3GM-A
3-21= Knicks14% 6-12=Magic50%

I know that Marburry was hot from the 3 line the last time we played, but for our boys to take that many 3s in a game where that is not their strength to me is absurd. That is where it becomes important to have a big man that can score in the low-post, or to have a shooter like Houston around. Lenny needs to get a little more creative, he needs to have our best passing big man in the game in crunch time. Sweetney in my opinion is our best passing big.

Here was the stats line on Sweetney and all of our other players: He had a pretty nice shooting touch, 2-3, 8 total rebounds. If you have him in the low post with Marb, TT, and crawf in the perimeter, you can minimize the effectiveness of the zone. Our boys were forced to shoot the three because it was given to them. However, there is a time when a coach has to take control of a certain situation. We only went to the FT line 18 times, while the Magic had 32 opportunities. All because our boys settled for the 3s instead of driving the ball inside. TT went to the lines 4 times while Marb 8 times, but Crawf only went 2 times, but yet he took 18 shots and 6 three pointers, a total of 24 shots. Crawf 10-24, 1-6 from the 3s is a very bad stat. They perhaps should have gone to TT a little more in the post, especially because he was aggressive and trying to get to the line.

That is why we lost the game.

[Edited by - diderotn on 12/03/2004 23:22:05]

I think turnovers is what did us in

They could have definitely prevented themselves from getting in that situation. 3-21= Knicks14% and 13-18 from the freethrow lines are really what did us in.

Posted by Knickss208:

I hated to see the Jamal inbound, but i thought the Knicks could have prevented themselves from getting in that situation. I really enjoyed the game and think that Mobley got uncharacteristically hot tonight.

Diderotn, I thought you didn't watch the game. There is just too many plays you can point to that cost it.
Marbury's free throws.
Craw's turnover off the inbounds.
Inability to fight the zone.
Mobley catching on fire.
Some of our bad D continued.
As you mentioned, the 3 pt differential played a part, but we shot that many 3's because of the zone. Early on, Marbury and Crawford were driving, until Orlando switched from man to man. From what I recall, most of Timmy's 3s were wide open, but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm just forgetting an uncalled for 3 from him.

As much as I think that H2O is not that great an all around player, his outside shooting will take opponents out of the zone. He would even go well with the others against a man to man when they try switching on the Hi-post pick and roll. He would be the third option on that. But - you try with what you have and this is a coaching concern. Again here you have a relatively young team, with only this year playing together. I think in mid January, early February you will see more cohesion, knowing what the other players can and can not do, and Marb making better decisions on who to give the ball to on breaks, and in drive and dish situations. And the others will know that they should expect to get the ball in those situations.

Posted by Knickss208:

I think the Knicks played a very good game and it just came down to who hit the big shots down the stretch. I hated to see the Jamal inbound, but i thought the Knicks could have prevented themselves from getting in that situation. I really enjoyed the game and think that Mobley got uncharacteristically hot tonight.

I agree. Except Mobley can fill it up. He is another Knick killer. There was so many opportunities to win the game and none of them would happen. We just weren't destined to win that game. Marbury had an open which he missed that he would have probably made if it was a week ago. Plus the 2 fts that he would have made if it was a week ago. Plus 3 straight missed layups.

On the bright side Tim Thomas played better. And we gave the Magic all they could handle while we are still missing one of our best players.

Mobley kinda reminds me of Crawford. He still takes a lot of bad shots (As does Francis) but he still makes a lot of them and comes up with big buckets. He's underrated as a scorer.

tim was terrible most of the game. he had some nice drives to teh basket later in the game, and (finally) hit a three near the end to keep us in it. but he shot terribly most of the game. his D was crappy as well, he didn't even jump or put a hand up when his man shot most of the time. jamal isn't a great defender, but he had a hand up in front of mobley or in his face almost every shot. not much you can do when a guy is shooting like he was.

that was a game that could have gone either way. it was really them making clutch plays late and us sucking it up those last few minutes that cost us the game. the zone gave us trouble, but we found ways to score after a bit of futility. it came down to the last minute.