since coach woodson clearly didn't think of a way to beat the heat, here are a handful of suggestions for the knicks tonight to beat the heat:
1) SLOW THE F DOWN -- getting into a running race with the heat is moronic. we should aim to win this game 80-78, not lose 110-90. if we have any hope of winning, the pace needs to be glacial. the heat really struggle when the game slows down. it results in the dueling banjos act -- lebron will go iso, then wade. then lebron, then wade. they are a lot easier to defend when the ball is being dribbled up the court and running half court sets. this is the ONLY chance we have to win -- why it wasn't emphasized in game 1 i am not sure. the knicks must control the pace, which is obviously very hard to do with our lack of guard depth, but it doesn't mean we cant try.
2) STOP TURNING IT OVER -- the heat are IMPOSSIBLE to beat if they are running up and down the floor and forcing turnovers. we addressed pace above, now we need to focus on turnovers. sit JR smith down and smack that clown upside the head. dude -- stop overdribbling, stop dribbling through their defense, and play smart. i'd rather have smith launch 10 3's than spend 15 seconds dribbling around and then deciding to go 1 on 3. we stand no chance if we aren't being smart with the ball. baron's gotta be the guy on this -- he's been in the playoffs before, he can play more under control. both baron and JR (and toney if he ever resurfaces) need to play within themselves and not force it.
3) MIX & MATCH -- we need to be creative with the ppl we have on the floor. throw it back to the linsanity era and surround melo with shooters. give me novak, JR, landry, and bibby. i know it will put us at a disadvantage defensively, but at some point we have to try to force our hand and play to an advantage. we have good shooters, including the best in the game (novak) and one of the streakiest in the NBA (JR). lets use that to our advantage. also, melo, figure what the F your'e gonna do when the double team gets sent at you. for god sake, this started last year in the boston game when he had 42 and hasn't stopped -- slow your thinking down and make the right pass. its not that hard, its 4 on 3 when they send a double at you. get it out, and get it to the open man.
4) PLAY A MATCHUP ZONE -- where are the knicks advance scouts on this one????? did they not watch last year's NBA finals? tyson chandler was ON THE TEAM, has he not said anything? the mavs flummoxed the heat last year with the matchup zone in the finals, going to it sometimes after made hoops, other times for stretches at a time, and the heat never really knew what to do. it once again put their offense in the position of having to play in a half court set. when you do that, you limit the effectiveness of their 2 best players (lebron and wade), and their ordinary role players become even more ordinary. this worked last year -- we have to at least give it a shot tonight. especially with an ailing chandler, and with shumpert out, we basically have to go zone at some points b/c we don't have our two best defenders.
5) BE CREATIVE -- we are clearly the underdogs. we were coming into the series, and that was assuming chandler and shump at full strength. now, both are out. we need to throw some new looks at the heat -- they get confused when they go at things they havne't seen before. i don't know what else to do, but then again i don't work in the NBA -- these guys watch a ton of games and have seen countless hours of basketball -- think of something that may work. go to a freaking box and 1 against lebron. there should be a plethora of old, bizarre defenses to throw at the heat tonight. slow them down offensively, and hope melo and the shooters can score enough to make it a game.
6) BUY OFF THE REFS -- we can't control this one. but the game 1 officiating was among the worst officiating i have ever seen. if we are subject to more of that home cooking, we are screwed anyway.
