The New York Knicks can be described by a simple formula. As long as the good outweighs the bad, it’s okay. Wednesday night at the Detroit Pistons, there was plenty of bad but just enough good to win a basketball game. On a night where Carmelo Anthony wasn’t able to suit up, the Knicks played a sloppy brand of basketball. They had 20 TURNOVERS!! For a team who only averages about 12 turnovers per game, that’s some pretty ugly stuff. The majority of the turnovers were committed by Raymond Felton (he had 7). Felton however, scored 26 points and was one of main reasons the Knicks beat the Pistons. The final score was 87-77 as the Knicks were carried offensively by Felton, J.R. Smith, and Amar’e Stoudemire. Collectively they scored 68 of the Knicks 87 points. As you can tell by the turnover totals and the final score, this was a hard game to watch. I think I actually fell asleep for 5 minutes or so in the middle of the game. Hopefully tonight’s game will be a little more interesting and technically sound. Tonight the New York Knickerbockers host Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. You can find this game on TNT at 8:00 P.M. There are questions going around today about Carmelo’s health and whether or not he’ll play tonight. I personally don’t think the Knicks have a chance to win this game either way, but Carmelo really needs to man up and get out there. Everyone else can buy into his little “injury”, but I guarantee you he is not hurt. He needs to grow up and start putting his team first. Right now, the Knicks need to play every game like it’s their last, because seeding in the Eastern Conference is going to be crucial in the playoffs. So Melo, even though I know you will never read this page, STOP BEING A BABY, RUB SOME DIRT ON YOUR KNEE AND GET OUT THERE!! For those of you who are scratching your head as to why someone would rub some dirt on their knee, allow me to elaborate. As a baseball player, when you get hit by a pitch, your teammates (whom are often road scholars) will tell you to rub some dirt on it and run to first base. Anyway, Melo really needs to man up and take a page out of Kobe Bryant’s how to manual. Kobe should clearly be Carmelo’s biggest role model. Melo like Kobe is a shoot first All-Star. The only difference (and by only I mean the 8 differences between Kobe and Melo) between Kobe and Melo is that Kobe has that life or death mentality ingrained inside of him. Kobe is going to do anything and everything his team needs in order to win, including playing hurt, playing defense, and hustling from the opening tip until the final buzzer every night. Carmelo needs to infuse those characteristics into his personality. Then maybe other players, media, and fans won’t question his dedication when he misses a game with a questionable injury.
As for the game tonight against the Thunder, the Knicks need to go on one of their 3-point shooting rampages to have a chance to win. I personally want to see the Knicks shoot less 3-pointers, but in a game without Carmelo Anthony, they need to get a huge game out of Amar’e and Chandler down low to open up the court for the outside shooters. This is the only chance the Knicks have to beat the Thunder tonight. And for the love of god, can Coach Woodson please stop fighting common sense and put Amar’e Stoudemire in the starting lineup. I understand that he wants to keep Jason Kidd out of the starting lineup (and I agree with him there) and with Carmelo Anthony hurt he needs to find another starter, but James White AND Kurt Thomas are the answers to those questions?!?! Coach Woodson is obviously confused. At the beginning of the season, I liked what Woodson was doing. The Knicks were playing defense and he had Melo giving it his all, but now Woodson just looks like an average coach that doesn’t know how to handle his roster. The Knicks should hang tough in this game tonight because it’s at home, but I see the Thunder pulling ahead in the middle of the 4th quarter and winning by 10 points, 108-98.
If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!
Dave Talks Sports 