Posted by Bonn1997:

I don't think you can assume that because a guy played well, he doesn't have a very serious injury. I remember in April, 2003 Allan Houston had just completed the best season of his career. A few weeks later he would have microfracture surgery and his career would basically be over. If he had stopped playing at the first sign of a serious problem in 2003, maybe he'd still be knocking down 3s for us today.

I agree with you here, Bonn. One game does not equal a representation of a player's physical condition because it might be the kind of injury that can be tolerated for one night, but that night will lead to more nights of pain where a player cannot perform at the highest level. I believe Q Rich is going through similar difficulties but not quite as severe, and Marbury to a somewhat lesser extent. I think that the support Francis received from the team after the win in ATL could also be an indication of their knowledge of how he played with pain. Some are saying it's something else, but we don't know. Based upon the info we have thus far, and what we see on the floor most nights, I think it seems more likely that his struggling with a nagging injury.

[Edited by - PresIke on 03-04-2007 8:04 PM]

i feel the only way to make it "work" for the rest of the season is for marbury and francis to go for theirs. instead of trying to incorporate some sort of "find the open man" offense, which steph + francis had major problems with earlier, they're better off running iso's for each of them and letting them score or dish in that manner. i feel all types of offense, development, etc will be abandoned in order to win as many games now as we can so we can make the playoffs. and i think guys like balkman, jeffries, lee (when healthy), and mardy will see ALOT more PT. with two guards going for their's, we're gonna need defensive minded role players around them. the guy that's going to suffer is eddy.

Posted by djsunyc:

i feel the only way to make it "work" for the rest of the season is for marbury and francis to go for theirs. instead of trying to incorporate some sort of "find the open man" offense, which steph + francis had major problems with earlier, they're better off running iso's for each of them and letting them score or dish in that manner. i feel all types of offense, development, etc will be abandoned in order to win as many games now as we can so we can make the playoffs. and i think guys like balkman, jeffries, lee (when healthy), and mardy will see ALOT more PT. with two guards going for their's, we're gonna need defensive minded role players around them. the guy that's going to suffer is eddy.

Broke-back Marbury?

Curry had only nine points against the Hawks, and in the three games since Crawford went down, he has averaged 15.7 points, nearly four fewer than his season average of 19.4. Once the focal point of the Knicks' offense, Curry has taken a back seat to the re-emergence of Starbury lately...from the Star-Ledger

PLUS, we have played **** teams lately. The schedule gets tough after the game vs. Seattle. We shall see. All of this feel good BS will not be proven as truth until we start facing teams with real playoff aspirations, not inclusive of GSW, Boston and Atlanta.

Posted by Queeniepop:

Curry had only nine points against the Hawks, and in the three games since Crawford went down, he has averaged 15.7 points, nearly four fewer than his season average of 19.4. Once the focal point of the Knicks' offense, Curry has taken a back seat to the re-emergence of Starbury lately...from the Star-Ledger

PLUS, we have played **** teams lately. The schedule gets tough after the game vs. Seattle. We shall see. All of this feel good BS will not be proven as truth until we start facing teams with real playoff aspirations, not inclusive of GSW, Boston and Atlanta.

there is a trend going on here:

november: 10.9 fga, 6.4 fta, 15 ppg on 53 fg%
december: 14.1 fga, 8.8 fta, 21.6 ppg on 58 fg%
january: 12.6 fga, 8.9 fta, 22.1 ppg on 63 fg%
february: 11.8 fga, 8.4 fta, 20.3 ppg on 64 fg%

his shot attempts could be lowering b/c of more double teams, but by the end of february, he was taking a full 2+ shots less per game than december.

interestingly, in march (2 games) he's taking 12.5 fga, 11.0 fta (both higher #'s) but for only 15.5 ppg on 40 fg%

curry's going to have earn his points now. with crawford, as soon as curry flashes in the post, jamal delivers him the ball. so curry can go right into his move before the help arrives or the defense sets up. but with marbury, he waits until curry gets position and then makes sure he can get the ball in. this then allows the double to come over since the defense is set up already. and in turn, curry ends up holding the ball for a few extra seconds, thus making the possession a little more difficult.

i thought he got the ball alot vs. gsw. against atlanta, he didn't but according to him and isiah, it seems like he was tired and gassed.

Though Eddy Curry scored just nine points in Atlanta and Thomas slashed his minutes, Thomas said it's not a reflection he's abandoning the Knicks center as the offensive focus. Curry was worn out from the back-to-back. Also, without Crawford in the lineup, teams are collapsing on Curry more than ever.

"I just really didn't have it. I'm happy the other guys did have it," Curry said. "It wasn't one of those games I could push through."

Curry had "nothing in the tank," Thomas said.

"We know where our bread and butter is at," Thomas added. "We're going right back to the spot. He's drawing so much attention, double-, triple-teamed before he gets the basketball. Our guys are knocking down 3s now and shooting the ball well. Earlier in the season, we weren't knocking down those shots the way we're knocking them down now."

but regardless, like i said, the easy buckets he was getting with jamal will not be there anymore so he's going to have to earn his points now.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 03-05-2007 09:55 AM]