Hawks-Knicks

[benhillboy]

Couldn't wait for Lethal's thread. I'm excited to see Lin. I'm sure Dol will pin everything 'cause we can't go into a game without Lethal's points of interest and rundown preview. Spotlight on Teague of course. Is he up to the challenge or is he scared of being embarrassed on Sportcenter highlights? I actually think Green, Pargo, and Hinrich could have success pressuring Lin, but he is still much better than any guard we have available so he'll still look good. Sorry if I sound like a Lin fan, but that Lakers game left a great impression on me. He didnt only outplay Kobe, he outclassed him with passing skills that Kobe could only wish for, and Bean is one of my All-Time Favs. Josh and Zaza versus Amare and Chandler. Interesting. We plead for effort on the boards, we only get it half the time. And for the love of Jesus Christ, dont let Novak get open repeatedly. Carmelo could win or lose the game, hopefully the latter. Their perimeter defenders scare me though: Jefferies, Shumpert, and Walker wouldn't allow any dribble drives from anyone we have available. I hope Josh has another once-in-a-generation performance. Where would be better than The Garden during Linsanity to have it? Its always good to see Woody, especially riding this hot streak in a right-hand man role for a Flagship franchise, as I am one of the few here who dont despise him and think he did a very good job here considering the players. But he's on the other side now, so let's F&@kin Go!

Edited February 22, 2012 by benhillboy

[Diesel]

If Rondo is picked for Allstar,

I believe Smith will try to go for 40/20.

[OldTimeHawk]

depends on the possesions - who is running the team , Teague or is he getting supplanted by Josh ? Is Josh playing hardnosed and dominating inside or is he planted outside at the 3 point line?

If the Hawks have ball movement they win. I dont see it happening because for all the bad play on the court, I see no consequences. At this point, regardless of who is to blame, someones gotta be made the example - whether its ultimately Drew, or Josh, or even Joe a change is going to have to be made - simply trading Marvin ain tgonna cut it, this teams problems are far greater than MW .

If Rondo is picked for Allstar,

I believe Smith will try to go for 40/20.

wow , that means another night of him launching 20 plus jumpers.

[ATLSmith]

Yea, I'm excited to watch the Lin vs Teague matchup.. Other than that, I think the Hawks might get smoked in this one. No Horf, no Joe.... Prove me wrong Hawks, prove me wrong.

[Joker]

Yea, I'm excited to watch the Lin vs Teague matchup.. Other than that, I think the Hawks might get smoked in this one. No Horf, no Joe.... Prove me wrong Hawks, prove me wrong.

Lin vs. Teague. This is should a great reason why O.J. Mayo needs to be the starting PG for the Hawks in a couple of weeks. Teague not doing much in this game thanks to Tyson Chandler. Lin will eat his *ss alive.

Edited February 22, 2012 by nbasuperstar40

[Randy]

Looking forward to seeing Lin play, and how he does against the Hawks. Lacking Joe, and Al, and (well never mind) plus all the drama lately, I'm worried this won't be a good showing. But then, I figured we'd get blown out in Phoenix. Expect the unexpected.

[lethalweapon3]

I just picked up my dry cleaning this afternoon...

Now, over the course of the past couple of years, the gentleman behind the counter ("D.C.," to protect the guilty) NEVER has ANYTHING of substance to say to me, beyond a smile, a nod, a repeat of my order to make sure he got it right, a price, and "Have a Nice Day/Good Evening," the latter ONLY if I prompt him to respond in turn. Ask "how are you doing today?" and D.C. grins as if I had just asked him to distinguish existentialism from nihilism. "Uhhh... how may I help you?"

All that is fine, since he does a bang-up job getting my clothes cleaned and pressed.

But on this particular day, he suddenly pipes up! Returning my clothes, upon seeing my "swoop" logo'd cap:

D.C.: "Sooooooooo your Hawks will lose today, eh?"

I looked astonished for several seconds ("Where in blazes is this coming from?... Oh!"), then smiled, and retorted:

Moi: "Is that like something you asked a Hornets fan the other day?"

D.C.: (grinning) "???"

Moi: "Never mind... how much?"

~lw3

[Sothron]

I have a co worker who has never shown any interest in the NBA outside of one former Houston Rocket and today he kept sending me email taunts about what a certain Knick will do to the Hawks tonight. I don't know whether to support these kind of "fans" or not. Does it help the league? Sure. Is it anything other than racism to ignore a sport completely until one of your own race becomes a star in it? Absolutely. Is it wrong? Don't know. It feels wrong but if it opens up the game then I suppose it is worth it.

[benhillboy]

I have a co worker who has never shown any interest in the NBA outside of one former Houston Rocket and today he kept sending me email taunts about what a certain Knick will do to the Hawks tonight. I don't know whether to support these kind of "fans" or not. Does it help the league? Sure. Is it anything other than racism to ignore a sport completely until one of your own race becomes a star in it? Absolutely. Is it wrong? Don't know. It feels wrong but if it opens up the game then I suppose it is worth it.

It generates billions of Asian dollars, but but will that lower ticket prices for the common fan? Nope. The owners will just acquire more land and yachts. Not to get too much into stereotypes, even positive ones, but you can't deny the "Asian Intelligence" thing. Its clear he's smarter than everyone else on the floor when you watch him. Even his turnovers arise out of plays that he made earlier drawing 3 or 4 defenders, his dribble is just a little weak and the ball to exposed at times. In 10-15 years, we will probably see numerous Asian PGs who take running the PnR to Stockton and Nash heights, and being 200 pounds doesn't hurt. Hopefully by that time we'll have respectable ownership and snag us an Asian Sensation.

Edited February 22, 2012 by benhillboy

[lethalweapon3]

Josh can neutralize the rejuvenated Jeffries on offense, he can help frustrate Chandler with double teams, and he can box out Amar'e on the boards... but he cannot do it all himself. Defensively, we'll need the other Hawk bigs to put on their big-boy pants today and make it easier for Smoove to excel where he can. Just as Humphries tried to do the other night, Zaza and Ivan may be able to get under Chandler's skin enough to check him out early tonight. He's already at 8 technical fouls on the year.

There should be a Jeff Teague in front of You Know Who at all times. The Hawks need to capitalize on an offense that is still feeling itself out. And Marvin has to be active defensively, not re-active, against Melo. Keep ballhandlers out of the lane!

With the exception of the recently discount-double-checking Novak, if the Knicks are pushed away from the rim and settle for many outside jumpshots, it's a good day. They're third in the league in three-point attempts, but rank 27th in three-point percentage. Record-wise, they're 2-8 when they loft more than 20 two-point jumpers beyond 16 feet, and they're 0-3 when they take more than 30 three-point attempts. That plus solid defensive rebounding (Knicks with the fourth-lowest offensive rebounding rate) should work to our competitive advantage.

We should know Woodsonian defense better than anyone in the league. Watch for pressure from Lin bringing the ball up court, don't get lazy with the ball in the halfcourt offense (Knicks are second in the league in steals), and make careful passes until the ridiculous mismatch arrives, then attack. Like blood to the Coen Brothers, There Will Be Turnovers (NYK with the second-most turnovers per game in the league), so we gotta get focused in transition... no broke fast breaks!

Go Hawks!

~lw3

[Guest]

Lin has had some very weak competition in his first 10 games as a starter. I do not see enough evidence to conclude this is not a fluke.

[benhillboy]

Josh can neutralize the rejuvenated Jeffries on offense, he can help frustrate Chandler with double teams, and he can box out Amar'e on the boards... but he cannot do it all himself. Defensively, we'll need the other Hawk bigs to put on their big-boy pants today and make it easier for Smoove to excel where he can. Just as Humphries tried to do the other night, Zaza and Ivan may be able to get under Chandler's skin enough to check him out early tonight. He's already at 8 technical fouls on the year.

There should be a Jeff Teague in front of You Know Who at all times. The Hawks need to capitalize on an offense that is still feeling itself out. And Marvin has to be active defensively, not re-active, against Melo. Keep ballhandlers out of the lane!

With the exception of the recently discount-double-checking Novak, if the Knicks are pushed away from the rim and settle for many outside jumpshots, it's a good day. They're third in the league in three-point attempts, but rank 27th in three-point percentage. Record-wise, they're 2-8 when they loft more than 20 two-point jumpers beyond 16 feet, and they're 0-3 when they take more than 30 three-point attempts. That plus solid defensive rebounding (Knicks with the fourth-lowest offensive rebounding rate) should work to our competitive advantage.

We should know Woodsonian defense better than anyone in the league. Watch for pressure from Lin bringing the ball up court, don't get lazy with the ball in the halfcourt offense (Knicks are second in the league in steals), and make careful passes until the ridiculous mismatch arrives, then attack. Like blood to the Coen Brothers, There Will Be Turnovers (NYK with the second-most turnovers per game in the league), so we gotta get focused in transition... no broke fast breaks!

Go Hawks!

~lw3

There it is. Hate to correct you leath, but Paul Thomas Anderson directed "There Will Be Blood". Easy mistake, it looks like a Cohen film, just not as quirky. A companion piece to their "No Country" if you will.

Edited February 22, 2012 by benhillboy

[lethalweapon3]

I have a co worker who has never shown any interest in the NBA outside of one former Houston Rocket and today he kept sending me email taunts about what a certain Knick will do to the Hawks tonight. I don't know whether to support these kind of "fans" or not. Does it help the league? Sure. Is it anything other than racism to ignore a sport completely until one of your own race becomes a star in it? Absolutely. Is it wrong? Don't know. It feels wrong but if it opens up the game then I suppose it is worth it.

I suspect my present and future ordeals with the boastful Lin fans of the Asian persuasion is just karma biting me in the butt, after needlessly elbowing guys and gloating, "So... how bout that Tiger, huh?" on Mondays at office coolers for years. Not the same thing, of course, but the impact on social discourse feels awfully similar. The newfound "fans" are just reacting to the perception that another societal barrier is getting the ol' Berlin Wall treatment, and that's cool in my book.

Anything that opens up a professional sport to historically underrepresented and neglected groups is great in the long term. I think the long-range prospect of an expanded pool of motivated basketball talent is what is most exciting. Jeremy excelling, particularly in New York, is an absolute boon for the short-term faregates, but as I've learned with Tiger (and Venus 'n Serena, to a lesser extent Michael Chang) the benefit to the sport (in terms of fans, merchandising, and viewership) will only sustain itself if they can motivate younger athletes, in much larger concentrations of their similar demographics, to follow their lead. While Lin is not yet there in terms of superstar achievements, his case is all the more exciting because no one, perhaps other than Lin himself, saw his current success coming.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

There it is. Hate to correct you leath, but Paul Thomas Anderson directed There Will Be Blood. Easy mistake, it looks like a Cohen film, just not as quirky.

No, please do correct me, thanks! And I should've known better. I watched TWBB and No Country on back-to-back nights in '07, and hid under the bed for like a week.

~lw3

[High5]

The only time I've seen Lin live in action was the Mavs game. Before that I kind of scoffed at his ability as a PG given his unreal number of turnovers, but I have to say I was thoroughly impressed. His decision-making was spot on. I kept waiting for him to make a mistake in the 1st quarter and he never did. And the Mavs were throwing everything they had at him. They don't have anyone as quick as Teague or anyone who can block shots like Josh, though. Hopefully they both come ready to play. If not Lin will put on another clinic.

Oh yeah, the Knicks also have Amare and Melo. Amare usually owns us and Melo is due for a great shooting night. Of course the only time I remember Marvin playing like a superstar in both numbers and attitude was a game against Melo years ago. Maybe the trade rumors and no Joe will propel him again.

[MaceCase]

Does that mean Lin will be drinking our milkshake, Lethal?

[lethalweapon3]

Does that mean Lin will be drinking our milkshake, Lethal?

((Respectfully withdraws a crack comment about Jeremy's "straw reaching across the room"... no part of that sounds right! ))

~lw3

[Admin]

Kind of awesome that the Hawks play almost every Wednesday night over the 2 month period that I just glanced over... awesome in that I have school 1 night a week right now, on Wednesday night, and have missed all but 1 Wednesday night game over the past month or so and will continue to do so for the next month. I could come home and watch them when I'm home from school at 10:30 but there's no freaking way I'm putting in that much effort to watch a team who won't at least match my effort.

[Nicholasp27]

But you have to watch tonite...we are playing against the second coming himself....

[Popeye]

Down by 25 at half, thank god the Knicks suck or this could of been ugly....