<div align="center"> *made by Knicks Analyst @ Knicks 18-26 / Nuggets 19-25</div> <font size="3"> Date: 2/1/05 Time 9:00 TV: MSG, NBALP</font> <font size="4">Season Stats</font> Previous Games: Knicks: 89-96L @ Clippers Nuggets: 95-88W @ Pacers Knicks Record: 18-26 (.409) Standings: Fourth, Atlantic At Home: 12-11 On Road: 6-15 PPG: 95.2 Opp PPG: 98.3 FG%: .443 Opp FG%: .464 RPG: 40.8 Opp RPG: 42.4 Nuggets: Record: 19-25 (.432) Standings: Third, Northwest At Home: 12 - 9 On Road: 7 - 16 PPG: 95.1 Opp PPG: 97.8 FG%: .445 Opp FG%: .457 RPG: 41.3 Opp RPG: 42.3 <font size="4"> <font color="DarkOrange">Knicks</font></font> PG: Stephon Marbury 39.8mpg 20.3ppg 3.0rpg 8.3apg SG: Jamal Crawford 37.2mpg 19.1ppg 3.0rpg 2.9apg SF: Trevor Ariza 17.2mpg 5.5ppg 2.7rpg 1.4apg PF: Kurt Thomas 36.5mpg 11.6ppg 9.8rpg 1.9apg C: Nazr Mohammed 29.8mpg 11.9ppg 8.8rpg 0.5apg <font size="3">Bench:</font> Jerome Williams 16.8mpg 5.0ppg 3.8rpg 0.7apg Moochie Norris 10.9mpg 2.6ppg 1.3rpg 1.2apg Jamison Brewer 11.6mpg 2.1ppg 1.2rpg 0.4apg Vin Baker 7.6mpg 1.5ppg 1.6rpg 0.3apg Bruno Sundov 4.5mpg 1.9ppg 0.8rpg 0.1apg For more in depth statistics for the Knicks, here they are: Knicks Stats <font size="4"> <font color="Blue">Nuggets</font></font> PG: Andre Miller 36.8mpg 14.5ppg 4.3rpg 6.2apg SG: Greg Buckner 23.5mpg 6.4ppg 2.9rpg 2.0apg SF: Carmelo Anthony 36.4mpg 20.2ppg 5.7rpg 2.9apg PF: Kenyon Martin 34.3mpg 15.3ppg 8.0rpg 2.7apg C: Marcus Camby 30.5mpg 9.7ppg 9.6rpg 1.9apg <font size="3">Bench</font> Earl Boykins 25.1mpg 11.8ppg 1.8rpg 3.6apg DerMarr Johnson 15.1mpg 6.2ppg 1.7rpg 1.1apg Nene 25.3mpg 9.6ppg 5.8rpg 1.6apg Rodney White 13.4mpg 5.6ppg 1.9rpg 1.0apg Bryon Russell 16.1mpg 4.6ppg 2.7rpg 1.2apg Francisco Elson 14.3mpg 3.3ppg 3.2rpg 0.5apg Nikoloz Tskitishvili 7.2mpg 1.5ppg 1.3rpg 0.2apg For more in depth statistics for the Nuggets here they are: Nuggets Stats <font size="4"> <font color="Red">Injuries:</font></font> <font color="DarkOrange">NYK:</font> and Tim Thomas and Allan Houston <font color="Blue">DEN:</font> Voshon Lenard <font size="4"><font color="Green">Matchups:</font></font> vs. PG: Marbury against ?The point guard that lead the league in assists not too long ago.? We remember this guy Andre Miller. Looks like he?s not the same though. He?s averaging a solid 14.5 and 6 assists. Pretty solid season so far if you ask me. Obviously the Nuggets think he is valuable if he is getting the most minutes out of everyone. What Stephon needs to do tonight is force him to take the contested jumpers. You and I know very well that Miller doesn?t necessarily ?excel? in the 3 point shooting department. If Marbury can use his strength and quickness to an advantage, he can give Miller a very hard time. Let?s see what goes down though. I think this will be another dramatic confrontation. vs. SG: Jamal Crawford has Buckner?s defense which might give him trouble. Well it could give him trouble if he settles for the jumpshot instead of doing the correct and fundamentally accurate thing and taking it in for an easy layup. Buckner is a very good defender. If Crawford wants to have an advantage he should as I said just play smart team oriented basketball. If Jamal Crawford can mix up his game like he did against Phoenix, than it will be very helpful. When he did that he had 40 points for goodness sake! Hopefully he learns and if he throws up one of those outrageous shots Herb Williams sits him down or something. vs. SF: Two young players going head to head. Only a year a part. They both left after their freshman year of college and entered the draft. The only difference is Anthony was drafted with the 3rd pick, and Ariza was the 43rd. Despite the difference in their draft choices I still see their impact being identical. As most of you know, I am very high on Trevor Ariza. He will be playing the Nuggets leading scorer Carmelo Anthony. He is very talented and can give Ariza some trouble especially down in the low post where Ariza is yet to develop a body to withstand that. Very interesting matchup though. Two high flyers and future of their franchises on the path to superstardom. I guess we are in for a clip of the future. vs. PF: Kurt Thomas against infamous Knick killer Kenyon Martin. Historically, Kurt Thomas and all of the Knicks have had trouble against Martin. He is definitely no Reggie Miller but, he loves playing against the Knicks and probably because our favorite Tim Thomas is still here, he will have a good game. This should be a tough one. Maybe someone like Jerome Williams might be more effective. Martin is very elusive and Kurt Thomas isn?t the quickest Knick out there. Last time Martin played us he had a good game with 18 and 7. Not bad but, now that he is at home, things might be different. Who knows though, let?s just hope for the best. vs. C: To tell you the truth, I wish that this was the opposite. Meaning we had Camby and I was talking about how he would do against Mohammed. I mean I like Mohammed but, no one beats Camby. Anyway, our center of old Marcus Camby will be oing against our center of new, Nazr Mohammed. Mohammed I think is in for a rough night. Marcus Camby is bigger stronger, tougher, plays with more heart, more aggressive, every aspect except maybe not a real polished offensive game. Last time Mohammed was 4-11, with 5 rebounds along with 5 fouls. That game Marcus Camby had 21 points 14 rebounds 4 blocks and had no fouls either. Maybe it was he was playing back at MSG that got him going. Or maybe Mohammed is no match for him, or maybe he just likes playing against the Knicks. I just know that Mohammed has a challenge on his hands on both ends of the floor. I wonder what is going to happen. <font size="3"><font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Bench Summary</font></font> Well at least we have Penny back, yes the difference maker. People who don?t know the Knicks just don?t know how valuable this guy is but?it figures. Anyway, we still have JYD and defensive specialist Jamison Brewer. Our bench is still quite empty. We still should have Tim Thomas playing like 15 off the bench providing a little scoring, and Houston starting once he gets healthy and Crawford coming off. We still need people coming off the bench. We have an available roster spot too. Btw, why did we leave DerMarr Johnson alone? Guess who we?re playing tonight. <font size="3"><font color="Blue">Nuggets Bench Summary:</font></font> The Nuggets bench is more than decent with 6th man of the year contender Earl Boykins, and contributors like Johnson, Nene, and Rodney White. We need to pay attention to their bench just as much as their starters. They give this squad a big lift once they come off very dependable players giving their starters some valuable resting time. <font size="4"><font color="Green">Key Matchup:</font></font> The Key Matchup is at the PG position. Marbury" target="_blank">http://www.nba.com/media/act_stephon_marbury.jpg"></a> vs. " target="_blank">http://www.nba.com/media/act_andre_miller.jpg"></a>Miller These two average the most minutes on their respective teams. Both average the most assists per game on their respective teams. Both are starting point guards on their respective teams. The most important matchup we have seen how important point guard play is. When Marbury can?t deliver at important times, the whole teams suffers because of it. When point guards aren?t delivering players like Kenyon Martin who used to be thriving in New Jersey, is not anymore. That?s how important point guard play is. When you keep the ball rolling the players do the same. Let?s see how they perform against each other and more importantly in the game. <font size="4">My Prediction:</font> Another dog fight at hand. This is definitely a tough game for us. You know what I am predicting a loss for us. We always find a way to screw up a game and I don?t see anything different here. We will probably have like a 8 point lead in the 4th and lose it. Marbury will have turnovers, Crawford will act stupid, and Kurt Thomas the unclutch player he is will probably mess up for us. Nothing ridiculous probably a 100-95 loss or something. <font color="RED"><font size="4">THIS GAME IS AT 9:30 NOT AT THE USUAL 7:30.</font></font> <font color="RED"><font size="2">REMEMBER THAT THE GAME IS ON 1050 ESPN RADIO ALSO</font></font>
Man this is tough, I cannot foresee a win for the New York Knicks here, unless all 5, and Penny Hardaway play big time ball. Denver Nuggets 98 New York Knicks 88
Man was I off. I just didn't think they were going to play that bad. What do you do if your the New York Knicks Head Coach? How do you get these guys to win?
Stress the hell out of them about defense. They just let people go by too easy or give up too many open looks.
