The cool part about watching a game in person, not on television, is that one can see the entire court. It is a beautiful, and educational, thing. It is also great to see Sheed in pre game warmups firing up three's. Knicks fans dominated Verizon Center with their unprompted enthusiasm.

The defense chant was almost as good as being in the blue seats.

No reason to lose to the Wizards. Raymond Felton was playing slow in space with the ball in his hands, while John Wall kept the pace ahead of us with barely a crease. As a result, our defense could never make a stop when it needed. Our scheme relies upon anticipation and crisp decision making. We did neither. The good news is that it can be fixed. Hey, at least Carmelo and Amare are TRYING to unlearn years of poor fundamentals to look for each other.

Melo feels obligated to score while Steve Novak is the Invisible Man. Jason Kidd should qualify for vacation time. He could use the rest.

The Knicks will fall into a pattern of passing the ball and standing still. Among the rotation players, it seems only Shump and Pablo intuitively understand the concept of passing and immediately moving without the ball. The test is how we respond to teams with impressive guards who like to push it real good.

Pass the ball and move.

It ain't that deep.

On a side note - not a big fan of the subway station by the Verizon Center (Gallery Place / Chinatown).

To keep on topic - this was a trap game and went in with the attitude that they won the game before tipoff. Can't bring that attitude.

The Verizon Subway traffic flowed well after the game. The trains may look weathered on the outside, but have a quiet ride. Few subway systems have the coverage of New York, but The Metro beats the poorly designed Atlanta Marta system by miles.

The New York Knicks Nation may be the strongest in the NBA. Cannot think of another fan base with more presence in every city.

The Wizards deserve credit: They are a bad team, but they don't give up easy baskets. They sent a parade of capable wings to hassle Carmelo Anthony and wall off his paths to the rim and, as several teams have this season, swarmed the Knicks' pick-and-rolls in hopes that they'd miss their open outside looks. They did. They also missed a heap of point-blank finishes (Iman Shumpert's back to his steady one-missed-dunk-a-night production) and a few too many long twos.

- Seth Rosenthal

Our offense just seems to work harder for poor shots when it should be the reverse.

Raymond Felton, please dive a skootch harder towards space.

And please move after you pass the ball.

misterearl wrote:K22 - the Wiz have been playing well since Wall's return. After a miserable start they are a lofty 6-5 since Wall's been back.

The Verizon Subway traffic flowed well after the game. The trains may look weathered on the outside, but have a quiet ride. Few subway systems have the coverage of New York, but The Metro beats the poorly designed Atlanta Marta system by miles.

The New York Knicks Nation may be the strongest in the NBA. Cannot think of another fan base with more presence in every city.

They usually add an empty train or two after events at the verizon center which is really nice. One thing I really dislike about DC metro though is the fact it costs me more to take the metro to a game (parking at station + rush hour fees + I'm getting on at the first stop on the line) it than if I just drove all the way to dc and circled for street parking. That's a good 10-12 bucks right there for one evening. It's a lot less expensive in NY. But it is cleaner than NYC, that much I appreciate.

AnubisADL wrote:The problem with passing and moving is that it destroys spacing. This is the NBA not NCAA.

Tell that to the Boston Celtics.... or the OKC Thunder.

Anubis - spacing is not just for statues.

Nah ADL, upon further consideration, you are correct. Just pass the basketball and stand in the same spot. Hilarious. The bottom line is that Raymond Felton must make the pass and NOT stand in one spot. He must recognize space and attack the openings provided by the defense, rather than passively waiting.

An effective NBA (or college) guard makes the pass and keeps it moving by moving. NOT by playing caddie. We ain't got time fo' dat!

K22 - in lieu of a gym membership, you can double up on trips up the escalator and build your quads and hamstrings to superhuman levels. The Bethesda Station is at the high end.