Category Archives: Xs and Os
This, to me, is incredibly misleading because the Knicks NEVER post Chandler up. All of his points come on putbacks, dunks and tip ins. Remember when Chandler played with Paul they would oop it up all day long. Forget Paul for a second. Remember the forwards on that Hornets team that won 56 games? Peja and David West. Two players who stretched the defense. One from the perimeter and one from mid-range. The Knicks lack consistency from both spots.
Yes, that’s a reason why the Knicks are struggling, the said lack of a PG like Paul, but neither Chandler nor Amar’e are post up players and right now neither are making consistent 10-15 foot jumpers. It’s why they struggle on the court together. The 4 and 5 combination is a huge part of any offense. Combine that with horrid 3-point shooting and Melo’s struggles and you have a team that can barely get 80 points.
The solution, to me, lies in Amar’e's ability to knock down his mid-range jumper and bring bigger players away from the rim as well as a guard continuously creating easy baskets for Chandler.
The Knicks have relied often on isolation sets when they need timely baskets particularly utilizing Carmelo. Here’s Synergy sports showing Melo’s go-to plays.
As you can see, he struggled in isos vs the Bobcats. Something to keep an eye on.
Fine analysis by Zach Lowe of SI talking about how the Knicks handle screens. Anyone who has ever read this blog knows that this makes me sick as it relates to how the Knicks defend screens. They’ve been better on the ball but switching on screens shows absolutely no effort. See Douglas above. He stays home and Stoudemire is floating around for no reason. That takes communication. Stat has to hedge and recover, let Douglas through to stay with his man or switch completely.
This is something I also would have thought would have been addressed with a defensive coordinator and has always been an issue under Mike D’Antoni. It needs to change.
What Knicks fans have seen over the past few years during the Mike D’Antoni era has been a speedball type system resulting in a lot of points…on both ends of the court.
The beauty of D’Antoni’s offensive system, to me, is twofold. First, is the ability to get easy baskets in transition through the use of pick and roll. Watch at 2:00 when Melo has the ball in transition there is a slip screen by Jeffries that frees Melo and forces the defender to decide stop ball or give up an easy shot.
Through the first two games, to me, the Knicks haven’t got out in transition as much and that may have to do with the Nets defense, but the Knicks equally deserve blame for a lower pace of play.
But maybe that’s what the team will feature now that they have committed to the defensive end. The team obviously needs another outside shooter as they can’t rely on Jorts, who does have an impressive combination of rotation and confidence, but they need to stretch the floor more and maybe Steve Novak will help.
Iman Shumpert made some questionable decisions in transition the other night as well. With the ball in Shumpert’s hands the Knicks should be able to play at a faster pace than with Douglas, but the rookie has to understand there are bigs running to set screens for him. Once he gets comfortable with this, watch out as he is a ridiculous athlete moving towards the rim.
Watch here. I really like Shump off the ball as he seems comfortable curling and coming off screens, an element that this team desperately needs. But watch him in transition towards the end. Even though he scores, one on a pull up back and once on a beautiful scoop, he makes it harder for himself by not utilizing transition screens- again the D’Antoni staple.
Something to keep an eye on.
Dalembert isn’t a guy looking to mix it up inside or intimidate in the paint. He’s far too comfortable floating around the perimeter, settling for long jumpers. Take a look at these stats: Per Hoopdata.com, last season Dalembert attempted just 2.9 shots “at the rim” per game. In contrast, he averaged 2.7 field-goal attempts from 10-23 feet away from the basket. Not exactly the shot selection you prefer from a seven-footer. Also, consider this: The Philadelphia 76ers won 27 games in 2009-2010 with Dalembert as their starting center. After trading him in the summer of 2010, Philly won 41 games without him in 2010-2011.
Again, Dalembert would clearly be an upgrade for New York next season, but offering him a long-term contract would be a short-sighted and regrettable decision. If he wants to settle for a one-year deal (he won’t), then by all means, bring him in. But that’s not going to happen, so the Knicks will likely have to keep searching.
Some other (less appealing?) free-agent centers that will be on the Knicks radar this month include: Spencer Hawes (restricted), Jeff Foster, Kwame Brown, Joel Przybilla, Erick Dampier, Nazr Mohammed, Kurt Thomas, Aaron Gray, Ryan Hollins and Jason Collins.
Because of the new CBA the Kings will be forced to spend this season and they can offer Dalembert more money and years. It would be hard to imagine him taking a one-year deal.
From a pure Xs and Os perspective, Dalembert is not the space eater that people think. He also isn’t a sound offensive post player. His defensive production per minute (8 boards in 25 minutes last year and 1.5 blocks) fills a need, and he has proven to be durable over his career, but with Carmel and Amar’e filling the mid-range area, Dalembert wouldn’t be able to hover off the post making him a liability to the offense.
Turiaf (unless amnestied), Jerome Jordan and free agents Jared Jeffries and Shawne Williams who both appear to be returning haven’t proved to be possession-enders, which is why the Knicks need to add another big body up front if they want to move into the top 4 of the Eastern Conference.
Tagged Samuel Dalembert and the Knicks |So the other day I was talking to someone who had a conversation with someone inside the Knicks basketball ops department and I heard some pretty interesting stuff.
First off, I was wrong about the idea that Iman Shumpert, who shares an agent with Amar’e Stoudemire, was taken in part to appease Happy Walters. The fact is multiple sources have told me that Shumpert’s workout were off the charts and that Donnie Walsh had Shumpert in his top 5 OVERALL in terms of athleticism and overall ability. Chris Singleton was the other choice to consider, but head coach Mike D’Antoni simply wanted “an athlete” and Shumpert is certainly that. As it relates to the team’s 2nd pick, Jorts Harrelson, I was told that there was contention in the draft room as some did not feel that he is an NBA quality player but those people were “out voted” by those who think that Harrelson will strike fans as a “retro 1990s” Knick for his defense and hustle. I’m not a believer that Harrelson will contribute in his first year.
Back to Shumpert, you’d think that D’Antoni believes he can make the rookie into a playmaker with the basketball. But his key role, to me, is defending the basketball. You’ve read constantly here about my feeling on the significance of guarding the basketball, especially in the pick and roll. NBA Playbook did a great job in breaking down how certain elite guards in the NBA are defended and I’ve always agreed.
As we know, the Knicks need to improve defensively if they have any chance in advancing in the playoffs, and if Mike D’Antoni wants to keep his job past this year. Let’s hope that he understands with guys like Toney Douglas and now Shumpert, who possesses a 6’10 inch wingspan, the Knicks can provide tremendous pressure on the basketball and that’s the starting point of all good defenses. Even if Shumpert struggles offensively, which he will at times, they need to be able to maximize his ability on defense. My biggest concern is Shumpert’s ability to stretch the defense in catch-and-shoot situations, an absolute MUST in terms of late game traits especially when you consider the heat’s ability to cover and close out the court in half court situations.
Ahhhhh….Xs and Os. That felt good.
No, it’s not the NBA, but it is NY basketball and the pressing style was one that Coach Pitino’s Bomb Squad utilized to play an exciting brand of ball at MSG in the late 80s. Plus if it’s made with Xs and Os count me in.
Finally the coach of the Knicks asked a question that all Knick fans are asking themselves today:
“How do you close out a game against a great team?”
Everybody in the place knew he meant a playoff game. Knick fans are long past caring that Stoudemire almost made a shot to beat the Celtics in New York in December.
“We gotta act like we know what we’re doing,” D’Antoni said.
The Knicks found out a lot about themselves on Sunday night, and showed they still know as little as ever about being finishers against Boston. The New Orleans Hornets, even without David West, were able to go into Los Angeles and beat the Lakers when nobody gave the Hornets a chance. The Grizzlies won the first playoff game in franchise history in San Antonio against the Spurs, even though that one has a bullet next to it because Manu Ginobili didn’t play.
Both of those teams showed they could win a close game against a championship team on the road. The Knicks came close. Still let one get away. The coach, a good guy, spent a lot of time Monday talking about his team’s chance to win in the last seconds, the 3-pointer that Anthony took and missed from too far away when a 2-point basket puts the Knicks into overtime.
Billups aside, D’Antoni, Stoudemire and Anthony all have playoff experience. Those who watched the Nuggets the other night saw a team that couldn’t close either as they faced a closer in Kevin Durant, who somehow gets treated like a King while Melo is frowned upon as the court jester by officials. Last time I checked, Melo had at least won a few playoff series.
You close out a “great” team by overcoming whistles and winning on the road despite officials. Period.
The bottom line is they have to make shots, which is why I go back to Amar’e's charge call negating a Douglas 3. You can’t miss FTs either and Amar’e and Melo both missed them in the 4th quarter. You have to take advantage of EVERY point and you have to execute in every possession and secure rebounds on the defensive end to negate possessions.
Great question and a great read from The Lip.
James Hauser is a friend who played his high school ball at Archbishop Molloy under Coach Curran. He now coaches up in the Boston area. He sent me this hyper-analysis that he’s learned over the years and used it for last night’s game. I’m hoping he will continue do these for each game…
“Execution in the fourth quarter was the difference in yesterday’s Game 1 matchup between the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. What you will read here is a different kind of summary. I will take you through the fourth quarter of the game possession by possession. The data for this summary is not recorded from watching film. The data is recorded via a shorthand technique which records every pass, dribble, shot, rebound, foul – mostly everything that happens with the ball. This shorthand produces a score sheet which is essentially a play-by-play transcript of the game. It is extremely time consuming, but as a dedicated basketball coach and student of the game it has taught me critical thinking skills that allow me to analyze the ebb and flow of any game at any level, and more importantly which players are producing at the most important moments of the game. You will not be reading the shorthand, but rather its translation into terms everyone can understand.
As you go through this summary you should know there were 96 possessions in the first half and 98 possessions in the second half – for a total of 194 possessions in the entire game. I would bet that the average basketball fan would not know there are this many possessions in a game. In the fourth quarter there were 47 total possessions. The Celtics had 25 possessions and the Knicks had 22. When a team grabs an offensive rebound or when the ball is knocked out of bounds it is recorded that a new possession begins. The Celtics +3 margin in possessions will become evident when you see their pursuit of offensive rebounds and the Knicks continuous failure to complete the defensive possession with a block out and rebound. We start at #50 which is the fiftieth play of the second half, THE FIRST PLAY OF THE FOURTH QUARTER.
Here’s how to read the transcript, Play # of the second half), the team who has possession (BOS for Celtics or NY for Knicks), the result of the possession, the in parenthesis () the player involved in the action, and lastly the score at the end of the possession.
Play #) TEAM – Result of Possession (Player(s) involved) – SCORE AT END OF POSSESSION
50) BOS – Miss 2pt FG (West) – 59
51) NY – Miss 2pt FG *High Post (Amare) – 64
The fourth begins with the Celtics and the Knicks both missing jump shots.
52) BOS – 3pt FG (Allen) **Double Screen – Corner 3) – 62
53) NY – Miss 3pt FG (Douglas) – 64
54) NY – Offense Rebound (Jeffries) Turnover (Walker – traveling) – 64
55) BOS – Miss 3pt FG (Allen) Knocked OB NY ball – 62
56) NY – Draws foul 0/2 FT (Amare) – 64 (more…)
Officiating aside Rivers clearly out managed D’Antoni down the stretch, which was expected. I felt like D’Antoni managed the time outs well, stifling Celtics momentum throughout the game. But you obviously have to have one saved for the last possession. I thought the defensive effort for the Knicks was absolutely tremendous all game, except for several key situations that the Celtics exploited.
To me, again, the biggest play was the charge call on Amar’e late in the game that negated a Toney Douglas 3 and would have stretched the lead to 7. A charge is a “player control” call, and Amar’e was in plenty of control. Either way, the Celts play calling down the stretch was huge in getting key baskets and I agree 100% with Sebastian in that coaches earn their money down the stretch out of timeouts in critical situations.
This is a beautiful play because 99 times out of 100 the in bounds pass will go to the player moving away from the basket and the top of the key. Jared Jeffries expects it and doesn’t use his length to destract Pierce who has a wide open look to KG. The defender can’t switch off Allen because he’s a shooter.
A great play and a great job by a truly great head coach.
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