Unbelievable. Deja Vu all over again. In what has been the most painful sports week in recent memory the Knicks have somehow made fans feel as if they were tortured, escaped, recaptured, and tortured again in the same day. First Ray
Allen and now KG, this is ridiculous. And again the Knicks can't close out a game. Again they had a lead, again the Celtics come back, and as usual all systems shut down. This is maddening. Carmelo made the right play, the pass to Jeffries was on the money, and he somehow couldn't rotate his body towards the basket and finish, instead fumbling and allowing the ball to be recovered by KG. Great play by Garnett to shield his body from Bill Walker to get the timeout, but again another lapse by the Knicks. On the Celtics inbounds, with OVER 4 SECONDS TO PLAY, the Knicks don't put a guard on Delonte West. They stand there, and don't realize that the clock is winding down, and foul him with under a second left. Astounding. The Knicks could have gotten the ball back down 3 with 3 seconds left, plenty of time to try and get a good look. But no, as usual a lapse at the worst time. Again the Knicks were out of timeouts, again had the lead with just over 30 seconds to play, again got outsmarted, outcoached and outplayed in the end.
And who is to blame for this? Look no further then Mike D'Antoni. Both games he has been brutally outcoached from start to finish. How can a coach not be aware of the situation around him? How can a coach not tell his players to foul as soon as the ball is inbounded, with four seconds left? Only Mike D'Antoni can achieve that. It is incredible to me that the Knicks have had so many mental lapses, and plays Doc Rivers drew something up and the Celtics immediately went to town on the Knicks. I don't even care about the fact that he is a terrible defensive coach, but when you can't coach to the situation at the end of a game you don't serve a purpose.
But the worst part is that yet again, they played so well! Carmelo was off the charts, 42 points and 17 rebounds in one of his best games ever. He was just stunning for much of the second half, just putting the Knicks on his back with tons of incredible shots. Again the Knicks played great defense, and just got out everythinged in the last 30 seconds. Even without STAT the Knicks stuck with them and took a lead, only to see it vanish like the mirage that very well could be the Knicks 2-0 series lead.
Now the series shifts back to New York, where fans are left crushed by the events in Boston. The Celtics are taking on a Reggie Miller against the Knicks persona, and it is terrible to witness. The Knicks have to win the next 2, but at this point I don't want to look that far ahead. Just lead by more then 20 with 37 seconds left, and then I might breath easier.
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It's hard to blame D'Antoni for the last 30 seconds if you don't give him credit for the first 47:30. The Celtics have way more options than the Knicks. That being said it would seem obvious that in the last two minutes you have your best offensive team out there on "O" and the best defensive team on "D" which D'Antoni doesn't do. If he had, you wouldn't have had Jeffries scoring with 19 seconds left. A point against D'Antoni is the Knicks frequently have poor execution out of time outs--especially compared to the Celtics--and make mental mistakes out of time outs (not fouling Delonte right away). In those times, Rivers is a few steps ahead of D'Antoni but he has much better horses.It will be tough for the Knicks in New York with Amar'e hurting. They'll need a bigger cushion to make it a series.
ReplyDeletehttp://nymag.com/daily/sports/2011/04/no_one_will_ever_forget_this_k.html
ReplyDeleteGood article. Unfortunately the Knicks were unable to get to the 1-1 split they needed. I think it is very dificult to believe they can win three straight at home. I do not believe you blame the coach for mistakes players make in crunch time. Game 1 Melo was fouled on the last shot and thought he was going to be fouled before he took the last shot---- 2 Celtics coaches were on the court right next to him screaming that the Celts players should foul him. Last night it was not D'Antoni's fault that Jeffries bumbles that pass. It is a game of inches and the Knicks did not get the big plays in the last minute that are needed to win. BUT they were in the position to win which is a testament to the coaches AND the players. Close does not count in Hoops, only poker and grenades. We do know that Doc Rivers and many other Celts need some new drawers since they crapped themselves in fear of losing both of these games. Stranger things have happened so let's hope for the best and keep taking it one game at a time when the Knickerbockers head back to the World's Most Famous Arena on Friday night.