Thoughts On Last Nights Game And Stuff

I was able to watch the last 5 minutes of the Knicks 117-111 preseason win over the Nets.  Some thoughts:

Brook Lopez is very skilled.  But in the end of the game, he did not appear to have the emotional control and fortitude necessary to win the game.  I can see why, despite his skill, the Nets only managed 12 wins last year.  Very stark contrast to Amar'e, who calmly scored big buckets, kept his cool, and did what needed to be done.

Toney Douglas is a late game assassin on both ends of the court.  Farmar is very sneaky and after he pulled that little 'rebound the missed FT' trick, Douglas got the ball back and my ADTHE screen froze just as he was taking that three, and I thought "Man, he's trying to make up for it and do too much, no way that's going in".  Then it un-froze, and the Knicks had three more points.  One could call that type of thing 'Jordanesque' but I'd prefer to make up another term:  Diamond Balls.  And then on the other end, it looked like he made Brook Lopez just give up and pass the ball to him with his defensive feinting and general prowess.  DWTDD, young folks.  Toney at the end of the game = big stretch advantage, Knicks.

To me, Bill Walker seems to only do good things on the court and not do bad things.  3-4 from the field, 10 points.  That's typical for him.  He takes the shots that come to him within the flow of the offense and makes them at a very good rate.  He's not a superstar or anything but I continue to be impressed by him.  And he's got a swagger I like.

But... man, rebounding in the end of the game is going to be a problem.  I see what D'antoni was trying to do playing Amar'e and Turiaf together in the end of the game.   Amar'e, from what I see, is a pretty good rebounder.  But I don't see him creating space and absolutely snaring that rock beyond a shadow of a doubt like Ewing, Oakley, Camby, or Lee did.  And Turiaf, god bless 'im, he hustles and knows what he's doing on D, and he wants the rebound. really wants it with all his heart, but I think he's just not athletically skilled enough to get it.

I like this end of the game lineup but I'd consider replacing Turiaf with Fields, Randolph, or even Gallo to get some more rebounding in there.  Felton/Toney/Amar'e, to me, are locks down the stretch. We need more rebounding out of the other two spots, IMO.