The X-Factor(s): Felton and Smith
The Knicks are 10 games into the best stretch of basketball we’ve seen all season, and it doesn’t look like they are going to take their foot off the accelerator any time soon. Yes, there is lots of credit due to many players. Kurt, you of course, get the upmost respect from all of us Knicks fans for literally kick starting us (no pun intended on his foot injury) from the bottom to where we are now. I hope you feature in a coming re-make of Drake’s “Started from the bottom” anthem that really can explain the heroics you have contributed to this winning streak being where it is now.
Elsewhere, there is Kenyon Martin, who, like Lazarus, has risen from the abyss of the NBA onto the biggest stage of them all. Then there is Carmelo Anthony, who has just been insanely bonkers the past two games, scoring 90 points and only missing 20 shots. What about the last eight games before Anthony seemingly took the rim and made it two feet wider in front of our own eyes?
Ladies and gents, Raymond Felton and JR Smith.
Truly Carmelo’s backing of sorts through this 10 game tear of almost effortless basketball. Going back 17 days all the way to Salt Lake City, Felton and Smith have averaged a combined 17 points per game on 50% shooting from the field, enough to back a powerful first option in Anthony to 10 straight. Felton’s defensive prowess has also seen a rebirth, along with the rest of the Knicks. Over 10 games, he has about two steals per, and deferring just enough where it evens out with him also being able to find his own shot when called upon at an efficient 52% clip. It’s no shocker that Felton piled up nine assists against Miami, mostly to Anthony, which was his high over the winning streak. In about 33 minutes per game, Felton has not really had any terrible games and has been a crucial piece in New York’s winning ways.
Before the past two games, the man running the show was JR Smith, who has been playing some of the best basketball in his career since Utah. Swish is averaging 23 points and five rebounds over the past 10 games. Oh, and he’s shooting 48%. Who would of ever thought we’d see the day where Smith actually attempts fewer than five three pointers in a single game? It has paid off dramatically, seeing an increase of free throws and penetration, which spaces out the whole floor for the Knicks and really gives shooters opportunities to knock down shots at a higher rate. Although he has slightly veered off path from his three games when he scored 32, 35, and 37, shooting over 50% in all three, it is still extremely gratifying watching Smith play at the level he is playing at. A level that must be maintained heading into the playoffs for the Knicks to really silence a great deal of doubters.
Smith and Felton both have justifiably been a shoulder for Anthony and company to lean on as of late, and it has transmitted into win after win. It’s going to be a sight for sore eyes seeing the Knicks keep their level of intensity up for the rest of the year, and peaking at the best time possible with their supporting cast taking a step up. Lets just remember, we are here because of Kurt Thomas.
Stats from NBA.com.
Recap: Knicks 95, Hawks 82
Resting on the shoulders of an absolutely torrid Carmelo Anthony and a rejuvenated defense, the Knicks continued their hottest stretch in decades, winning their tenth in a row by using a dominant fourth quarter to blow up a close game. While neither New York nor Atlanta played their best basketball through the first three quarters, the teams went opposite directions in the final 12 minutes. The Knicks strung together several solid possessions on both ends of the ball, locking down Atlanta’s offense, and exploiting a defense keyed in on stopping Carmelo Anthony. Raymond Felton took advantage of this neglectful defense and repeatedly burned the Hawks in the pick-and-roll, getting to the basket for easy layups and organizing a Knicks offense that nearly doubled up the Hawks in the final quarter.
First Quarter
Photo by David Goldman/AP
The Knicks opened the game in a little bit of a daze as they missed seven of their first eight shots, while Atlanta canned open threes, layups, and contested, improbable deep jumpers. Carmelo Anthony knocked down his first shot attempt, but struggled shortly thereafter, misfiring on some turn-around jumpers and failing to finish around the rim. J.R. Smith checked in early to give the Knicks’ offense a boost, but he, too, missed on several close attempts after working his way towards the paint off the dribble.
The Hawks, meanwhile, jumped out to a surprising 10-2 lead, before the fortunes switched. For Atlanta, Josh Smith, Jeff Teague, and Al Horford began to eat up a majority of the Hawks’ possessions, bricking routine jumpers close and far, and bricking bunnies at the rim. For the Knicks, after an initial slow start, both Anthony’s work on offense began to pay dividends as he found success driving to the cup for layups and fouls, and eventually began snapping the net on some pull-up jumpers and catch-and-shoot three-pointers.
After one, the Knicks led 23-18.
Second Quarter
The second quarter didn’t find either team executing their best, either. Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith kicked things off for both teams with five consecutive points, respectively, both hitting on three-pointers and jumpers off the dribble. Shortly after, however, points became hard to come by. Kyle Korver oddly missed on his most wide open looks from beyond the arc while the rest of the Hawks’ thin bench failed to generate much offense at all. J.R. Smith continued to do the lion’s share of the work, but the Knicks had almost nothing to show for it.
As both starting units came back into the game with a little more than half the quarter remaining, the heat turned up again. Anthony promptly returned to disregarding whoever put their hands in his face, and was able to score on a variety of pull-up jumpers and aggressive takes to the basket. Korver made up for his misses from deep by exploiting a shaky perimeter defense and hitting jumpers off the bounce or just taking it directly to the cup.
While the Hawks’ offense was hardly scorching, the Knicks once again exhibited bad tendencies on switches and doubles, and just plain slow-footed defense on the perimeter that allowed the Hawks to get easy baskets when they actually executed. Also, once again, Knicks not named Carmelo Anthony failed to hit open looks they received from the defensive attention being paid to ‘Melo who remained blistering.
The Knicks, however, were still able to build their lead in the quarter – a testament to the Hawks’ general listlessness – and went into halftime leading 47-40.
Third Quarter
The third quarter found Carmelo Anthony at his tip-toppest offensive form while the Knicks’ defense took a collective nosedive. Kyle Korver continued to be the Hawks’ only consistent form of offense, while everything on that end of the floor went through ‘Melo for New York.
Anthony kicked things off with an offensive rebound and layup after a missed three from Prigioni. He then operated in the pick-and-roll a bit and found Prigioni with a kick-out pass for an open three on the elbow. Later, Anthony welcomed Josh Smith and the Hawks’ sturdiest defense by simply netting difficult turn-around jumpers and splashing one- and two-dribble pull-up jumpers over out-stretched hands. Even when Smith managed to deflect the ball out of Anthony’s hands, he was able to regain possession along the baseline before it went out of bounds, and launch a 20-footer that didn’t even touch rim. 15 of the Knicks’ 21 third-quarter points came through Anthony, either by shooting or by passing.
The same lackluster defense remained for the Knicks, however, and Atlanta was actually able to work their way back to take the lead at certain points. Korver managed nine points, all on threes, in the quarter, and gave the Knicks, particularly Iman Shumpert fits, as he benefited from the space given to him off the Knicks’ needless switching and doubling. In one stretch, Shumpert left Korver open for a corner three, then proceeded to get blocked by Korver on a pull-up jumper attempt. Shump then rotated and closed out slowly on Deshawn Stevenson who scooped in for a layup and a foul on Kenyon Martin.
Jeff Teague and Shelvin Mack also gave the Knicks problems as they scooted into the paint and took advantage of the Knicks’ general lack of size down low (Chandler sat out for most of the quarter, appearing in pain). The two teams traded baskets back and forth, capped off by a stepback jumper from J.R. Smith to beat the buzzer and tie the game up at 68 heading into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Once again, heading into a pivotal final quarter, the Knicks pulled themselves together, this time basically running over the Hawks. It began with far more aggressive perimeter defense, and some handsy deflection and steals in the pick-and-roll, as seen the previous night in Miami. Felton (who’d been quiet heading into the fourth) picked Mack’s pocket and went coast to coast for a layup. Smith, sensing his size advantage on Atlanta’s smaller guards, went back to work off the dribble, and spun and twisted his way for some easy, close buckets. Careless passes coupled with a feisty New York defense led to copious amounts of Atlanta turnovers; the cough-ups just kept piling up and giving New York more chances to score.
Photo by David Goldman/AP
While ‘Melo sat, Felton took the reins of the offense and punished a lackadaisical Atlanta defense. Three straight times, Felton squiggled his way through the defense off the high pick-and-roll and finished at the rim for mostly uncontested layups. Quickly, the Knicks built their lead up to eight. Then, Anthony checked in.
The Hawks’ defense was already spread thin, but Anthony’s presence only furthered their problems. After checking in and executing a post-up-spin-off-alley-oop with Jason Kidd, the Hawks focused their efforts almost solely on Anthony. The Knicks used this defensive attention to get Smith going. On one gorgeous sequence, Anthony sucked in the defense, threw a cross-court pass to Smith, who blew by the later-arriving closeout, and took it in for a two-handed jam.
The Knicks built up their lead to double-digits and were slowly able to ride the game out, punctuating it with a baseline jumper from Anthony that gave him a 40-point follow-up to his 50-point explosion the night before.
Notes
- Simply stunning work from Carmelo Anthony. In his last 81 minutes, he’s netted 90 points on 35-53 shooting from the field, almost all of those coming from outside of the paint. The man is in a rhythm like never seen before while he’s worn a Knicks uniform, and his offense has been good enough to carry the Knicks through some comatose starts. It’ll be interesting to see if ‘Melo can continue to get off to hot starts (he’s scored 81 of his total points in the first three quarters of the last two games), and attract opposing defenses so much that it allows other Knicks to get hot in the fourth quarter. It’s not an ideal attack, but there isn’t a hotter player in the NBA right now.
- To speak to the above point: Smith and Felton finished with a combined 33 points on 15-31 FG. In the fourth quarter they were a combined 9-11 from the field for 19 points.
- The buzzkill in all of this is that Chandler isn’t physically right, and now Kenyon Martin’s knee is “sore” which means he’s moments away from losing a lower limb entirely.
- Those fourth-quarter Hawks turnovers that I mentioned before – seven of them in the final 12 minutes. Some of it was pesky defense from the Knicks, some of it was carelessness from Atlanta.
- Tom Izzo randomly joined the ESPN broadcast in the second quarter and spoke pretty glowingly of about every person mentioned during his air-time. This was very different than what I imagined Tom Izzo to be like in person.
- Fun sequence in the 4th quarter: J.R. Smith fronts Josh Smith in the post, gets a steal, races down court, trips over his own feet, turns it over, DeShawn Stevenson picks up the ball, races down court, gets discombobulated between passing and dribbling, turns it over.
I’m not sure how I could handle a seven-game series between the two teams, but the Knicks, in both meetings, were able to out-execute the Hawks in the fourth quarter, and come up with the win both at home and on the road. If the two teams were to meet in the playoffs, as of right now, it’d bode well for the Knicks. New York will look to continue their streak when they face the Milwaukee Bucks at home on Friday.
Follow Scott Davis on Twitter: @WScottDavis
The Ari Marcopoulos Carmelo Anthony Zine
As of last night, Carmelo Anthony now has three 50-point games during his 10 years in the NBA. I had him pegged for 53 points last night, given how hot he was ending the first half with 27 points against the Miami Heat. It would have also been pretty amazing if he broke his old record, which would have matched nicely with issue #52 of the recent Melo themed zine, created by photographer/filmmaker, Ari Marcopoulos.
The 20 pages of photos take you through Melo’s highs and lows. Starting with the cover of Anthony posing for his middle school yearbook, and book ending it with the back cover, his mugshot from April 2008. For Knicks fans looking for great images of Melo joining the Knicks, there’s practically none. In the only other photo of him without cornrows, the trim on his jersey doesn’t look like a Nuggets colorway, but it’s also not a Knicks home jersey. For $15 you get a retrospect on his formative years playing at Oak Hill high school against LeBron James, winning a NCAA chip for Syracuse in ’03, then his era as a Denver Nugget. What started at just 50 copies, Marcopoulos’ zine is now sold out at Dashwood Books. Check out his website for more of his photography, plus a flick of Tyson Chandler.
Trefoiled: The Adidas Triangle Offense
For the past three days, adidas has dominated on and off the court. Between a tribute to the Trefoil and what’s on Iman Shumpert’s feet, adidas was “all in” our conversation. Allow us to spotlight this trend for you below.
Novak Wears Syracuse Garb, After Losing Bet To Melo
As most of you know, Carmelo Anthony is a Syracuse Alum. In this year’s NCAA Tournament, Syracuse has met up with Indiana, Mike Woodson’s alma mata, and Marquette, Steve Novak’s. Syracuse beat both teams, but before each matchup, Melo made some friendly wagers with the two. The losing team’s alumni had to dress up in the winning team’s clothing.
No word what Mike Woodson has done, but, after Syracuse’s win over Marquette, look what Steve Novak had to wear on today’s plan to Miami:
Needless to say, Melo was a happy man.
Raymond Felton Sinks Buzzer Beater From Behind Half Court
Raymond Felton makes shot:
Raymond Felton imitates J.R. Smith for the celebration:
Mike Woodson smiles:
J.R. Swish Wallpaper
It’s been a while since I’ve made a wallpaper for you guys, so I thought, after J.R.’s recent hot-streak, now would be the perfect time for one. As always, click on the image to download the full-size.
The New Insanity
- A morale destroying losing streak.
- Major injuries to multiple key stars.
- A reserve guard suddenly putting up MVP type numbers.
- A surprising seven game winning streak led by some unexpected heroes.
Sound familiar?
The Knicks’ current winning streak isn’t their only impressive win streak this season, but it’s the one that most reminds me of the history making seven game win streak they went on last season, now better known as “Linsanity”. Let’s start with a look back.
February 4, 2012. Coach Mike D’Antoni and his Knicks were desperate. After starting off the strike shortened season an encouraging 6-4, the wheels had seemingly come off the Knicks’ season. New York had just lost to the Boston Celtics, their eleventh loss in 13 games. Now, the Knickerbockers’ record stood at 8-15, with thoughts of making the playoffs rapidly seeming like a pipe dream. After missing the playoffs for six straight years, the Knicks had made it back in 2011. Now it looked like they would be going back to their losing ways in 2012.
Yet, February 4 was the day things changed. With point guard Baron Davis unavailable due to injury, D’Antoni had been trying to get by using Iman Shumpert and Toney Douglas to run the show without success. Douglas had lost D’Antoni’s confidence and Shumpert was both playing out of position and playing too many minutes. Out of other options, D’Antoni had given six minutes of playing time to journeyman point guard Jeremy Lin against the Celts. Lin was solid but unspectacular, yet D’Antoni was happy enough with solid to get Lin into the game sooner the next night against the New Jersey Nets. Lin was ready. As Lin started piling up points and assists, D’Antoni took notice and left him out there for almost 36 minutes as Jeremy put up 25 points and seven assists. That night, the Knicks beat the Nets 99-92 and everything changed.
The discovery of a good point guard buried at the end of the bench was somewhat muted by the loss of Amare Stoudemire, hurt in the New Jersey game. If this wasn’t bad enough, the Knicks lost another key star, Carmelo Anthony, the very next night against Utah. At this point, D’Antoni was willing to try almost anything and he’d shoved Lin into the starting lineup and reached down to the end of the bench for another journeyman, forward Steve Novak. Novak had struggled so far that season and only played a total of four seconds in the two previous games. Yet this night he played over 17 minutes and as the Jazz defense collapsed to try and deal with the penetration of Lin, he found himself getting open and thanks in part to Lin, getting the ball. Novak made the most of this opportunity and went five of eight from deep.
With that, Linsanity was on. Lin and Tyson Chandler led a cast of second and third tier players to seven straight victories, with Novak coming off the bench and blazing away from almost as deep as he had been buried on the bench.
No one expected anything similar to happen this season. The main reason was because this time the Knicks had loaded up pretty much their entire roster full of aging veterans, with the plus and minus of them being known quantities, so the Knicks’ at least knew the ceiling of what they could likely expect from each of them. Last season’s roster featured nine players with five years or less of NBA experience. This year, the Knicks’ have only four, and two of those players, Pablo Prigioni and James White, are in their thirties. Last season, the Knicks included seven players 27 or younger, this season they only have one, the 22 year-old Shumpert.
While this may give New York a better shot at winning big this season, it does limit the number of pleasant surprises possible from their roster. There is less discovering new young talent like Lin, and more discovering nagging injuries and players losing a step from advanced age.
March 18, 2013. Coach Mike Woodson and the Knicks were desperate. They were reeling from a crushing four game losing streak where New York lost by an average of 20 points a game. Added to this were injuries to all three of New York’s front court superstars: Chandler, Anthony and Stoudemire. Suddenly, hosting a first round playoff series wasn’t looking like such a lock, never mind winning the Atlantic Division title.
March 18 was the day things changed. With the injuries to his stars, Woodson had been mixing and matching various starting lineups, frantically trying to find a winning combination. This night he unveiled his third different lineup in as many games: Prigioni, Shumpert, Raymond Felton, Chris Copeland and Kenyon Martin. Despite playing on the road, the second night of a back-to-back against a Jazz team fighting for its playoff life, the Knicks broke their losing streak with a 90-83 victory. News of the victory was tempered by the news that Kurt Thomas had joined the bevy of injured Knicks and would be out indefinitely.
Fortunately, the Knicks were able to trade up by getting Melo back in the lineup for their next game. With a small starting lineup of Melo, Shumpert, Prigioni, Martin and Felton, the Knicks have put together their longest winning streak of the season, currently at seven and counting.
While Jeremy Lin’s emergence was clearly the biggest impetus to last season’s seven game win streak, it certainly wasn’t the only reason for it. There were other big stories as well: the emergence of Steve Novak and terrific defensive efforts from Chandler, Shumpert, Landry Fields and Jared Jefferies.
There are several major reasons for this win streak as well. Returning home to Madison Square Garden, getting Melo back in the lineup and playing some relatively weak teams certainly have helped, but that only begins to tell the story. While Melo has made a strong contribution, these games haven’t been up to the standard of excellence that he’s set earlier this season. Instead, much of the credit for the Knicks’ surprising turnaround have to go to new starters Martin and Prigioni, along with elevated play from Shumpert and perhaps most of all: JR Smith.
In some ways Kenyon Martin and Pablo Prigioni are this season’s much older version of Lin and Novak. Martin has spent most of the season unsuccessfully trying to get a team to take a flyer on him and Prigioni has spent most of the season buried on the Knicks’ bench. Martin has averaged 11 points and six rebounds a game during the streak, after basically being a garbage heap pickup for a Knicks’ team with every post player on their roster out with injuries. Those stats only tell part of the story. The 6’9” Martin has been playing out of position at center, bringing rugged hard-nosed defense every night while shooting 62% from the field.
Prigioni has also come out of obscurity to be a steadying presence in the starting lineup. It’s not a coincidence that these seven wins have also been his first seven starts of the season. Having a second point guard on the floor with Felton has increased New York’s ball movement and security. During the streak he has an impressive assist/turnover ratio of 25 to 3. Prigioni’s pesky defensive presence has also added to the improved defense that has been a key part of this streak.
Iman Shumpert has started to look more like his old self during the streak. After taking what seemed like an eternity to regain his form after returning to the lineup from last season’s injury, he’s starting to be more aggressive and more effective on both ends of the court. His biggest impact on the offensive end has been the development of a deadly long range game. During the streak, he has gone 12 of 22 from three-point range.
The biggest key to the streak though, has been Smithsanity. Most of the season the talented but mercurial Smith has been just as likely to throw away games with his poor shot selection as he has been to win them with his clutch late game shot making and game changing dunks.
Over the streak however, Smith has transformed into an overnight superstar. Despite coming off the bench, he’s averaged over 26 points a game while shooting a remarkable 54% from the field after being a career 42% shooter that’s only shooting 41% this season. He’s also attempted 60 free throws over the streak. This is an average of 8.5 attempts a game, yet for his career Smith only averages 2.6 attempts a game. This vastly increased number of times he’s getting to the line reveals the biggest reason for his remarkable transformation. Instead of constantly settling for extremely high level of difficulty jumpers when he’s handling the ball, he’s attacking the rim instead.
Smith shows no signs of slowing down, if anything, he’s heating up. In his last three games he’s scored 32, 35 and 37 points. He’s also averaging close to five and half rebounds a game over the streak, despite averaging 2.6 a game for his career. Does this mean that Woodson has finally become the one coach to fully tap into Smith’s talent after nine seasons in the league? Knicks’ fans can only hope. If JR can even come close to keeping this up, the sky’s the limit to what New York can accomplish once its big men start to get healthy.
While I don’t expect Smith to average over 30 points a game for the rest of the season, he’s not necessarily as sure to cool way off as much as the hot three-point shooting that keyed the Knicks’ six game win streak earlier this season. He’s not scoring more simply because he’s got a hot hand, he appears to have fundamentally changed the way he approaches the game offensively. He not just choosing better shots either, he’s creating better shots. If this new JR sticks around, his contract is going to look like the biggest bargain in the NBA. More importantly, the Eastern Conference playoff picture may have just gotten a lot more interesting.
Recap: Knicks 111, Bobcats 102
First Quarter:
The Knicks did exactly what you have to do against to do against a team as pitiful as the Bobcats. They jumped out on them early and often, as they got a 21-6 lead behind three pointers from Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert and Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks were on fire from three-point land in the quarter, shooting 5-6. Anthony, Shumpert and J.R. Smith all had fantastic quarters. The Bobcats did not double team Anthony, and he carved them up for 13 points on 5-11 shooting. Shumpert continued his hot shooting and hit two three-pointers. Also, he had two steals and two assists. Smith once again continued to not settle for jump shots and took the ball to the basket, as he had nine points on 4-6 shooting. Felton also chipped in with seven points on 3-3 shooting. The Knicks shot 58% from the field because, as you might expect, Charlotte’s defense was miserable. Charlotte also had six turnovers and most of them were just careless things like dribbling the ball off their foot and traveling.
Second Quarter:
The Bobcats went on an 8-2 run at the end of the quarter to cut a 28 point lead to 22, but the Knicks still led 69-47 at halftime. This quarter was all about Smith, as he had 14 points in the quarter on 5-5 shooting. Once again, he only made one three-pointer and took everything to the basket. He only attempted one mid-range jumper in the quarter and made some acrobatic shots around the rim instead of taking acrobatic step back jumpers. The Knicks continued to stay hot from behind the arc, shooting 4-6 from the field, with threes by Felton, Smith, Steve Novak and Jason Kidd. The ball movement was great, as the Knicks had 13 assists in the half, including five from Shumpert. Shumpert’s penetration created many open shots for the Knicks. They shot an incredible 62% for the half, while the Bobcats shot only 42%.
Third Quarter:
The Knicks had another sluggish third quarter after getting out to a big lead, but a strong end to the quarter helped the Knicks get the lead back up to 87-69 after the Bobcats had cut the lead to 14. The Knicks shot only 5-17 for the quarter and were 0-5 from behind the arc. The Bobcats gave a much better effort on defense, and the Knicks lost a little bit of the ball movement that was so successful for them in the first half. The closest the Bobcats came was 81-67 after a Jannero Pargo three-pointer. After the teams traded free throws, Felton converted a layup, Smith got fouled behind the arc, and made all three free throws to give the Knicks a 5-0 run to end the quarter. Anthony led the Knicks with nine points in the quarter.
Fourth Quarter:
Just like the Grizzlies, the Bobcats gave the Knicks a scare in the fourth, but the lead was just too much to overcome and the Knicks won 111-102. The Bobcats erased the 5-0 run the Knicks had to end the 3rd by starting out the 4th on their own 5-0 run with a three by Pargo and two free throws by Gerald Henderson to cut the lead back down to 88-74. The Knicks then went on a 6-0 run with buckets by Felton, Smith and Chris Copeland and it looked like the game was over at that point. Alas, that was not the case, as the Bobcats went on a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to 98-85 with 5:23 remaining. The closest the Bobcats came was when a Josh McRoberts layup cut the lead to 102-95 with about two minutes remaining. Smith took the ball to the basket yet again for a hoop and the Knicks made their free throws down the stretch to ice the game. He led the Knicks with seven points in the quarter to finish with an incredible 37 points for the game.
Notes:
- Didn’t we just see this game 2 days ago?
- It would be nice if the Knicks would put these teams away, but in the NBA, it is rare for a team not to make a run of any kind during a game. Even still, after the last game you would think that the Knicks would have not wanted to let that happen again.
- What can else can you say about J.R. Smith at this point? When he plays at this efficient level he is one of the best shooting guards in the NBA, especially since he had already improved his defensive game this year before he started this efficient stretch on offense.
- Hopefully he isn’t playing himself into a big contract elsewhere. It can never be all good with Smith, right?
- Remember when we wanted to trade Iman Shumpert for Jared Dudley? Yeah, pretty good non- trade there for sure.
- He is doing everything they need out of a three next to Melo right now. He is hitting the corner three, driving the lane and dishing to open shooters, and has been locking down the opponents to player lately.
- Melo has really been amazing on his own put backs lately. He had six offenseive rebounds and his second jump is just so quick and obviously his strength is tough to deal with as well.
- With all the attention Shumpert, Smith and Martin have been receiving lately for their strong play, Felton has played really efficiently of late as well.
- 7 game winning streak heading into a really challenging part of the schedule. It will be very interesting to see if this level of play carries over against the likes of Miami, Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Chicago and Indiana.
Happy 68th Birthday, Walt Clyde Frazier
Good day, Mr. Clyde Frazier,
It’s with the utmost respect that I open this letter with a formal salutation for an equally distinguished member of the New York Knicks Hall of Fame. Wearing the tightest of threads each night, you call games on MSG; your attire is that of class and style. While it’s become part of your reputation, it’s my honor to acknowledge every stitch that goes into what has made you the most colorful patch that is permanently sewn into the quilt of NYK since 1967. Even though my acknowledgements on Twitter veer into the realm of satire, I imagine your sartorial choices are made with the deepest of thoughts. Your Cow Hide suit, though it predates Lady Gaga’s Meat Dress, should be in a museum. The Cowboy Jacket with the leather strips—Giddy Up! When you wear Houndstooth, I know where to find you when the camera pans wide shots of the arena’s sidelines. When I hear the incessant ringing of Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie” song in my ear, as catchy as it is, I yawn because it can barely hold a candle to your wardrobe. Sorry, you might not know who JT is. I hate it when sometimes Mike Breen or Spero Dedes try to quiz you on your pop culture knowledge, only to yield a hard “no” from you. Then I chuckle because the microphones go silent for a split second, then I wonder what’s being said in the brief silence. Another compliment about what you’re wearing is probably the saving grace.
What about your shoes? I feel like it’s the most underrepresented part of your snazzy repertoire. People get taken back so much by the suits, who knows if they’ve officially seen it all. What if you started wearing your signature Puma Clyde sneakers again? Are you the suit and sneakers type of guy? Timberlake and plenty of rappers don that combo. My bad, I’m probably going over your head again. I caught the MSG special where you went to St. Croix, discussing gardening, and sailing. Clearly you dress for the occasion—linens, shorts on the beach, polo shirts to match. As always style was the topic of discussion as you reflected on the gangster hats you wore back in the ’70s that were akin to Clyde Barrow, the partner in crime of Bonnie Barrow. To earn Clyde as a nickname because you were crafty at picking other players’ pockets should be immortalized in a song somewhere. One hopefully you could play on a turntable around the house. Pretty cool, yeah?
Being commemorated has been part of your ongoing legacy as an NBA Hall of Famer. The Puma Clyde sits in my closet neatly wrapped in plastic grocery bags. This time last year, I caught my main man Ricky Powell rocking the same orange and navy Clydes—which you autographed—when we were kicking it in Australia with the Acclaim mag crew. He’s a true fan who keeps your name in the conversation anytime he talks Knicks. There was the Willis Reed pin that also adorned his navy suit, your old teammate. Ricky remembers the ’70s and never lets us forget it. I admire older gentlemen like him for their knowledge of Knicks lore because my affection for the Knicks came after you retired. My loyalty to my hometown hero, Patrick Ewing, came up recently when me and my tax guy at H&R Block talked at length about NYK. He dropped serious knowledge on me about how the chant “DEFENSE” was originated in Madison Square Garden. Maybe it’s one of those things that we New Yorkers feel like we originated. Challenge us and we’ll strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger like Michael Douglass in Falling Down. The wise man advised that I do more homework on the era he holds so dear. Players like you, Willis Reed, and the late-great Ray Williams brought out a twinkle in his eye. It looked like he was tearing up thinking about this golden era of New York basketball. It might have been his praise for Williams’ obituary which he said was written by Harvey Araton, a long-standing Knicks beat reporter for the New York Times. As I spend more time listening to the elders talk about how things have changed with the Knicks, the more I realize they stay the same with the gameplay and how familiar players of now are to the past. The John Starks comparison to J.R. Smith ain’t all to it. Learning about the 1-2 punch of the Knicks back court like you and Reed, or Williams and Michael Ray Richardson can be felt watching Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni running point guard and shooting guard, respectively. I digress, this was supposed to be about the style you wear, not so much about the style of play, yet they go hand in hand!
Tonight is Bobble Head Night at The Garden. You have your own bobble head in your likeness, dressed to the nines in, what else… the COW SUIT! #Winning. Until we get to raise our glass, and tip our hats to you tonight, we also remember the legacy of your low profile sneakers from 1973. At some point I’m gonna have to wear these Clydes. There’s no way I could sell such a precious artifact of my home team. Thanks for staying in the spotlight. Happy birthday Clyde.
P.S. I voted for you as New York’s coolest in MSG’s Bracket.
Iman Shumpert’s Adidas Real Deals Are A Big Deal
All Day I Dream About Shumpert. If A.D.I.D.A.S needs a new tagline, we got you now that Iman Shumpert has been lacing up the Top Ten 2000 2wo 1ne, the Crazy 8, and now the Real Deal.
During the current six game winning streak of the Knicks, Shump has posted flicks of each new pair of Real Deal before game time. The most recent, a sparlking silver/orange/blue pair was posted on his Instagram last night before he dropped 13 points in the first quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies; he would finish with 16 altogether. In a previous game against Toronto, Shumpert showcased a black/orange/gray/blue colorway of the Real Deal, which the Knicks also won.
Is the Real Deal about to steal the spotlight from his regular rotation of the 2wo 1ne? Back in February, after the Knicks lost to the Raptors at Madison Square Garden in their first meeting, he photographed the red/black/white kit sitting on a private jet. He wasn’t in the form we’re seeing now, as, back then, he played only 21 minutes and ended the game with 5 points. Then there was the struggle of Shump being on a minutes restriction after coming back from injury. That’s a non factor now because, these days, Shump is getting back his offensive and defensive prowess we saw last season. When we’re not seeing him on the court, Shump and his flattop, are turning it up also for adidas in their adicolor commercials. Keep your eyes on the real. Done deal.
The adidas Real Deal is available in five colorways at Eastbay and Champs priced at $110.
“The Kenyon Martin Block”
Thanks, @Danstein.
