***Official '11-'12 New York Knicks Thread***

[C Mart]

Originally Posted by Borgoguy

That's what I took from last night's game. Almost like he was out to show that he still "had it".

I'm not down on the guy after one game, just surprised. I don't think that's our style right now. Hope Davis succeeds here.

He kind of said that in his post game interview...Paraphrasing..He said Sunday he was tentative and had people calling him after the game saying he looked it...So he was determined to "push it" last night...

All in all..He basically hasn't played since last April...So he's still shaking off alot of rust and with Lin's discovery if the Knicks can get 15-20 effective minutes a game out of Davis they'll be in great shape

[detjetsfan]

These refs suck. Lin is getting raped driving to the basket and they call nothing.

[Bonhomme Richard]

The TNT production is aggravating. It's the MNF of basketball.

[cr726]

Landry Fields is a very good player. Lin played scared, kinda expected that and understandable it was a tough night. JR Smiths offense has been impressive, but he needs to play both ends.

[jetgreen13]

Originally Posted by cr726

Landry Fields is a very good player. Lin played scared, kinda expected that and understandable it was a tough night. JR Smiths offense has been impressive, but he needs to play both ends.

lin did look/play without a lot of confidence tonight.. i guess the kid is human after all..

[LockeJET]

Originally Posted by jetgreen13

lin did look/play without a lot of confidence tonight.. i guess the kid is human after all..

The heat are a bad matchup for Lin. He needs to be able to knock down outside shots against defenses like that.

Lin is a pick and roll PG and the Heat are the best team in the league at defending the pick and roll.

[C Mart]

Originally Posted by LockeJET

The heat are a bad matchup for Lin. He needs to be able to knock down outside shots against defenses like that.

Lin is a pick and roll PG and the Heat are the best team in the league at defending the pick and roll.

MIAMI -- After the Knicks' 102-88 loss to the Heat, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin was at his locker with his head down. He finished with just as many turnovers (eight) as points -- his lowest total since his sudden surge started against the Nets.

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, whose locker was directly across from Lin's, recognized Lin's dejection, as did the other players, and they went over to comfort him.

"We said, 'Cheer up, man,'" Anthony said in the postgame locker room. "'We have nights like this. You're going to have nights like this. We're playing against one of the best teams in the NBA, if not the best team in the NBA, and they really focused in on trying to stop you tonight. You're on the scouting report now.'"

Boy, was he ever.

Miami's pick-and-roll defense, arguably the best in the league, came after Lin on Thursday night. Over the Knicks' previous 10 games with Lin as the starting point guard, the team averaged 28 plays in the pick-and-roll per game (20 for the ball-handler, eight for the roll man).

On Thursday, while the Knicks were effective in the pick-and-roll (shooting 50 percent) they had fewer chances to run the play. They only connected on 5 of 10 field goals, and had four turnovers in the process. Overall, just 18 of the Knicks' offensive plays were in the pick-and-roll.

Due to the presence of Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Joel Anthony -- a center who can move in every direction like a crab -- Lin and backup point guard Baron Davis were suffocated on the perimeter. The Heat have a defensive system that thrives on airtight rotations and aggressively disrupting the pick-and-roll ball-handler (Lin and Davis).

"They are one of the best pick-and-roll defenders," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said after the game. "They come at you real quick. The first time you see it, the speed is overwhelming and I think it took [Jeremy] a while to adjust. He didn't have the legs, it looked like. He played last night, and it happens. He'll use it as a learning experience. Our whole team will. We played arguably the best team in the NBA, and it set a bar that we have to get up to."

Said Davis: "We played the best team and they hit us with their best shot."

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said defending the Knicks is not an easy challenge. Not only did the Heat have to key in on Lin's playmaking but they had to take away scoring opportunities from big-time threats Anthony and power forward Amare Stoudemire, and outside looks from shooters J.R. Smith and Steve Novak.

While Smith (14 points) and Novak (12 points) played well -- the biggest scoring boost off the bench for the Knicks tonight -- neither Lin nor Davis found openings to feed Chandler and Stoudemire rolling to the basket. There were also closed doors for the pick-and-pop to Anthony and Stoudemire.

"Our defensive intensity and activity was terrific," Spoelstra said. "We were active, disruptive, aggressive and playing certainly defensively how we wanted to and making plays at the other end."

Lin said after the game that he couldn't remember another game where it was hard just to dribble the ball. He said the Heat did a good job of forcing him left, which the book says is a weakness of his, and not letting him make the swing pass to disrupt the Heat's defensive rotations. He said the next time he faces the Heat, he'll look to make them work harder for 24 seconds and make sure his passes jump-start the Knicks' offense better and are directed exactly where they need to go.

While he was addressing a media room of around 50 reporters after the game, Lin said he wasn't going to use the back-to-back fatigue as an excuse. Instead, he gave a lot of credit to the Heat's speed and athleticism on defense. He said the next step would be to review the game tape and see where he can improve.

"They did a great job of making me uncomfortable," said Lin, who mentioned playing consistently well has been his toughest challenge recently. "We're a no-excuse team, so fatigue doesn't really matter. Everyone's tired at this point. Everyone has a 66-game schedule, so we've just got to look at film and get better. I think that's going to be exciting because this team is young in terms of players coming in and coming back. Obviously as a point guard, I have to make sure that I'm learning."

D'Antoni said the Knicks should've moved the ball better, especially to the other side of the floor. He thought the players accepted the Heat getting into them, and didn't allow James and Co. to over-commit. In other words, the Knicks allowed the Heat to set the tone defensively, forcing the Knicks where they wanted them on the court before the Knicks had time to react.

Once practice resumes Monday, D'Antoni said the team will work on throwing defenses off better with different options. D'Antoni said Lin can handle that challenge and won't let tonight's loss linger. Starting next week, when the second half of season gets underway, D'Antoni believes Lin will be back to playing at a high level, which he's been doing since being inserted into the starting lineup back on Feb. 6.

One of the biggest keys for the Knicks running a smoother offense is cutting down Lin's turnovers (he's been averaging 6.1 per game over his last 11 starts).

"[The Heat] took the challenge and they did a great job," D'Antoni said.

"It's hard to be Peter Pan every day. [Lin] just had an off day and he'll go back at it. He's not daunted at all, if you ask him. We'll have this break and then he'll be attacking next Wednesday [against the Cavaliers]. That's what he's going to do. He's going to use this as a learning experience."

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/kni...overwhelms-lin

[Austin]

Nothing to panic over. The Heat treated it like it was a playoff game. We're starting to see the blowback of Linsanity -- just like in the Nets game teams are sick of hearing about it and get up for the Knicks. Lin will bounce back.

I was definitley impressed with the Heat -- swarming defense and explosive offense. No question IMO that they're the best team in the NBA right now. The All-Star break came at a good time -- our guys need to recharge their batteries.

[AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite]

Originally Posted by Austin

I was definitley impressed with the Heat -- swarming defense and explosive offense.

Yup... But I will say, Bosh for example had a ridiculous night... Everything was falling for him... That won't always be the case...

[Borgoguy]

No excuses, but Cole and Chalmers were hacking the f**k out of Lin all night. This is where some type of "enforcer" like Oak of yesteryear would have been massive. Lin needed to run both those guys into strong, tooth jarring, picks. Unfortunately, we don't have that type of player.

[frankiepapa]

What about Melo and Stat? Jeremy Lin should be the 5th option on this team. I understand that he is the point guard but these guys are the ones that need to score points and make things happen offensively. Lin should be able to have bad games where the rest of the team has got to pick it up.

[AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite]

Originally Posted by frankiepapa

What about Melo and Stat? Jeremy Lin should be the 5th option on this team. I understand that he is the point guard but these guys are the ones that need to score points and make things happen offensively. Lin should be able to have bad games where the rest of the team has got to pick it up.

When your PG is 1-11, it's fairly tough for anyone to pick up that much slack...

Melo essentially had the same game LeBron did, without the assists and Stat hardly got touches, which was due to the defense swarming whomever was running point...

It was a bad game, offensively in general, sans Novak from 3...

It happens and all will be forgotten when the team dominates the Cavs next week...

[LockeJET]

Originally Posted by AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite

Yup... But I will say, Bosh for example had a ridiculous night... Everything was falling for him... That won't always be the case...

He scored 25 points and averages almost 19. It's not like he scored 40 points.

Even though he wont always get 25, D Wade and Lebron wont only get 20. Most of the time they are around 30.

Heat are winning it all for the next couple years.

[Borgoguy]

Originally Posted by frankiepapa

What about Melo and Stat? Jeremy Lin should be the 5th option on this team. I understand that he is the point guard but these guys are the ones that need to score points and make things happen offensively. Lin should be able to have bad games where the rest of the team has got to pick it up.

Stat had, what, three straight turnovers in the first five minutes to put Miami ahead by 10 on fast beaks? Plus, as has been reported in the media, Amar'e is getting tons of facials going up for easy dunks or layups. Something isn't right. Injury? Age?

Melo, as much as he is a great player, never fit D'Antoni's style of offense. Teams are happy to let him go 1-on-1 in the corner or top of the key.

[AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite]

Originally Posted by LockeJET

He scored 25 points and averages almost 19. It's not like he scored 40 points.

It wasn't so much the point total... We let him get his and kept on Wade and LeBron, which is why their totals were lower...

He happened to knock down 18 footers consistently, which like I said, isn't always the case...

The Heat were the better team, don't get me wrong...

[LockeJET]

Originally Posted by AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite

Melo essentially had the same game LeBron did, without the assists

Are you serious with this garbage? lol

Just because Melo had 19 and Lebron 20 doesn't mean they "essentially had the same game". You can't disregard 8 assists to 1. The entire game is run through Lebron. Plus he had 5 steals to Melo's 0, 2 blocks, more rebounds and had a sick defensive game. Melo doesn't know what defense is. Also some of what Lebron does doesn't even show on the stat sheet.

[Borgoguy]

Originally Posted by LockeJET

Are you serious with this garbage? lol

Just because Melo had 19 and Lebron 20 doesn't mean they "essentially had the same game". You can't disregard 8 assists to 1. The entire game is run through Lebron. Plus he had 5 steals to Melo's 0, 2 blocks, more rebounds and had a sick defensive game. Melo doesn't know what defense is. Also some of what Lebron does doesn't even show on the stat sheet.

Intimidation. Last night, I was struck by his size. The guy is huge. We could use him at safety.

[LockeJET]

Originally Posted by AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite

He happened to knock down 18 footers consistently, which like I said, isn't always the case...

You obvioulsy dont watch many Heat games. That's Bosh's game. He nails those 18 footers all the time. He's not an inside player.

[LockeJET]

Originally Posted by Borgoguy

Intimidation. Last night, I was struck by his size. The guy is huge. We could use him at safety.

Borg, the guy is 6'8 and every bit of 260. He's a freight train. He's faster with the ball than most are without it. And @ his size it's almost unfair.

[AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite]

Originally Posted by LockeJET

Are you serious with this garbage? lol

Just because Melo had 19 and Lebron 20 doesn't mean they "essentially had the same game". You can't disregard 8 assists to 1. The entire game is run through Lebron. Plus he had 5 steals to Melo's 0, 2 blocks, more rebounds and had a sick defensive game. Melo doesn't know what defense is. Also some of what Lebron does doesn't even show on the stat sheet.

I was speaking strictly on offensive output... So perhaps I should have phrased it that way rather than assuming you would get your knickers in a twist over me claiming both players put up similar point totals, with similar FG's and similar FTA...

Relax dude. I work with an undercover Heat fan like you. I know it was tough not winning the title last year