Knicks Post Game Notes: The Knicks Win, Beat Clippers in Comeback

Once again, Mike D’Antoni failed to start Al Harrington, and the Knicks got off to yet another slow start. The Knicks fail behind by as much as 20 points in the first half of their game with the Los Angeles Clippers, but ultimately, defense and a hot David Lee spurred the Knicks to their 6th win in the month of December.

Here are some of the things I noticed in the Knicks comeback win:

The Knicks really can play some defense – I know the Knicks are as sporadic as they come, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but every now and then they play lock down defense. Wilson Chandler can be a force against small forwards that aren’t that quick (such as Al Thornton), and David Lee can hold his own against centers that aren’t brutally stronger than him (such as Chris Kaman). Most importantly though, Danillo Gallinari isn’t that bad at creating havoc on the defensive side of the ball. Look, he’s no Kobe Bryant on the defensive side of the ball, but he uses his size and positioning to get his hands on balls and grab some crucial rebounds, and he was a big part of the Knicks ability to tie the game up in the 3rd quarter.

David Lee is going to be the next Karl Malone – I know I’m using a little hyperbole when I say that, but I really think this could be the case. Clearly, Lee has mastered the pick n’ roll with Chris Duhon, and that could become a deadly combination if those two stay together for the long-term. Secondly, Lee’s shot is getting a lot better. And we really began to see a Hall of Fame-esque surge in Malone’s career when that 17-footer became a part of his arsenal. Lastly, I know Lee isn’t nearly the prolific scorer that Malone was at the beginning of his career, but with time, it seems as if Lee is very much on his way to becoming a guy you can give the basketball and let him do his thing. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not that guy yet. But with a developing jumper, an ambidextrous ability around the rim, and his mastery of the pick-n-roll, David Lee’s game is going to look a lot like Karl Malone’s 2 or 3 years from now.

Al Harrington needs to start – I guess D’Antoni just doesn’t care about the numbers, but the statistics clearly say that Harrington’s presence early on and throughout the game has a significant impact on the Knicks’ ability to win games. Last night, he got just 30 minutes against the Clippers, and even though he shot 3 for 15, his impact on the game and his ability to stretch the court resulted in a +3 ratio. And during the Knicks win streak of 5 out of 6 games, it was Harrington’s early presence in games that was the difference. But maybe D’Antoni knows something I don’t know, but it would seem to me that starting Al Harrington is much more important than this “spark” he’s hoping to get from the bench.

Larry Hughes was missed – As well as the Knicks played in the 2nd half, Larry Hughes was severely missed. His defense really would have been in asset in slowing down Eric Gordon, who got to the free throw line 10 times. Obviously, he would have been a much better person to put on Baron Davis, who scored 19 points and shot 7 of 17 from the field, many of his points off explosions to the rim that would have been hard to execute against Larry. Hopefully, Hughes will be back soon, because the Knicks won’t be able to overcome early guard offense every night like they did against the inconsistent Clippers on Friday.

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"Guess Who?" - Battle of the Double-Double Centers

Time for a little “Guess Who?”

I’ll try to do this frequently throughout the basketball season. It’s a little, well-known game, in which I will give you two players’ stats without identifying them, and then I will shockingly reveal who these players are, underlying the glaring blinders we put on when we see certain names on the backs of NBA jerseys.

Anyway, here are today’s pair of players, both whom play the Center position—sort of.

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December Beasts: "Why Are the Knicks Winning?"

Maybe it’s because the holiday season is one of the few bright spots during the winter in New York City, but whatever the reason is, the New York Knicks are on fire since the start of December.

So the question is, “Why are the Knicks winning?”

Before we get into that, let us address the Knicks recent level of success. The Knicks have won their last 4 games, and 5 of 6, all in the month of December. They have scored 100 points or more in 5 of their 6 games, and their opponents have only gone over 100 points 2 of these 6 games. The Knicks have won all 3 of their home games this month, and they are obviously 2-1 on the road. They have beaten the likes of Phoenix, Atlanta and Portland, and their sole December loss is to the reigning NBA Eastern Conference Champions the Orlando Magic.

So there’s their December track record.

So once again, “Why are the Knicks winning?”

It’s a difficult question to answer, especially when so much of it has to do with effort. But I will address why I think the Knicks are winning AND reasons that should be removed from the conversation. First, here are two reasons that should not be attributed to the Knicks winning ways.

Non-Attributable Reason #1 – Nate Robinson isn’t playing anymore.
That is just a ludicrous reason. Don’t get me wrong. Nate was somewhat immature and was a liability against big point guards, but his overall effect on the team was positive, and for anyone to deny that would be silly. Yes, in the 5 straight losses the Knicks incurred leading into December, Nate was the leading scorer in 3 of them. Does that demonstrate that he was a scorer to the detriment of the team? It could, until you look at the numbers more closely. Nate’s shot selection was not costing the Knicks games. In fact, he was shooting 26 of 44 (59%) from the floor. He also had 13 assists and just 6 turnovers in those 3 games. So don’t hate on Nate, just because his lack of playing time has diminished during the Knicks winning streak.

Non-Attributable Reason #2 – The Knicks are trying harder
To be honest with you, I don’t think the Knicks are trying all much harder than they were before. Could they be a little more focuses? Perhaps. But they have been trying all of this time, and it’s not as if their hustle stats are all that great right now. They haven’t had a ton of steals and they aren’t exactly dominating the offensive glass. All and all, the effort has been pretty much the same. The reason they have allowed fewer points has probably had more to do with the type of players they have had in the game as opposed to an increase in the team’s overall level of effort.

Now, here’s why the Knicks ARE winning:

Winning reason #1 – The Knicks are shooting better.
This one is an easy thing to notice. Because the Knicks seem to be taking better shots, moving the ball around creating for one another, their shooting percentage is much better over the past 6 games, especially in the 5 wins. The Knicks have shot 46% or better in 5 of their 6 December games, including 3 games of 49% or better. This is compared to shooting percentages of 35 and 38 during their late November losing streak. Big props have to go to Danilo Gallinari who is hitting a lot more of his outside shots, and also, Wilson Chandler seems to have come out of his early season slum. But most importantly, Al Harrington has really stepped it up, shooting 50% or better in 5 of 6 games this month, helping alter the Knicks shooting woes.

Winning Reason #2 – Larry Hughes and Al Harrington in the starting lineup
Even when the Knicks were losing in November, it was clear that Larry Hughes was having a positive impact on the Knicks competitive level of play. But when Mike D’Antoni finally inserted Al Harrington in the lineup this month, his scoring proficiency combined with Hughes overall game has made the Knicks very formidable over the past 6 games. Hughes brings a defensive force to the guard position, something the Knicks haven’t had in a long time. And Al Harrington has helped the Knicks avoid falling behind early by getting the Knicks off to decent if not terrific starts over the past 6 contests. One has to wonder why D’Antoni took so long to put them both in the starting lineup, especially Harrington, who I have been clamoring for all season long.

Winning Reason #3 – The Knicks are playing defense.
Once again, we’re attributing the Knicks winning ways to Larry Hughes, and rightfully so, as he has been a big time player for the Knicks. His ability to slow down guards is something the Knicks haven’t had in years, and he can even give Wilson Chandler a break from time to time on smaller forwards because of his length. But Hughes isn’t the only stepping up on defense. David Lee is doing a much better job of challenging post-up big men at the rim. Danillo Gallinari is playing defense in the paint and using his length to bother and block shots. And Wilson Chandler has almost been LeBron-esque with his sudden escalation in shot-blocking ability. Not to mention, Jared Jeffries has been great being an all-around defender, even guarding point guards from time to time.

So once again, it all comes down to defense. The Knicks are shooting better and have the right two guys in the starting lineup, but holding their opponents to under 100 points in 4 of their 6 games this month is why their winning basketball games, and they will continue to do so if they can keep that up—especially with an offense as potent as theirs.

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Knicks Round Up: December 10, 2009

After all this time, who would have thought that all the New York Knicks needed to do was read? http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/11434/knicks-book-club-pays-off

Nate Robinson on the trading block. Say it ain’t so. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/New-York-Knicks-trading-Nate-Robinson-?urn=nba,207579

Where does Donnie Walsh get off blaming somebody else for what is ultimately his responsibility? http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2009/12/10/2009-12-10_walsh_scouts_for_excuses.html?r=sports/basketball/knicks&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+nydnrss/sports/basketball/knicks+(Sports/Basketball/Knicks)&utm_content=Twitter

Frank Isola thinks that the benching of Nate and Curry is why the Knicks have started to win. I’m not so sure about that, but… http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks/2009/12/dantonis-moves-starting-to-pay.html

Speaking of benching and trading him, exactly how does Nate Robinson feel about his currently situation? http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/nate_gate_benching_hasn_broken_robinson_HU5iDcimG0WZjGTj9iKbIL

I definitely made a bad decision not attend this game; I could’ve gotten some autographs…if I was interested in that kind of thing. http://www.lovebscott.com/2009/12/08/celebs-attend-new-york-knicks-game/

The Knicks have lost a little value during the nation-wide recession. No surprise there. One has to wonder how they avoided the in-arena recession when no one was showing up for games. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4729043

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Where Does He Rank: Al Harrington

How good is Al Harrington?

Better than you think.

The 29-year old, forward is having his best season ever in his 11th year as an NBA player. He was recently moved from the bench to the starting lineup, and his numbers are just getting better and better.

But we know Harrington is carrying the New York Knicks. The question is, where does he stack up against other players in the league?


Scoring
Al Harrington’s 156 field goals rank 17th in the NBA, while shooting a very respectable 46% from the field. That percentage is better than comparable players, such as Grant Hill, Ron Artest, Danny Granger and Caron Butler—this despite the fact that Harrington shoots his fair share of 3-pointers.

Harrington’s average of 19.8 points per game is the 17th best mark in the NBA. Harrington also has the same true-shooting percentage that Kobe Bryant had all last season.

Rebounding
Al Harrington does not have great rebounding numbers, but they are certainly pretty impressive for a guy who hasn’t been asked to rebound much during his career. He averages just 6.5 rebounds per game, but his rebound rate of 11.8 is better than LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, and power forwards Rashard Lewis, Charlie Villanueva, David West and Jeff Green.

Passing
There’s really no hope for Harrington in this category. Even among power forwards his assists ratio is laughable. 82games.com gives him a passing rating of 1.2, in comparison to that of say LeBron James who has an 8.3.

Overall
As a whole, and admittedly omitting his defensive woes, Harrington is having a very impressive season. His player efficiency rating of 19.37 is among the top 20 players in the NBA and is better than that of Tony Parker, Paul Pierce, Andre Iguodala, Deron Williams and Baron Davis. Among small forwards, Al Harrington’s PER is the 6th best in the NBA. And among power forwards, his PER is just outside of top 10 and better than Amare Stoudemire and Elton Brand.

While Harrington’s “value added” rating is on the 35th best in the NBA that is in part a reflection of being on a team that doesn’t win very many games. But if he keeps playing like this, we could see that ranking rise along with Al Harrington’s star.

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Knicks Need Not Sleep On the Player they Already Have

What do you think when you see numbers like this:

12/6: 24 points, 9 rebounds

12/4: 18 points, 17 rebounds

12/1: 24 points, 8 rebounds

11/29: 20 points, 12 rebounds

I know. Those are pretty eye-popping numbers. Kind of Tim Duncan-ish, right?

Well, those aren’t Tim Duncan’s numbers. Those are numbers being put up by David Lee of the New York Knicks. Those are the stats for 4 of Lee’s previous 5 games. I did omit a 9 point, 6-rebound blowout loss to the Magic on the heels of a game the night before, but even including that game, Lee has averaged 19 points and 10.4 rebounds over his past 5 games.

Someone is really going to have to show me just how badly the NBA was hurt by the collapse of the economy, because unless they were a few million away from filing for bankruptcy, I don’t understand how David Lee didn’t even get an offer during restricted free agency.

Lee is coming off a season in which he averaged 16 points and 11.8 rebounds, and yet he couldn’t get a long-term offer from another team. While that was great for Knicks fans who want to see Lee continue to be in New York, it’s unfathomable how the timing of Lee’s free agency affected his contract status. Now he’s with the Knicks on a 1-year deal worth $7 million, while his big-man counterparts have long-term deals for double-digit millions per year.

New York Knicks fans, consider yourselves very lucky.

How lucky?

Well, you don’t have to go back very far. Just look at the deals for two recent big men that entered restricted free agency; Emeka Okafor and Andrew Bogut.

During the summer of 2008, after a season in which Okafor averaged 13.8 points and 10.7 rebounds, Okafor got a contract extension for $72 million over 6 years. Granted, at 1.9 blocks per game, Okafor plays much better defense than David Lee, but to Lee’s credit, Okafor is more a liability against the pick-n-roll.

As for Bogut, he got a 5-year, $60 million extension after 2007-2008 season in which he averaged 11.7 points and 10.3 rebounds. He’s still a little bit better on defense than Lee, but he’s no Stallworth either. I’d be remiss to omit Bogut’s 2.5 assists per game, but Lee isn’t too bad passing the ball either at 1.5 assists per game.

Needless to say, it would seem to me that if those guys can get multi-year extensions after their rookie contracts, in what were at best, relatively equal seasons to Lee’s ’08-’09 averages of 16 and 12, then Lee should have been a very hot commodity and worth a big contract. But because the NBA showed little interest in Lee’s restricted free agency status, the Knicks were able to get Lee for the qualifying offer, although they gave him more money in good faith.

Hopefully, for Knicks fans, that good faith offer of $7 million will stick with Lee as he enters free agency in 2010. Of course, the Knicks future relies heavily on being able to lure in a very big name, but they better be careful in pursuing outside interests, as they could lose a very talented player that’s already in-house.

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Knicks Post Game Notes: Knicks Comeback to Beat Nets

That sound you heard was Knicks fans, including myself, letting their collective breaths go as the Knicks were able to avoid losing to the now 1-win New Jersey Nets. The Knicks were down early on, but managed a big 3rd quarter en route to a 106-97 win over the Nets to put the Knicks at 6-15. That was the Knicks second win over the Nets, which means that 33% of the Knicks wins come from defeating the worst team in the NBA.

Still, you have to happy with the win. Even though the Knicks were down by 8 points at half, and had a deficit as high as 13 points in the 2nd quarter, the Knicks showed some fortitude as they did their usual, saving their best effort the 2nd half. I guess there is just no way that the Knicks will ever become a team that plays all 48 minutes, which is surprising given coach D’Antoni’s past in Phoenix, but this is what they are. Luckily for them, Larry Hughes has a big enough 3rd quarter to spark the Knicks win.

Here are key things I took away from yesterday’s game:

-Larry Hughes deserves all of the playing time he can get. I know that means that Knick favorite Nate Robinson is more or less going to be left on the bench, but this is what’s better for the team. Larry can run the point. Nate cannot. Larry can get to the free throw line. Nate cannot. Larry can guard point guards, shooting guards and small forwards. Nate cannot. And Larry, more or less, makes good decisions on the court. Nate shoots the ball at his own basket. I will need to further think about how diminished playing time for Nate affects the Knicks future, but for now, it seems clear that the Knicks are better served with Hughes in the game and not Robinson.

-I’m not sure how the Knicks are going to continue to play such a short bench. There were really only 7 players in the rotation against the Nets yesterday, as the 8th man, Toney Douglas, saw the court for just 6 minutes. Playing with 7 guys just isn’t a long-term strategy for any team, even one as poor as New York. Somebody is going to have to emerge as the 8th man on this roster. The 8th spot really needs to go to a big man to complete the rotation, so we could see reemergence of Eddy Curry, Jordan Hill or maybe even Darko Milicic as the season progresses.

-Lastly, Chris Duhon is a serious disappointment right now. His shooting problems continued last night, as he shot just 2 of 12 from the floor, and made just 1 of his 4 3-point attempts. He managed only 5 assists in 39 minutes. Granted, Devin Harris is a great defender, but there are way too many opportunities in a D’Antoni offense for the Knicks starting point guard to finish with just 7 points and 5 assists.

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Knicks Beat Suns, Movement was Key

That’s what I’m talking about!

The New York Knicks played their best game of the season last night, beating the Phoenix Suns 126-99. And all it took was some ball movement and some effort on defense.

Before I go too crazy here, let’s not pretend as if the Suns played their best game of the season. There is no doubt that the Suns were off their game last night, and we have to recognize that last night’s game was the Suns 3rd straight road game and their second-straight game in the East.

Having said that, the Knicks played a hell of game. I had a ton of notes from this game, but I trashed them once the Knicks just started blowing them away, as my notes became useless with every passing 3-pointer. However, I did take 3 key things away from this game.

First, the Knicks can score, and there’s no doubting that. Certainly, the Suns are horrible on defense, but that’s really only when you slow them down and make them think and move around. But when team’s surrender to their pace, the Suns typically do a good job of playing defense, and the Knicks were able to score at their pace. Now that may be a function of their system fitting that type of up-tempo game, but against other teams that don’t play defense all that well, the Knicks should be able to continue to put the ball in the hole.

Secondly, the Knicks will probably never win a game because of their defense this year, but they can prevent themselves from losing on that end of the court every night if they just put forth the same kind of effort they did against the Suns last night throughout the rest of the regular season. I’m not saying that holding the Phoenix Suns to less than 100 points (for the first time this season no less) is the greatest accomplishment of all, but it is a very noteworthy achievement. The Knicks also had 7 blocks, including one of Danilo Gallinari’s 2 blocks in which he met a Suns forward at the rim. Someone please tell me the last time you saw Gallinari put forth that kind of effort on the defensive side of the ball.

Lastly, the Knicks just need to move around, as that was difference in last night’s game. When you watch the Knicks, dating all the way back to the Isiah Thomas days, there fatal flaw is that they grow stagnant on offense, even in Mike D’Antoni’s new system. But last night, they moved the ball around, no one hogged the ball all that much, and they had 31 assists on the night, proving that they are capable of passing the rock. But their movement on defense as key too. The Knicks aren’t big and don’t have a whole lot of defensive discipline, but they are athletic and when they use that athleticism to get into passing lanes and disrupt the flow of the opposing team’s offense, they’ll do something magical like create 12 steals, force 17 turnovers and hold the Suns (of all teams) to just 6 fast break points.

So it’s simple to me. While we can point to the Knicks energy, the Suns lack of it, or 45% shooting from 3-point land, the fact is that when it comes to the New York Knicks, and all basketball teams, movement is fundamental.

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Box Score Analysis: Knicks Fall to Magic, 114-102

Despite a great effort this past Friday, the New York Knicks failed to deliver a worthwhile performance against the Orlando Magic. After hanging with the Magic for the better part of 3 quarters, the Knicks fell a part in the 3rd, ultimately costing them a shot at their 4th win of the season. The Knicks are now 11 games below .500 with a record of 3-14.

Here is the box score analysis from last night’s game:

Dwight Howard Goes Off: Howard has gotten a lot of scrutiny for his unimpressive start to the 2009-2010 NBA season, but his 24 points and 16 rebounds were certainly a shot back at his critics. He was definitely the reason the Knicks lost this game, as his plus-minus ratio of +19 was the highest of any Magic player last night.

Rashard Lewis Equals Efficiency: Scoring 26 points on just 15 shot attempts, Lewis proved to be a problem for the Knicks. This was kind of surprising given that the Knicks are a pretty long team at 2 through 4 positions, but they failed to show any evidence of that one the defensive end.

Wait, the Defense Gets Even Worse: The Knicks let the Magic shoot 50.6% from the field, including 13 of 38 from 3-point land. Clearly, the Knicks aren’t going to win games when the other team shoots this well, as the Knicks are quite incapable of shooting at a rate considerable higher than 50%, which is what they would need to do in order to beat anybody that they allow to shoot the ball so efficiently.

Al Harrington Played Just 28 Minutes: Harrington had his fair share of fouls, but I still don’t like that he only played 28 minutes yesterday. His minutes were cut back in part because of the minutes Nate Robinson got en route to his 24 point effort, but the Knicks aren’t going to win games in which Harrington scores just 9 points and has only 10 shot attempts.

Speaking of Nate Robinson: In an effort to prove he knows which basket the Knicks are supposed to shoot at, Robinson put up 24 points on 11 of 17 shooting. He also had 3 assists in what was a good all around effort the Nate. I don’t like that he had 0 steals, but that may be more of a coaching issue than anything else.

Danilo Gallinari Looked Nice: Just when I was about to get off the Gallinari bandwagon, he goes out and scores 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting against the Orlando Magic. I can’t scoff at that, especially when he had 6 rebounds to go with it. Granted, 4 of his field goals came from 3-point land, but that’s the type of outside shooting the Knicks have lacked for sometime now.

David Lee Does It Again: How Lee is still a New York Knick is beyond me. All he does is get double-digit points off hustling and grabs 10+ rebounds every night. Yesterday, he had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and he even threw in 3 assists. He also didn’t commit a single turnover and shot 50% from the field. If the Knicks can’t afford a second max-player this off-season, they might want to go ahead and re-up David Lee early on in the free agent process.

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Knicks Post-Game Notes: ‘Melo Scores 50 in Denver Win

The New York Knicks played a close game on the road against the Denver Nuggets, but in the end, Carmelo Anthony was just too much for the Knicks, as New York lost 128-125 in Denver. “Melo finished the game with 50 points, his first 50-point game of his career. He has been on quite a tear as of late, as he is the only player in the NBA who has scored 20 points in every game this season. Clearly, the New York Knicks did not get that memo. Here are my post-game notes:

--Obviously, I’m done with moral victories, but I will give the Knicks credit for playing a close game against a really good team. The Knicks never let this game get out of control, allowing the game to come down to the final possessions of the 4th quarter. But most impressive was the fact that they were never down by double-digits in this one, representing one of their most consistent efforts of the season.

--Al Harrington showed up big again, scoring 41 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Of course, he came off the bench to do that. I’m still on the fence about whether or not that’s a good idea anymore. I know he ended up playing the second-most minutes of anyone on the team, but even though the Knicks didn’t need him early on last night, it still seems that the Knicks could use some help at the start of games.

--The Knicks did a horrible job of guarding Carmelo Anthony. It’s not as if Carmelo was just unstoppable; the Knicks did a lot to help him score 50 points. They didn’t box him out, they didn’t throw people at him to mess up his rhythm, and they allowed him to get way too far into the paint. Don’t get me wrong, I know the Knicks have no one that can guard Carmelo, but giving up 50 points to any one player is always unacceptable.

--Ty Lawson destroyed the Knicks in just 16 minutes. Someone will have to explain to me how in such a short amount of time, Lawson, a rookie, managed 2 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds. I know there were a lot of possessions, but 6 assists? I was tearing my hair out! The Knicks have to do a better job of staying in front of point guards, especially inexperienced ones.

--Danillo Gallinari threw down a couple of dunks last night, including one that was the result of a powerful baseline move. I’m not saying that I expect him to turn into a inside-outside threat all of a sudden, but if he can bring that element to his game, especially off the baseline like he did on one of his dunks, I think he would be deserving of a lot more minutes than he’s used to getting at the moment.

--The Knicks only turned the ball over 8 times, which is very impressive in a game in which they had about 115 possessions. Their 29 assists to 8 turnovers perhaps is a sign of an offensive unit becoming a lot more disciplined and cohesive.

--At the end of the day, it was defense that did the New York Knicks in. The Nuggets shot 53.6% from the field, as well as 52% from 3-point land. No team can afford to do that, especially when they aren’t shooting at a comparable clip. But even with the bad defense all game, New York had a chance to win the game at the end, but they couldn’t get one stop and ultimately lost the game on the wrong end of the floor.

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Knicks Box Score Analysis: Lakers Dominate in the Paint

Don’t be fooled by the score. The game was nearly as close as the score of the Los Angles Lakers 100-90 victory would suggest. The Knicks were essentially dominated from start to finish until a late run in the 4th quarter made the game semi-competitive looking. But in all reality, this was just another glaring case of a New York Knicks team that saved its best ball for last, when the game was already out of contention.

Here’s the box score analysis from last night’s game in Los Angeles.

The Lakers Dominated the Paint - The Lakers scored 44 points in the paint—an outstanding number. Don’t get me wrong; I know the Knicks are an undersized squad, but at some point, you have to start doing something, whether it’s giving up the jump shot or hacking and fouling, but 44 points in the paint is unacceptable. Not to mention, they gave up 15 offensive rebounds in addition to the points in the paint.

Kobe Bryant Was Brilliant – Maybe that doesn’t get said enough, but Kobe was masterful last night. He scored 34 points on 14 of 20 shooting from the floor. The only thing to be happy about in regards to the Knicks defense on Kobe Bryant was that the game wasn’t in the Garden.

Ron Artest Was Way Too Difficult to Defend – The Knicks don’t have a lot of size, but they do have a lot of length, especially on the perimeter, which is why I am very disappointed with how they went about defending Ron Artest. Artest had 17 points, on 7 of 13 shooting, with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. With guys like Wilson Chandler, Al Harrington and Larry Hughes to throw at Artest, one might think we would have done a better job on him. I know most of those guys had to focus on defending Kobe, but they didn’t do that well, so they should have tried elsewhere, no?

Could We Shoot Any Worse? – The Knicks shot 38.9% from the field. That is egregious. Now you could say that was because they were on the road, or that it was the result of tough Lakers defense, but whatever it was, it was unacceptable.

Where Are the Quick Points – I know the Mike D’Antoni offense doesn’t necessarily increase a team’s fast break points, especially since the other team is always scoring on them, but it has to be better than this. The Knicks managed just 10 fast points last night, which is horrible given how small the Knicks play. Why is David Lee playing center if they aren’t going to get out and run with the ball?

Somebody Has to Talk to Chandler – Chandler continued his poor shot selection last night, shooting 5 of 20 from the field, in what is becoming a typical night for the young player shooting 39% on the season. I try to give Chandler a pass because he does so many other things for the team, including his 7 rebound, 2 assists and 2 blocks, but just because he excels in one area doesn’t mean he has to detract from another. That’s not the kind of balance the Knicks need.

Nate Robinson Shoots At Correct Basket – In an unprecedented move by Robinson, he actually took 11 shots last night, and none of them were at his own basket. He scored 15 points and was 4 of 5 from 3-point land. He also had 5 assists and was one of the few bright spots for the Knicks in a game with little light shed on it.

Darko Milicic Is Done? – The return of Eddy Curry seems to have booted Milicic from the game plan. In a game filled with garbage time, Milicic was the only Knick player not to come off the bench, while Eddy Curry received 6 minutes of supreme junk time on the floor. Kudos to me for thinking he might be somewhat of a difference maker this season.

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Why the Love for Eddy Curry?

After the New York Knicks game against the Indiana Pacers last week, I was one of the first to comment on Eddy Curry’s promising performance in the game. That was his first game back from a year of devastating injuries, family problems and financial issues. And in just 12 minutes of play, Curry scored 10 points and grabbed 4 rebounds, probably one of the more efficient nights of his NBA career.

But even after complimenting Curry on his first game back, I couldn’t have imagined the type of national response dedicated to a player that played a mere 12 minutes in a game between two not-so-good teams. Specifically, if you have ready ESPN.com between now and last Thursday, you would have seen that Eddy Curry was all over their NBA page. In fact, yesterday, the main part on their NBA page included a picture of Curry and 5 or 6 links to different stories detailing Curry and his return.

But why?

As nice as it was to see Curry back, does anyone really think that this changes the Knicks or the NBA scene all that much?

Of course it does.

If you read the comments on ESPN.com’s NBA page, as well as on each story about Curry, you will see the national resentment towards coverage of Eddy Curry given how irrelevant he has been on the national scene since—well, since forever. But what many people outside of New York (and quite frankly some within that boundary) fail to see in regards to why Curry is so important to teams other than the Knicks is that if Curry can get back to doing what he was doing in the 2006-2007, there is a chance that he will play a big role in terms of what happens in the NBA over the next 9 months.

In less than a week, Curry has already had one major impact on the national scent. Knicks President Donnie Walsh already rebuffed future Hall of Famer Allen Iverson because he was impressed by what he saw from Curry. Walsh didn’t want to take any minutes away from Curry’s continued development, so he decided to pass on A.I. in hopes that Curry’s growth would be a better long-term asset to the team. So instead of Iverson suiting up with the Knicks, he could land with any of a number of teams, which could end up impacting the NBA playoff picture as we know it.

As for how Curry will affect the league going forward, first, Curry could be traded this year. If all of a sudden Curry can prove that he can score 10-12 points in 15-20 minute spurts, as he has done in the past, then there are going to be a lot of teams in need of some low-post bench scoring that will be interested in Curry’s services. Yes, the price tag on Curry is expensive, but for a team looking for one more piece in the post, Curry could be the answer for a lot of teams, and Lord Knows the New York Knicks would welcome a trade in order to clear up some cap space for the Summer of LeBron (James).

Then again, the Knicks could keep Curry. And if Curry moves into the starting lineup, goes back to scoring the 20 points per night he averaged in 2007, and becomes more of a force on the boards as a result of all the lost weight, then perhaps the Knicks would be better off keeping when he’s playing at the level. Certainly, it’s quite plausible that Curry would benefit from being in the Mike D’Antoni system, operating as the Amare Stoudemire of team as Chris Duhon plays Steve Nash and sets Curry up for shots in the paint. Obviously, it won’t work to the same degree that it worked for Nash and Stoudemire, but even 75% of that is All-Star caliber stuff. And if Curry is playing at or just below All-Star levels, then who is to say that LeBron James wouldn’t be very interested in playing with Curry in New York under the direction of Mike D’Antoni?

Those are just 2 ways Curry’s potential development could affect the NBA landscape within the next year. I didn’t even mention the possibilities involving the Knicks trading him for a good player, or a sign and trade deal over the summer, which are both real possibilities. So if anyone tells you that being interested in Curry’s development over the next few months is a waste of time, you just show them espn.com/nba and perhaps then they will understand where you are coming from.

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Nate Robinson Shoots at Own Basket and Possibly Shot Himself in the Foot

Yes, the Knicks got the win over the New Jersey Nets this past weekend, but the thing everybody keeps talking about is Nate Robinson’s shot at his own basket.

What the hell was he thinking?

If you didn’t see it, Nate took a shot at his own rim as time winded down in the 1st quarter. No one is really sure if he thought time had expired already or what, but for some reason, this knee-jerk of a basketball player shot at his own hoop and made it!

While the shot was waived off because, ironically, Robinson did not get the ball off in time, Nate was subsequently benched for the rest of the game (although Mike D’Antoni claims it had nothing to do with Robinson’s shot). After the game, Robinson gave the media a “my bad” comment on the shot.

Look, I love Nate Robinson as a basketball player, and I was happy as all hell when I saw that he would continue to be a Knick for the 2009-2010 NBA season. But questions about Robinson’s maturity have always been there, and something like shooting at your own rim is proof positive of it. If David Lee did that, I would have very little to say on this situation, because I know the kind of work Lee puts in and the kind of focus he puts toward the craft of basketball. But Nate, who despite always showing up with plenty of effort, has always shown a lack of focus. And as much as we love to celebrate him for his effort, the lack of concentration is a detriment to the team—his recent “shot selection” not withstanding.

So I put this question to all New York Knicks fans. Is Nate Robinson someone you want around for the future?

Personally, I’m not sure, and it goes well beyond his maturity level. At 5’9”, Robinson isn’t really a point guard, and it’s hard to envision the Knicks becoming a playoff team with a starting shooting guard at that height. Thus, that makes Robinson a perennial bench player, but are the Knicks really going to pay Robinson his open-market value for him to be an undersized guard that doesn’t exactly shoot the lights out of the ball and comes off the bench? Not if they’re trying to win championships they won’t.

So when you add the questions of immaturity to the mix, then it really becomes hard to defend keeping Nate Robinson on the team. After all, bench players are supposed to be able to play a specific role and provide that night in and night out. While Robinson brings the effort needed to play such a role, rarely does he demonstrate the maturity to stay with in his bounds. To call Robinson’s shot at his own basket on Saturday poor shot selection is the understatement of the year, but to tell you the truth, it was one of the few shots he has taken this season that wasn’t forced.

So while I would love to see Robinson stick around, be a life-long Knick and be the reflection of every “little-guy” in New York out in Manhattan putting forth the effort to make it in this city, I won’t cry if he goes. The only way the Knicks need to keep him is if he cheap, and if he demonstrates some maturity before the rest of the season is over. Because as far as 5’9” basketball players go, they really are a dime a dozen. And even though Robinson is more talented than most players his size, he needs to remind himself that he’s still 5’9”, and that his athleticism alone will never make up for his size. Players of his height make in the NBA because of their minds, not their speed and vertical jumps. If Nate doesn’t figure that out before the 2009-2010 NBA season is over, then I think it’s time he continue his growth process with another team.

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