playoffs Round 1 Game 2 @ Arena:Continental Airlines Arena Time: April 20,2004 8:00pm TV: TNT Quick Game 1 Recap The Nets got their fastbreak game going early. And control the tempo thru most of the 1st half. The knicks did hang around thru the 1st half. And were only down by 7 going into half time. But the third quarter did the knicks in. Poor shot selection & turnovers started the runaway train know as the Nets fastbreak. The Nets picked up their defensive intensity holding the knicks to 3 for 18 in the quarter. And also forced the knicks into 5 turnovers. The Nets outscored the knicks 24-13 in the 3rd. And led 86- 68 after three quarters. But things might have got much worse for the knicks in the 4th. Tim Thomas drove to the basket. And got fouled hard by Jason Collins. Thomas left the game with a back injury. And He did not return to the game. Thomas is questionable for game 2. Game 1 Final Score: Nets 107- Knicks 87. Probable Starters For Game 2 ( and their possible impact on the game) Small Forward [/B<font color="Red">](Spotlight Matchup) </font> <font color="DarkOrange">Tim Thomas(NYK)</font>/<font color="Navy">Richard Jefferson(NJN)</font> Game 1 Stat Line: <font color="DarkOrange">Thomas</font> MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast PTS 22 4-10 5 3 12 <font color="Navy">Jefferson</font> 36 6-12 5 4 21 This will be an extremely important matchup to watch for to reasons. 1) To see if Thomas plays after leaving the game early with a back injury on saturday. And 2) if he plays it will be interesting to see how effective thomas can be with an injured back. Thomas is already giving up alot of foot speed to Jefferson. With an injured back it will be even harder for Thomas to keep up with Jefferson. Also in game 1, Jefferson did an excellent job of penetrating. And keeping Thomas in foul trouble. The Knicks will need Thomas to stay out of foul trouble. If Tim gets into foul trouble early, the knicks offensive weapons are limited to Steph Marbury & Kurt Thomas in their starting lineup. On side notes: It was reported that Jefferson might be suspended for game 2, for leaving the bench. Sunday, the NBA issued a statement saying Jefferson will not be suspended. Also look for Penny Hardaway to get the start if Thomas cant go. Power Forward <font color="DarkOrange">Kurt Thomas(NYK) </font>/<font color="Navy">Kenyon Martin(NJN)</font> Game 1 Stat Line: <font color="DarkOrange">K.Thomas</font> MIN FGM-A REBS AST PTS 26 1-10 7 1 4 <font color="Navy">Martin</font> 35 7-11 12 1 16 Kurt Thomas was another knicks top gun, who was limted by foul trouble in game1. K. Thomas was never able to get into the rythem of the game. Him & steph Marbury, were not able to establish the knicks best offensive play which is the Pick & POP. K-Mart & Kittles did an excellent job of doubling the ball, not allowing it to be swung to Thomas to hit his favorite shot the mid-range jumper. Look for the Knicks to try to establish the Pick & Pop early in game 2. Kenyon Martin needs to get establish early on the low block in game 2. If the Knicks arent going to use Mutombo in the paint on defensive. Then the Nets need to pound the ball inside to K-mart. With no shot block for the Knicks, K-mart should get alot of good looks in the post. He may also get key guys like Kurt Thomas in foul trouble. Center <font color="DarkOrange">Nazr Mohammed (NYK) </font>/<font color="Navy">Jason Collins(NJN)</font> Game 1 Stat Line: <font color="DarkOrange">Mohammed</font> MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast PTS 26 4-8 7 0 16 <font color="Navy">Collins</font> 17 4-8 1 0 8 Nazr had alot of good scoring opportunities in game 1 due to the fact the Nets had to give up something when they rotated on double teams. I wouldnt expect the same type of game from Nazr in game 2. I expect the Nets to make adjustments in their weakside rotation to limit some of Mohammed opportunities.But Narz must continue to convert when the Nets leave to cover Kurt Thomas. Jason Collins minutes were limted due to foul trouble. But Aaron Williams made up the difference off the bench. Williams will continue to provide some scoring off the bench. But the Nets need Collins to rebound, as well as get back to Mohammed quicker after helping to stop penetration. 1 rebound is not enuff from Collins at the starting center spot. Shooting Guard <font color="DarkOrange">Shandon Anderson((NYK)</font>/<font color="Navy">Kerry Kittles(NJN)</font> Game 1 Stat Line: <font color="DarkOrange">Anderson</font> MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast PTS 30 2-6 2 5 4 <font color="Navy">Kittles</font> 37 7-14 4 0 20 Anderson main job in this series is to chase Kittles & sometimes kidd around. And limit them with his defensive athletism. Well Anderson couldnt contain either in game 1. Anderson must make is felt on the defensive perimeter for the knicks or he will find him self on the bench early. The Knicks will subsitute him for an offensive weapon like Hardaway or Frank Williams. So if Anderson wants to stay on the court he must stop somebody. Kittles imo set the tone for the Nets in game 1. He came out extremely aggressive on the offesive end. And made shots in the 1st half, which really threw the Knicks on their heels early. In the 2nd half Kittles impacted the game on the defensive end staying in front of Marbury on penetrations. And forcing Marbury to give up the ball. The thing that worries me about kittles is that he has a tendenacy to come out a little non-aggressive when he is coming off a big game. Well the Nets need Kittles to continue making plays in game 2 on both ends of the court. His shot making helps to set the tempo of the fastbreak game. The Knicks will have to make an efffort to find him on the wing in transition or he'll will bury the jumper. The effort the Knicks put into finding him will help to open up more driving lanes. And Kittles defensive on Marbury allows kidd to rest his knee on D. Point Guard <font color="Red">(***Key Matchup***)</font> <font color="DarkOrange">steph Marbury(NYK)</font>/<font color="Navy">Jason Kidd(NJN)</font> Game 1 Stat Line <font color="DarkOrange">Steph</font> MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast PTS 38 6-14 5 2 13 <font color="Navy">Kidd</font> 37 4-11 5 13 14 The RJ/Tim Thomas match was my spolight match up to watch due to the circumstances that surrounded the matchup. But make no mistake every game will center around the point guard play of kidd & Marbury. Game 1 Jason Kidd set the Nets tempo right from the start of the game. The Nets won the fastbreak pts & points in the paint edge due to kidd pushing the ball up. Kidd didnt shoot the ball particular well. but he ran the Nets offense like a conductor of a symphony. Game 1 wasnt so bright for the coney island kid, Stephon Marbury. Marbury got off to an early start scoring the ball but was never able to put his print on the tempo of the game. The Nets often put long armed kittles on him & then came with a hard double team. The Nets forced others to make shots & plays instead of Marbury. Marbury had 0pts & 0 ast in the 2nd half of game 1. Game 1 kidd came out the better of the two in their matchup. Game 2 In game 2 I expect Marbury to come out extremely agressive. And look to make things happen early. I expect Marbury to run the pick & role early an often. When Marbury is aggressive he is one of the best pick & roll guards in the league, so kidd & kittles will have their hands full. I dont expect that the Nets double teams will limit the aggressiveness of Marbury in game 2 like it did in game1. Kidd on the other hand will look to continue to force tempo on both ends of the court. With Kittles guarding Marbury look for kidd to rome. and be a help defender, so the Nets can force turnovers. Kidd will look to keep the Nets fastbreak game going especially early in the game. If Kidd smells blood early, he will have the Nets fastbreak game ready to bit like a shark. Key Bench Players <font color="DarkOrange">New York Knicks </font> Game 1 Stat Line: MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast Pts 37 7-15 2 3 18 <font color="DarkOrange">Penny Hardaway</font> was a major bright spot for the knicks in game 1. He made plays on both ends of the court. Penny impact on game 2 maybe even more important, especially if Tim Thomas cant go or is limited due to the back injury. Also look for Penny to handle the ball more when him. And Steph are in the game together. The knicks have faith in Penny to handle the ball & create plays while Steph plays the 2 guard. Game 1 Stat Line MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast Pts 14 0-2 3 0 2 Mutombo hmmm. I know your think after game 1 why is Mutombo a key player in this series? Well because the knicks are going to have to find a lineup that includes Mutombo that works inorder to contain the Nets fastbreak. DK is the only Knicks bigman who can disrupt the type of points in the paint edge that the Nets had in game 1. The Knicks need Mutombo's shot blocking. And his size on the boards. Look for Mutombo's minutes to increase in game 2, as Lenny Wilkens searches for lineup adjustments. <font color="Navy">New Jersey Nets </font> Game Stat Line MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast PTS 17 0-4 2 3 2 <font color="Navy">Lucious Harris' </font> minutes & production were both limted in game 1, simply because his services werent needed. Kidd knee was feeling good so he was able to play close to 40 minutes. And Kittles shot the ball well so coach frank used him a the 2 spot for most of the game. But Lu will be needed in game 2 to pick up the slack if Kittles or kidd are not at their best. Game 1 Stat Line MIN FGM-A Rebs Ast PTS 32 2-8 3 3 5 <font color="Navy">Rodney Rogers </font> didnt shoot the ball well in Game 1. But it didnt impact the score of the game. But with a closer more contested game 2 expected, the Nets will need Rogers to hit some of those perimeter jumpers. <font color="DarkOrange">Knick Adjustments</font> Better Shot Selection The knicks made the crucial mistake for poor shot selection in game 1(especially in the 3rd quarter). The knicks will needed better decision making & less quick shots. The knicks need to use the shot clock to help slow down tempo. Establish the Pick & Roll The Knicks did a poor jod of trying to establish the pick & roll between Marbury & Kurt thomas. It is their most effective offesive play. They need to go to it early & often. Force some turnovers The knicks need to step up their pressure & try to get some turnovers themselves. Try to get their hands on some of those J.Kidd cross court passes. Getting turnover will get the knicks some easy baskets. Stay out of foul trouble Kurt Thomas & Tim Thomas need to be on the court as much as possible. The Knicks can afford a repeat of the foul trouble from game 1. <font color="Navy">What the Nets would like to carry over from game 1 </font> Setting the Tempo Early. The Nets set the tempo in the 1st half in game 1, the knicks were able to match for awhile but then the pace became to much for them. The Nets need to get off to the same type of start. The Nets of course do this thru their fastbreak game. Shot Making The Nets made jumpers when they had to in game 1. That trend must continue in game 2. The Nets are a totally different team when they make jumpers blended in with their fastbreak. <font color="Navy">Nets Adjustments</font> Establish K-Mart in the low block early The Knicks dont have any shot blockers other than Mutombo, so use k-mart on the low post early. He should be able to get alot of easy baskets. And get a few people in foul trouble. Weakside Rotation. The Nets can do a better job of rotating back to the bigmen of the Knicks after stoping guard penetration. Henacy's Prediction I expect alot more competive game 2. Steph will be more aggressive. But with Tim Thomas possibly limited I think Richard Jefferson will look to exploit that matchup. I expect a huge game 2 from him. And I expect the Nets to pull away & win a close game in the 4th. But the knicks will gain some confidence from this game. Nets by 7-10pts
I don't think Thomas will play this game. But if he does, I don't see him contributing much. I can see Kittles guarding Marbury the majority of the game again coz he did a great job on him. If Marbury is going to settle for outside shots again, Kittles' long arms will create troubles for him. Bad news for Knicks fans, Marbury will again force himself to do everything coz of a forgettable game 1 performance. With this, he'll end up trying too hard again. Kmart's knees had some ache in it for some part of game 1. But he ended the game without feeling any pain at all so that's a good sign. Expect the Nets to run again and this time, they'll play the whole game with the defensive intensity that they had for the 2nd half of game1. They were lacking defensive intensity in the first half and they were just contented in making the game exciting to watch. Expect game-long defensive brilliance in game 2. Nets own the Knicks and they know it.
i even if timmy t isnt playing in g2 or doesnt contribute, i still think the outcome of the game will be closer than g1. i really didn't expect the bad performance by marbury in g1,thats y i said nets by 10. i didnt know it would be a 24pt victory. marbury,kurt,penny are the big three for them to have a chance in game two. they knicks are not a great perimeter team, yet they really dont have a go-to-guy in the post. thats why i think kurt has to assert himself early in the game and end up with a dbl-dbl. penny had a nice game for the knicks off the bench and will need another good game for them. and of course we know how bad marbury faded in the 2nd half. i would be absolutly shocked if steph didnt come out and take over the game for the knicks for the entire game. he should atleast have 20pts and close to 10ast. of course if his teammates play how they played in g1, he wont get close to 10ast. but i think he needs to get his teammates involved early b/c he can turn it on whenever he wants too. if the knicks don't play defense again, then it wont matter what steph gets in the game. knicks need to think defense first in game2 or they might get run across the river again. should be a physical and intense g2. it should be on TODAY, not freaking tuesday. the nbs f'd up the schedule. game 4 is sunday. too dam long. they dropped the ball on this one
Well it should be an ugly and physical game. After the word war that they had after game 1? This should be an ugly but great and intense game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post">Well it should be an ugly and physical game. After the word war that they had after game 1? This should be an ugly but great and intense game.</div> Its going to have to be ugly for the knicks to stand any chance of winning. They need to keep the final score of the game in the upper 70's/mid 80's. The Knicks cant beat the Nets in a 90(+) point track meet. If I was the Knicks I would use the shot clock to help slow down the Nets tempo. If the Knicks use all of the shot clock the Nets wont be able to get any pace to the game.
even if they use the shot clock, it won't matter if they keep missing the shots in the second half. they played a good first half, then they didnt show in the second half. they just need to be more consistant and make big defensive changes. they need to clog the lanes up more and do better on the boards to have a shot to win. can't wait for tomorrow. i got a project to do and a birthday dinner, which is going to overlap the game. sob!
We'll just keep you informed throwback. Hehehe. I can even see the Knicks pulling off some cheap shots to retaliate. I don't see the point though coz there's no reason to retaliate. But I agree with Henacy. Let the Nets score 15+ on the break and they're toast.
i think the nets can win this game without any problems... yeah, i can watch this game live... (very difficult here in switzerland) but my channel just showing 3 games in the week!! nets 102 knicks 88
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting DajuanWagner#2:</div><div class="quote_post">Nets is going to win this in a sweap! Sorry to say it if there is any Knicks fans here, but face it!</div> Sweep. I hope not, but have to admit it's likely. My prediction was Nets winning 4-1. It's almost certain Thomas isn't gonna play, so yeah, they're gonna have to move Marbury to the 2. Even though that means Penny will be playing point most of the time, I hope it means some more minutes for Frank Williams.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TracyMcWizzle:</div><div class="quote_post">i think the nets can win this game without any problems... yeah, i can watch this game live... (very difficult here in switzerland) but my channel just showing 3 games in the week!! nets 102 knicks 88</div> Are all those games live? Coverage over in the UK is pretty crap.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Nylex:</div><div class="quote_post">Are all those games live? Coverage over in the UK is pretty crap.</div> jeah, i can watch 3 games live. plus repetitions of this games. I pay specially for this channel! this channel called "premiere sport" fortunately so i can watch 2-3 games in the week, but the most of this games are from the mavs, because "premiere" is originally from germany, and they love their dirk. unfortunately i can see only about 5 orlando magic games!! nevertheless here in Switzerland.
I know K-Mart is an agressive type player but sometimes he is just to much.He doesnt show respect to anyone is what it seems like, I think he needs to get dunked on a couple of times.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting B-22:</div><div class="quote_post">I know K-Mart is an agressive type player but sometimes he is just to much.He doesnt show respect to anyone is what it seems like, I think he needs to get dunked on a couple of times.</div> K-mart getting dunked on will not stop him from being aggressive.Or change his mentality. K-mart gets dunk on or his shot block all the time but he keeps coming. Thats what makes him who he is and his edge makes him who he is. As far as game 2 goes I think Kerry Kittles effort is really giving the Nets an advantage. He is making steph work for everything he gets. Even when steph scores, kittles is still making him work. I knew the knicks would play Dikembe alot more in game 2, just to get physical with the Nets. And try & establish a post pressence on the Defsive end for them. I think he did a good job of that. And he kind of threw us off our game a little in the 3rd quarter. But Rodney Rogers came up big when the Knicks cut the lead to 10. He hit the three & then hit made the layup. But I dont think we can get caught up in the extra back & forth stuff in the garden on thursday. We still have to keep our intimidation edge. But we cant lose our heads at the same time. That might let them sneak out with a victory in their gym.
The Nets is spanking NY. Starbury is gonna really have to step up in this 3rd game. Like Barkley said tonight, game 3 will be the biggest game of his career against the Kidd and the Nets.
I know Henacy, I was just kidding.But K-Marts attitude seems like a serious problem.I say MJ should call him and talk to him or somethin.
KMart's attitude is something that the young ones should follow. Gone now is the thug- attitude that he once had. People still have this misconception that he's nothing but a thug but really, he just have too much emotions to keep his game going. He's showing that he's not going to back down from anybody. Seriously without KMart, the Nets will be a pushover. A team has to have an enforcer man. Someone to watch the team's back. Great game again by the Nets. Kittles is showing consistency in this series. Jefferson said something about this. He said that if they can find a way for Kittles' wife to give birth before each game, they'll do it coz it seems to be the source of Kerry's inspiration.
people who say that kmart's emtions are out of wack and he is over the edge obviously haven't watched kmart over the years and are just commenting on a game here and there. those people's comments cant be respected.(people in general) game two: we came, we saw, we again kicked some knick ass. thats basically a summary of game2. deke i thought had a positive impact for the knicks last night. even though he is old and slow and his offensive game is almost gone, he still has that shot blocking ability on defense. it's not as feared as before, but its still a there in a way. marbury once again crawled into a corner in the second half. yeah they say that kurt and penny were making shots, but they were not making shots the entired second half. where was steph then!? kk has done a very solid job on marbury and kidd has done a good job at times. steph really needs to become selfish for the knicks to have a chance to win. game three will possibly be a slow start for us since msg will have some excitement in it since there hasnt been a playoff game in a few years. i expect marbury to try and take over early and often. the first half will probably be like games 1 and 2. so the key for game3 is the second half. knicks haven't had strong 3rd or 4th quarters even though they made a run, but they are not consistant enough to make a threatening run. i also expect kidd to put on a show as he noramlly does at msg. game three: final outcome should be closer than 20pts just because the game is at msg. nets should still win by a hefty margin
