Posted by diderotn:

The answer at SF is already on our roster. We have lee that can actually play that position. he is a much better rebounder than Barnes and should have been promoted to the active squad. We were horrendous on the board...and both Frye and Lee could have helped us..

[Edited by - diderotn on 11-02-2005 11:29 PM]

Frye? I don't know about that. And even Lee, im not sure thats what we need. What we really need is a stable SF starter. Barnes just isn't the answer, and Ariza is not ready yet. And Q will not be the answer there, Brown sees him as a 2.

Posted by McK1:

all you guys hating on J-Craw right now need to give it up! He and Nate in the backcourt in th 4th was the only reason NY was in it. The real culprit was Steph in the 2nd half. He showed no POISE trying to go 1 on 5 against a quick, athletic (obvious he didn't read the scouting report) Celtic team. 1st half he was dialed in. 2nd half he began falling apart late in the 3rd. Not to mention not calling timeout after the stl with 2.5 seconds. That was a deflated team out there in the OT.

when did pierce, and lafrentz qualify as quick and athletic?

Posted by BasketballJones:

Some of you are over-reacting to this loss. It's the first game of a new season with a new coach and a new bunch of players who haven't played together much.

I guess I didn't have such high expectations, so i wasn't so disapponted. I thought I saw some good things in the game (I can't remember the last time I saw the Knicks successfully run the Alley-Oop, for example.)

Or the Knicks having such a strong post psesence like Curry. Im with you. Im still a fan that want to see his team win, and believe me I was extremely mad at how things worked out, but I know this is a new team thats learning how to play together under one of the more demanding coaches in the league. We will be great in the long run, but right now it will be a tough learning process...

Posted by Knight:

I'm really anxious to see what Larry has to say about this game and who gets minutes Friday.

BOSTON (AP) -- Delonte West watched the ball bouncing off the court, confident that it would remain in the Celtics' possession. When he saw Stephon Marbury coming off his man and toward the ball, though, West changed his plans.

Drawing the defender to him, West touch-passed the ball to Ricky Davis in the corner for the open 3-pointer. It was the key basket in a 9-0 overtime run that helped Boston beat New York 114-100 in the season opener and spoil Larry Brown's debut as Knicks coach.

``I guess it was good recognition on my part,'' West said Wednesday night. ``But it was an even better shot by Ricky.''

Davis scored nine of his 27 points in overtime, and Paul Pierce had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the defending Atlantic Division champions. West had 14 points to go with his career highs of nine rebounds, nine assists and four blocked shots.

``That's what makes Delonte a good player,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ``He does make a lot of little plays, the blocked shots, the loose balls, getting the deflections.''

Stephon Marbury scored 22 and Eddy Curry had 19 points and eight rebounds in his first game since learning of a heart problem that led to his trade to New York. Antonio Davis hit a short fade-away jumper with 2.6 seconds left in regulation to tie it 94-all.

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Ricky Davis made a 10-footer to put Boston up 98-96 in overtime, then Mark Blount hit a pair of free throws to give him 19 points. West and Davis connected to make it 103-96 with 2:55 left.

``Stephon makes a great hustle play, and Ricky hits a 3-pointer,'' Brown said.

Pierce had just four points in the second half, and just one in the fourth quarter. He missed one of two free throws with 16 seconds left in regulation, leaving Boston up 94-92 before Antonio Davis' jumper.

But Pierce snapped out of it in overtime, and Ricky Davis also came on late for Boston.

After Marbury was called for an offensive foul, Pierce leaned into Matt Barnes to draw a shooting foul and made both free throws. Next time down, Pierce put a 3-point attempt from the left side over the rim, where Davis grabbed it and shot it back in for a 98-94 lead.

Marbury scored from the lane, then Blount hit his free throws to make it 100-96. Boston then scored the next nine points.

``When we finished regulation, the emotions were high. But then we came unglued,'' said Curry, who was traded to New York in the offseason when the Chicago Bulls demanded he take a DNA test. ``It was a lot of buildup to this point. I wanted to get this first game over with and now I'm looking forward to playing my first in the (Madison Square) Garden.''


AP - Nov 2, 10:33 pm EST
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Curry hadn't played since March 28, two days before an irregular heartbeat put him on the Chicago Bulls' bench for the last 13 games of the regular season and the playoffs. When one specialist suggested a DNA test to rule out a serious heart problem, Curry refused and he was traded to the Knicks.

The Knicks tied for last in the division and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years. That's when basketball boss Isiah Thomas went after Brown, the former Detroit coach who signed a four-year deal worth at least $8 million a year.

The Celtics went 45-37 last season to win the most tightly contested -- and most mediocre -- division in the NBA. They were eliminated in the first round by the Indiana Pacers in seven games.

The Knicks led by as many as six points in the first quarter and were ahead 39-31 midway through the second.

Notes

Pierce's 24 foul shots were a career high. ... Brown and Thomas are the only coach-GM Hall of Fame combo in the NBA. ... It was the first overtime in a Celtics opener since Nov. 4, 1988.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AvayDYKJuQ2j3fWpeRtULPW8vLYF?gid=2005110202&prov=ap

Some thoughts...

- Obviously, we lost this game at the free throw line and on the defensive boards, so it's a mixed bag. You know the free throw shooting is going to get better, and as it stands it's a positive sign that we got to the line ~33 times. The rebounding, well, we'll see, but going into the season I think that was obviously the most glaring team weakness.

- Execution was also spotty. 22 TOs, but a bunch of those were also unforced and came off of sloppy ballhandling, surprisingly a lot by Jamal (6 TOs). Also, Larry Brown teams are renowned for executing good plays coming out of timeouts, but several times tonight coming out of timeouts we had broken plays, disjointed plays and ultimately bad shots or TOs. That just speaks to the fact that the team is still learning LB's offensive sets and how to apply them against various kinds of defenses. It'll get better over time.

- Liked what I saw from Steph. He put in a good effort on D, got in the passing lanes and made some big strips and interceptions down the stretch. Also went after it on that play in OT that ultimately led to Davis's 3 off of a bad bounce. On O, he took over when Boston's D began to tighten up and kept us in the game. Really, our only go-to options on this team are Steph and Curry, and Curry wasn't clicking in the second half, so it was necessary for Steph to step up and put the team on his back and he did that down the stretch (at least in regulation).

- Nate, raw and made some mistakes, but also got after it and made some momentum-swinging plays. He'll get better.

- Pretty obvious that PF and SF are positions that could most use upgrades (though we could use a better SG also). But hey, I'd rather be set at C and PG and need an upgrade at PF, SF, and SG than be set at SF and SG and need an upgrade at C, PF and PG like the Knicks of recent vintage. Isiah isn't done retooling, but we look pretty damn good at what are easily the two toughest positions to fill.

- Like most other aspects of the game, some good and some bad for Curry. Flashes of beasthood. Start making those FTs and he'll do some real damage. Rebounding could be better, but not as poor as advertised I think. Lots of things still need work in Curry's game-- help D, passing out of double/triple teams, boarding, second half efforts (hope his poor 2nd half was mostly fatigue). But tonight at least we saw flashes of dominance, which is encouraging.

- Delonte West, impressive performance all around. Almost had a triple double and was a troublesome ballhound. He looked like a poor man's Jason Kidd out there tonight. What the hell is up with that spaghetti sauce stain around his mouth though? He looks like the illegitimate love child of Brian Scalabrine and Whoopi Goldberg.

Posted by Knight:

Posted by Knicksfan:

Posted by diderotn:

The answer at SF is already on our roster. We have lee that can actually play that position. he is a much better rebounder than Barnes and should have been promoted to the active squad. We were horrendous on the board...and both Frye and Lee could have helped us..

[Edited by - diderotn on 11-02-2005 11:29 PM]

Frye? I don't know about that. And even Lee, im not sure thats what we need. What we really need is a stable SF starter. Barnes just isn't the answer, and Ariza is not ready yet. And Q will not be the answer there, Brown sees him as a 2.

We're screwed. We have a bunch of misfits. The critics were right all along.

This is your assessment following game 1 of an 82 game season? C'mon man...

CHILL Knick fans. It's far too early to panic.

Also, the Celts are always going to be a tough team for the Knicks to guard. Pierce and Davis are a tough twosome, and the kind of big guards we don't really have an answer for. Seeing Marbury on Ricky Davis was scary, but we don't have anyone else to put on him.

Ouch! tough way to start what looks as if it will be another long- losing season.
Curry and Nate looked great though.