Pacers 113, Knicks 105: "Well, this warrants some Ambien."
by Seth on Apr 8, 2010 12:14 AM EDT
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PrintThis one was a snooze-fest, indeed. Playing in front of a funereal crowd, the Knicks and Pacers played little to no defense and took turns shooting the lights out virtually unimpeded. Danny Granger ran Danilo Gallinari in circles, and repeatedly got open for jumpers, finishing with a game-high 33 points. Gallo was fairly aggressive on the other end, though, foregoing the three (1-1) and driving to the basket for 17 points on 6-10 shooting. Toney Douglas also looked sharp, getting more than a little reckless from downtown (4-10), but also knifing into the lane for a team-high 20.
My notes are pretty sparse and I am exhausted, so that's pretty much it. I will add that if Jim O'Brien doesn't use any hair coloring product, then he is almost certainly part skunk.
After the jump, your ticket contest winners.
Toney Douglas led the team in scoring, so the following folks each won a pair of tickets to Sunday's game:
Reynolds
Renegade11
antnyk
chun
Since Danilo Gallinari was second in scoring, the following people (randomly selected from those that chose him) also win a pair of tickets:
mangu
Anthony Bonner's Subpoena
Ray Smuckles
Check your emails!
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I cant believe
the score at halftime was 72 – 59
holy smokes
its sad that this is my first game at the garden this year. thanks to toney, gallo, seth, and the sorting hat.
Notes from the box score
Missed this one, but
Another awful shooting night for McGrady. 2-12, 0-5 from three, never got to the line. Did manage 6 assists.
Not a bad night for Lee. Excellent rebounding total, a bit inefficient shooting wise, awful plus/minus (-26).
Toney took 10 threes. Wow. Made 4. Good efficiency. Walker too. Duhon, too actually.
Lord Earl “The Aristocrat” Barron was a trifle inefficient (6-13) from the floor but contributed 9 boards, 6 offensive. Love those 6 o-boards, My Lord, and the +9 plus/minus.
6-10 from Gallo, hit his only three. Love seeing those north of 50% shooting percentages from the Cock. Don’t like the minus 15 on the plus/minus.
6-13
is kind of misleading because he missed shots when he was fouled.
still 46%
not a great % for a C, but I’ll take that.
by FreeBradshaw on Apr 8, 2010 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions
This quote from Pringles appropriately sums up the game
“I though we were dead from the start with the game last night…We didn’t have the necessary energy to start the game off.”
Why do i look at Popivich with a arm around a player talking with 2 minutes left, and get jealous?
by semsemma on Mar 10, 2010 8:00 PM PST
by Rohpuri on Apr 8, 2010 10:46 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Didn't see the game...
but the score at least makes it seem like even with Mike D’s quote and the truth behind it, we hung in on the road against a team that hasn’t been playing too badly lately.
Is it just me… or does anyone else almost feel like this team could easily make a playoff push next year as currently constructed even without additions this summer? Minus Big Al and Duhon, it could be addition by subtraction as well. (I know, I know… with all of the cap room, the additions are coming. Just sayin’ I like the way the lineup has looked mostly lately, even without Will.)
DWTDD / Sergio
Will / Billy
Cock / JR
Lee
Earl Lord Duke Barron (or someone similar – I know Earl has very little run to judge by)
Ignoring the big names we’ll certainly be after… add a pure shooter and an inside defensive stopper to that lineup… we could be +.500 and playoff worthy with a northbound looking future as that lineup is still rather young.
"does anyone else almost feel like this team could easily make a playoff push next year"
not to be a dick, but you’re kidding right? this team currently constructed is a complete disaster. a top four of TD/Wil/Gallo/Lee and a roster filled with D-leaguers wouldn’t sniff 25 wins.
all of that being said, it’ll be interesting to see what they do this summer. if they whiff on LeBron/Wade/Bosh and have to settle for a B-lister or B-listers (JJohnson, Boozer, etc.) they’ll still improve pretty dramatically. maybe Donnie will go for the cream of the crop and if he strikes out, instead wait til 2011.
Ewing with the step...YES! and the foul!
by Anthony Masons Haircut on Apr 8, 2010 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Wasn't kidding at all...
All I said was make a playoff push, I didn’t say anything about being a title contender. I agree the current construction isn’t optimal… but again and as Ray said below… even if nothing changes, we’ll be constructed better than we are this year (by simply losing Harrington, Duhon, etc). People will know their roles, the young guys may hopefully develop more… and so on. By simply adding a rebounding center (Barron currently in that role), that moves Lee to a more natural spot and easily makes us better constructed than we were most of this year.
I think part of the problem this season was the mix of veterans wanting to be leaders and younger guys deferring to those veterans. If the young guys (Gallo, Will, DWTDD, etc) came in next year KNOWING they were the core after developing this year, I think we’d have playoff potential. “Potential” doesn’t mean we get there, but we’d certainly make a better push than we did this year.
Again, this is all hypothetical with the cap room we do have… but just sayin’ for argument’s sake…
I'm totally in agreement with this
I think Toney and Gallo have deferred to the vets when they share the floor, and the chemistry doesn’t really work. Also, The Knicks have been playing a 4 and two 3’s as their front court all year. That’s a big disadvantage no matter how you slice it.
This lineup now, without Harrington, and with the serviceable 5, is better balanced and tips the scales to the youth so they can stop deferring and start figuring it out and start improving. I think it would work better without McGrady, though.
If those guys are going to defer, The Knicks should make sure that they have players worth deferring to. I think they’ll have that next year, more than this year. And next year, Gallo, Toney, Chandler and Walker will be the guys who have been here and the vets they get will be the new guys coming in and joining the system. I think that’s a better dynamic no matter how you slice it.
duhon will be a knick next season.
and possibly the opening day starter. stingy garuntee.
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
by stingy d on Apr 8, 2010 4:34 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
make some upgrades and it could be possible
Felton / TD
Bell / Korver
Gallo / Wil
Lee / Thomas
Camby / Barron
My name's Gus Johnson; I get buckets.
maybe that's all it takes?
I’d be OK seeing that.
Well..maybe they go with Joe Johnson instead of Korver and/or Bell
by FreeBradshaw on Apr 8, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
not as currently constructed
not w/o a big name FA acquistion. Becasue say, just for example, we get the defensive stopper in Camby or Bell and a pure shooter like Korver (yuck)….I still don’t think this is a playoff team w/o a major big name addition
I agree
We need a big name. That 5 above doesn’t get it done.
I shouldn't say
We need a big name. I mean we need a great player to become the team we want to be: namely, a title contender. That lineup above won’t cut. That’s a fringe playoff contender at best.
Reality
It does not take a superstar to be a playoff contender. The above line up would be able to compete with what Charlotte, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Toronto if the keep Bosh, will more than likely put on the floor next year. And if you are talking about being a playoff contender those are the teams the Knicks are competing against.
by Robert Currence on Apr 9, 2010 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree that we would contend with those teams
but I’m looking past those teams and to the best ones. The Orlandos, Atlantas, and the besties of the Westies. We want to compete for the title, man!
"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."
by Chris Child's Fist on Apr 9, 2010 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions
i hear you, z-man
the addition by subtraction argument has some merit, and tack on all the experience that gallo, bully, and TD have gained, plus another summer of playing together… with lee, barron, a shot blocker, decent draft pick, and resurgent willie chan… that is not a bad team at all. No playoff guarantee, but they would probably play like a cohesive unit for once. might sniff 35-40 wins. I think it’s a no brainer to add bigger talent than that with the extra cap though, and a proven star would take us to the next level.
by Ray Smuckles on Apr 8, 2010 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
after all
this team will end with at least 28 wins after playing one good month the whole season, and with about a thousand roster changes.
by Ray Smuckles on Apr 8, 2010 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions
I heard he might do this,
but at this point EVERYTHING is speculation:
According to a Cleveland radio host, LeBron James has already made up his mind to re-sign with the Cavs but will leave after his next contract.
"I got this from a good source last night: LeBron James is not going anywhere," Mike Trivisonno said.
"LeBron James is going nowhere … absolutely, positively nowhere. He’s signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers," Trivisonno said.
The radio host calls James’ apparent desire to enter free-agency a "smokescreen," though he then says that James will end his time in Cleveland after his next contract.
James will sign "about a three-year contract … and then he’ll move on somewhere else."
At one point, Trivisonno appears to be hinting that his source is close to James.
he can end all that by signing now..
could’ve done it last year, too.
My name's Gus Johnson; I get buckets.
what are they gonna do? NOT give him max money for 3?
yeah right
My name's Gus Johnson; I get buckets.
Good point
He can take max money for 1, if he wants, kind of like Jordan did his last few years with the Bulls. But for a young guy like him, he probably wants some injury insurance.
of course a Cleveland radio host is gonna make himself sleep better
by putting that bullshit out there.
Until it happens…..
You're right, EVERYTHING is speculation
I don’t buy that a Cleveland radio host has any extra insight on Lebron James intentions. LBJ strikes me a sharp businessman and his circle doesn’t have leaks. As well as he’s handled the media for years, I just see no way that this info leaks this early. And if he was gonna resign, he’d have done it by now like Kobe has. It doesn’t mean he’s gone (though i believe he will leave Cleveland), but even so I don;t expect Lebron to be one of the first FA’s to sign a contract. He has all the cards and all the positioning to see what other key teams like Chicago, Miami, Cleveland and NY do.
"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."
by Chris Child's Fist on Apr 8, 2010 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions
"does anyone else almost feel like this team could easily make a playoff push next year"
To be honest, this is not a joke. The reason the Knicks are not a playoff team now is for most of the year they have had poor point guard play and the lack of a legitimate center which is why they are such a terrible rebounding team. simply by adding a pg who can do a decent job of pushing the pace and making good decisions with the ball nightly and a center who can defend and rebound, the knicks would be right there with Milwaukee, Charlotte and Toronto in competing for the playoffs. This is especially true if Chandler and Gallinari continue to improve to the point that they can play consistently at a high level instead of in spurts as they both do now. But as D’Antoni keeps saying they are young guys and young guys are inconsistent. So yes if Donnie whiffs on the big names but can add say Raymond Felton whose no Nash but is solid and Camby who is old but can still rebound and block shots with the best of them, you are looking at a team that could be anywhere from an 8 to a 5 seed in the east next year.
by Robert Currence on Apr 9, 2010 1:56 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
good points
"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."
by Chris Child's Fist on Apr 9, 2010 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Yea but even with those additions,
you still have to factor in that Indiana, Chicago and NJ (yes) are going to be improved and will be fighting for those last playoff spots too. Chicago can land a big name and is arguably a more attractive destination than NY. NJ has a legit center, a good PG, and other pieces. You add Wall or Turner or Cousins and say they get Jeff Van Gundy? They are actually in a better position to turn it around IF we don’t land a big name.
Good point but...
True you have to factor in other teams getting better, and I am not saying don’t go out and get the best guys you can, however I do believe that even if the Knicks don’t get a superstar or two, they can sign enough solid guys especially if they get a point guard and a Center to augment what is already there that they will be able to compete with the second tier eastern conference playoff teams. Do you realize that if the Knicks played better this year against Milwaukee, Toronto, Chicago and Charlotte, they would be in the mix right now. What do those teams have the Knicks do not competent Centers and point guards. For example getting Felton and Camby give the Knicks a better chance of matching up with Jennings and Bogut of Milwaukee. Take away that huge advantage and the rest of the Knicks present talent is actually better.
by Robert Currence on Apr 9, 2010 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
those are good points too
"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."
by Chris Child's Fist on Apr 9, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions
I guess the big idea is that just throwing the most money at the biggest names isnt necessary
we have some very solid pieces, and we just need a leader and an inside presence and we will be vastly improved.
I feel like Donnie Walsh will make some good decisions this summer. And the guys he signs won’t turn into bad contracts down the line.
"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."
by Chris Child's Fist on Apr 9, 2010 6:17 PM EDT up reply actions
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