back to win it in a rally which ended up becoming their largest run in franchise history. I don?t see something like this happening. I see us wining with a score of 100-85. With all that?s gone down from Wilkens, to that loss to the Rockets, ti the standings, to our recent performances, I think that we will try and make a statement for Milwaukee. Normally I wouldn?t have predicted a margin of victory by this much however, this is simply due to the fact what?s been going on with the franchise. Let?s see what happens, I do think this will be a very fun one to watch and btw, the Knicks are undefeated on Sundays at 5-0. Hopefully we can continue this tomorrow and maybe even the whole season, but let me keep one game at a time!

<font color="Red"><font size="3">Dont Forget This Game Is Not At Night. It Is At 3:00pm Eastern Time!</font></font>

 

[Mr. J]

<font color="Red"><font size="3">Dont Forget This Game Is Not At Night. It Is At 3:00pm Eastern Time!</font></font>

 

[Ming637]

This seems like a very winnable game for us...if we had defense

, oh well we'll just see how good the Knicks are with Herb Williams.

 

[Mr. J]

<font size="7">Halftime</font>
Knicks 50

Bucks 49

<font color="DarkOrange">
<font size="4">Knicks Leading Scorers:</font></font>
Stephon Marbury FG's:8-12

Mike Sweetney: 12 FG's: 5-10

Kurt Thomas: 6: FG's 4-5

<font color="Indigo"><font size="4">
Bucks Leading Scorers:</font></font>
Desmond Mason 12 FG's: 3-6

Michael Redd 3-7, Joe Smith 2-3, and Zaza Pachulia 3-4: 6

,

and

<font size="4"><font color="Red">mrj18's Hot at the Half:</font></font>
<font size="2">Stephon Marbury</font>

Stephon Marbury is showing the full repitoire today. He's posting up, shooting the lights out, and penetrating. Already he has 18 points, and it looks like he's on route to a 30 point game. He's also shooting a good 66% from the field a great first half for him.

<font size="4">My Prediction:</font>
I thought we would be up comfortably by now. I still am taking the Knicks by 10 in 105-95 win over Milwaukee. We are at home still trying to prove ourselves. I noticed we are playing smarter and more aggressive than usual. This shakeup will be good for us. Let's see what's good with this secind half.

 

[Knicks Analyst]

Not a bad first half. I wish Crawford would learn to calm down and take his time. Ariza's defense was pretty mediocre sadly. He got the nod to start and he was obviously very anxious. He got burned 2 or 3 times compliements of Desmond Mason who has a very quick first step. Ariza's problem on D is that he simply stands too close to his man, he has to learn to back off and let him pop a jumper.
Kurt has been cold as he has shown in recent games, but Sweetney was playing great ball with the exception of those misses from close in.

I wish the transition defense would improve at least a little bit. I think Herb is still trying out his pieces as he even let Sundov come in for a bit.
Nice to see him learning the team as quickly as possible

 

[Mr. J]

Ariza was kind of overzealous with his first start. I guess he had the butterflies which is definitely understandable playing in front of a big crowd especially in New York. He'll get better I think just from this experience.

 

[Beat]

How can kurt thomas be 4-5 and only have 6 points? And if he shot that well why is KA considering him cold?

 

[Knicks Analyst]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BobbyEscobar:</div><div class="quote_post">How can kurt thomas be 4-5 and only have 6 points? And if he shot that well why is KA considering him cold?</div>
He was cold in that his defense was lagging and he was slow cutting off picks and setting his screens.

________________________

<font color="Red">Game comments:</font><div style="padding-left: 20px;">I don't know what that was at the end. When Marbury got in the lane with a little under 2 minutes to play he got fouled hard and they didn't call it. I was sickened and then immediately Maurice Williams drills the jumper. That wasn't the backbreaker though - oh no, we needed Redd to scorch us with a three.

</div>All of these disheartening losses are obviously taking a toll on the Knicks.
Walt Frazier was right when he discussed the outlook of the Knicks in close 4th quarter games in that the players may now be asking themselves: "What will go wrong this time?" <font color="Navy">as opposed to</font>: "What can we do to win it from here?".

I don't blame this on Herb or the refs or any one individual. But rather on the lack of heart exhibited by the Knicks. We look like a dead basketball team in that we have no stamina later in the game and it doesn't appear as if anyone but Marbury cares.
It's time to make a trade - this team can't win. We need a new team and we'll have to wait a couple of years before we can expect anywhere near 5 games over .500.

 

[Tribute to H2O]

Well well well...another Knicks lost. Can someone PLEASE stop the bleeding???? PLEASE!!! I would look at the box score to get the exact numbers but I dont have to. Crawford's performance was disgusting...again. I wouldnt mind if he just missed but I do have a problem when he keeps on shooting and keeps on missing. I wish we could exchange Houston's and Crawford's places. He's wasting possessions and not even playing defense. If I could switch them I would, but I cant.

I am getting sick to my stomach with the losses. I'm not even mad anymore when the Knicks lose which isnt a good sign. We got the ball to Sweetney a good amount of times which I liked but we should have kept feeding him until they found a way to stop him. That would have been a better way to go then to let Crawford unleash a barrage of misses. Ariza didnt do too well in his first start. He probably should start off the bench for the rest of season. More foul woes from Nazr. Thanks alot big guy. That's pretty much it. It is officially time to trade someone.

 

[Mr. J]

For real I was especially disappointed. Sweetney played really well for us. I was very happy. All of those ignorant posters have no idea who Sweetney is. He proved them wrong today, on Friday, and all of those other times.

Man we need a shakeup but, we have gotten injuries too. Houston and Hardaway were out and would have helped on the perimeter. Too dissapointing for us. From what happened today, and this game I am really unhappy. Isiah has done nothing except fire Lenny too late. Obviously we need a change.

Knicks Anlayst, what trade would you like?

 

[Knicks Analyst]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mrj18:</div><div class="quote_post">
Knicks Anlayst, what trade would you like?</div>
What trade wouldn't I like right about now?

If Babcock would pull the trigger on the Marshall-Rose for Kurt-Penny trade I'd be very satisfied. Well, really anything to change the make up of the team, I mean we look horrible out there. The only 2 players I wouldn't consider trading are Sweetney and Ariza.
If we could get somebidy of real substance in return for him, I would let Marbury go.

Again, the team simply isn't working. Something must be done.
Just make a trade, Isiah as long as we don't get <font size="3">burned </font> on our end of it I'm pretty much for it.

 

[KnicksUK]

thats 9 from 10 losses. I'd put a lot of money on us making it 10 from 11 on tuesday. If we cant beat the Bucks how we gonna beat Phoenix. Something needs to be done but it won't be. I can see this freefall continuing for a while more.