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NYK News
dez
10-4-18
One Game.
One game is all it took for Carmelo Anthony's (and the Knicks') season to turn upside down.
In a season riddled with injuries, uncertainty and even an almost complete roster overhaul, New Yorks lone constant, and leader, will sit the rest of the regular season after a scary fall in Wednesdays game against the Lakers.
At the time, New York was coming off of wins against Phoenix and Milwaukee (sitting 8th in the East), and seemed to be gaining momentum chemistry wise. As shown by the newly formed, 1-2 punch of Melo and DeMarcus Cousins. Anthony, especially after recording a season high 59pts (23-34fg 5-103pt 8-10FT) 7rebs against Phoenix, only to follow up with a 42pt (18-33fg) 14reb herculean performance at MSG against the Bucks.
Cousins also showed the aggressiveness Knick fans have longed for all year, showing how deadly a combo of him and Anthony could be when hitting on all cylinders. Cousins' 22pt 15reb 5ast effort in the Desert was just the beginning, he followed that, with 21/13/7 against the Bucks. What was more impressive was his and Anthonys ability to operate the 2 man high low offense, a concept Cousins has struggled to grasp all year. "Its tough, really tough man to lose our leader in a stretch of the year where we really needed him.. but its just up to us, up to me to step up."
Its uncertain exactly how long Anthony will sit out, safe to say he will likely miss the regular season, and even the first round of the playoffs, should New York make it that far. In a video that has made its way around social media platforms, there's a lot of debate on actually how the injury happened, as well as the intent. With 8:42 left in the 4th, Anthony went up for a layup left of the rim, when inexplicably undercut by Lakers forward Mike Beasley. "I don't know what the f*ck, he was thinking, I don't think it was intentional, but I don't think he realized exactly where he was on the court.. " Melo stated .. Anthony would take a head first fall onto the floor after what seemed like a (very) early box-out attempt by Beasley.. "Like I said I don't know what he was thinking, he was beat off the dribble and off the jump, paint was crowded so I guess he figured to start boxing in case of a miss but he didn't realize where he actually was .. under me."
His teammates visibly rattled, as Anthony was carted off court, went on to lose the game after finishing the quarter 4-22 and surrendering a 19-3 run that ultimately caused them the game. "Its was obviously something that effected our guys, to see their Captain carted off.. Its hard, its emotional.. but we hope to turn it into something that can galvanize us.." [Coach D'Antoni]
Cousins is expected to take on a larger role offensively, can he carry NYK while Melo's out?
While Anthony recovers, the question turns to: who will lead? its seems a better time then ever for the Knicks to hand the reigns over to 2nd year big, DeMarcus Cousins, who himself, enjoyed his best week as a Knick yet, posting averages of 19.2ppg 11.3rpg before Melo's injury. "We need him to step up, we need him to continue his play of late, stay aggressive and take that next step in becoming a featured player for this team." D'Antoni went on to explain.. "His skillset is one you don't see often in the league with his combination of strength, his ability to score from almost anywhere and his passing ability, we need him at his best in each if were going to make this push."
Though a new role for the young big in New York, it is a role he enjoyed much of his rookie season in Memphis. Cousins though, will need to be much more efficient if this team hopes to see Anthony back in uniform this season. They will also depend heavily on their new acquisitions, to find their niche. David Lee, former Knick, is back and expected to start at power forward, after a sprained ankle kept him out almost a week. He should form a great duo next to Cousins. Lee's not a player that needs touches and provides a great motor on the boards, creating a glass crashing duo that should be able to out do most opponents, his ability to score mid range will allow Cousins to still roam the paint as he wishes.
JJ Redick, another one of the new acquisitions, will also be expected to elevate his game for a team he's still trying to learn the playbook. "I'm going to try to put him in a position to succeed, he's one of the better catch and shoot players in the NBA, we've got to get him as many looks as we can to open up that paint for DeMarcus and David." [D'Antoni] perhaps the biggest and least talked about factor in all of this, was seen as a salary inclusion, now fills in for a MVP candidate.
Luol Deng's play is maybe the true X-Factor in New York's season.
Deng well known for his defensive ability will be expected to provide a scoring punch as well, his swiss army knife-like game, fits well next to their current team make-up, but the question remains: is it enough to catapult them into the playoffs? After two less then ideal matchups against Orlando's LeBron James, its safe to say Deng is well aware of what is needed of him to make this work.
"A little bit of everything [laughs] you lose a guy like Melo, who's averaging 27 a game and you've got to find ways to make up for it, I doubt Ill be able to do that myself but I know I can bring defense, rebounding, all the little things that the team needs that doesn't necessarily show up in stat sheets things that earn wins.. My body inst what it used to be, but I got something left in the tank." Deng explained in a madgoodknicks podcast over the weekend.
Emotional rollercoaster would be one way to explain the Knicks season to this point, but they still have a chance. And if they are able to come together and find a way to will themselves into the playoffs, killing enough time for Anthony to return, theres no telling what they would be capable of .. but as for now they sit one game out of 8th.
"One game at a time, gotta take it a game at a time. Cant get tom ahead of ourselves, stay the course and hold fort until Melo's back...
One game."
dez
10-4-18
One Game.
One game is all it took for Carmelo Anthony's (and the Knicks') season to turn upside down.
In a season riddled with injuries, uncertainty and even an almost complete roster overhaul, New Yorks lone constant, and leader, will sit the rest of the regular season after a scary fall in Wednesdays game against the Lakers.
At the time, New York was coming off of wins against Phoenix and Milwaukee (sitting 8th in the East), and seemed to be gaining momentum chemistry wise. As shown by the newly formed, 1-2 punch of Melo and DeMarcus Cousins. Anthony, especially after recording a season high 59pts (23-34fg 5-103pt 8-10FT) 7rebs against Phoenix, only to follow up with a 42pt (18-33fg) 14reb herculean performance at MSG against the Bucks.
Cousins also showed the aggressiveness Knick fans have longed for all year, showing how deadly a combo of him and Anthony could be when hitting on all cylinders. Cousins' 22pt 15reb 5ast effort in the Desert was just the beginning, he followed that, with 21/13/7 against the Bucks. What was more impressive was his and Anthonys ability to operate the 2 man high low offense, a concept Cousins has struggled to grasp all year. "Its tough, really tough man to lose our leader in a stretch of the year where we really needed him.. but its just up to us, up to me to step up."
Its uncertain exactly how long Anthony will sit out, safe to say he will likely miss the regular season, and even the first round of the playoffs, should New York make it that far. In a video that has made its way around social media platforms, there's a lot of debate on actually how the injury happened, as well as the intent. With 8:42 left in the 4th, Anthony went up for a layup left of the rim, when inexplicably undercut by Lakers forward Mike Beasley. "I don't know what the f*ck, he was thinking, I don't think it was intentional, but I don't think he realized exactly where he was on the court.. " Melo stated .. Anthony would take a head first fall onto the floor after what seemed like a (very) early box-out attempt by Beasley.. "Like I said I don't know what he was thinking, he was beat off the dribble and off the jump, paint was crowded so I guess he figured to start boxing in case of a miss but he didn't realize where he actually was .. under me."
His teammates visibly rattled, as Anthony was carted off court, went on to lose the game after finishing the quarter 4-22 and surrendering a 19-3 run that ultimately caused them the game. "Its was obviously something that effected our guys, to see their Captain carted off.. Its hard, its emotional.. but we hope to turn it into something that can galvanize us.." [Coach D'Antoni]
Cousins is expected to take on a larger role offensively, can he carry NYK while Melo's out?
While Anthony recovers, the question turns to: who will lead? its seems a better time then ever for the Knicks to hand the reigns over to 2nd year big, DeMarcus Cousins, who himself, enjoyed his best week as a Knick yet, posting averages of 19.2ppg 11.3rpg before Melo's injury. "We need him to step up, we need him to continue his play of late, stay aggressive and take that next step in becoming a featured player for this team." D'Antoni went on to explain.. "His skillset is one you don't see often in the league with his combination of strength, his ability to score from almost anywhere and his passing ability, we need him at his best in each if were going to make this push."
Though a new role for the young big in New York, it is a role he enjoyed much of his rookie season in Memphis. Cousins though, will need to be much more efficient if this team hopes to see Anthony back in uniform this season. They will also depend heavily on their new acquisitions, to find their niche. David Lee, former Knick, is back and expected to start at power forward, after a sprained ankle kept him out almost a week. He should form a great duo next to Cousins. Lee's not a player that needs touches and provides a great motor on the boards, creating a glass crashing duo that should be able to out do most opponents, his ability to score mid range will allow Cousins to still roam the paint as he wishes.
JJ Redick, another one of the new acquisitions, will also be expected to elevate his game for a team he's still trying to learn the playbook. "I'm going to try to put him in a position to succeed, he's one of the better catch and shoot players in the NBA, we've got to get him as many looks as we can to open up that paint for DeMarcus and David." [D'Antoni] perhaps the biggest and least talked about factor in all of this, was seen as a salary inclusion, now fills in for a MVP candidate.
Luol Deng's play is maybe the true X-Factor in New York's season.
Deng well known for his defensive ability will be expected to provide a scoring punch as well, his swiss army knife-like game, fits well next to their current team make-up, but the question remains: is it enough to catapult them into the playoffs? After two less then ideal matchups against Orlando's LeBron James, its safe to say Deng is well aware of what is needed of him to make this work.
"A little bit of everything [laughs] you lose a guy like Melo, who's averaging 27 a game and you've got to find ways to make up for it, I doubt Ill be able to do that myself but I know I can bring defense, rebounding, all the little things that the team needs that doesn't necessarily show up in stat sheets things that earn wins.. My body inst what it used to be, but I got something left in the tank." Deng explained in a madgoodknicks podcast over the weekend.
Emotional rollercoaster would be one way to explain the Knicks season to this point, but they still have a chance. And if they are able to come together and find a way to will themselves into the playoffs, killing enough time for Anthony to return, theres no telling what they would be capable of .. but as for now they sit one game out of 8th.
"One game at a time, gotta take it a game at a time. Cant get tom ahead of ourselves, stay the course and hold fort until Melo's back...
One game."
