New York vs. Seattle

[Mr. J]

<div align="center">

^made by Knicks Analyst

vs.

Knicks 26-34 / Superonics 41-19</div>
<font size="3">
Date: 3/13/05
Time 6:00 (Eastern Time)
TV: MSG, FSN-SEA, NBALP</font>

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

Previous Games:
Knicks: 93-83W vs. Wizards
Sonics: 100-97L vs. Chicago

Knicks:
Record: 26-34 (.433)
Standings: Fourth, Atlantic
At Home: 19-12
On Road: 7-22

PPG: 96.8 Opp PPG: 99.3
FG%: .451 Opp FG%: .464
RPG: 40.9 Opp RPG: 42.1

Supersonics:
Record: 42-18 (.683)
Standings: First, Northwest
At Home: 21-11
On Road: 20-8

PPG: 100.5 Opp PPG: 96.6
FG%: .447 Opp FG%: .457
RPG: 40.7 Opp RPG: 37.7


*BOLD* indicates leads team in particular stat.
Maurice Taylor and Malik Rose?s stats are when they became New York Knicks
<font size="4">
<font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Starters</font></font>
PG: Stephon Marbury
39.8pg 21.0ppg 3.0rpg 8.3apg

Jamal Crawford
36.5mpg 17.8ppg 2.8rpg 3.9apg

SF: Tim Thomas
27.1mpg 11.4ppg 3.5rpg 1.4apg

PF: Mike Sweetney
18.4ppg 8.3ppg 5.2rpg 0.6apg

C: Kurt Thomas
36.6mpg 11.8ppg 10.2rpg 2.1apg

<font color="Blue"><font size="3">Knicks Bench:</font></font>
Penny Hardaway
24.9mpg 7.7ppg 2.4rpg 2.1apg

Trevor Ariza
17.7mpg 6.1ppg 2.9rpg 1.2apg

Maurice Taylor
12.2mpg 6.2ppg 1.8rpg 0.6apg

Malik Rose
18.4mpg 6.0ppg 4.4rpg 0.6apg

Jerome Williams
15.8mpg 4.6ppg 3.5rpg 0.6apg

Jermaine Jackson
7.0mpg 2.3ppg 1.7rpg 0.0apg

Bruno Sundov
4.7mpg 1.6ppg 0.9rpg 0.1apg

Complete Knicks Stats


<font size="4">
<font color="Green">Supersonics Starters</font></font>
PG: Luke Ridnour
31.5mpg 10.0ppg 2.4rpg 6.1apg

SG: Ray Allen
39.6mpg 24.0ppg 4.3rpg 3.9apg

SF: Rashard Lewis
38.3mpg 20.6ppg 5.4rpg 1.1apg

PF: Reggie Evans
23.4mpg 4.9ppg 9.3rpg 0.6apg

C: Jerome James
15.9mpg 4.4ppg 2.9rpg 0.2apg

<font color="YellowGreen"><font size="3">Supersonics Bench</font></font>
Vladimir Radmanovic
29.5mpg 12.0ppg 4.6pg 1.4apg

Antonio Daniels
27.4mpg 11.7ppg 2.3rpg 4.2apg

Danny Fortson
17.5mpg 8.0ppg 6.0pg 0.1apg

Nick Collison
14.5mpg 4.8ppg 3.8pg 0.4apg

Ronald Murray
14.7mpg 5.8ppg 1.7pg 1.0apg

Vitaly Potapenko
6.4mpg 1.9ppg 1.9pg 0.0apg

Robert ?Ladies Man? Swift
3.6ppg 0.3ppg 0.2pg 0.2apg

Complete Supersonic Stats



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

and

Allan Houston and Jackie Butler

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

and

Matten Cleaves and Damien Wilkins


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

vs.

PG: Stephon Marbury against one of my favorite point guards, Luke Ridnour. Ridnour is a very good passer, and is the Sonics leading assists man with 6 per game. In fact, some people thought that he could develop into a John Stockton type of player. While I don?t think he?ll ever have the all-time record for assists per game, I don?t doubt the fact he will be a very good PG for years to come. Ridnour also has a good shooting touch and shoots about 39% from beyond the arc, while shooting about 88% from the charity stripe. Marbury definitely needs to put a body on him unless he wants to get lit up from down town. He also needs to take advantage of his strength. Ridnour at around 167 pounds, is vulnerable on the defensive end on Marbury. Stephon has about 33 more pounds on Ridnour so he should take advantage of it in the post. If Marbury puts effort on defense and continues his unselfish play as of late, it is very possible he can do very well in this matchup.

vs.

This is another one of my favorite players?Ray Allen. I loved his game since he was in Milwaukee. This matchup is the most important for the Knicks. Ray Allen is arguably the best shooter in the league, and the Knicks perimeter defense can get worse than that country singing half time performance in the all-star game! Jamal Crawford needs to play defense, plain and simple. I?d rather him score 5 points and put up a great defensive effort on Allen, than score his usual 18 and allow Allen to kill him on offense. Last game against Washington I couldn?t see, but reading the boxscore, the Knicks held the highest scoring backcourt to 35.5% from the field. They are very capable of playing good defense it?s just the effort isn?t there every single game. Ray Allen is a good bad shot shooter so imagine good shots he can get due to lackadaisical Knick defense. If Crawford decides not to play defense today, unless someone else has a big game, it?s probably a wrap.

vs.

SF: Rashard Lewis and Tim Thomas are playing the starting 3 position. Again, defense needs to be stressed at this position. Rashard Lewis is a scoring machine and is 17th in the NBA in 3 point percentage at 40.3%. He has good ball handling skills and has a more than legit driver?s license. If double T plays crappy defense, we need to substitute JYD and quick before he Rashard heats up. I get the feeling Tim will have another big game. If he posts up Lewis and has a good shooting night, I think he can do well in this matchup. If he plays defense for us, than we definitely have a shot at wining. He is also 14th in the NBA at 40.8% from the land of plenty. Tim needs to take advantage of his looks he?ll receive from Marbury and Crawford?s penetration.

vs.

Very interesting matchup we have at hand. Two players listed at 6?8 who are considered ?undersized? however, their height doesn?t effect their effectiveness and value they bring to their team. Reggie Evans is a VERY good rebounder who averages 9 boards in 23 minutes!!! He might be the best rebounder in the league. His offense isn?t that good though so I don?t see him posing any kind of threat. Sweetney who is also strong on the boards is a much greater offensive threat and I see him dominating in the post again. The only question is whether he can stay out of foul trouble. He creates so much havoc in the post and that opens up the floor for Crawford so he can drain 3?s and Marbury penetrating. If he can stay away from the ticky-tac fouls, he will have a very good presence for the Knicks.

vs.

C: This matchup could make or break our defense. Last time in Orlando, because Kurt Thomas was struggling, Cato was able to lock up the paint and that somewhat threw off our whole offense. James is a good shot blocker and Kurt Thomas? midrange jumper needs to be on target. Keeping James and other shot blockers out of the paint is essential to whether we win or lose. Our offense is run through Marbury who thrives from getting into the paint, however if it?s inaccessible our whole offense can be thrown off. The pick and roll will have to be on target.

<font size="3"><font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Bench Summary</font></font>
Our bench will have to be key tonight. JYD and Malik will need to give us much needed energy and hustle off the bench. Taylor needs to continue his scoring and his presence in the post. Ariza needs to give us some more energy and a defensive spark creating easy transition opportunities for us. Hardaway needs to play smart and give us some scoring and good leadership off the bench. Jermaine Jackson needs to continue his good defense that he plays especially against a team like this. If Bruno gets burn today, he needs to give us scoring from the perimeter when left open. Our bench needs to be great and provide us with depth we?ve been lacking prior to the trade deadline.

<font size="3"><font color="Green">Supersonic Bench Summary:</font></font>
The Sonics bench is very deep. They have yet another perimeter threat and a 6th man of the year in Vladimir Radmanovic. What makes Vlad so effective is like most European big men, is able to shoot the long ball, and very well at 6?10! The Knicks bigs can not forget about this and that needs to be stressed tonight. They have Antonio Daniels a back up PG giving about 12 points and 4 assists off the bench. Not so sure if Fortson who?s had some problems with the team recently will be playing. He didn?t play yesterday and isn?t on the injured list so, I really don?t know. Nick Collison from Kansas gives them a little lift off the bench as well. Their starters are the main concern for the Knicks, however the bench can certainly not be forgotten at all!

<div align="center"><font size="4"><font color="Green">Key Matchup:</font></font>
The Most Important
Jamal Crawford

vs.

Ray Allen
This matchup is the most important. Jamal Crawford and Ray Allen are two prolific scorers. Allen is a premier shooting guard while Crawford is someone trying to become one. Jamal Crawford a young player with a ways to go, will be playing a very experienced veteran. Defense wins championships and it can also win this game against the Sonics. Allen needs to take advantage of any lackluster defense he receives and make the Knicks pay. Playing against one of the best shooter in the league requires defense and whether or not he decides to show up or not will most likely decide our fate. That is why this is the most important matchup in my opinion.</div>


<font size="4">My Prediction:</font>
The Knicks are playing the Seattle Sonics with the 3rd best record in the western conference. They are playing with tons of confidence and are one of the most surprising teams in the whole NBA this season. They come to Madison Square Garden after losing a close one in Seattle against the Bulls. The Knicks have won 7 straight at home and 7 of their last 10 games. They are playing very different basketball than what they were in January. Although they are playing an elite western conference team, I am taking the Knicks partly because I am a bias fan, and second of all because of the way they have been playing at home. They are playing with too much confidence and I feel as if Herb Williams will stress this game and the Knicks will actually show up. With the World?s Most Famous Arena cheering on their beloved Knicks, I will make a bold statement and say the Knicks will win it 100-90. Just please, don?t bash me if my prediction is totally wrong

.
<font color="Red"><font size="4">Don?t Forget:</font></font>
<font size="3">THIS GAME IS AT 6:00 PM EASTERN TIME!!! 3:00 PM IN SEATTLE</font>

 

[Knicks Analyst]

I am going to this game. Looking forward to it as well. The Allen-Crawford match-up should be intense and fun to watch. Look for Crawford to go for it all, driving, putting up threes and turn-around jumpers. Crawford has to be willing to hoist his shots, but he must be careful about shot selection. This game has the potential to be a complete blow out in favor of Seattle. After all, we do have one of the worst, if not the worst. perimeter defense(s) in the entire league. And seeing that Seattle lives and dies by the 3, we could end up watching a blow out. Look for a rebounding war between Evans and Sweetney assuming Herb actually lets Sweetney play after the beginning of the 3rd. Marbury better slash nicely and finish if we want to win today as well.
Tim Thomas will have to put his energy on defense today, something he is absolutely horrible at. Thomas has quite an assignment, watch Lewis burn him often.

I'm going to go with this:
Seattle: 96
Knicks: 90

 

[Platehpus]

After Seattles collapse against the Rockets, they're definitely going to be hustling. We'll have to be amped up enough to play our best basketball for 48 minutes or we don't stand a chance. Oh who am I kidding, I just want to see Robert Swift play.

 

[VintageNYK]

Im picking the Knicks to win, 101-97.

 

[JWohl]

wow

as of right now, halftime, the knicks are winning. Bury and TT both have 12 and TT is already above his season average with 4 bounds. Of course sweet has only played 8 minutes but has 4 pts and 4 boards. WHY DOESNT HE PLAY MORE?

 

[Knicks Analyst]

Got back from the game last night, but didn't have time to sum it up.
Ok game for some of our guys, no one was awful. Oh wait, Kurt wasn't exactly dominant, niether was Crawford. I swear, I am sick of inconsistency. I hate it, the team wins 7 straight at home, coming off some rest and two key players are way off their game. It's as if they didn't practice once in all those days off.
The perimeter defense got scorched, just like I figured it would. I knew Lewis was gonna drill us, there was no doubt. We really would have had a fighting chance if Crawford and Kurt were playing to what they usually do. Marbury was excellent for some time, then with some poor decision making - solid game from him overall though. During the game I was thinking "Wow, Tim isn't screwing up." Wow, for those 4 seconds I was wrong. 4 turnovers, let up 20 or so from Lewis, and of course only 1 assist. Terrible.

 

[Tribute to H2O]

For a second I thought the Knicks were actually going to win that one. They did everything right defensively but oddly enough our main problem was that we couldnt put the ball in the hoop. This is a game the Knicks should have won. They didnt score as much as they wanted to if our offense had been decent we would have won. The coaching wasnt good at all. I'm almost getting tired of saying that we should be feeding Sweetney in the low post. The lineups used were also questionable. Sometimes too much defense and not enough offense.

Marbury was not in the least bit solid. He shot about 30% from the field which is unacceptable. Crawford was also horrible from the field as was Kurt Thomas. When I think about it I'm surprised we were in the game. So instead of feeding the low post and seeing if we can get some high percentage shots against their questionable interior defense(which we had been doing for the past couple of games with great success) we allowed Marbury, Crawford and Kurt Thomas to shoot us into a hole. Tiago Splitter...here we come.

 

[Mr. J]

mrj18 post game show (LATE THOUGH)

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">Tiago Splitter...here we come.</div>
For some reason, I knew Tiago Splitter would be brought up!

As for the game, it was a game that slipped through our hands. We could have very much won this game, just some daggers at the end killed us. I couldn't see the game, and these guys on the radio aren't too great either at telling what's going on so, I can only comment based upon what I heard.

We were down 3 I think with a little less than 2 minutes left and then Radmanovic and Collison at the end stabbed us in the heart. I am concerned. What's wrong with the Knicks offense?? The same thing happened with us against Washington. We couldn't make any baskets and that got us down the stretch. We were always in the ball game just at the end, we couldn't produce. I really was expecting a win too. Perhaps against Miami?

 

[JWohl]

jiafijc

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mrj18:</div><div class="quote_post">For some reason, I knew Tiago Splitter would be brought up!

As for the game, it was a game that slipped through our hands. We could have very much won this game, just some daggers at the end killed us. I couldn't see the game, and these guys on the radio aren't too great either at telling what's going on so, I can only comment based upon what I heard.

We were down 3 I think with a little less than 2 minutes left and then Radmanovic and Collison at the end stabbed us in the heart. I am concerned. What's wrong with the Knicks offense?? The same thing happened with us against Washington. We couldn't make any baskets and that got us down the stretch. We were always in the ball game just at the end, we couldn't produce. I really was expecting a win too. Perhaps against Miami?

</div>
we can hope to beat them cant we? Kurt defending the Big Deisel....

 

[KnicksUK]

Miami is a guaranteed loss. I thought we could beat Seattle tho.

 

[VintageNYK]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting KnicksUK:</div><div class="quote_post">Miami is a guaranteed loss. I thought we could beat Seattle tho.</div>

Always believe, my brother. No matter what, keep the faith.

 

[Mr. J]

Yes keep the faith. We can win any game if we put our minds to it. We could have won last meeting but that possesion at the end by Kurt and Marbury killed us.

Btw, the preview for the Heat and Knicks will be up in about a little while guys.

 

[Tribute to H2O]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mrj18:</div><div class="quote_post">For some reason, I knew Tiago Splitter would be brought up!

</div>

I have accepted the fact that we're probably not going to make the playoffs. We cant win on the road and we cant beat some of the better teams at home. And we have to win all of our homegames and steal a few on the road to have a chance of getting eliminated by the Miami Heat in the first round. So I'm very excited about the prospect of having either Bogut or Splitter in a Knicks uniform.

 

[KnicksUK]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NYK Pride:</div><div class="quote_post">Always believe, my brother. No matter what, keep the faith.</div>

I have tried all season but it was just too obvious with Miami. Even if we had taken it to OT I still think we would have lost. I'm looking forward to getting some youth in the team to get it rejuvenated. Ariza and Sweetney look the top dogs at the moment and they are both young so I have hope for that.

 

[Mr. J]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post"> So I'm very excited about the prospect of having either Bogut or Splitter in a Knicks uniform.

</div>
Sadly, I don't think we have much of a chance at getting Bogut.