Does anyone know if Spree is going to play? Since he played in just one preseason game, I'm assuming that he won't, and that Hassell starts at the SG to contain Crawford.

PG: Marbury vs. Cassell --- Edge: Tie

These guys played against each other only once last season when Marbury was still with the Suns. The stats line on Dec 3, 2003:
Marbury - 32pts/6a/4r/2to
Cassell - 27pts/8a/6r/2to
Since joinging the knicks, Marbury has changed his game to "pass first, shoot second". It's said that his experience in the Olympics playing under Coach Brown also influenced his game. But he's action was limited during the preseason, and frankly he wasn't playing great, especially his shooting. Cassell is turning 35 in 2 weeks, and he's not a great defender. Can he keep up with Marbury?
"Marbury, SHOW ME your leadership! It's your team!"

SG: Crawford vs. Hassell --- Edge: NYK

Hassell is a great primeter defender (but limited offensively), and he showcased that during the playoffs last season. Crawford is a lightning quick scorer who is tough to defend. Crawford should have no trouble guarding Hassell, but can he score on Hassell? Will he have hot hands or will the inconsistent ones show up? In a game against Wolves on Dec 30, 2003, Crawford (a Bull at the time) was guarded by Hassell most of the night (as Spree was playing SF). His stat line was : 36min, 13pts (5-18, 1-6 from 3pt), 2-3FT, 4rbs, 8 ast, 4TOs... ouch! He was playing for a crappy team and he was not happy. Let's hope that a happy Crawford plays better in a Knicks uniform.

SF: TT vs. Wally --- Edge: Tie
This is hard to predict. With TT, you never know what's gonna happen. If he plays well, he could dominate Wally offensively, but what are the chances of that? 1 in 5? 1 in 3?

PF: KT vs. Garnett --- Edge: Wolves
On a good night, KT can score on Garnett. Playing 40 min (as opposed to Garnett's 39min) he scored 16pts (8-15) against Garnett on Dec 23, 2003. But on any night, there is no way KT can stop Garnett. The key here will be early foul trouble. If KT is out early, it's likely that Sweetney who's gonna have to guard Garnett will also be in foul trouble. Then we're screwed. KT needs to play smart and stay on the court.

C: Nazr vs. Kandi --- Edge: Tie
Kandiman is hard to evaluate. He was great as a Clipper before the injury, but since then he's been mediocre at best, just like Nazr.

Bench: Moochy/Penny/Ariza/Sweet/Baker/ vs. Hudson/Hoiberg/Griffin/Madsen/E.Johnson --- Edge: Tie
Knicks need to contain Hoiberg & Hudson. Sweet has to be aggressive on the offense & with the boards. The X-factor: Griffin & Ariza.

It's going to be exciting to see how the key match ups play out. But the bottomline is we have no answer for Garnett. Lack of inside game and enforcer in the paint hurts.

Minnesota - NYK: 96-85

I hope they prove me wrong! GO KNICKS!

[Edited by - sky on 11/02/2004 02:02:57]

doubt spree will play anytime soon.

Kandi is better than Nazr but I still think the Knicks have a good chance here!

Knicks are going to win what the hell are you talkin about???!?!

*mumbles plz let them win plz let them win coughs mumbles*

Posted by djsunyc:

forget these individual matchups - they're pointless.

minny is trying to win a championship. this is the first game of the season at home after a trip to the western conference finals. if the knicks win, it will be due to divine intervention. even if cassel and spree both stay home and try to win ben stein's money, hudson and szerbiak are more than adequate replacements and that's the team that pushed the lakers the year before.

i think we're good, but we're not good enough to go into minny and win opening night.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 11/02/2004 10:11:08]

come on man ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, did anyone think the red sox would come back from being down 3-0 to the yanks and win 4 straight, back in 2000 the Patriots were 14 point underdogs in the super bowl to the rams, did anyone think they would win, nope but they did, did anyone think North Carolina football team could beat Miami, NOPE, i could go on and on...YOU GOTTA HAVE FAITH and us beating Minny tomorrow night isnt as far fetched as those games were. I think we have a real good shot of winning tomorrow night, we won there last year when we had that terrible lineup so why not this year

it's hard to quantify position by position analysis[and is always has been] because when you have a player like KG, you can't just simply say Minnesota has the edge. KG disrupts 3 positions at a time on the D and makes the TEAM better as a whole. They do have Hudson back and Wally is healthy, so if Spree wants to be a jerk, he can also become a limited minute player without bothering the team. I don't know if spree will play? but I do know Eddie Griffin is supended 3 games which is fortunate for us because he causes bad match up problems.

Actually the Knicks are VERY lucky that while we have a hard schedule, these top tier teams have many injury problems to start the season. We need to take advantage of this.

The start of the 04-05 begins tommorow at Minnesota and I don't have a good feeling about it. Last season there was no doubt that we would lose this game. However we have a training camp together and new players so there might be some hope.

My prediction for this game is we get down by 10+ points by the first half. Third quarter we get within 4 but by the fourth we will lose by 12.

Minn 95 - 83 NY

the Knicks won this game last year. The plan is simple... try to force Garnett to work. To me the key to this game isnt Garnett, its Cassell. I remember the reason we used to have so much postseason success against the Heat was we didnt focus on stopping Zo. Let him get his 28/12. But keep guys like Hardaway and Lenard and PJ or Mash to bad shots.

To me if Marbury can outplay Cassell we have a good shot to win. Sammy is a clever old dog however and wont be outdone very easily. What we need is just a solid defensive effort and someone to get hot... TT, Marbs, Crawford... whoever.

[quote]
Posted by taps:

The start of the 04-05 begins tommorow at Minnesota and I don't have a good feeling about it. Last season there was no doubt that we would lose this game. However we have a training camp together and new players so there might be some hope.

My prediction for this game is we get down by 10+ points by the first half. Third quarter we get within 4 but by the fourth we will lose by 12.

Minn 95 - 83 NY



We beat Minnesota last year in Minnesota, and i thought it was one of our best games of the year. But that game was dominated by Dikembe. This year, it will have to be a team effort. We are bringing a much more diversified team with a better bench, although they will have significant size advantages.

I would go to Sweetney pretty quickly and see if we can get him going and put some of their guys up front in foul trouble.

I wouldnt mind seeing Ariza guard KG for a stretch, just to see if a tough player with his quickness can bug him at all.

Posted by BRIGGS:

[quote]
Posted by taps:

The start of the 04-05 begins tommorow at Minnesota and I don't have a good feeling about it. Last season there was no doubt that we would lose this game. However we have a training camp together and new players so there might be some hope.

My prediction for this game is we get down by 10+ points by the first half. Third quarter we get within 4 but by the fourth we will lose by 12.

Minn 95 - 83 NY



We beat Minnesota last year in Minnesota, and i thought it was one of our best games of the year. But that game was dominated by Dikembe. This year, it will have to be a team effort. We are bringing a much more diversified team with a better bench, although they will have significant size advantages.

Really I didn't know that. Must have been early in the season where I didn't pay attention.

so spree is playing tonight... and most likely he's starting according to reports.

BRING IT ON! GO KNICKS!