Curry gets fed up

BY ALAN HAHN
Newsday Staff Correspondent

February 12, 2007

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. - Now that the Knicks have established an offense predicated on feeding Eddy Curry in the post, Curry is learning that every now and then, he has to tell his teammates he's full.

What is starting to happen with the Knicks, as in their collapse in a 104-102 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, is a predictable offense that includes getting the ball to Curry down low and then a lot of ...

"Watching?" Jamal Crawford said.

Exactly.

Twice in the late stages of the game, including overtime, Crawford forced a pass into the post to Curry and the Jazz stole the ball. The Jazz didn't immediately double-team Curry, but instead waited for him to put the ball on the floor as he went into his move. With the other four players on the court not cutting and moving, it was easy for the defense to collapse on Curry.

"They did a great job," said Curry, who finished with 27 points but also had eight turnovers. "Just from a mental standpoint, it's tough because I'm kind of caught in between making a move and trying to find somebody to pass the ball to."

The Knicks (22-29) took yesterday off but will practice today at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in preparation for tomorrow night's game against the Lakers.

There's no secret to their plan of attack, even with Crawford's explosive scoring ability. Even Curry thinks the Knicks might need to be less predictable.

It's not as if the Knicks were exclusively going to Curry throughout the Utah game. Crawford led the Knicks with 21 field-goal attempts and 29 points. He had 14 points in the third quarter, when the Knicks turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 76-66 lead.

Crawford also had the ball in his hands for the final shots of regulation and overtime, as usual. But down the stretch, especially when the Knicks were trying to protect their lead, the ball went down low and the Knicks' offense stood still. That, along with poor defense at key moments, cost them the game.

Isiah Thomas had little to say after the defeat, but his brief and bitter "I have absolutely no comment" statement had as much to do with frustration with the officiating as it did frustration with his team's inability to execute down the stretch. The players knew what went wrong.

"Sometimes we just put the blinders on and we try to get me the ball no matter what," Curry said. "We have to find a balance, find a way to play. We definitely can coexist; me and Jamal and me and whoever else on this team. Maybe I've got to tell them not to pass it to me a couple of times."

Notes & quotes: Steve Francis said he felt "all right" after playing 20:43 and contributing 13 points and seven rebounds in his first game since missing six weeks with knee tendinitis.

Curry needs to get better at reading the defense and our players need to get better at cutting when their man leaves them to double team. The team just needs to continue to work on the offense to get it really clicking. It works for most of the game, but the players have not mastered it enough to make it work in the 4th quarter when teams are really clamping down on defense.

Posted by buddapaw:

He's right in a way because as soon the ball goes into the post everyone esle stands around and watches.

that's not his fault. that's our guards and our coach. steph has been in the league for 10 years. jamal, 7 years. why is it so difficult for them to understand game situations? and why is it so difficult for isiah to understand game situations? it's like color by numbers with this crew.

Posted by franco12:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by buddapaw:

He's right in a way because as soon the ball goes into the post everyone esle stands around and watches.

that's not his fault. that's our guards and our coach. steph has been in the league for 10 years. jamal, 7 years. why is it so difficult for them to understand game situations? and why is it so difficult for isiah to understand game situations? it's like color by numbers with this crew.

Coach needs to get the rest of the players involved better with this offense- he needs to remind them that they have to move- where to move.

Curry isn't a great passer out of the post- Isiah needs to give him a simpler option as far as passing. Don't expect him to hit the open man- just make the easiest pass possible out of the double team and let that player move the ball.

i'm not gonna put this on eddy. this is mainly coaching. all that offensive mumbo jumbo that had many here giggling like school girls were all dumped for a slow down 1/2 court dump it down to the post offense. it's a poor use of THIS particular roster, imho.

Posted by Anji:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by franco12:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by buddapaw:

He's right in a way because as soon the ball goes into the post everyone esle stands around and watches.

that's not his fault. that's our guards and our coach. steph has been in the league for 10 years. jamal, 7 years. why is it so difficult for them to understand game situations? and why is it so difficult for isiah to understand game situations? it's like color by numbers with this crew.

Coach needs to get the rest of the players involved better with this offense- he needs to remind them that they have to move- where to move.

Curry isn't a great passer out of the post- Isiah needs to give him a simpler option as far as passing. Don't expect him to hit the open man- just make the easiest pass possible out of the double team and let that player move the ball.

i'm not gonna put this on eddy. this is mainly coaching. all that offensive mumbo jumbo that had many here giggling like school girls were all dumped for a slow down 1/2 court dump it down to the post offense. it's a poor use of THIS particular roster, imho.

Well it happened for a reason....... two reason. 1 being Marbury and 2 being Q/JJ2. We don't have the point guard or the small forward to run that offensive mumbo jumbo.....

you would think the GM would know that when trying to incorporate it, no?

Funny I didn't think it was Curry's offense that necessarily hurt the Knicks on Saturday. Although 8 turnovers didn't help. His defense & rebounding were just awful.