Can't blame gbaked for bailing on this one. As he expressed in the game thread, tonight's Knicks-Grizzlies game was about as repellent as they come. The game had pretty much zero merit. The Knicks' defense wasn't bad, but they allowed too many open jumpers, gave too many fouls and-- thanks in large part to sloppy offense-- let the Grizzlies get out in transition far too often.
Really, that often was the story of the night. Shit was unseemly. Amar'e Stoudemire played just 20 minutes because of foul trouble and had his usual troubles scoring unassisted when he did get to spin. Carmelo Anthony hit some shots in isolation despite hurting his wrist early, then sprained his ankle early in the third and had to leave the game (he's day-to-day).
And then there was Iman Shumpert. Good lord. His shot selection was a bit scary in preseason and in his game, but since returning from injury, he'd done a pretty good job of picking his spots. That was not the case tonight. Not even remotely. Shump shot and shot and shot, and the shots somehow got worse over time. Early on, he missed good looks from outside, and for whatever reason, his response was to attempt lower-quality shots earlier in the shot clock. It was horrifying. He was 3-15 in the first half and finished 5-20 on the night, adding 6 turnovers just to rub it in. Shump did have four steals, though he seemed a trifle jumpy on defense and often let Mike Conley get free by overplaying him. Anyway, he's a rookie, I still love him, and he's already owned up to his errors, but...damn. Shumpert's impatience and jumperrhea were a big reason the Knicks fell behind early and eventually lost the game.
That's really it. Oh, and Bill Walker shot well. Forgot that one. Good job, Bill. And Renaldo Balkman did a good job trying to dunk the ball every time he got it, no matter where he was standing. Fouling people, too. Excellent work. Renaldo Balkman played, by the way.
I'm gonna go ahead and forget this one happened, though I hope it was some sort of learning experience for the Knicks. Oklahoma City's up next on the schedule. Whether Melo's out or not (not sure what the prognosis is for his ankle yet), that one could get pretty rough.