Charlotte vs. New York

Mr. J · Apr 15, 2005

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Knicks Starters
PG: Stephon Marbury

SG: Jamal Crawford

SF: Tim Thomas

PF: Mike Sweetney

C: Kurt Thomas

Knicks Bench:
Trevor Ariza

Maurice Taylor

Malik Rose

Jerome Williams

Jermaine Jackson

Jackie Butler

Bruno Sundov

Complete Knicks Stats


Bobcats Starters
PG: Brevin Knight

SG: Keith Bogans

SF: Gerald Wallace

PF: Emeka Okafor

C: Melvin Ely

Bobcats Bench
Matt Carroll

Jason Hart

Malik Allen

Jason Kapono

Courtney Alexander

Complete Bobcats Stats

Injuries:
NYK:

1. Allan Houston
2. Penny Hardaway

CHA:

1. Primoz Brezec
2. Bernard Robinson
3. Tamar Slay
4. Theron Smith
5. Kareem Rush


Matchups:
vs.
PG: It?s Marbury against a true PG?Brevin Knight. Knight is an exceptional passer and it shows in his 9 assists per game. The only thing is he finds a way to dish the dimes on the Bobcats. This season against the Knicks, Knight shoots a horrendous 28.6% from the field, however he does manage to get 9.3 assists and 3.3 steals. His steals per game against the Knicks are the highest for any team he played this season. He is also a very good on-ball defender as oppose to the guard he happens to be playing against today. No, Marbury doesn?t need to drop 40 points today, what he should really do is take some notes. Brevin Knight doesn?t posses the talent like Marbury, but he utilizes what he has. He is a 5-10 guard who has everything Marbury doesn?t. Let?s see what Marbury does in this matchup. Surprisingly enough, 3 times against Brevin Knight, Marbury has averaged only 13 points while shooting 35.5% from the field. So he doesn?t do any owning or ?pwning? so to speak. I think the outcome of this matchup will be a good one.

vs.
SG: Keith Bogans the 6?5 SG was traded from the Magic here a little while ago. He will be playing against Crawford who just came from an excellent game against the Cavaliers. Although Crawford can do well because of his devastating quickness off the dribble, Bogans might be able to dominate in the low post where he has maybe 20 more pounds of muscles on him. Crawford played well and perhaps the most appealing aspect of his stat line yesterday, was his 9 assists. He was terrible from the line, but not the field as he connected on 10 of his 16 attempts including 3-7 from the 3 point line. On the flipside, you have Bogans struggling last game. In an attempt to redeem himself, I see him coming out with some extra pep-in-his-step, especially with the Bobctas being at home playing the Knicks.

vs.
SF: I see Tim Thomas getting owned in this matchup. If h doesn?t, Wallace will just be having a bad day. This has all the makings of a atrocious defensive outing for Tim Thomas. Tim?s defense through out his career has been more than suspect. The thing is he doesn?t play it. He gets burned effortlessly, and with an athletic specialist such as Gerald Wallace facing opportunities, he will take advantage and send a message not only to the Knicks, but to the Charlotte Coliseum faithful. I see put backs, dunks off of penetration and an emphatic jam on the baseline because he has freedom to so when no one?s putting a body on him. A very scary matchup is ahead of us. Let?s hope it doesn?t get out of hand.

vs.
PF: Mike Sweetney and top contender for rookie of the year?Emeka Okafor. Meka has been nothing short of amazing this season. He has been a tough competitor night-in and night-out. His dedication to the game, has earned him the respect of many veterans in the NBA such as Jason Kidd who already publicly called him his rookie of the year. The PF/C from UCONN, will be going against our future Mike Sweetney. Okafor is a very good shot blocker and unlike most young players, he is very physically solid on the NBA level. Sweetney needs to do his best and remember what he is capable of and not lose confidence. I feel as if Kurt Thomas is a better fit for this position. Not only because he is a superb low post defender, but in addition, he can keep Okafor out of the paint with his midrange jumper. I?m very interested to see what Sweetney will do when he has a good player on him. Can he outplay Okafor? We?ll have to see what goes down.

vs.
C: Melvin Ely will be starting in the place of the injured Primoz Brezec who is having a break out year thus far. Ely just like Okafor (although still not on Meka?s level), is a good shotblocker so Kurt?s game with that perimeter shot needs to be on point today. Getting a shot blocker out of the paint can give us an automatic 2 points. Thomas is at a little disadvantage though. Melvin Ely is very physically gifted and the 260 pounds of muscle could be a factor for Kurt Thomas on defense. I think Crazy Eyes bext effort will be good enough for us.

Knicks Bench Summary
The Knicks bench has a huge spark I never knew existed. Perhaps Isiah Thomas? intent was to create this at the trading deadline in addition to him getting those key first round picks. Malik gives us a defensive intensity as well as hustle and experience off the bench along with JYD, Taylor gives us some major scoring off the bench and a big offensive spark similarly to what he did in Cleveland on Thursday night. The only thing I wish that would happen is Trevor Ariza getting some more minutes. The season is over and Ariza is yet to experience some more important minutes. I hope to see him in uniform in the Charlotte Coliseum doing his thing.

Bobcats Bench Summary:
Injuries have killed the Bobcats lately. They are down to 5 player on their bench including one of my favorites?Matt Carroll. You guys remember him, the one who was killing in preseason instead got rejected by a 7?6 guy with no skills who eventually got waived. Despite the deceiving percentages, Carroll has an excellent shot and he could be a killer to the Knicks. First of all, he might have some feelings he would like to take out on us, second of all, he isn?t a big name player so he is more than likely not to draw so much attention, third of all, the Knicks perimeter defense is worse than Tim Thomas? fundamentals of basketball pop quiz he took in college. A veteran such as Malik Allen could provide some experience and some direction to this youthful bunch, but I doubt by much.

<div align="center">Key Matchup:
Point Guard Play
vs.
Stephon Marbury vs. Brevin Knight</div>
<div align="center">We will see a matchup of the two of the NBA?s leading assist men going head to head. So far, Marbury has a 2-1 lead on Brevin Knight and his Bobcats in dismal shooting performances. Marbury needs to try and act like Knight and get his teammates involved in the action. He needs to run the team like a PG, not a SG. As the leader and the captain and floor general of the Knicks, he needs to make good decisions like Brevin Knight. Although Knight may not be as exciting to watch, he is equally effective and Marbury should take notes on how to really run a team from one of the most underrated players today.</div>

My Prediction:
The Knicks played so well against the Cavaliers yesterday, I think them playing for Herb and not themselves, will result in them beating the Bobcats 95-87. As I said before, it is impossible to make predictions for the Knicks because the only thing consistent about him is that he is inconsistent. I really don?t want them to win this game. Let?s get into the lottery strong! I don?t want them to lose 50+ games this season so I guess it wouldn?t be a great thing if they lost.

Don?t Forget:
THIS GAME IS AT 1:00 EASTERN TIME!!! FOR THE FOLKS WHO CAN?T SEE IT, IT?S ON 1050 ESPN RADIO!!! ALSO IT?S SUPPOSED TO BE ON TELEMUNDO TOO!!1