Game 55: Bucks/Knicks
by Alex Boeder on Feb 22, 2010 7:34 AM CST
in Previews
111 comments
New York, New York.
| 2009/2010 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| 19-35 (12-18 home) | vs. | 26-28 (9-19 road) |
| February 22, 2010 | ||
| Bradley Center |
||
| 6:30 PM | ||
| Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: No local |
||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Chris Duhon |
PG | Brandon Jennings |
| Tracy McGrady |
SG | Charlie Bell |
| Wilson Chandler |
SF | Carlos Delfino |
| Danilo Gallinari |
PF | Luc Mbah a Moute |
| David Lee |
C | Andrew Bogut |
| (15th) 106.6 - OFFENSE - 103.9 (24th) |
||
| (24th) 109.7 - DEFENSE - 104.0 (9th) |
||
| (7th) 94.0 - PACE - 92.9 (15th) |
||
Linkage
Posting & Toasting / KnickerBlogger / New York Times / KnickBlog / Bandwagon Knick
New Knicks. These are very-different Knicks than the ones the pretty-different Bucks beat 114-107 at MSG a couple weeks ago.
New York acquired Tracy McGrady, Eddie House, Sergio Rodriguez, Bill Walker, and J.R. Giddens last week.
They dealt away Nate Robinson, Jordan Hill, Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries, Marcus Landry, and draft picks.
This all seems very un-Knicklike since they improved now and freed up money to further position themselves to lure one of those major league 2010 free agents. Losing Hill and picks hurts a bit, but these seem like winning moves.
What it means here and now for the Bucks is that New York just got a fair bit better, judging by Saturday night, as New York fell just short in overtime to the Thunder, 121-118. McGrady dropped 26 and House added 24 off the bench.
Seth from Posting and Toasting on Night One with T-Mac.
Tracy McGrady is a step slow. Let's get that out of the way. His strides are long and deliberate, and he isn't exactly exploding off the floor. Nobody expected that, though, and McGrady impressed in pretty much every other regard. I've never liked his release- all the flailing and kicking makes it look so effortful- but Tracy was cash from pretty much every range tonight. McGrady didn't rely on the jumper, though. He got past his man with shrewd footwork and some strength, and made some great drives to the basket. Many of those ended in acrobatic makes and fouls (sometimes both), and on a number of plays he found the open man. The passing, really, was my favorite part. He finished with 5 assists, the best of which was a halfcourt bounce pass with backspin to a breaking Al Harrington.
And with the 6'8" McGrady starting at the two, this looks an awful lot like the time to start Salmons.
Duhon. Chris Duhon scored zero of New York's 118 points against OKC. However, he did score two points in the team's previous game, and two in the one before that. He even made a three-pointer a couple weeks ago.
In fact, starting point guard Chris Duhon has already scored 24 points this month in seven games, 3.4 per game. And he is shooting 27.8 % from the field this month and 6.7 % on three-pointers.
Of course, he was down right on fire against the Bucks earlier this month, making 3/4 from the field (two on backdoor layups), which also happens to be the last game in which he shot better than 33%. And you surely remember that although he didn't make a shot in Milwaukee when they matched up in November, he did score that one point. That treasured point loomed even larger since he didn't score the next game in 39 minutes against Cleveland.
Backup Points. Though he's averaging 21.9 minutes for the season, Luke Ridnour has only played 18+ minutes in three of the nine games this month, and the eight minutes on Saturday were his fewest of the season. He picked up three fouls against D.J. Augustin in less than three minutes, giving way to Royal Ivey.
Ridnour is shooting 38.2 % from the field this month, and that makes sense given percentages were bound to crash pretty hard given his Nashian first few months. Jennings (37.3 % in Feb.) is actually shooting worse this month, but regardless I'm not inclined to see Ivey any more than the three minutes he played against Charlotte. Since Bell is going to lose a ton of minutes at the two now, I'd actually prefer to see him get those third point guard minutes for the most part.
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not me...
he is always good to jack up atleast a couple long twos per game and is a step slow… he is still a decent player but as he as always been, he is more a volume shooter…. sure if he gets hot it can be some trouble as he can be hard for wings to defend since he is 6’8’’ but I think Salmons and Bell will do a fine job on him…
We should win this one...
NO… need to win this one…
The Bucks have looked crisp for the most part lately…. let’s see another good performance tonight….
We need to make sure we have a guy focused just on boxing out David Lee, the guy gets way too many garbage buckets
agreed, Salmons should start, for sure
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 10:39 AM CST up reply actions
Bell is useful but it what he is...
he is a solid wing defender and can hit threes…. definitely not a guy i mind having in the rotation but maybe not as your primary 2
by Superelkman on Feb 22, 2010 11:29 AM CST up reply actions
A revision...
i really like Charlie Bell, much in the same way I love the band Dio. Hard-working, Hot wife, good for a few classics, but overall, not at the top of the game. Bell is serviceable as a guard between Salmons or Jennings, like Dio gets you from Metallica to ACDC on the radio
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 2:19 PM CST up reply actions
The Prince has his work cut out for him tonight.
Between David Lee and T-Mac, the prince is going to have a busy night. T-Mac is probably the worst offender in Bucking Killing. for some reason he can always turn it on against Milwaukee.
Between Salmons and the Prince, T-Mac should hopfully get wrapped up, but I would drape him, defensively, if I were the Bucks. Bogut needs his touches, and against Mike D(efensiveless)’ Antoni; Bogut should have a good game. The Bucks need to stick tight to their guns and not let this become a shootout.
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 10:32 AM CST reply actions
True...
I would like to see Prince continue to be active on the glass….it seems lately he has been really crashing a lot harder and either getting putbacks or forcing his man to block him out and allowing Andrew to clean the offensive glass
by Superelkman on Feb 22, 2010 11:30 AM CST up reply actions
He definitely plays differently as a PF—lot more activity around the hoop and looking for garbage buckets rather than spotting up in the corners/wings and looking to spot up or drive middle. He obviously still plays a bit on the wings (as matchups require), but moving back to PF has certainly coincided with both improved individual play and the team looking better as well.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 11:38 AM CST up reply actions
i agree...
i really believe it is always in a teams best interest to have one guy on the court at all times that does create that activity around the hoop and looks for garbage buckets and doesn’t demand the basketball… there is only one ball to go around so guys who can create 2nd chances and score without the ball are very valuable… Luc has definitely stepped his game up in this regard
by Superelkman on Feb 22, 2010 11:41 AM CST up reply actions
honestly I am more worried about David Lee than T-Mac...
if David Lee if going off we aren’t boxing out and defending the basket which are two things that we need to do to win… if T-Mac goes off it could just mean he is hitting his regular assortment of ridiculous shots… hopefully we shut them both down on the way to a 111-89 victory but we’ll see tonight…
Skiles seems to really have this team focused on taking it one game at a time which is good because I feel like if there is a let down it won’t be because we weren’t prepared for a team
by Superelkman on Feb 22, 2010 11:47 AM CST up reply actions
Bogut simply has to take it to Lee offensively and use his size advantage…if Bogut puts up bigger numbers than Lee I think we’re OK. But I also expect the Knicks to double Bogut a fair bit, so other guys will need to make shots too.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a great matchup for Bogut on the other end because Lee has good range (not quite three-point range, but 18-20 footers) and as a smaller guy he’s got good quickness around the cup. I think the best plan is to give him different looks—double occasionally, throw different types of defenders at him (Bogut/Luc/Ersan).
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 11:54 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
As long as he is playing the Bucks
I will fear T-Mac. That also could be because before Skiles, the bucks teams that played against T-Mac had the likes of Redd and Tim Thomas gaurding him
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 2:21 PM CST up reply actions
I'm not all that worried about Lee
Compared to Knee-Mac. Last time Bogut and Lee made it through a whole game against each other, Lee finished 18/7 to Boguts 22/8. I think it’ll be a great matchup but who knows what the Knee will bring. I don’t think Tracy has been given enough credit. Sure he’s been injured as bad as Redd, but if he plays anywhere near the way he did against OKC, we’re in for a long night. I’d permanently glue LRMAM to Knee-Mac, and let Delfino/Salmons worry about Galinari.
Knicks games always have links
Just check the usual sources…
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 3:17 PM CST up reply actions
does anyone know the reason that some games are blacked out locally?
is it because its the Knicks?
I remember there was a Saturday home game blacked out a few weeks back against Indiana which makes more sense since it could drive more people to the game
Good question
I feel like this has happened a couple times with games @MSG in recent years. Might also have something to do with it being a one-off road game—ie you’d be sending a crew out there following a home game and immediately before another game game. The two other road games not televised the rest of the year are also like that.
Or perhaps FSN decided a weekday game against the Knicks won’t get good enough ratings to justify the cost of broadcasting from NYC.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 4:10 PM CST up reply actions
Bogut
cannot be denied. Like Arby’s hes 5 for 5!
Brad James
by the new Bradfather on Feb 22, 2010 6:51 PM CST reply actions
This is what he has to do…Lee’s getting open jumpers (2/3) on the other end, but he’s simply too short to have a chance one-on-one defending Drew. Lee isn’t known to defend even against guys his own size, but against a seven-footer it’s even tougher.
LRMAM marking McGrady.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 6:53 PM CST up reply actions
I don’t need to see Ivey unless somebody else in the guard rotation is hurt.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 7:45 PM CST up reply actions
Definitely could have had a bigger lead…the good news is that the Knicks have no answer for Bogut (18/11/2 blk) so that’s something to build on. Salmons got it going a little bit after a quiet start and Delfino’s hit a couple threes, but another clunker start shooting-wise for Jennings (0/5). Mbah a Moute’s definitely played well.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 7:40 PM CST up reply actions
Jennings shot selection has been pretty good
he has a half as many assists as the entire Knicks team… though so does LRMAM.
I actually miss Hakim Warrick
mostly his exaggerated dunks when everyone else seems to be asleep, could have used that at the end of the 2nd
Plus Warrick always looks good against teams with zero interior defenders…which the Knicks most definitely are.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 8:00 PM CST up reply actions
The Bogut Barometer is looking good
Keep giving the big aussie his touches, I like it, this could be a career night
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 7:59 PM CST reply actions
It could be
bogut is at 22 and 17 through 3, this could be sweet
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 8:29 PM CST up reply actions
Salmons
I’d forgotten what it’s like to have a guy who can drive to the hoop and create good shots for himself.
No ability to deal with Bogut doubles
Why on earth is Jennings running through the paint when you know Bogut’s going to get doubled and need a perimeter pass out? You gotta give the guy somebody to pass to.
Jennings’ finishing around the hoop continues to astound…
that's all there is to talk about
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 8:29 PM CST up reply actions
Haven’t heard anything to suggest he is, and agree that I’d rather see Bell than Ivey.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 8:30 PM CST up reply actions
Plaschke often calls him “Turkish Delight” but, but you can’t get less manly than that
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 8:41 PM CST up reply actions
Turkish delight is a Fig dessert. It’s not really manly or unmanly, plus it’s a sweet nickname.
by MadTown Hoops on Feb 23, 2010 2:10 AM CST up reply actions
The Armenian Slayer
… too soon?
by MadTown Hoops on Feb 23, 2010 2:10 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
[nervously looks at Jennings’ shooting stats]
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 8:35 PM CST up reply actions
Jerry answers with the three…good enough.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 8:37 PM CST up reply actions
if you were to tell me last year
that I’d possibly watch a Bobs/Clippers game on nbaTV, I would have sooner eaten my hat
Biggest key to playoff run?
Figuring out how to get Bogut the ball consistently and the space to work in the paint
this Bucks team has been really fun to watch this year...
it is so nice to see meaningful games at this point in the season…
Boguts development… Ersans emergence… Jennings… a bunch of solid role players
good stuff
Agreed
They are fun to watch, although Ersan has emerged many times this year, only to disappear again
by Brick's house on Feb 22, 2010 8:50 PM CST up reply actions
MSG definitely my fave road announcers…I’m not sure Breen even likes the Knicks.
by Frank Madden on Feb 22, 2010 8:50 PM CST up reply actions
bogut at 24 and 20, lets go big guy
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 8:51 PM CST reply actions
That's a Win
suck it D’Antoni.
Go Beer, I mean Bucks
by Take Back Our Bucks on Feb 22, 2010 8:56 PM CST reply actions
Don't look now
But the Bucks are 1/2 game back from the 8-spot, only 1.5 back from the 6-spot and 4 back from the 5-spot.
They have a relatively soft schedule coming up, so now is the time to keep winning!
by dishingoutdimes on Feb 22, 2010 9:08 PM CST reply actions
Gotta love all the comments...
Are we on a packer or brewer blog? lol. Nice to see this win and all the support with the comments. nice work big man BOGUT
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