Why I'm still not sold on this team

[Clutch]

Tonight's game just showed what I'm most feared of,the Knicks can't handle the pressure.

We lost every physical game we played this season.
It all started with the road game in Memphis. They were very physical,refs made a few suspicious calls and the Knicks just cracked allowing the Grizzlies to create a big lead by just shooting free throws.
Chicago punked us twice too by playing physical basketball. The one at MSG was really painful. It was a chippy game,something like tonight and the Knicks collapsed. Tyson and Noah almost had a fight.
Then you have this game against Boston. KG was trash talking,Melo was frustrated and even though he hasn't been shooting well tonight he started to force shots.

It's ok to lose a few of the games like that in the regular season because our record is pretty good but in the playoffs this will become a real problem.
Teams play physical in the playoffs. Players like KG will try to get into your head and I'm very worried the Knicks won't react well.

Let's be honest,we have a team full of players that can't keep their focus and stay calm.
You have Melo going after KG and often trying to beat the other team by himself when he gets mad.
Then you have Tyson Chandler who is first to crack when things aren't going well,often throwing elbows (to Asik and Noah this season,I probably forgot someone too).
Amare punches fire extinguishers when things go bad.
I won't even bother talking about Sheed getting mad
Felton (even though he didn't play tonight) has the same problem as Melo,trying to prove himself too much.
We even saw Prigioni getting a technical last night
J.R. is a headcase and he seems like the calmest guy out there this season,that shows you how bad the rest of them are

My point is this team is mentally weak,most of our players are either headcases or can't handle the pressure. The only guy I can trust in this kind of situation is Kidd. He never loses his calm and he always plays smart,no matter how physical opponent is or how much he's trying to get into his head.
Rest of the team has a short fuse,especially Melo and Tyson.

We are probably the 2nd best team in the East but this stuff will happen regularly in the playoffs. If we can't somehow fix our problems and continue to play poorly under pressure we aren't going far.
No matter against who we play,if they play us physical there's a great chance we're losing that game.

This is a real issue and we can't even count on advancing the 1st round if we're going to crack under pressure every single time. This is why I really want to avoid both Chicago and Boston in the 1st round. Even the Nets play very physical against us.

Anyone disagrees ?

[ClutchOver9000]

I wholeheartedly agree.

Knicks have a low threshold for keeping their composure/poise. Bad sign. Especially when it comes to ref treatment. That is something you cannot influence, you simply have to adjust, roll w/ the punches, and play w/ the hand you're dealt.

BUT....with that said...when it comes to trash talk...I can't put too much fault on ppl who go after KG w/ the below the belt things he says. If anyone deserved to get decked its him. One of the best big men the league has ever seen but man that guy is a massive ****.

[Clutch]

I wholeheartedly agree.

Knicks have a low threshold for keeping their composure/poise. Bad sign. Especially when it comes to ref treatment. That is something you cannot influence, you simply have to adjust, roll w/ the punches, and play w/ the hand you're dealt.

BUT....with that said...when it comes to trash talk...I can't put too much fault on ppl who go after KG w/ the below the belt things he says. If anyone deserved to get decked its him. One of the best big men the league has ever seen but man that guy is a massive ****.

Yeah,I hate KG. I would have enjoyed watching Melo kicking his ass but for the sake of the Knicks it's better it didn't end up with a fight. Melo is still probably going to get suspended for waiting him after the game.

Melo should have played way smarter but I can't really blame him. He's been terrific for us this season,he's allowed to have a game off.

[franchize]

I agree partially. Melo needs to do a much better job at channeling his emotion. That being said, I didn't have a problem with Melo's shot selection last night. Most of those shots are ones he hits. Furthermore, let's face it, he was getting hammered and he should have gone to the line WAY more. Our record has been such because of Melo's and JR's aggressiveness on offense. Melo can't afford to be passive and at the end of the day, when guys refuse to shoot on a nightly basis, unless it's a wide open 3, someone has to shoot the ball. I've been since last year. We have too many guys who can't create their own shot. We have too many guys waiting around the perimeter for wide open looks.

[Clutch]

I agree partially. Melo needs to do a much better job at channeling his emotion. That being said, I didn't have a problem with Melo's shot selection last night. Most of those shots are ones he hits. Furthermore, let's face it, he was getting hammered and he should have gone to the line WAY more. Our record has been such because of Melo's and JR's aggressiveness on offense. Melo can't afford to be passive and at the end of the day, when guys refuse to shoot on a nightly basis, unless it's a wide open 3, someone has to shoot the ball. I've been since last year. We have too many guys who can't create their own shot. We have too many guys waiting around the perimeter for wide open looks.

His shot selection was fine until he got mad. Then late in the 4th he rushed some shots. I can't really blame him. He's won so many games for us this season that it would be stupid to attack him for one bad game. Everyone has off games. It happens. But he and the rest of the team needs to be better at keeping their composure.

And I agree about us having too many guys just standing behind the 3 point line. That's where we miss Felton. He didn't really shoot well before he went down (part of it because he was playing injured) but he wasn't turning the ball over (the thing Knicks now do more often) and he you needed to defend his penetration.
Prigioni and Kidd are easy to defend. Kidd can only shoot three and Prigioni can only pass.
Even with Felton shooting a low percentage he still gets Tyson involved with the alley oops and he kicks out the ball to shooters. Right now the Knicks offense is just passing around the perimeter and then taking a contested three.
The only guy that can drive to the hole is Melo. Maybe J.R. too. And that's it. Brewer can't even make a layup,Prigioni is too afraid to shoot and Kidd is useless when he steps into the arc.

What I was going to say with this thread is that the Knicks have to control their emotions better or they will pay for that in the playoffs. It will be costly,very costly.
You can get away with a few lost physical games over the course of regular season. But in the playoffs every game is important and losing composure can be deadly.
Forget about ECF and beating Miami. We need to overcome this problem if we want to get out of the 1st round.

Bulls are coming to town on Friday,we'll probably see another very physical game. It'll be interesting too see how will the Knicks respond.

[Rameek]

[COLOR="Navy"]I disagree... This wouldnt be the reason I'm not sold on the team.
Melo and Tyson cry all the time over calls. They havent earned the reputation to get calls at this moment.
Now opponents know they can get under these guys skin. Thats all that will happen from this point on pushing there buttons.

Remember though how often will this really happen to Melo considering most NBA guys are buddy buddy. Same agents, same training facilities, olympic team, aau team blah blah blah.....

Make the playoffs first but yes they need more composure. I said in the other thread Melo hurt the team.[/COLOR]

[NA2126]

I'm just glad STAT didn't do anything stupid (i.e. slap or punch a fire extinguisher). He seemed level-headed out there and I'm glad his game is slowly starting to pick up again.

I would, however, love to see someone (not a Knick) deck KG in the mouth full force. He runs his mouth way too much, for someone who's proven to be a bitch over and over again when it's actually time to throw down. Ever since his T'Wolves days, this guy has been a pure bitch who only runs his mouth.

[knickscity]

That isn't why I would not be sold on the team.

Most NBA teams aren't physical anyway.

I'm not sold because it's only been about 30 games, and there is about 50 more to go.

I just had a friend of mine at work just say, "you know all the teams know what to do now?"

I'm like "come on, most NBA players don't want to mix it up, they'd rather flop".

This situation is of zero concern to me.

Knicks win 5 straight playing good defense, and Melo's MVP play, and everyone will be right back on the wagon.

[Scoooter]

You should all feel stupid for ripping me when I said Paul Pierce is better than Melo. He's a smooth criminal.

[Clutch]

You should all feel stupid for ripping me when I said Paul Pierce is better than Melo. He's a smooth criminal.

So Melo has one bad game and all of a sudden Paul Pierce is better than him ?
Melo has been a top5 player in the league so far this season,Pierce is nowhere close to it.

Sorry but your hate is reaching the whole new level.

[Scoooter]

So Melo has one bad game and all of a sudden Paul Pierce is better than him ?
Melo has been a top5 player in the league so far this season,Pierce is nowhere close to it.

Sorry but your hate is reaching the whole new level.

No no no, you've got it all wrong, as usual. I think the first time you could definitely say Melo was better than Pierce is this season, in which Melo thusfar should be top 3 in MVP voting. But a lot of people, especially here, were saying before this season that Melo was clearly better than PIerce, and I never saw that. I still think Pierce has an edge in certain intangibles that makes him so dangerous. And I think his game is more polished, and less reliant on athleticism than Melo's, and I tend to award more points for stuff like that.

This game highlighted the differences between the two, and obviously did so in Paul Pierce's favor; but obviously it would be stupid to say PP is having a better season than Carmelo.

And to be honest, I think this is the most exciting small forward matchup we could get in the playoffs, barring a NYK/Thunder finals.

[knickscity]

Even though I wont say Pierce is better than Melo, Pierce certainly was able to get his game on track to take over, something Melo never could.

Both players were in the same kind of foul trouble so that cannot be used as an excuse.

Pierce refocused on the game, Melo just did not.

[Rameek]

Even though I wont say Pierce is better than Melo, Pierce certainly was able to get his game on track to take over, something Melo never could.

Both players were in the same kind of foul trouble so that cannot be used as an excuse.

Pierce refocused on the game, Melo just did not.

[COLOR="Navy"]Your misunderstood him. He is saying until this year Paul Pierce was arguably equal or better than Melo. I would say this I agree with some of the intangibles The Truth was better. [/COLOR]

[franchize]

Pierce got better talent around him. Period. All the stuff they said about Melo, they used to say about Pierce. Even worse. (He's never in great shape. He's a ball hog. He's not a leader. Yada Yada Yada. He's not a winner) Then he got Garnett and Rondo and Allen. Now, all of a sudden he has all this leadership and intangibles that he didn't have before? No. He just started winning because his team didn't suck anymore.

[Rameek]

Pierce got better talent around him. Period. All the stuff they said about Melo, they used to say about Pierce. Even worse. (He's never in great shape. He's a ball hog. He's not a leader. Yada Yada Yada. He's not a winner) Then he got Garnett and Rondo and Allen. Now, all of a sudden he has all this leadership and intangibles that he didn't have before? No. He just started winning because his team didn't suck anymore.

[COLOR="Navy"]I disagree with the leadership and he's been clutch. His shape is his shape it's his look not chiseled neither was melo. [/COLOR]