JR to start as Knicks look to bounce back from embarrassment

via SportingNews.com

On Wednesday the Knicks head to A-Town to fulfill their owner’s guarantee and get a much needed win. We all know what happened on Sunday (we’ll forget it happened). We all know James Dolan is very upset. We know Mike Woodson is on a scalding hot seat. Word leaked out Tuesday that the Knicks we also be without Amar’e Stoudemire per Ian Begley of ESPN New York. 

The Hawks are coming off an impressive win against Charlotte in which they had 26 assists as a team and scored 100 points for the seventh straight game to start the season. This is not the type of team you want to face when you’re as thin up front as the Knicks. Andrea Bargnani, Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony are definitely going to have their hands full keeping Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Elton Brand off the glass. Look for a lot of Metta World Peace in this tonight as he was one of the few Knicks that showed up to play against the Spurs on Sunday and his energy will be relied on. It’s going to be a very long game if Bargnani puts on an encore performance on how to get put on waivers. Against the Spurs he had one more rebound than Spike Lee and looked like a man with no country on the defensive end. Both Al Horford and Paul Millsap are all-star level forwards and have the ability to grab 20+ rebounds if Bargnani and company don’t show up again.

In what seems to be the theme of Carmelo Anthony’s career the main storyline on offense is who is going to help Anthony score.  J.R. Smith will make his first start of the year tonight, coming in at SG to replace Prigioni. The move may surprise some, as the starting line-up will be extremely scoring heavy and not very defensive. However, with Tyson out and the team struggling to put up buckets, Woodson is forced to get creative. Putting your 5 best players on the floor together is his best choice right now.

Rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. remains one of the only constants on Coach Woodson’s bench as he was one of the four players to crack double digits in points against the Spurs. On defense Felton and J.R. will have their hands full with speedy guards Jeff Teague and rookie Dennis Schroder as well as a red hot sniper Kyle Korver who is currently shooting a scorching 54 percent from downtown per Basketball-Reference.com.

All of this means nothing without effort; something that was absent Sunday and has changed on a game by game basis. This is either going to be a grind out win that the Knicks need now more than ever. If they come out flat and get blown out of the gym again expect the beginning of wholesale changes to follow.

Knicks look for Bargnani to Step Up Big to Stop the Slide

via Fansided.com

The Knicks wrap up their home and home series with the Charlotte Bobcats Friday looking to snap a three game losing streak. The first half of the series took place on Tuesday, a game most Knicks fans hope to quickly forget. For the second straight game the team came out lethargic and let their opponent score at ease. Even more disastrous was the news that came out Wednesday, defensive anchor Tyson Chandler will be out at least a month with what the team is calling a fractured right fibula. Chandler is the Knicks best defender and only real defensive presence down low. Going into Charlotte it will be interesting to see who is going to fill that void at center for Coach Mike Woodson. Jeremy Tyler is reportedly close to joining the team, but has yet to begin rehab. Amar’e Stoudemire had a rough game Tuesday, but what a time it would be for STAT to shut up naysayers and come up big. Kenyon Martin played decent on Tuesday, but with a minutes limit on both him and Stoudemire it’s hard for either to get in rhythm. Seven-Footer Cole Aldrich would make the most sense to at least get a couple minutes at center as Aldrich has yet to take off his warm-ups.

For the Knicks to snap this losing streak the perimeter defense has to be exceptional so expect a lot of Pablo Prigioni and Iman Shumpert on Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson respectively. Woodson has opted to go with Andrea Bargnani at the five (UHH OH), so Carmelo Anthony will have to be a monster on the boards which he has shown he can do. On the offensive end the Knicks are still a work in progress and waiting for J.R. Smith to return from suspension. For Friday expect Tim Hardaway Jr. to get a lot more minutes as he has proven that he can score when given the opportunity. Raymond Felton will have to get the offense moving early in the game and keep the pace high so they cannot get exposed in the half court with no real center. Bobcats marquee free agent signing and low post monster Al Jefferson didn’t play Tuesday and didn’t play on Wednesday against the Raptors. If he ends up sitting out again it gives the Knicks the upper hand. In the end the key for the Knicks will be effort. If they come out firing they will be in good shape, but if they come out dragging their feet and letting people in the paint like EZ-Pass it’s going to be a long night.