New York vs. San Antonio

[Mr. J]

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^made by Knicks Analyst

@

Knicks 27-37 / Spurs 51-16 </div>
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Date: 3/21/05
Time 7:30 (Eastern Time)
TV: MSG, KRRT, NBALP, </font>

<font size="4">Season Stats</font>
Previous Games:
Knicks: 97-82L @ Miami
Heat: 110-101L @ Detroit

Knicks:
Record: 27-37 (.422)
Standings: Fifth, Atlantic
At Home: 19-14
At Road: 8-23

PPG: 96.5 Opp PPG: 99.0
FG%: .450 Opp FG%: .464
RPG: 40.7 Opp RPG: 42.1

Spurs:
Record: 50-16 (.758)
Standings: First, Southwest
At Home: 31-3
At Road: 19-13

PPG: 96.8 Opp PPG: 86.9
FG%: .463 Opp FG%: .422
RPG: 42.3 Opp RPG: 39.2

*BOLD* indicates leads team in particular stat.
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<font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Starters</font></font>
PG: Stephon Marbury
39.8pg 21.1ppg2.9rpg 8.1apg

Jamal Crawford
36.7mpg 17.2ppg 2.8rpg 4.2apg

SF: Tim Thomas
27.7mpg 11.9ppg 3.5rpg 1.5apg

PF: Mike Sweetney
18.6ppg 8.3ppg 5.3rpg 0.6apg

C: Kurt Thomas
36.6mpg 11.8ppg 10.3rpg 2.1apg

<font color="Blue"><font size="3">Knicks Bench:</font></font>
Penny Hardaway
24.2mpg 7.3ppg 2.4rpg 2.0apg

Trevor Ariza
17.4mpg 6.0ppg 2.9rpg 1.1apg

Maurice Taylor
11.6mpg 4.6ppg 1.8rpg 0.3apg

Malik Rose
17.6mpg 6.4ppg 3.1rpg 0.4apg

Jerome Williams
15.6mpg 4.6ppg 3.5rpg 0.6apg

Jermaine Jackson
7.0mpg 1.8ppg 1.3rpg 0.3apg

Bruno Sundov
4.7mpg 1.6ppg 0.9rpg 0.1apg

Complete Knicks Stats


<font size="4"><font color="DimGrey">Spurs Starters</font></font>
PG: Tony Parker
34.2mpg 16.1ppg 3.8rpg 6.1apg

SG: Manu Ginobili
29.9mpg 16.1ppg 4.5rpg 3.9apg

SF: Bruce Bowen
31.7mpg 8.3ppg 3.4rpg 1.5apg

PF: Nazr Mohammed???
15.7mpg 6.6ppg 5.7rpg 0.9apg

C: Rasho Nesterovic
34.2ppg 22.5ppg 10.3rpg 2.9apg

<font color="SlateGrey"><font size="3">Spurs Bench</font></font>
Devin Brown
18.3mpg 7.2ppg 2.5rpg 1.4apg

Brent Barry
20.5mpg 6.7ppg 2.1rpg 2.2apg

Beno Udrih
14.0mpg 5.8ppg 1.0pg 2.2apg

Robert Horry
16.7mpg 5.4ppg 3.1pg 1.1apg

Dion Glover
9.5mpg 1.0ppg 2.0pg 1.0apg

Tony Massenburg
107mpg 3.oppg 2.3pg 0.2apg

Complete Spurs Stats



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

and

Allan Houston and Jackie Butler

<font color="DimGrey">SAS:</font>

Sean Marks / Mike Wilks / Linton Johnson III


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

vs.

PG: A fun one right here as we have two of the fastest PG?s going head to head. This will be a good matchup and if I remember correctly, doesn?t Marbury have a history of owning Parker...or was that just in the playoffs? All I know is when Marbury made Parker fall, it was PRICELESS Now, back to the more important stuff, Parker really breaks down defenses with a lot of ease so the Knicks weak perimeter defense should be easy. Breaking down the defense will open things up and allow Parker to show why he leads the Spurs in assists per game. Defense will be key today for Marbury. He should also take advantage of his strength on Parker. Post up plays should be used run for Marbury. I do want Marbury to have more of a scoring role while allowing Jamal to run the point.

vs.

SG: Another fun matchup. The Argentinean super slasher will be going against Jamal Crawford. While the Knicks got killed at the SBC Center earlier in the season, I remember this highlight from Crawford too well. It was a fast break?knowing about Manu?s defensive prowess, I was afraid he would strip the ball from Crawford guarding him. My son Jamal shook Manu right out of his shoes, and layed it up! Crawford who has one of the top 10 crossovers in the league today, can not go out of control today. I like the more conservative Crawford when Herb assigns him to the 1. He usually gets those dimes and the team seems to respond to him better than Marbury. Ginobili who is now an all-star, has improved his game. Playing .5 minutes less than last year, his FG% has sky rocketed by about 7%! His 3 point shooting as increased by 3 at now a very respectable 39%. Crawford needs to put a hand in Ginobili?s face and also he can?t forget he is left handed.

vs.

SF: Bruce Bowen and the unstoppable Tim Thomas. Bowen a very?clever defensive player finds a way to get into the minds of players Vince Carter a very potent offensive weapon even has trouble against Bowen. Even if you drop 40+ on him, he can still find some way to take you out the game. Tim Thomas can?t fall into the traps of Bowen. Last time Shaq intimidated him enough for him to get a technical I believe, so imagine Bowen. Bowen also lead the NBA in 3 point field goal percentage two years ago. He only shoots 3?s from the corner off open feeds. Tim Thomas needs to do something he?s done little of over his career?playing defense. He has 3 or so inches on Bowen and 40 more pounds to be utilized in the post. Tim Thomas has been playing good basketball as of late, the question is will he continue it or give us flash backs of what he was doing in the beginning of the season.

vs.

PF: Tim Duncan hasn?t really been out this season so whether Nazr Mohammed is starting or not in this matchup, is questionable. If the Spurs are starting Nazr on Sweetney it will be interesting. So much emotion will be involved in this game. For about a year, I?ve been watching Nazr Mohammed and I?ve had mixed emotions about his game. Mostly because how inconsistent it?s been! But on the real, Mohammed was decent for the Knicks and actually elevated his game. Before, he was just an athletic athlete who happened to be fast. He was not even really decent and he used to always pick up two fouls in the beginning seconds (I?m not joking either!) In the summer, Nazr completely elevated his game to the level where even some people are overrating him!!! That is quite an improvement. Now the center that the Knicks made will be playing against us. He will be playing against the future of the New York Knicks, Michael Sweetney from Georgetown. Due to Mohammed being seriously foul prone, Sweetney and his post game and bulk can easily get Mohammed into trouble. Mohammed?s athleticism and speed might do vice-versa with Mike. Both can really do well or struggle in this matchup.

vs.

C: Rasho doesn?t use much of a post game. Similarly to Kurt Thomas, they both thrive on the from the midrange area. Only on defense, Rasho is a 7 footer and an excellent shot blocker. Kurt Thomas must remember he should put a body on him and not expect constant post ups like his usual opponents. Again, Kurt makes up for his lack of size with that midrange jumper keeping great shot blockers like Rasho out of the paint area. If size becomes too much of a problem for Kurt, he shouldn?t hesitate to foul him?he only shoots 44.4% from the charity stripe. I don?t see this being too much trouble for Kurt, just another day at work!

<font size="3"><font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Bench Summary</font></font>
The X factor off the bench? If you said Malik Rose you are right. While Malik Rose is a great guy and taking his trade to the Knicks well, it really must be hard for him leaving San Antonio where he spent 7 and ? years. He still is a bit upset about that and I believe he will show it playing his former team. The good thing is that he knows all of the plays. The bad news is how do we stop them? We also need Taylor?s game to be on today. Ariza and JYD need to give us intensity and depth off the bench. Penny needs to start playing better and provide us with some scoring off the bench.

<font size="3"><font color="DimGrey">Spurs Bench Summary:</font></font>
The Spurs bench is deep and it is full of proven role players who perform their best all of the time. The Spurs bench has always been elite and consisted of role players such as Beno Udrih, (I believe a late first rounder), Malik Rose when he was there, Robert Horry, and Nazr Mohammed. They are capable of giving any team a hard time and they should be watched out for.


<div align="center"><font size="4"><font color="Green">Key Matchup:</font></font>
POINT GUARD PLAY</div>

<div align="center">Well the two floor generals who get their teams involved are the key matchup. They are in control of the tempo of this game. The two leading assist men for their teams have to exude discipline and leadership as they are in tough situations. While Tim Duncan an MVP candidate and Spurs leading scorer is out, it is a struggle everyday for Marbury and the Knicks. This matchup will reflect the whole team and whoever takes the role of point guard more seriously will win. I?m pretty sure of that.

vs.

" target="_blank">http://www.nba.com/media/act_tony_parker.jpg"></a> </div>
<div align="center">STARBURY VS. PARKER</div>






<font size="4">My Prediction:</font>
As much as I want to lose today, I have a feeling the Duncan-less Spurs will be at the mercy of the Knicks at home tonight. I see Rose and Marbury stepping up their games as the Knicks win this game at home. I know San Antonio is a good team and I don?t even want the Knicks to win this game, I just think it will happen. New York 95-87 win over the Spurs.

<font color="Red"><font size="4">Don?t Forget:</font></font>
<font size="3">THIS GAME IS AT 7:30 PM EASTERN TIME!!! AND IS ON 1050 AM ESPN RADIO</font>

 

[Mr. J]

Mixed Feelings

I knew that we'd win, but not by this much! The difference maker today...Marbury. He really took over in the 3rd and was THE catalyst for getting us a victory. I have mixed feelings about this game. While the Knicks won, I really want them to go into the lottery and get a pick. I never though I'd say this but: I am not happy the Knicks won this game.

 

[Knicks Analyst]

Good win. Marbury was fantastic in the 2nd half. Good win. Even though San Antonio was missing the big Fundamental. Not much more to it - good win. Cheers! :beerchug:

 

[crazyrussianz]

The whole preview was good but butler wasnt injured and KT was.

 

[crazyrussianz]

Ooo snap Knicks Analyst Matis Yahu good stuff... he sounds so black if i didnt knw he was hasidic i woould thing he was black

 

[Mr. J]

Even so, we were missing Kurt Thomas too even though I know it isn't even close to Duncan. 11:23 minutes without a basket is what the Knicks did to the Spurs. It's a huge win because we were missing players on a short notice and we still won against an elite team despite and MVP player absent. Still a good win nonetheless.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
The whole preview was good but butler wasnt injured and KT was.</div>
I had no idea. I just found out about it after the game started. It's tough listening to stuff on the radio

<font size="2">Other News:</font>
Jackie Butler was activated and made a layup. That's all I heard on the radio. I heard that Aguirre is working with him. Imagine what he can do to Nazr what he can do with a young center full of potential. It should be interesting. I look forward to seeing him next season!

 

[mike18946]

Good to see Malik play again, he looked good out there. Shame the Knicks don't play the Spurs in San Antonio until next season.

Spurs just couldn't make shots in the 2nd half last night.

 

[JWohl]

Yes

YES!! We won a game that will ultimatley be meaningless and just make our draft positioning worse!! WOOOHOOO!! IM ECSTATIC!! But 'Bury was pretty good in the second half.

 

[Platehpus]

We're 3 1/2 games out of 8th, I wouldn't call any game meaningless from here on out.

 

[TnNeG]

good win. i want my msg back damnit.

 

[SuperAMB]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting JWohl:</div><div class="quote_post">YES!! We won a game that will ultimatley be meaningless and just make our draft positioning worse!! WOOOHOOO!! IM ECSTATIC!! But 'Bury was pretty good in the second half.</div>
Personally, I think that just making it into the playoffs, even in the 8th seed, which if we do alright on this road trip is very possible, which is very improbable (figure that one out), is a step in the right direction. Yes, I know that I will probably get flamed with cries of "but then our draft position will be lower," but it will be pretty low already, and from what I've seen, second round picks sometimes turn out to be better then first round picks, and it won't make a difference HOW low we are, but we will be low enough anyway.

 

[Tribute to H2O]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SuperAMB:</div><div class="quote_post">Personally, I think that just making it into the playoffs, even in the 8th seed, which if we do alright on this road trip is very possible, which is very improbable (figure that one out), is a step in the right direction. Yes, I know that I will probably get flamed with cries of "but then our draft position will be lower," but it will be pretty low already, and from what I've seen, second round picks sometimes turn out to be better then first round picks, and it won't make a difference HOW low we are, but we will be low enough anyway.</div>

You think just squeezing into the playoffs just to be swept is a step in the right direction? Last year it was a step in the right direction since it had been a couple of years since the Knicks were seen in the playoffs. We needed to make the playoffs just to feel good about ourselves and to see that we were improving. This season making the playoffs to land in the 8th seed is a complete waste of time. Give up on this disaster of a season, start Ariza at small forward, use our high pick to draft you guessed it Tiago Splitter!!! and get ready for next season will be the smartest move the Knicks franchise has made in a long time.

 

[JWohl]

knicks

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Personally, I think that just making it into the playoffs, even in the 8th seed, which if we do alright on this road trip is very possible, which is very improbable (figure that one out), is a step in the right direction. Yes, I know that I will probably get flamed with cries of "but then our draft position will be lower," but it will be pretty low already, and from what I've seen, second round picks sometimes turn out to be better then first round picks, and it won't make a difference HOW low we are, but we will be low enough anyway</div>

THAT IS STUPID!! We would gain NOTHING out of being the eigth seed and probably getting swept again. Instead if we are in the lottery we could pick anywhere from 1-14 instead of gauranteeing oursleves the 15 or 16 seed. We would have no leverage to trade if we had nothing but mid / late round picks. If we have a 7,8,9 pick and package that with a late round pick or two we could get a top pick