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Is There Still An Afterglow... After Cleveland, Miami and Orlando?
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misterearl
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2/25/2011  8:31 AM
This is the first three-game, game thread in the history of game threads.

Why? Because there will never be a more pivotal stretch in the nouveau Knicks season. Similar to the first west coast swing where the new Knicks rebounded and bonded in November. They were coming off five consecutive losses and headed west to Denver. The doubt was setting in and Clyde uttered his prophetic, "this road trip will either make them or break them."

Game one in Denver was a tough loss 120-118 but the Knicks showed positive signs with five guys in double figures including Fields 21 and 17 and Felton with 19 and 12 assists. Then the fun started. They defeat Sacramento 113-106, Golden State 125-119, Clippers 124-115 and Charlotte 110-107. Our yoots found confidence on the road and "the Knicks are back!" felt authentic.

In the same vein, the Milwaukee win was huge to set the tone. Despite the built-in excuse of rapid transitions, it was a must-win. You never want to follow fanfare with a home loss. The road calls again. Does Clyde think this trip will either "make of break them"?

Cleveland is playing with more confidence and has nothing to lose. Losing 26 in a row only made them cherish every bright moment as golden. Think Cleveland fans see some of Lebron in Carmelo? You damn skippy. The home crowd will be loud and rowdy. This game sets the tone for the trip. Another must win. If Cleveland wins, brace yourself for the juicy headlines.

Miami is primed for some payback for the 93-88 loss on Jan 27. For some reason the Knicks always play the Heat tough in Miami. It must be the 17 New Yorkers who proudly wear the blue and orange to drown out the passive Heat fans. Shawne Williams and Wilson Chandler did an excellent job of defending Lebron.

Orlando is laying in the weeds with Dwight Howard. Bad news for the active, but brittle, Ronny Turiaf. This could be the rubber game of the series. Win in Orlando next Tuesday and the Knicks could return to The Garden at 2-1. The bad news is this game is the front end of a back-to-back with the New Orleans Hornets the next night at The Garden.

Someone in the NBA schedule office has a weird sense of humor.

once a knick always a knick
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Nalod
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2/25/2011  8:54 AM
Oh, I was looking at the Knuggks schedule!

Not for hate purpose, but I have written off the season. ITs a starphuch for the future. Im ok with that. This team has too many holes.

billups has an injury or has to limit his minutes we are screwed. Grumpy Amare gonna have at least one Technical suspension and it takes time to come together as a team. We moved a lot of players! this is not like just bringing in one or two players. A lot went out the door.

Im not hating on the trade as I think this is about next year and Chris Paul. If anyone thinks this takes us to the next level I would agree it has the potential but not this year. Miami is susceptible as would we be in the playoffs.

We have done well against the Bulls but we don't have that team on the floor now. I also believe they are coming together.

Lowered expectations for this season.

I got a feeling the Drama of Phil Jax and the Lakes vs. The Bulls in the finals just has an interesting spin to it.

The Zen Masters Last Stand in the place he found his greatness. Karma!

JohnWallace44
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2/25/2011  9:02 AM
I think OKC just made the deals they need to win the West. They're stacked and the Lakers are just a little too far past their prime.

Orlando is the big game in this stretch. We will have had a little time to figure things out, and Orlando is a team we need to jump with Melo in the fold.

Alan Hahn: Nate Robinson has been on a ridonkulous scoring tear lately (remember when he couldn't hit Jerome James with a Big Mac in early January?)
JohnWallace44
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2/25/2011  9:23 AM
Philly has Detroit, Cleveland, Dalls, so we'd better match them in wins over the next three.
Alan Hahn: Nate Robinson has been on a ridonkulous scoring tear lately (remember when he couldn't hit Jerome James with a Big Mac in early January?)
Knickoftime
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2/25/2011  10:20 AM
Not sure who noticed, but the Bobcats, the team currently in 9th place in the East and 3 full games ahead of Milwaukee at 10, just threw in the towel on their season.

Knicks fan can safely begin making their first round plans.

Who knows how the transition/acclimation is going to go, but Jordan conveniently provided the Knicks something of a safety net.

misterearl
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2/25/2011  11:22 AM
Low Expectations

"Knicks fan can safely begin making their first round plans."

Knickoftime - Better not count those playoff victories before Ticketmaster prints the discount coupons. The Bulls just beat the Heat.

The Cleveland game tonight is no cakewalk. This road trip is not simply about the playoffs, but sets a tone for the franchise moving forward.

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Knickoftime
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2/25/2011  11:42 AM
misterearl wrote:Knickoftime - Better not count those playoff victories before Ticketmaster prints the discount coupons. The Bulls just beat the Heat.

Not counting anything other than a trip to the dance, but that said, yes, the Bulls just beat the Heat. But the Bulls just lost to the Raptors too.

Putting weight in 1 game of 82 is never a good proposition.

The Cleveland game tonight is no cakewalk. This road trip is not simply about the playoffs, but sets a tone for the franchise moving forward.

Why isn't it a cakewalks?

Talk about low expectations.

If you try hard enough you can come up with reasons why a bad team is dangerous on any given night. But Cleveland is the worst team in the league, and are going to be without some of the few healthy players they had on their roster.

Knicks should absolutely expect, and win, this game.

crzymdups
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2/25/2011  11:45 AM
Anyone who has lower expectations for this season doesn't understand how good Melo and Chauncey are and how good the rest of this core still is.

I have this team going 19-8 the rest of the way to finish with 48 wins.

I don't expect them to win in Miami or in Orlando in their 3rd and 4th games together - I expect them to compete and play hard and come together a little more as a group. Expecting them to win brutal road games in their first week together is a little much.

Earl, I feel like you are just making this thread so you can come in and lament the loss of Wilson and Gallo after tough losses to Miami and Orlando. Prove me wrong and give this new group of guys a chance to learn everybody's name first. And learning the playbook might help, too.

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JohnWallace44
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2/25/2011  11:58 AM
If we pickup one of the better FA's that's still out there, then I could see us ripping off another long string of wins. If not, its a lot of pressure on these guys.
Alan Hahn: Nate Robinson has been on a ridonkulous scoring tear lately (remember when he couldn't hit Jerome James with a Big Mac in early January?)
misterearl
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2/25/2011  12:21 PM    LAST EDITED: 2/25/2011  3:41 PM
crzymdups - please, let's get one thing straight. The only motivation to create a thread is to generate conversation around a compelling issue. The Answer Man could care less about being proven "right." Why? Because The Answer Man is only in this game for the entertainment value.

The loss of Chandler, Gallo, Felton and Mozgov will be lamented, win or lose. The trade of The Denver Six is the loss of something greater. With that trade the Knicks lost more than young talent. We lost the optimistic anxiety of watching players mature and develop. The Boston Celtics were in tears over the loss of Perkins. By contrast, the Knicks players felt nothing. No one had been on the roster long enough to feel anything.

It is the personalities who create the team identity more than the colors. Gallo was learning the joy of the pump fake, Mozgov was learning how to catch the ball, Chandler was blocking shots and Felton was leaving every ounce of effort on the court.

There is also something that no one wants to talk about. Like few other cities, New York represents many cultures jammed together trying to not step on one another. One of the coolest things about the former roster was its international spice. Our Knicks lost their diversity and became virtually an all-black team again, which for me, does NOT represent the cosmopolitan nature of New York City. Gallinari was the first talented white player the Knicks have had since Keith Van Horn. Timofey Mozgov had a community of Russian followers in Brighton Beach.

Of course, none of that matters as the championship parade is rolling down Broadway and the ticker tape is floating in the breeze.

Moving forward, as the accounts and descriptions of this new band of brothers are formed, it is never so simple as describing a uniform jersey. Low expectations are not proposed to lament the loss of any former Knicks. Tough losses are inevitable. The question remains how this group recovers from adversity.

Low expectations are proposed to protect the innocent.

once a knick always a knick
crzymdups
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2/25/2011  12:25 PM    LAST EDITED: 2/25/2011  12:26 PM
Anyone who calls himself the Answer Man and pulls up threads he made months earlier about Wilson Chandler or Timo Mozgov after they have a good game cares about being right.

Hey, I like being right, too. Here's my prediction: Carmelo Anthony will win more playoff games over the next five years than Anyone the Knicks just traded to Denver.

I miss the old Knicks, but I certainly don't hold that against the new Knicks. The Knicks are a better team now. Time to move on.

Read the Sports Guy article where he compares the Melo trades to others historically:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110225/part1&sportCat=nba

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misterearl
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2/25/2011  12:40 PM
"Anyone who calls himself the Answer Man and pulls up threads he made months earlier about Wilson Chandler or Timo Mozgov after they have a good game cares about being right."

As the Mayor's former Campaign Manager threads were recycled to stuff the ballot box.

Mozgov was The Most Interesting Knicks player in the world. Mozgov threads are Pulitzer Prize winning novels.

The Knicks are better on paper. The games are not played on paper. Is going 1-2 on this road trip accepetable?

Beat Cleveland.

once a knick always a knick
crzymdups
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2/25/2011  12:47 PM
misterearl wrote:"Anyone who calls himself the Answer Man and pulls up threads he made months earlier about Wilson Chandler or Timo Mozgov after they have a good game cares about being right."

As the Mayor's former Campaign Manager threads were recycled to stuff the ballot box.

Mozgov was The Most Interesting Knicks player in the world. Mozgov threads are Pulitzer Prize winning novels.

The Knicks are better on paper. The games are not played on paper. Is going 1-2 on this road trip accepetable?

Beat Cleveland.

It's funny you say the games aren't played on paper - because that's one of the only ways people can make a case that Carmelo Anthony is not a superstar. Watching the guy play basketball - he has it. He's gritty, competitive and consistent in a way that only guys like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Kevin Durant are from the wing. He's in that class. People can point to stats about why Durant and Lebron are better on paper - Melo goes out and beats those guys on the court regularly.

Another thing that doesn't win basketball games is potential. Coaches and GMs get fired sitting around and waiting for guys like Gallinari to learn to bring a consistent competitive fire to every single game. Carmelo didn't need time to develop - he came right into the NBA and started pumping out 20ppg and up and started getting into the playoffs repeatedly in the brutal Western conf.

I have nothing against Gallinari and Chandler - I liked watching them grow. But don't take away anything from Carmelo Anthony. Success with him on the team is no lesser - he's a NY kid who dreamed of playing here. He's one of the elite talents in this league. He has the talent to walk into Miami and lead this team to a victory. You can't really say that about Gallo or Wil. Melo could, I'm not expecting him to or putting pressure on him to, but he COULD walk into Miami and drop 40pts without batting an eye. That's why you trade for him. He is a gifted gifted player who is without question a top ten talent in this league.

The Knicks chances to go into Miami and Orlando and win a game, while they are admittedly not at Miami or Orlando's level just yet, their chances to win such games improved DRAMATICALLY with Melo and Billups in the fold.

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nixluva
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2/25/2011  12:58 PM
Man this is some garbage. This whole Walsh/D'Antoni era has been about one thing, Building a contender. We can't get caught up in the false pretense that it's better to have a more "pure" team build in order for it to be legit. Sure it's not to have home grown talent develop into a contender, but it's not like we sent away all of our own players. We still have Fields and TD among others. It's more important that we put together the best team we possibly can and that's what they did. There are no guarantees, but we can at least admit and accept that this team has a greater chance to win than the one we had before.

Also, this deal was done begrudgingly. Walsh didn't want to send all of our young players away. However, this is no time to get sentimental. We needed to improve the talent at all costs and that's what they did. No time to cry over the loss of young prospects when you bring in proven talent that puts you in position to win for the next 5 or more years.

misterearl
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2/25/2011  12:59 PM
crzymdups - Carmelo is an elite talent. We are in perfect agreement. The unknown is less about his proven individual talent and more about how long it takes Billups to orchestrate his "talents" to mesh with Amare's "talents."

There is a sense that D'Antoni will experiment with various strategies to assert his imprint on this group more than impressionable yoots. Or he can defer to Captain Chauncey.

In the same manner the level of expectation to win games in Orlando or Miami improves DRAMATICALLY with Melo and Billups, so do the number of post game interview questions increase if they lose.

It should make for great television.

once a knick always a knick
crzymdups
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2/25/2011  1:05 PM
misterearl wrote:crzymdups - Carmelo is an elite talent. We are in perfect agreement. The unknown is less about his proven individual talent and more about how long it takes Billups to orchestrate his "talents" to mesh with Amare's "talents."

There is a sense that D'Antoni will experiment with various strategies to assert his imprint on this group more than impressionable yoots. Or he can defer to Captain Chauncey.

In the same manner the level of expectation to win games in Orlando or Miami improves DRAMATICALLY with Melo and Billups, so do the number of post game interview questions increase if they lose.

It should make for great television.

It's the Knicks - best soap opera in town, win or lose.

Seeing Gallo and Wil help Denver win last night, particularly against hated Boston, hurt. I was proud of them and a little sick that they wouldn't do it for the Knicks anymore.

Mourn the lost - respect their time here. I'm cool with that.

Just don't hold it against the new guys. Give them a chance to build up their own memories and good will. That's all I'm saying.

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nixluva
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2/25/2011  1:18 PM
crzymdups wrote:
misterearl wrote:crzymdups - Carmelo is an elite talent. We are in perfect agreement. The unknown is less about his proven individual talent and more about how long it takes Billups to orchestrate his "talents" to mesh with Amare's "talents."

There is a sense that D'Antoni will experiment with various strategies to assert his imprint on this group more than impressionable yoots. Or he can defer to Captain Chauncey.

In the same manner the level of expectation to win games in Orlando or Miami improves DRAMATICALLY with Melo and Billups, so do the number of post game interview questions increase if they lose.

It should make for great television.

It's the Knicks - best soap opera in town, win or lose.

Seeing Gallo and Wil help Denver win last night, particularly against hated Boston, hurt. I was proud of them and a little sick that they wouldn't do it for the Knicks anymore.

Mourn the lost - respect their time here. I'm cool with that.

Just don't hold it against the new guys. Give them a chance to build up their own memories and good will. That's all I'm saying.

Yup. And it's not like they wanted to send those guys away. It's just how things turned out. The thing is that this group we have now is better, even without having any chemistry yet. There will be games where things just don't click, but I think talented players figure things out faster than guys with less talent. Mike is gonna keep things simple this year. There's not enough time to teach them everything. So it's gonna a little bit of what we do and a little bit of what they've been good at doing.

FistOfOakley
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2/25/2011  1:23 PM
we have a playoff spot secured and if you're of the belief that miami, chicago, boston are all the same then the rest of the regular season is pretty much just a warmup to whoever we happen to be matched up against...

i do think we can take the 5th seed and matchup with orlando which means winning every game is imperative...

JrZyHuStLa
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2/25/2011  1:58 PM    LAST EDITED: 2/25/2011  1:59 PM
No way in Hell Lebron wants to face the Knicks in the first round.

Can you imagine Lebron being ousted early as Hell by playing with Wade and Bosh?

Boy, he would hear it. And he would hear it a lot.

Panos
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2/25/2011  2:15 PM
JrZyHuStLa wrote:No way in Hell Lebron wants to face the Knicks in the first round.

Can you imagine Lebron being ousted early as Hell by playing with Wade and Bosh?

Boy, he would hear it. And he would hear it a lot.

There would be nothing I would like better than to send Miami home.

Is There Still An Afterglow... After Cleveland, Miami and Orlando?

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