Im not sticking a fork in the Knicks just yet. They arent eliminated and if they play these next 3 games 2 of them are at home. While the Knicks have shown nothing to indicate they will make this series competitive things can turn aroun quickly.
That being said when the Knicks were shoving the Pacers to the floor and hitting them as hard as they could at every chance Reggie said the Knicks were trying to knock the Pacers around and rattle them which is a solid strategy when you dont have the talent on the floor to win outright.
And that folks is the bottom line. Paul George is badly outplaying Melo. Hibbert is beating Chandler. David West and George Hill are playing good basketball while Shump and KMart are giving very little. Felton has held his own scoring but hasnt created an open shot for anyone. The Pacers have shown they are younger and clearly more talented. This notion of blaming coaching or the Melo's supporting cast is silly. Knicks are being outplayed on both ends of the floor, and they resigned to hitting the Pacers because when the other team is better thats the only trick in the bag.
You cant look at these games and blame coach or anything else and claim your being honest. Pacers are better. Knicks have had 4 games to make adjustments and they are still being badly outplayed.
fishmike wrote:Im not sticking a fork in the Knicks just yet. They arent eliminated and if they play these next 3 games 2 of them are at home. While the Knicks have shown nothing to indicate they will make this series competitive things can turn aroun quickly.That being said when the Knicks were shoving the Pacers to the floor and hitting them as hard as they could at every chance Reggie said the Knicks were trying to knock the Pacers around and rattle them which is a solid strategy when you dont have the talent on the floor to win outright.
And that folks is the bottom line. Paul George is badly outplaying Melo. Hibbert is beating Chandler. David West and George Hill are playing good basketball while Shump and KMart are giving very little. Felton has held his own scoring but hasnt created an open shot for anyone. The Pacers have shown they are younger and clearly more talented. This notion of blaming coaching or the Melo's supporting cast is silly. Knicks are being outplayed on both ends of the floor, and they resigned to hitting the Pacers because when the other team is better thats the only trick in the bag.
You cant look at these games and blame coach or anything else and claim your being honest. Pacers are better. Knicks have had 4 games to make adjustments and they are still being badly outplayed.
You are mostly correct but Woody has made a few questionable decisions.
Playing Kidd over Prigg yesterday was just weird.
The use of the 1 - 2 - 1 zone is absurd because it allows for more offensive boards which is primarily why the Pacers have won the last two games.
Cope and Novak should be getting more minutes solely to spread the floor.
All that being said, the Pacers have been the better team but I think the last two games were winnable for the Knicks going into the 4th nonetheless.
the Pacers are winning the player matchups. the Pacers are winning the coaching matchup. the Pacers are winning the hustle categories. the Pacers are dictating pace. the Pacers are shooting better.
the last category is what gives me hope though. we've seen this team explode like a powder keg before and it takes weeks before another team has a chance. I thought that was the direction this team was going to go before JR's suspension. let's see how they play with their backs against the wall
SupremeCommander wrote:the Pacers are winning the player matchups. the Pacers are winning the coaching matchup. the Pacers are winning the hustle categories. the Pacers are dictating pace. the Pacers are shooting better.the last category is what gives me hope though. we've seen this team explode like a powder keg before and it takes weeks before another team has a chance. I thought that was the direction this team was going to go before JR's suspension. let's see how they play with their backs against the wall
I agree this team can explode, which is why Im not counting them out. I thought the Knicks just missed a lot of good shots early last night, but they are being badly outplayed.
Vogel > Woodson unfortunately...
Regroup Or Implode at Home
So: The Knicks are now down 3-1. This is not insurmountable. The Knicks still have two (potential) games at home, and despite what it has looked like this series, the Pacers have been inconsistent all season. This is still a winnable series. Seriously. We mean it. But the Knicks have to resemble the team they were for most of this entire season. They are far, far from that right now. This has been the best Knicks season in a decade and a half. But it looks for all the world that it's going to be over Thursday night. - Wil Leitch
