Well, that was frustrating. I wasn't happy with the players, the coaching OR the officiating; these dudes hit the trifecta for Christmas. The C's physical style and overplaying the passing lanes really drove the Knicks crazy and left them uncomfortable with the exception of Rose who ate off one on one opportunities. Physicality even neutered the Knicks off ball movement. On top of that, Hornacek couldn't find a bench player he trusted to stay out there and build a rhythm. Close out with that one ref calling a soft game while the other two called it playoff style; and my head was gonna explode. Thomas tripped over his own two feet, yelled a little, and that one ref completely punked out the rest of the way. That dude probably lists his favorite meal as yogurt. Anyway, the same concerns that have been here all season are still there...the defense is bad with straight up awful three point defense leading the way. Physical teams get in the Knicks head, three techs in a game decided by Marcus Smart's three pointer is painful. Last an issue that I've noticed but rarely complained on; the Knicks really don't do well to take advantage of mismatches when they create them.
Rose: This dude came out to play and really did work against a good defender in Avery Bradley. His floater was money and he even hit the midrange looks when he had space in this one. Boston really stuck to their men well, which meant a lot less kick out options but it also meant Rose went 10-19 for 25 as he got looks with from his comfort zones all day. He added 5 boards and 3 assists but also had 3 TO's; which is rough as the primary ball handler. Still, dude was the Knicks best player for most of the night and may have even been better off with this dude chasing Bradley instead of Lee considering how good Rose has been recently at recovering when he's beat through screens...but that's a big reach, I admit.
Lee: 11 points and 3 boards on 4-9 shooting; but I wasn't really happy with this performance. He chased Thomas around all game but couldn't get over screens fast enough to stop Thomas from collapsing the D. He was 2-6 from 3 which is solid, but he missed a couple of wiiide open ones in the mix. He was still solid all around, but this wasn't a good game to me. I still don't get what he did to draw that tech, but it was the least necessary one.
Melo: Started the game 1-10 and it felt like he knew he didn't have it. At one point he had a free post up on Avery Bradley, but didn't even dribble the rock...instead he looked for cutters with a much smaller player in the deep post. Crowder had him struggling for most of the day, but to be fair Melo did a couple of things I did appreciate. For one, he drove more and drew FT's to boost his scoring numbers even on bad efficiency. Another notable is he rebounded pretty well, after a sequence for Boston grabbed three consecutive offensive boards, Melo came back in the game and skied for a couple of nice boards. The second half, his shot making was a huge reason for the come back but some bad decisions late were blatant and painful. That last TO was brutal, though I'll give him a bit more leeway after Hornacek mentioned it was a broken play. 29, 7, 2 assists and 2 TO's...but poor defense on Crowder, 9-24 shooting and poor execution late really mar his performance.
KP: 9-16 for 22 points, 12 boards plus 4 blocks and 2 steals in the mix also for the kid. He played pretty well, but it was far from his best game. He still can be stopped by a switching guard, he had 5 TO's and against such a physical team I'd like to see him draw more FT's. Where I see room for improvement is after he sets his picks. If he gets a guard switch, he doesn't press hard enough to get deep position and can't power down a player that gets under him. When the guards don't switch, if he gets the ball in motion to the hoop, he more often than not will settle for the pull up jumper instead of going into the man. So he takes a fifty-fifty (at best) shot when he'd probably draw free throws at worst if he just went right at his man (not to mention gaining a team foul and putting one more foul on his defender). Still, he was also instrumental in the come back and that stat-line being disappointing just shows how huge his potential is (also how good he already is).
Noah: Noah put up 8 and 12 in 27 minutes plus made his lay-ups 3 outta 4 times. That's three straight productive games so there's hope yet for the dude. But I can't help but feel that the Knicks coulda used a few more minutes going to KOQ because of the spark Kyle provides when he gets going. Still, Noah came up big late on the defensive side and made a beauty of a give and go pass to Melo to tie the game. But Al also completely abandoned Noah to get that last block on KP (one of those times KP was settling mind you) because Noah is such a non-threat. Still, you hope he can keep this up because it's a promising development from a guy who will be making a lot of money.
BJ: The Celtics guards are all good defensive players and their physicality just seems to really sap some of Jennings effectiveness. It also kills him when the team isn't getting the defensive boards and making quick outlets for a Jennings fast break. 16 minutes no points, 2 assists, 2 boards and 2 steals...just not the spark this team needed from one of it's two bench pieces who set the tone and pace for the second unit.
Holiday: 7 points in 14 minutes but nothing else notable besides two TO's. This was another player who couldn't really impact the game like he normally does thanks to great rotations from the C's. His motion usual opens things up, but the C's stayed on point. Still, it's a typical Holiday performance in that he didn't ever feel like he was hurting the Knicks by being out there. His impact was just lighter than normal as well.
Lance: He had a two run where he finished inside for a change and then made a nice swing pass to an open man for three. But the rest of his 9 minutes was some combination of invisible and visibly bad. 3 points, 2 boards and an assist...it's weird but I feel like I remember a real defensive impact at times last season, yet he seems to have none this season albeit in shorter opportunities.
Kuz: His 9 minutes weren't any better. The C's seemed like they really wanted to attack dude when he first came in and he took an ill-advised three at one point. It took him a long bit to get into the rhythm of the game and when he finally seemed to be getting up to speed...he got yanked. Can't blame Hornacek with what little Kuz was accomplishing up until the three.
KOQ: 13 minutes isn't enough for this dude, but he had 4 TO's in that short span and also gave up some offensive boards. He still chipped in 6 points and 4 boards on 3-4 shooting though and I don't think he got enough opportunities with the starters in a game where the Knicks bench was getting no impact. Noah played well and that cut into KOQ's time, especially with Noah defending Horford well; but I do think the team is at it's best when KOQ gets his game going because he opens up the options on both ends.
Willy: Got out there for 3 minutes and like his fellow rookie Kuz, he didn't get into any kind of rhythm with the speed and intensity of the game out there. So Willy got yanked after 3 minutes with the only stat on his line being -10 in plus/minus. Hard to blame him but clearly there wasn't anything positive in the short time either.
Hornacek: I didn't like this performance from dude. No killers in the building yesterday. I'd have liked to see more KOQ with starters and I REALLY wish we got more Lee/Holiday out there together when the defense was so atrocious. I mentioned that Horford left Noah on that last block, that's on Hornacek for leaving Noah out there at all. It's also getting frustrating that he never tries the Rose/BJ combo attack until fourth quarters...it works fairly often when he does go to it and this was a TO fest, so having TWO ball handlers out there would have been helpful. The team turns mentally soft against physicality and that manifested in some Techs and frustrated play in the second and third that really put the Knicks in a hole then kept them there. He has to be able to call a time out and either calm guys down or find players that will keep their heads in the game, a rare occasion where I wouldn't mind a bit more Lance to keep dudes on task. If anything, the one time where a technical foul SHOULD have happened was on the AWFUL goal tend from Horford that led to a three on the other end. It was a five point swing on a TERRIBLE call and Hornacek SHOULD have gone at the refs for that, when Thomas flipped out it got the C's calls for the rest of the second quarter...Horny shoulda attempted to get the same treatment for his guys in the third.
Random: Here's how winning and just overall perception can really impact perspective on a performance. Player A: 9 of 23 for 27 points, 4 assists and 3 boards with no steals or blocks...Player B: 9 of 24 for 29 points, 2 assists, 7 boards with a steal and a block to boot...Player A got mostly high praise for his game while player B had the usual "trade this guy, you can't win with him" chants. I'm not saying the complaints are unfounded after Melo's performance yesterday, but it's pretty trippy to see just how vastly different his narrative is with a player who shot as poorly and statistically didn't do much else. I know, IT's driving was impacting the game even on misses; intangibles, blah blah blah...I just wonder if reputation doesn't play a bigger role in how performances are perceived than people would like to admit.
Yo ya cannot be serious with this shyt. The new CBA pretty much shyts on the free agency dreams ya folks have every summer, but striking gold on late round picks is so much more sensical and probable than tanking and acquiring a blue chip prospect.
We will watch the Bucks and 76er's surpass the Knicks all while Knicks fans are grandstanding about how "that tanking shyt rarely works".
. Is it Oochie Wally or
One Mic. 
