Same Knicks, Different Day

Well, you certainly can't complain that the Knicks are unpredictable. Our beloved scoundrels manage to lose in just about the same way every time. Last night's game in Houston was no exception. Easy layups and wide open threes were once again the poison of a Knicks team that hit its shots and kept track of the ball on the other end. The fact that the Knicks shot a decent 43% and only had 9 turnovers, yet still lost, tells us that that whole Suns' concept of simply running and out-gunning the other team might not apply here. It's time to settle down a little bit and eliminate those open shots. Credit has to be given to Yao Ming, as well. I've never been a fan of his, but god DAMN did he bring it last night. He had a monster game and looked truly dominant down low.

Yeeeeeah...That can't happen.
Another point of concentration has to be the way the team starts games. Isiah, from the game recap seems completely unconcerned with such.

``I am really proud of how hard we fight and I told my players that,'' he said. ``Right now, we don't need to focus on losses because if we keep playing hard, we are going to get better as the season goes on.''

Isiah needs to reach a little farther back in his memory. The Knicks have, in 5 of 6 games, fallen behind early, a fact that can be attributed primarily to lack of effort. This needs to be addressed. Playing hard for 12 minutes doesn't qualify as solid effort, and doesn't win games.

On the positive side, the platoon of guys that Zeke sent at T-Mac did a pretty good job at settling him down. I was also pleased to see Kelvin Cato getting some minutes on Yao, as well as attempts to go small with Balkman, Lee, and Rose. If anything, there should've been more of this. Finally, Nate's dunk off of a Marbury (Crawford?) miss was among the sickest things I've ever seen in my life. If someone can find a video or photograph of this, I beg of you to alert me. It'll surely be on Friday's Courtside Countdown, but I don't know if I can wait a week to see it again.

Anyway, the thoroughly battered Knicks have to take on the Spurs tonight. As I mentioned, the key to staying competitive in games like this, is to start the 1st quarter with the same kind of energy that's been keeping the games close in the fourth quarter. Hopefully the movement and flow that was evident at the end of last night's game will carry over into this one. Let's do this.