The Knicks game against OKC last night had a lot of buzz going for it. We learned that Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook have worked out together in the off-season for the last 10 years and are good friends. Clearly, they were looking to get the better of the game on a personal level. The pace was quick and Westbrook recorded another triple double and even threatened a quadruple double but fell short with only 7 turnovers.
SU believes that Rose had 3 assists mid-way through the 1st quarter and finished with 4. He took 20 shots and 10 foul shots for his 30 points and was an offensive force with a series of fearless drives to the hoop. His outside shot still looks odd to me – very flat – but he made a few. But here are the issues according to SU:
- He was all 1 on 1. Completely. SU believes he either needs to have his eyes checked as he can’t see his teammates or he has zero interest in passing and is using this season to secure his next contract somewhere else. And there were guys open. At one point, Porzingis stood in the corner with his hands out-stretched high while Rose was triple-teamed in the lane. No pass. Hard to not see that.
- Carmelo was 4 for 19 and quite frankly, it felt worse than that. The sophisticated NY fans have started to boo him loudly now – not when he misses but when he holds the ball in isolation and starts his jab step routine. It seemed like every shot came in a 1 0n 1 situation.
- Down the stretch in the 4th quarter, Rose and Melo played a 2-man game on most possessions. Porzingis is their best player now (SU has done the research and found this to be true) and yet he does not touch the ball for long periods of the game.
- SU likes the way that Jeff Hornacek does not call plays – he trusts his guys on the court. During the Pat Riley regime in NY, every possession was called by him to make sure Ewing got his 25 shots a night. Hornacek likes an up and down tempo which is good for the fans.
- Noah is just a bad fit with Porzingis. Porzingis is best when matched with the 5 man on the other team. This was a bad free agent signing for this roster.
- SU likes Holiday, Jennings (never ever thought I would say that but he is a new man) and the youngsters. But Rose needs to get others involved and I am afraid that continued offensive success will help him and hurt the team.
Soon, Jeremy Lin will be back in action and I will turn my attention to the woeful Nets who play hard and pass the ball. I really like KP and will stay interested but I was very frustrated last night.
Finally, SU awaits the college football playoff seedings. I know Michigan is a 2-loss team and the loss to Iowa is killer for them. But they beat both Penn State and Wisconsin this year as well as Colorado, and if Washington loses to USC on Friday night, or if Clemson somehow loses to Virginia Tech, SU believes that Michigan should be that 4th seeded team assuming that Ohio State gets all the love from the experts. Anyone agree?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Michigan is not going to pass a well deserved Washington team. Michigan did nothing in the 4th quarter… the money quarter while Ohio State did. All the teams in the top 10 are flawed with the exception of Alabama,,, who remains in still the toughest conference in the country.
There is a wide disparity between Rose-Carmelo vs the rest of the team. 1 on 1 vs team movement. Until these two are traded for 2 first round picks this tug of war will continue. You really can’t win with this kind of chemistry. Two teams in one just won’t work and will eventually hurt the other enthusiastic players as they become frustrated as the season progresses.
Finally, the Giants season really starts this coming Sunday. We will finally find out if they are for real. Does anyone remember how terrible they were against Minnesota and Green Bay? Since then they have played 4 home games, 1 game on a neutral field and one game away against the worst team in the league… and were statistically somewhat outplayed…. a very disturbing stat. This was suppose to be the game where we could flex our muscles on both sides of the ball. Defensively we did that… though they passed for over 330 yards. We passed for u under 200 yards. Without Beckum I wonder what our record would be.
Andy, the Giants have won almost every close game this year which compared to last season is miraculous. The absence of any kind of consistent running game would make one believe that they are not at the level of the better teams. But their defense continues to play better each week and for that reason alone, they seem to be able to stick around in every game. The Steelers are a non-conference opponent so not as critical as losing the games to Minnesota and Green Bay on the road. But you are right: they need a much stronger outing. I think the Browns game was a trap game that they avoided. Their remaining schedule is fairly tough. No gimmes there.
Yesterday was the first full game I’ve had a chance to watch. It was entertaining. I’m not sure what I learned. Westbrook is better than Rose? Not exactly news. The Knicks are not very good? Not exactly news. Anthony paralyzes the offense when he touches the ball? Not exactly news.
There was one play where Porzingis set a pick for Anthony and then slipped away and Anthony gave him a quick pass for an easy and uncontested drive to the hoop. Mike Breen pointed out that Anthony is “not a good passer, he’s a great passer.” I’m not going to disagree. But why doesn’t anyone tell Anthony? Just about every other time the ball made it into his hands it stopped there. And the rest of the team stands in place. And Anthony works like crazy (I don’t question his effort) in a 1 on 1 situation to get off a low percentage shot. I don’t think there’s a player in the league who works harder to get a bad shot. As you pointed out, Rose was also not passing but at least his shots were on penetration where the percentages are a higher and there’s a chance to draw a foul. Something has to be done about Anthony. I don’t think it’s news but it’s becoming more clear that he makes the team worse. They are not a great team. But they cannot get any better with him there. It’s a little bit like the ARod situation but ARod was just taking up space in the lineup and roster. Anthony does more damage than that because he renders the players around him completely useless every time he touches the ball. This is not new. It’s been the case since he got here. Blame rests with him but also with the coaching staff. The way you see the entire team freeze around the perimeter when Anthony has the ball would indicate that these isolation plays are coached and practiced. This needs to change. It is obvious to everyone in the building and the boos are coming. A change needs to be made before the fans turn on him completely. But changes don’t happen because for whatever reason, every coach and GM ends up catering to Anthony or being run out of town. There are other players who have been given this privilege but they have track records of delivering championships and carrying teams. Anthony has never carried an NBA team.
Frazier was commenting that the Knicks (and basketball in general) is more fun to watch now than in decades. I couldn’t exactly pinpoint the time in the past he was benchmarking but he made a comment about how he expected the game would get worse as the amount of money flowing to the players has skyrocketed but somehow that’s not the case. I thought that observation was interesting.
Seth, I heard Clyde’s comments as well. Most of the time when is “swishing and dishing” and talking about “feline quickness and canine attitude” it all sounds like white noise to me. It’s too bad as he is extremely knowledgeable and has real insights but rarely shares them. I think the success of the Warriors and the unselfishness of LeBron have resulted in more teams playing that way. This is helping the entire league. The days of the Pat Riley I call every possession in a walk it up offense are over. Basketball is most enjoyable when teams share the ball, there is constant player movement and the pace is fast.