52 points.Unbelievable. You know, I wasn't a big fan of Jamal Crawford at the beginning. He chucked shots from 33 feet out and looked like someone who didn't know the fundamentals of basketball. But man, the guy has been really good for the Knicks.
If you could look for any silver lining from the Larry Brown era, it would be the shaping and the development of Jamal Crawford. He play hard every night despite the Knicks not really caring and did the best to curb his shoot first instincts. He is, still, a limited player. When he's on fire like this, he's nearly unstoppable, on par with the best gunners in the NBA. When he's cold, it's pretty bad. The thing that you like about Crawford is that he's not afraid of the last shot, he's got huge guts and will forget about a 4-209 night to sink a huge jumper at the end of the game.
When you look at it, with Jefferson and Kristic out, this is a moment for the Knicks to seize the woeful Atlantic division. Not that it means anything now, but it's still something to rest your laurels on. I can actually even see them winning a first round series, with the East being so bad.
There. I was positive about the Knicks. I now continue my hating of them in the future.
5 comments:
Crawford is the dynamic wing scorer every team needs to compete in the NBA (unless you're the Utah Jazz). When he's hot, he can carry a team no matter what defense the opponent throws at him. Crawford is also a decent defensive player (better than all of the other 4 Knick guards). The thing that keeps Crawford from being a star are shot selection, and his own inconsistency. Too many nights end up in 3-13, 7 point games. When he gets hot though...20 points is expected and 50 cis possible if opponents put 37 year old stiffs like Gary Payton on him.
I would write like 300 words on this, but Lucky already knows what I'd say.
I was realistically positive about the team going in and nobody agreed. I'm glad it's coming to fruition. They're on pace for about 35 wins. Maybe a nice hotstreak and 40 (my prediction) is a possibility.
btw - Don't act like you ain't see 13 assists next to Starbury's name. Ballin'!
35 wins is nice, especially after last year's debacle, but is a 35-47 record anything to be proud of though?
For this team, coming from where they were a year ago and where they'd been the last 3-4 seasons, yes. That would be 12 more wins than last season, with pretty much the same roster. Then you look inside the wins and losses and see some positives: (1) Eddy Curry becoming an offensive force and one of the top 5 centers in the league. And 35 wins gets them near the 8th seed and keeps Chicago from getting that high a pick. The trade ain't looking so bad. And he's 24 so there's a lot of room for improvement. (2) David Lee emerging as one of the top rebounders in the league. We've got a 23-year-old power forward who's athletic and averages a double-double. (3) Marbury seems to have found that zone. He's scoring again, running the offense more smoothly, doing his 20 & 8, and now he's playing defense. (4) There hasn't been any controversy or behind-the-scenes beef this year, so it's safe to say that team chemistry is better. (5) I don't expect this to be a good team until 2009, the earliest. That's when most of the bloated contracts expire and they'll have a chance at some big-time free agents. But for now, while we're going through this rebuilding process, you can't ask for much more than potential, gradual improvement and entertaining play. They've done that.
Well, just because Marbury is trying to play defense doesn't mean he's doing a good job. Don't get carried away by his performance against Arenas. Arenas was doubled all game long.
The Knicks still have no strength down low (When Eddy Curry learns to pass, defend, and most importantly, attack rebounds, and when Channing Frye develops toughness, wake me up). The Knicks still rely on inconsistent scorers in Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford. The only steady hand about the Knicks is Stephon Marbury, shockingly. He's finally put aside his ego, and has given his Knick teammates great chances to succeed. It will be interesting to see if, and for howl long, Marbury keeps up his play, because he's never played this well as a point guard before.
The Knicks should contend for a playoff spot this year, and should make the playoffs next year. But they're so inconsistent, they'll probably blow it somehow. At least Curry has made great strides, David Lee is amazing, Balkman does all the little things well, and Crawford has the ability to score in droves, even under tight defensive pressure.
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