Knicks-Magic Preview
By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Dec 01 2009 11:52PM
The Orlando Magic have had time to sit back and wait for their second matchup in four days with the New York Knicks, whom they beat Sunday night for their sixth straight road victory.
The Knicks, though, have reason for optimism heading to Orlando.
New York comes into Wednesday’s rematch fresh off a surprising blowout victory over the team with the NBA’s best record, and now will try to beat the defending Eastern Conference champion Magic for just the third time in 11 meetings.
Orlando (14-4) didn’t have too much trouble topping the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, using a balanced effort from its three leading scorers. Dwight Howard scored 24 points, Vince Carter had 23 and Rashard Lewis – in his eighth game back following a 10-game suspension – led the way with a season-high 26 in the Magic’s 114-102 victory.
“I think Rashard, the way he plays, it just helps all of us out,” Howard said. “The way he shoots the ball, when he drives, his defense, all that stuff. It helps us out and we missed that for the first 10 games.”
It was the fifth straight loss for the Knicks (4-14), but they bounced back Tuesday with easily their most impressive win of the season. New York tied a season high with 14 3-pointers – six from Danilo Gallinari – and routed Phoenix 126-99, outscoring the Suns in every quarter and becoming the first team to hold coach Mike D’Antoni’s former team under 100.
“If we can bottle this up,” D’Antoni said. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t know how to conduct myself the last five minutes. I didn’t know who to put in, when to put them in. It’s been a while.” More.
I’m looking forward to seeing if the veterans can bounce back and play two solid games back to back….and obviously interested to see can Gallo do the same.
I DON’T LIKE THE DANCING!! ITS TIME TO PLAY BALL!
ANYONE EVER SAW THIS? LMAO. I WAS AT THIS GAME IT WAS HILARIOUS, TWO DAYS LATER HE WAS TRADED.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3lRVXcvR0I
Forgot about the Polish Hammer bandwaggon ROTFL
“The most underrated free agent signing of the summer”… *50 Cent voice” OKKK You’re right!
David Lee is so terrible on defense, we will not stop the magic inside. We need to stop passes to the inside. The magic have been shooting terribly. We should play the zone and force them to earn their points off jumpers.
Gallo playing his great defense as usual (sarcasm). Why the hell has Nate not played all game?! We going into the bottom of the 3rd and Nate has not played at all. He dropped 24 against the Magic just this past weekend. Shit makes no sense. I dont know what Dantoni is thinking sometimes.
Tommy,
What’s it going to take to get D’Antoni to realize that Chandler has taken a major step backwards off last season and he wasn’t any good last year to begin with. He shouldn’t be starting or getting a lot of minutes. The other teams are daring him to shoot, he obliges, but he cant hit the broad side of a barn. If he did other things well (like Hughes for example), we could tolerate some poor shooting. But he’s not a good play maker, rebounder, shot blocker, doesn’t steal the ball a lot etc…. It’s comical that he’s getting all these minutes. He seems like a really nice kid and I really want him to get better, but for now he’s killing us. Harrington should clearly be playing ahead of him, but we’d actually be better off with Hill too. We’d get plenty of mistakes from Hill, but we’d get more rebounds (which we need badly), an extra block here or there, and more efficient scoring because Hill is bigger and better around the rim. Enough is enough already.
but he can step oouta bounda with the best o them
At least Frasier agrees with me… Why the hell isnt Nate in the game!!!!!!!
He’s being punished for being immature and not playing defense.
Yea, so lets punish Nate by being down 22 when he was our high scorer with 24 pts when we played the Magic last… Better yet, lets put LANDRY in the game before Nate. Please… Dantoni is a moron. Point blank. He’s punishing himself, the team, and the fans.
beyond ridiculous.
this D’Antoni dog house thing is immature and vindictive. A coach who holds grudges against players will not get respect.
This has been a trend with this coach for some time.
completely unacceptable. Hope you are happy with the Loss Dum Dum D’Antoni.
I agree. It made sense because Douglas and Hughes are better defenders, but this offense needs a spark.
Spark?
I think it needs those electric panels they try to revive dead people with.
Can’t be mad they’re playing hard! and with effort.
really? who?
i cant wait to hear this Appalachian hillbilly explain himself tot he media after this loss.
LMAO!
At least Douglas, Hill and Landry are getting minutes. Has Darko left ofr Europe yet?
As a life long Knick fan there is not ONE THING on that Garden of Dreams raffle lis tthat I would be excited to receive.
Who the hell wants game worn sneakers and jerseys? from players who will not be next year.
I am beyond done with this coach and his grudges, guffaws and grimaces..
Send him the hell out of here.. This can not be any worse with Herb running the show for the rest of the year.. Then bring in a real coach of Lebron’s choosing.. this clown brings nothing to the table.
Bring in Mark Jackson, OAkley and Starks to run the show.. time to instill a little Knick pride and get rid of this carpet bagger.
General Patton couldn’t lead this roster to victory over this Orlando team. It’s mismatch galore. No way you can put this all on D’antoni.
from the warm ups he did not put this team in the best possible position to compete
Im done with moral victories.
Scratch Orlando off the JJ list.. Matt Barnes is 10 times better and makes one sixth the pay.
and this is NOT all about Nate..
Perfect example..
where is Darko? He sits and sits.. put him in against Dwight to start the game.. Why not? Rather see Lee play the matador D for the whole game.
Darko is going to stop Dwight? Dwight is going to score, period. Darko is a better defender than Lee, but he’s not stopping D-12. Only a handful of centers in the league can. At least Lee is offensive threat and balances the attack. The best way to defend Dwight is to deny the ball inside. We didn’t do that.
There was no way we were winning this game, D’antoni or not. This team has been playing with absolutely no urgency with no one to lead on the court, you can’t put that on the coach.
its Not complicated.. you laid it out earlier in the thread.
The coach did not put this team in the best position to compete. That is on him.
Are there were things I think we should have done differently? Absolutely. Would they have changed the outcome of the game? No, we were never in the position to compete, especially without Curry.
We weren’t playing especially well in the beginning, Orlando was just taking terrible shots. Once Orlando’s shot fell it was over. We are capable of beating some teams, Orlando is not one of them.
Patton would not have had his troops get out of the tanks and run across the line..
Where is Darko? Does he just carry the bags now? 7 plus mil and six foulsfor a legit seven footer sits on the bench..
Why?
Chandler is plain awful. Period.
Duhon blows chunks.
they are not responding to this coach.
yesterday was either Nash laying down for his old coach or them not taking us seriously.. in thee GARDEN!!! the Worlds most famous area.. what a F!@#ing joke that is.
thank you for ruining this team D’Antoni.
Darko is not going to win this game.
I don’t see how you can blame D’antoni for Chandler and Duhon playing terrible, our bench options aren’t any better. Even Patton can’t win a war without ammunition.
And of course they are not responding to this coach, our star players aren’t going to be here next year.
“thank you for ruining this team D’Antoni.”
How can you ruin a team that is half built?
wow- it finally comes out Biggie.- Yes Chandler is awful, Duhon is a bench player,Lee plays like he belongs in the 1950′s, Nate pads his stats & could give a crap, Harrington is just a hog and gets his D approach from Lee.Someone called him “skip to the lue”,thats great!
Gallo is a pup & passable , we should keep him around for a while- TD,Hill should see more time.
JJ is a SLOW dimwit, he plays physical because he doesn’t have any talent- someone in HS told him he could make a lot of money playing in the NBA because he’s a tall geek- probably prodded by his folks.And Isiah took him – nuff said bout IT.I hope he, his contract and his money find their way out of NY (soon)- I think hughes is trying to redeem himself- He can stay for 1 more year (Maybe)-Now,In any biz – the boss (CEO) runs the plan -Trans.D’Antoni runs the plays- if you don’t play his way ,or open your over-paid mouth,you should be in the doghouse. Nate was hoggin the ball last Orl, game in the 4th- MDA didn’t like that ( and didn’t want to ball himout in public)which probaly meant more lashing at N8.(after the game)which N8 then probably lashed out at MDA. Hence the doghouse. I think the Suns laid down…somewhat. Amare is terrible -All in all, It all comes down to MGMT! MDA has his list of who can play his system- Next year if this continues- then it would be time to make the change.
ya have to wait til next nyear
Biggie,
We dont usually see you this upset. Your really pissed about Nate huh? I really dont mind it to tell you the truth. Maybe its my indifference to Nate
Ive just seen enough of this Clown running the show..
No Defense, No Discipline and now this petty crap.
If MDA has a discipline problem with Nate then dont dress him and explain it to the press. I suspect it is just MDA picking his favorites.
Im really done with this carpet bagging clown with his dopey grin and assinine philosophies..
i was on the fence — as i said before — now im firmly in the get rid of him camp.
Because Herb Williams will lead this team to glory?
What happened to 2010?
Lebron will lead us to Glory.. who are we kidding.. Cleveland has Mike Friggin Brown as their Coach.. Doc Rivers is a complete imbecile..
2010 is alive.. hope it is without this carpet bagging a%%hole who wishes he took the job in Chicago every day.
Docs a good coach. Was coach of the year with Orlando. Won a title in Boston. Was also a very good PG.
We don’t know what Nate did in practice or off the court. I’m sure there is more behind the scenes to why he was benched. The idiot shot the ball at the wrong basket for goodness sakes and probably had a meltdown despite the knicks win because of his playing time. I’m a Nate fan but the antics are tiring.
All that said, I have no idea what D’Antoni’s been thinking all year. Starting Duhon. Starting Jeffries. No Darko even against bigger teams. Just terrible. 2010 can’t come fast enough.
I’m willing to give D’Antoni the benefit of the doubt – until 2010.
I’m not a Mike D’Antoni fan obviously but he’s really a household name.
LeBron respects him. The “Hands down man down”, “It should be against the law, son” guy? I’m not sure.
It sounds like you need a good nights sleep.
Big
Fair enough. But D’Antonio could be pissed at Nate for something else that we do not know about. Last year there was never any grudges between the two. I think there is something else. I am still on the fence, like you originally said lets give him a chance until the final product is on the floor. Nate is not important for our future. I think he dug his own grave, I hate watching him during timeouts watching the fucking Knicks City dancers.
Why would anyone give Jeffries any credit last night when he comes back and plays like tonight, look at his numbers, a joke.
Jeffries would have to play 100 games in a row like yesterday to make up for all
the games he sucked in before I would utter a positive statement about him.
Give Landry all of Jeffries minutes this season and I bet you we would have won a few more games, Landry at least can hit an open three and has way better hands than him.
I’m ok with not playing Nate until he stops with all the talking, someone needs
to put their foot in his as* and tell him to grow up and start acting like a professional, obviously Dantoni ain’t doing it or his attempts at doing it have failed. We are 4-15 when he does play so what is the difference.
as long as he plays hard who gives a shit..
what’s the excuse about Darko?
here we go Big post game conf
mee too eff him if he wants to goof,salute wave …sit him til he acts like hes been there
Mike — What was the plan to slow down Dwitht Howard?
Did your really think David Lee could handle him in the post? Did that give you the best chance to win?
Dont bring up a garbage time game last year when Lee filled it up and DH was resting for the playoffs
The only way you can slow down Howard is denying him the ball. Again, Darko in for Lee would have been a blowout from the first quarter.
Listen THERE ARE OTHER REASONS NATE DIDNT PLAY, And he could have pissed on him during this press conference but he sending a message. I really dont mind it
Do the Knicks even practice defense? Remember that Amare’s biggest beef with D’Antoni was his utter refusal to coach defense.
Told you the Jefffries hype was a knee jerk reaction to his one good game. I’m sure he is a really good guy but he sucks. No really, he sucks.
Did I mention that Jeffries is a really bad basketball player, or in other words he sucks.
“Remember that Amare’s biggest beef with D’Antoni was his utter refusal to coach defense”
Which is a joke.
The Clyde Frazier documentary > The Knicks-Magic game.