I really dislike JR. Even when he was lighting it up I couldn't get excited because it's JR and you knew his low BBall IQ would hurt us in the end. The decision not to drive on the last play was maddening, but not surprising. That's JR. Not a high IQ player.

Aside from that, I was pleased. OKC is a great team. Knicks defense tonight was superb. Gave up 37 in the second half I believe. Amare looked good after a rough start against Ibaka. Shumpert is starting to play great D. And we're playing hard. A game like this can propel a strong finish.

The Knicks went the last 4 minutes without a FG. I think we only had 2 or 4 FG in the 4th. This is where we miss Melo most.

Woodson still scares me, but his biggest mistake was trusting JR to make the right decision at the end of the game. Someone mentioned it on the other board and I agree that Woodson needs to go with better lineups late in games and not match opposing lineups as much.

Honestly though, maybe we go on a nice run when Melo gets back. They played great tonight. Just continue bringing it on D every night and we'll be fine.

MSG3 wrote:Im surprised the game thread was so negative at the end.

I really dislike JR. Even when he was lighting it up I couldn't get excited because it's JR and you knew his low BBall IQ would hurt us in the end. The decision not to drive on the last play was maddening, but not surprising. That's JR. Not a high IQ player.

Aside from that, I was pleased. OKC is a great team. Knicks defense tonight was superb. Gave up 37 in the second half I believe. Amare looked good after a rough start against Ibaka. Shumpert is starting to play great D. And we're playing hard. A game like this can propel a strong finish.

The Knicks went the last 4 minutes without a FG. I think we only had 2 or 4 FG in the 4th. This is where we miss Melo most.

Woodson still scares me, but his biggest mistake was trusting JR to make the right decision at the end of the game. Someone mentioned it on the other board and I agree that Woodson needs to go with better lineups late in games and not match opposing lineups as much.

Honestly though, maybe we go on a nice run when Melo gets back. They played great tonight. Just continue bringing it on D every night and we'll be fine.

Yes, I share this sentiment of JR. In fact, I often tell myself I would prefer that the Knicks don't re-sign him this summer, granted they can find scoring to fill his role. That is the problem with JR, he is the Knick's crutch and their curse, the only real second scoring option should Amar'e get hurt again.I hate his bonehead plays, his total disinterest in taking "smart shots", and the way he forces his crap decisions down our throats in key moments of games where patience, efficiency, and strategy are all essential.I appreciate his athleticism, but he is seriously flawed.

jrodmc wrote:

MSG3 wrote:Im surprised the game thread was so negative at the end.

This was sarcasm, right?

We beat Detroit, 11 page game thread, mostly of beeyatching and moaning over:
1) the starting lineup and why Woody hasn't been fired for being first place in the division.
2) the fact that most of our players couldn't win at checkers in a dog pound.
3) an unending string of posts trying to prove the validity of #1, and building a case for future I told you so threads.

We lose to OKC, BY ONE POINT, and voila!, 20 pages! This place is crazy.

Beat the Jazz, we be 3-1 as prep for the road trip to hell!

haha I know. There are certain posters though that I thought would see the good in the OKC game though. I'm usually throwing a fit in the game threads even after good efforts. But this might be the best loss the Knicks have had in years. I usually don't ever feel a loss is good. But this feels different. Like they're getting back to the defensive and offensive identity they started the season with.

jrodmc wrote:

MSG3 wrote:Im surprised the game thread was so negative at the end.

This was sarcasm, right?

We beat Detroit, 11 page game thread, mostly of beeyatching and moaning over:
1) the starting lineup and why Woody hasn't been fired for being first place in the division.
2) the fact that most of our players couldn't win at checkers in a dog pound.
3) an unending string of posts trying to prove the validity of #1, and building a case for future I told you so threads.

We lose to OKC, BY ONE POINT, and voila!, 20 pages! This place is crazy.

Beat the Jazz, we be 3-1 as prep for the road trip to hell!

When we lose the page count is higher because posters are debating what we did wrong as opposed to a win where posters are more or less in agreement about what we did right. Don't believe its an expression of what kind of fans we are.

CashMoney wrote:

IronWillGiroud wrote:I mean, you gotta get the win, without the win it's just another loss to my mind,

and right now we're in the thick of the berry bushes, so our schedule will have more of these games against top teams, these are the games that, at least a few of them, we have to win to have a chance at 50, because God (praise God) knows we can't beat the crappy teams with any consistency

I'll settle for a W tonight against the Jazz, hope Melo can play on the western swing and see what happens. Would have been great to get the W against OKC but it wasn't meant to be.

OKC would have been an important W,

Jazz played last night maybe they will be tired, but Derrick Favors is gonna own our paint and all the asses trying to defend it, guy has like 20 blocks over his last 4 or 5 games with 6 swats last night,

Hayward has been hot fire balls, but had an off night last night so look for him to come in and drain threes on us, because he's the type of player that puts up numbers against us,

Milsap is so sick,

By the way I have all three guys I just mentioned on my fantasy team, which is why I want them to have big games while the Knicks will win it,

Jazz have been on a serious losing slump over their last 10 or so games, ever since Hayward came back they're something like 1-8, (give any numbers I cite a little salt on the table because they're all from my mind I'm not checking them, I CAN guarantee that they are in the ballpark though, so that's good enough for the scope of this discussion),

I think Melo should rest the West Swing and come back 100% later, which is what I predict will happen because Knicks machine is always tight lipped about injuries and we can't really hope to get an accurate comment from them regarding Melo's return,

People who dont like Melo will be negative until the day he is gone. No one person will change their opinion