What do you guys reckon, would appreciate some thoughtful analysis on this game as i have a huge bet riding on a few multi's today, although im only extremely worried about this game. I've picked the Knicks head 2 head, although really worried. Dallas off a B2B and no Haywood.. Is Chandler going to guard Nowitzski? There seems to be a matchup problem here which i am really worried about as Stoudemire is completely useless these days on defence, if i was NY i would love to be able to flip him for Garnett and add in extra pieces to Celtics if necessary. Even though Garnett's old as hell he is still more reliable this year and maybe next year to what NY are doing, he'd shore up the defence big time and on offense he can still contribute. Right now Melo is going to start playing awesome with more games under his belt with Lin as he is an absolute deadly scorer, if you watch the games he is getting less pressure and scoring with much quicker moves rather than iso's. IMO Stoudemire is a big net negative as his offense basically contributes that of a decent mid range jump shooter who can finish ok... TBH theres lots of less known PF i would take in the league of Stoudemire, watching him play defence is seriously atroucious, missing rotations everywhere getting beat off the dribble and not boxing out at all. Causing problems with their entire team defence. Although you can point to Melo have bad defence too, but his more on the perimeter and he doesnt get beat that bad when he is trying. Its much more important for interior players to not be weak defensively, having a frontline like Chandler and Garnett would be huge. After all this i hope i can reverse jinx Stoudemire and he can have a good game tomorrow, personally i would even consider starting Jeffries just to shut down nowiztski, they have enough scorers. Also i think Novak is more useful than Stoudemire. Now im going to come off as a stoudemire hater but im really not, i just think the way he plays is in no way conductive to winning basketball. The best place for him to flourish was back in Phoenix when it was just all offense all the time. Even his first half year in NY, he was doing really good it was only because he was a massive feature on offense and just taking more shots. Insight would be appreciated thank you
I normally only bet like $5 on 7-8 line games around 1-50+ odds like lotto, but i tilted today due to some financial losses and made a big bet on lakers, orlando, NY H2H and Houston v Boston over 178.5... for total of 1 - 5.10... Now that a few hours have passed and calmed down, regretting the bet so bad...
Going back to the Knicks, now that the rockets pick is totally messed up, i am really rooting for this as my second favourite team. I think they could potentially do huge damage in the playoffs as they have a deep well rounded team. If it wasn't for stoudemires contract he could be moved to so many "bad" teams seeking scoring. Off the top of my head any PF with intangible defence and isnt completely useless on offense should replace him such as Patterson, Gibson, Haslem, Ibaka etc.. Best trade if somehow could get Garnett.
Amare sucks crap now, what little he gives on offense (considering his contract and status) is matched point for point by how much points he gives up on defense. Melo still hasn't meshed with Lin yet, and Lin is too hesitant. Melo and Lin will get into rhythm by playoffs, but not Amare. Without Amare, the Knicks have no chance at beating Miami/Chicago.
I think Dallas takes this.. Ever since Linsanity, Knicks are pretty much getting everyone's best shot. Mavs will definitely want revenge on their home court.
I think the Mavs take this as they're playing at home and the Melo/Lin combo doesn't seem to be as effective. Also, in the recent meeting while the Knicks did win they were at home and it was during Linsanity. I'd have to favor the Mavs in this game. With that said it wouldn't surprise me if the Knicks pulled this out. Even though they look worse than they had been, they've been playing teams close and they are very deep team. Also, Melo or Lin or someone is due a big game soon
Knicks looked pretty good against the Celtics, their offense was great, they just couldn't play any defence at all especially in the first half. If they turn in another defensive performance like that im toast.
really? amare played like an ass, the lead mavs built in the 3rd were mostly from amare trying to play 1 on 1 wiht dirk and got destroyed
