<div align="center"> ^made by Knicks Analyst @ Knicks 24-33 / Magic 29-27</div> <font size="3"> Date: 3/4/05 Time 7:00 (Eastern Time) TV: MSG, Sun Sports, NBALP</font> <font size="4">Season Stats</font> Previous Games: Knicks: 117-115OT W vs. Lakers Magic: 114-111W vs. Sacramento Knicks: Record: 23-33 (.421) Standings: Fourth, Atlantic At Home: 17-12 On Road: 7-21 PPG: 96.7 Opp PPG: 99.5 FG%: .450 Opp FG%: .466 RPG: 40.9 Opp RPG: 42.0 Magic: Record: 29-27 (.518) Standings: Third, Southeast At Home: 20-8 On Road: 9-19 PPG: 99.9 Opp PPG: 100.9 FG%: .454 Opp FG%: .445 RPG: 43.9 Opp RPG: 42.0 *BOLD* leader in particular stat. Doug Christie?s stats are when he became an Orlando Magic Maurice Taylor and Malik Rose?s stats are when they became a New York Knick <font size="4"> <font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Starters</font></font> PG: Stephon Marbury 39.8pg 21.1ppg 3.0rpg 8.2apg Jamal Crawford 36.4mpg 18.2ppg 2.8rpg 3.8apg SF: Tim Thomas 27.0mpg 11.2ppg 3.4rpg 1.3apg PF: Mike Sweetney 18.3ppg 8.2ppg 5.2rpg 0.5apg C: Kurt Thomas 36.8mpg 11.9ppg 10.2rpg 2.1apg <font color="Blue"><font size="3">Knicks Bench:</font></font> Jerome Williams 16.0mpg 4.6ppg 3.5rpg 0.6apg Trevor Ariza 18.1mpg 6.2ppg 2.9rpg 1.3apg Penny Hardaway 25.4mpg 8.0ppg 2.5rpg 2.2apg Maurice Taylor 23.1mpg 7.6ppg 4.2rpg 1.4apg Malike Rose 17.0mpg 6.1ppg 4.5rpg 0.8apg Bruno Sundov 4.7mpg 1.6ppg 0.9rpg 0.1apg Complete Knicks Stats <font size="4"> <font color="Blue">Magic Starters</font></font> PG: Jameer Nelson 14.6mpg 6.2ppg 1.9rpg 2.4apg SG: Steve Francis 37.5mpg 21.7ppg 6.1rpg 7.0apg SF: Grant Hill 34.6mpg 19.4ppg 4.5rpg 3.5apg PF: Dwight Howard 32.0mpg 10.6ppg9.7rpg 0.9apg C: Kelvin Cato 25.3mpg 7.5ppg 7.6rpg 0.7apg <font color="Blue"><font size="3">Magic Bench</font></font> Doug Christie 29.3mpg 6.6ppg 3.4pg 3.8apg Hedo Turkoglu 25.6mpg 14.0ppg 3.5rpg 2.1apg Tony Battie 24.4mpg 5.0ppg 5.8rpg 0.5apg Pat Garrity 14.1mpg 4.8ppg 1.9pg 0.4apg DeShawn Stevenson 12.8mpg 4.1ppg 1.4pg 0.5apg Stacey Augmon 10.7mpg 2.5ppg 1.6pg 0.4apg Brandon Hunter 5.3mpg 2.0ppg 1.4pg 0.0apg Complete Magic Stats <font size="4"><font color="Red">Injuries:</font></font> <font color="DarkOrange">NYK:</font> Allan Houston <font color="Blue">ORL:</font> and Andrew Declerq Mario and Mario Kasun <font size="4"> <font color="Green">Matchups:</font></font> vs. PG: Steve and Steph is a good matchup. Last time it was a very good one as well. Steve Francis started off slowly but quickly got into it afterwards. I even remember one acrobatic move he did in the air, and after he landed he finished it off with a somersault?I?m serious! It was obvious Marbury got the best of him as he finished off with 34 points. Now against one of the NBA?s best scorers at his position, he?ll look to have a good game and outmatch him yet again. He hasn?t been the same since he lost his partner in crime Cuttino Mobley though. vs. In this matchup at the 2, we have Crawford and Christie. It?s a matchup of Crawford?s great offense against Christie?s great defense. Who will get the best? Everyone has been knocking the trade that was made between the Kings and the Magic sending Mobley to the Kings for Doug Christie. To tell you the truth, I think the Magic got robbed in the deal. Sure Christie gave them some more defense, but Mobley gave them pretty good defense as well but the only thing is he could score and brought tremendous intangibles to the table. He gave Steve space so he can do his thing and when they focused too much on him, a simple ?swing to the wing? taught them their lesson. Christie however, is a good defender, but his perimeter presence alone can not stop down the Knicks. If Crawford plays smart basketball and doesn?t get intimidated by a constant hand in his face, he should be able to have a positive impact on the game. Hopefully Crawford will respect Doug?s defensive prowess and doesn?t try those dipsy-doo playground moves. Even when I?m at the park I don?t try those moves (mostly because I can?t do them lol) but he really should play smart basketball which we have been doing as of late. Christie is looking to breakout and with a winnable game for them at home, after this losing streak, I think he will try extra hard. Defense as we have seen can make or break games (especially if you?re the Knicks), so taking Chrsitie out of it can be the difference maker in who wins. vs. SF: Tim Thomas!!! Everyone it?s everyone?s favorite player TT! Tim Thomas who had a great game yesterday will have a big task against him. Hill is already a tough challenge, but even bigger is his consistency. Just when everyone gave him props saying you the man, we never abandoned you (liars!) and all of that. Now that he?s on the road playing a good player, we will see. Now I wouldn?t really care if he had another 35 point game. If he just gave a good effort taking smart shots and playing good basketball, it will be all good between me and Tim. Now with all eyes on Tim, we?ll see again if he can live up to expectations. The thing that makes it harder for him is that he?s playing an All-Star in Grant Hill who has been rejuvenated since his return in the beginning of the year. He knows how to deal with people with his experience over the years and I?m sure when you think of ?intimidating player? TT doesn?t come to mind. If Double T can surprise him and everyone else and have another great game like what he had yesterday, than we greatly increase our chances of wining. So many times we were used to having a starting lineup of 4 people and now when TT starts playing decently, we start wining. We were missing someone and that was a starting SF. Hopefully TT gains some confidence from this game and we can have a fair game. We?ll see how legit he is when he plays on the road, and against an all-star. vs. Tough matchup for Mike. He has a rookie of the year candidate facing him who at 6?11 is very quick and an athletic power forward/center. The first overall pick in last years draft, has been just as good as the expectations had him out to be. He is averaging almost a double-doule at roughly 10 points and 10 rebounds per contest. He is also a good shot blocker and has a good perimeter game. Sweetney?s overzealousness usually gets him into quick foul trouble. Hopefully he doesn?t see someone like Dwight Howard very intimidating so he can use his body on him. If Sweetney plays smart and to his potential, he can have a good game. Maybe give Dwight two early fouls and force another less capable defender on Sweetney for him to take advantage. The key for Sweetney is to stay out of foul trouble and draw fould like he is so capable of doing. For Dwight, he must take advantage of his size quickness and perimeter game. Good matchup nevertheless and this one will definitely show us a little more of Sweetney?s abilities and how he performs against the big boys. vs. C: I look forward to seeing this one. Kurt and Cato. Kelvin Cato is an excellent shot blocker who can get you some boards. His game on the offensive end is very limited therefore preventing easy put back dunks and of the sort is a must. The thing I like about this one is because Kurt is on him our best big man. Kurt is shooting with a great deal of confidence on his midrange jumper and is it just me, or has he extended his range even more! This will automatically force Kelvin to step out of the paint leaving it vulnerable and attend to Kurt?s jumper. Now that will give Crawford and Marbury room to penetrate without fear, it will give Sweetney more room to work in the post, and it will give Ariza some slashing room. Kurt?s jumper has to be on today because in essence, I guess we are kind of running a lot of our offense through Kurt?s jumper. Also, he will guard Howard from time to time and one of the best low posters in the league is just what we need for a pair of young legs. <font size="3"><font color="DarkOrange">Knicks Bench Summary</font></font> I like our bench much more. We get a worker, an energy provider, a hustler and a great defender, with an even better attitude with the experience and leadership the Knicks will need to snag a win against the Magic. Also the shooting game continues with Mo? Taylor?s jumper. The front court for Orlando has two great shot blocking and our penetrators only defense is to force them out with the jumper. Now with Mo? and Kurt on the perimeter it will open up things even more for the players. The Knicks also get even more energy with Jerome ?Junkyard dog? Williams. He can give the Knicks some hustling plays and a boost on defense along with rookie Trevor Ariza who can give a defensive lift and as we know, good defense leads to easy offense. Good bench by the orange and blue they?ve been playing well as of late, but we didn?t see them play?on the road. <font size="3"><font color="Blue">Magic Bench Summary:</font></font> A great bench by Orlando as well. They have Hedo Turkoglu who comes off the bench with a spark giving them a perimeter threat, a mismatch and floor space for players like Steve Francis to do there thing especially with New York lacking a shot blocker. Garrity also does the same thing for them and them at the same time can really be a killer for the opponent. In addition to that, the Magic have another defensive monster in Tony Battie to lockup the paint for the Knicks forcing them to use their perimeter game which obviously isn?t the same without the benefits of a drive and kick. Overall, the Magic have a very capable bench that can give the Knicks trouble, or anyone for that matter on any given night. <div align="center"><font size="4"><font color="Green">Key Matchup:</font></font> Starbury vs. The Franchise Starbury vs.The Franchise Who will have the better handle on the game? This will definitely be able to decide a game or not. The two leading scorers of their teams are going head to head. Both exude a great deal of confidence and I expect to see them going at it similar to what we have witnessed in late December. They have some of their best games playing against each other and hopefully they can score in an exciting fashion while simultaneously getting everyone involved and fulfilling their duties as the floor general. It?s the most exciting matchup in the game and at the same time, the most important to both teams. We?ll see how this ends up whoever gets the better stats and even more important?the win!</div> <font size="4">My Prediction:</font> The Knicks have been on a roll lately and won 3 in a row and 4 of their last 5. The only thing different about this game is they are playing on the road. If the Knicks are really legit, this game wouldn?t be such a big difference. Now we?ll see how they really respond and we?ll probably see more of Taylor and Rose now that they have had some practices. The Magic have been struggling as of late however, just finished beating the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. They will exude a lot of confidence playing against an obvious less superior team. Currebtly as the 7th seed, the Magic are far from locking that spot up and anyone can take it. This prediction is a tough one. Call this bias, but I see the Knicks wining by 49. J/K of course but really, I see the Knicks wining 105-98 against them. They have demonstrated that they?re so confident that even Tim Thomas is playing well! I see it being a close one however, with the Knicks being on a recent tear and playoffs flashing near them, I see a win against an eastern conference team who has been struggling recently will be preached to them. Also Malik Rose and Taylor off of our bench will help our depth. I see this being a good game and close all throughout, but at the end I think the Knicks will want the victory more. <font color="RED"><font size="4">THIS GAME IS AT 7:00 EASTERN TIME!!! </font></font>
Nice preview. This game, I agree, will be a close one. I see a similar score, but a little lower at 97-91. I think that the way both teams has been going will not be changed this game (i.e. Knicks' confidence and winning, Orlando's losing of late). My prediction is that while Marbury stays fixated on containing Francis, Crawford has a big game. I also see TT returning to lower numbers, maybe around 15 pts 4 rbs. On a side note, I agree that Orlando got ripped off in sending Mobley to Sacramento for Christie. Mobley's 3 point shooting and team attitude, as you said, gave Franchise the freedom to score and do as he liked, which is what made them very good at the beginning of the year. Mobley was a player who I enjoyed watching.
im dissapointed....with us.... knicks JBB fans well its been a good 24 hours since the game...why isnt anyone reflecting on the game (i'll get to that in a sec)... i would but i had jewish obligations..... after our past three wins everyone was jumping in to anlayze and gloat but we lost and no one comments for 24 hours!!.... are we becoming fair weather fans....trust me we arent gonna win enough games to just comment on the wins..... im very dissapointed :shakehead .... sometimes the only way to express my feelings is through smilies.... or in this case un-smilies....the perimiter defense was atrocious!! we allowed them to cut to the hoop at their will....we allowed 38 first quarter points and it didnt get any better from there....
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting JWohl:</div><div class="quote_post">well its been a good 24 hours since the game...why isnt anyone reflecting on the game (i'll get to that in a sec)... i would but i had jewish obligations..... after our past three wins everyone was jumping in to anlayze and gloat but we lost and no one comments for 24 hours!!.... are we becoming fair weather fans....trust me we arent gonna win enough games to just comment on the wins..... im very dissapointed :shakehead .... sometimes the only way to express my feelings is through smilies.... or in this case un-smilies....the perimiter defense was atrocious!! we allowed them to cut to the hoop at their will....we allowed 38 first quarter points and it didnt get any better from there....</div> Come on give everyone a break. That game was just plain depressing for anyone hoping the Knicks would win. And everyone was so down I didnt have the heart to say how pleased I was with the loss. Now maybe we'll just tank the season. As for the analysis you're right about the perimeter defense being terrible. But there were other factors. Sweetney got into foul trouble early and we moved away from what was working for us. For the past three games we've been playing inside outside. But we didnt pound the ball into the low post. Sweetney and TT got very few shot attempts. Partly because Marbury and Crawford werent feeding the low post and partly because of the zone defense that we couldnt solve. But this game pretty much exposed all of our problems. Perimeter defense, no outside shooting, not enough prescence in the low post, and no shot blocking. Hopefully we'll get a player in the lottery that will address these issues(like Tiago Splitter).
