W2W4: New York Knicks vs. Houston Rockets; January 3rd, 2014

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Friday, January 3, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Houston Rockets

Pre-Game News and Notes

After pulling off a surprising win last night in San Antonio, the Knicks will get right back at it tonight in Houston against the Rockets. This will be the second and final time the two teams face off against each other, with the Rockets taking the first one at Madison Square Garden in thrilling fashion. The Knicks will look to exact some revenge and get a victory tonight on the Rockets home court. Here are some things to keep an eye on during the game.

-Player News and Notes

The Knicks are expected to again be without point guards Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni. Felton has been accompanying the team on the trip but Prigioni has not. Neither player has a definitive return date in place but Felton is aiming for Tuesday at home against the Detroit Pistons. Metta World Peace is preparing for treatment on his knee; in the mean time check out his twitter account to keep tabs on the eccentric forward who is always keeping his followers entertained.

The Rockets are dealing with injuries of their own to point guards. Starting point guard Patrick Beverley broke his hand and had successful surgery last week. He will be out for the foreseeable future. In the meantime former Knick Jeremy Lin and Aaron Brooks will run the offense for the Rockets.

-Going Streaking

The Knicks have been dominated by the Rockets over much of the last decade. The Rockets have won 16 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams, including an impressive eight game streak at home. If the Knicks show up and play tonight like last night in San Antonio there is a very good chance those streaks could end tonight.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

One thing the Knicks have going for them now is Carmelo Anthony. Anthony led an impressive attack last night as he was more than willing to pass and get his teammates involved in the offense. They responded, especially Iman Shumpert, and led the Knicks to victory. Anthony should have a big game again against the Rockets tonight as he has caused problems with them in recent matchups. In the last two meetings between the teams Anthony has scored a total of 82 points, with a season high 45 in the previous meeting this season.

-Which Iman Will Show Up

Last night the Knicks got a big boost from Shumpert, who poured in a career high 27 points. He showed the confidence and swagger that he possessed prior to the first 30 games of this season when his played seemed to be affected by the trade rumors he was a part of. Shumpert also neutralized perennial All-Star and NBA Finals MVP Tony Parker on the defensive end. Shumpert’s harassing defense virtually shutout Parker down last night as he was unable to dictate the game with the pick-and-roll game he plays so well never getting started.

The Knicks will need Shumpert to keep up the defensive intensity tonight against one of the best scorers in the NBA in James Harden. Harden gets to the foul line and attacks the basket as well as any player in the NBA and Shumpert will have to play him smart to slow him down. In a game recently Harden scored over 20 points making only two shots because of how frequently he visited the charity stripe. In the first meeting this season Harden went for 36 points and nine rebounds. Against the Knicks Harden has played well over the last four games, averaging 30.3 points per game on 53.2 percent shooting from the field and 45-48 from the foul line. Shumpert will have his hands full tonight as he will attempt to put a chillin’ on Harden’s thrillin’ as Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier would say.

-Contain the Perimeter

The Knicks will face a familiar foe in Lin at the point guard position. Lin seems to get up to play against his former team as he has scored 43 points in the last two meetings against the Knicks, the second of those coming off the bench. The Knicks have struggled guarding the perimeter all season but have looked better with Toure’ Murry finally getting some playing time. Beno Udrih will likely start again but it will be interesting to see how long until Murry gets inserted as the Knicks cannot afford to fall behind early against such an explosive offensive team.

On the perimeter the Knicks will also have to deal with up-and-coming Chandler Parsons. Parsons can shoot from the perimeter and put the ball on the floor to get to the basket. He is a willing passer and rebounds well for his position, giving the Rockets a great jack of all trades. He hurt the Knicks in November scoring 22 points so slowing him down will be important this time around.

-Matchup of the Game: Dwight Howard vs. Andrea Bargnani

EPA/Jason Szenes

The Shumpert vs. Harden matchup will be a fun one to watch with Shumpert looking to have gotten his confidence back but this matchup is the one to keep an eye on. In the matchup earlier in the season it was expected that Howard would dominate the overmatched Bargnani. That didn’t happen in the slightest as Bargnani actually dominated Howard on both ends of the floor.

Howard shot 1-5 from the field and turned the ball over five times as Bargnani played him as well as anyone could in a one-on-one situation. On offense Bargnani torched Howard, shooting 9-12 overall (3-3 3pt, 3-4 FT) for 24 points. It is fair to think that Howard will come out with a different aggression and assertiveness tonight to show that Bargnani cannot repeat the performance he put on November 14^th.

Tonight Bargnani will receive help if he needs it as Tyson Chandler will be in the lineup this time around.

Read More

Lin-Sanity: A doubled edged sword?

Jeremy Lin

      There are times when the name says it all when it comes to NBA success.  The name can say it all and help define careers, create legacies, and yes even ignite myths based on past performances.  Some of the greatest players that have stepped foot on the hardwood floors of the NBA also had the best names MJ, The Black Mamba, The Dream, The Iceman, Flash, Chocolate Thunder, and yes Sir Charles.  This past week, a new name was born, a new legend was created by a fan base so thirsty that they still believe that Willis Reed is walking through the tunnel.  Jeremy Lin has taken New York City by storm and yes it's time for Lin-Sanity!  Sometimes all one needs is an opportunity to show
their worth, show that they're worthy of playing at the highest level.  Jeremy Lin, a Harvard graduate, was cut by the Goldenstate Warriors and the Houston Rockets before landing in New York City but how did he get here, where did this phenomenon come from?

While growing up in Palo Alto California, Lin was taught the game of basketball by his father at the local YMCA.  Falling in love with the game is easy, mastering the game is the tough part and over the last five games, Lin has mastered his game and now as the starting point guard for the New York Knicks, Lin has created a fandom that rivals Tebow Mania.  Lin-Sanity is taking over the world, sweeping the nation and with all of the good press, there will be come bad press and unfortunately the stupid acts of others are out of Lin's control.

Jeremy Lin spent four years at Harvard, playing for the basketball team and majoring in Economics.  During Lin's four year stint at Harvard he averaged 12.9 points, 3.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2 steals per game.  Lin was also a three time All-Ivy League selection, as a sophomore, junior, and senior and finished his career in Harvard's top five in scoring, assists, and steals.


After having a brief stint in the D-League, one that saw Lin post a triple double in his first game, the NBA can calling.  As mentioned earlier unfortunately, Lin was cut but since both teams have expressed regret about how Jeremy Lin was seemingly let go without being given much of a chance.  After being peppered by the media most of the week about the Warriors letting Lin go, Head Coach Mark Jackson decided to address the situation.

"I got a text message from Spike Lee (on Saturday) morning, thanking me, like I had something to do with it. I never saw him do a layup, so people can stop asking me. He never practiced for us, so leave me out of it."


Ignorance Galore

Really?

As the Lin-Sanity legend was growing as Jeremy Lin carved the Lakers defense, making Derek Fisher look like a player in his late 40's versus his late 30's, a sign in the New York crowd caught my attention.  At first glance the sign seemed harmless, a jab at Kobe Bryant but after thinking of it for a while, the sign was quite offensive.  Kobe Bryant has adopted the name of "The Black Mamba", not because he is of African descent but more due to the black mamba being the fastest snake in the world, one that is considered aggressive and highly venomous, one of the top ten most venomous land snakes.  Bryant saw the characteristics of his game in the black mamba, no more, no less.  Last friday when I saw the fan made sign I was disgusted.  This is not a cry wolf situation about racism but what this is, is a call out on ignorance that shouldn't be tolerated.  That sign should not have ever been allowed inside of Madison Square Garden nor should it have been displayed by ESPN, the self proclaimed worldwide leader in sports.

Not to be outdone by ESPN, foxsports columnist Jason Whitlock in a moment that was meant to be funny sent out the following tweet after Linsantiy overtook the Lake Show.

I absolutely love Whitlock's work as I have followed him for well over ten years but the tweet above was a sheer moment of ignorance.  Whitlock has stated multiple times, to enjoy his tweets but judge him by his work but tweets like the one above even though it was meant in jest, has no place in this world.   Some have called for Whitlock to be fired for the tweet but I'm not doing so, but he should be used as an example of what not to tweet.  Ask yourselves this question, what if the role was reversed?  What if an insensitive remark was made about an Caucasian, African american, or Hispanic american?  It just gives one something to think about, in no case should ignorance of this type be tolerated. 

A moment of redemption

After realizing the error of his ways, Jason Whitlock apologized for his tweet above by releasing a statement on twitter regarding the backlash he's faced in the middle of Lin-Sanity.  

I get Linsanity. I've cried watching Tiger Woods win a major golf championship. Jeremy Lin, for now, is the Tiger Woods of the NBA. I suspect Lin makes Asian Americans feel the way I feel when I watch Tiger play golf. I should've realized that Friday night when I watched Lin torch the Lakers. For Asian Americans and a lot of sports fans, his nationally-televised 38-point outburst was the equivalent of Tiger's first victory in The Masters. I got caught up in the excitement. I tweeted about what a great story Lin is and how he could rival Tim Tebow. I then gave into another part of my personality -- my immature, sophomoric comedic nature. It's been with me since birth, a gift from my mother and honed as a child listening to my Godmother's Richard Pryor albums. I still want to be a standup comedian. The couple-inches-of-pain tweet overshadowed my sincere celebration of Lin’s performance and the irony that the stereotype applies to pot-bellied, overweight male sports writers, too. As the Asian American Journalist Association pointed out, I debased a feel-good sports moment. For that, I’m truly sorry.  

Lin-Sanity is real

The Yahoo sports blog The Post Game recently revealed many truths about Lin-Sanity and some have actually given the New York Knicks financial gain.  All of this is of course sparked by Lin-Sanity, five games started, an average of 27 points, 8 assists a game, and a five game winning streak on top of that.

• Lin’s No. 17 jersey is the NBA’s top online seller since February 4.

• Knicks merchandise sales are No.1 overall in the NBA since Lin’s breakthrough game.

• Five of the NBA’s 10 most popular items are Knicks-related since ‘Linsanity’ started.

• Lin’s Chinese Wikipedia-style page (Baike) has picked up 3.5 million hits.

• Modell’s Sporting Goods Inc. in midtown Manhattan can’t keep Lin’s gear on shelves; they went through multiple shipments of jerseys and T-shirts over the weekend.

• The Knicks have taken advantage of Linsanity, raising average ticket prices by 27 percent since Lin scored 25 points off the bench against New Jersey in his breakout game.

• The Knicks’ upcoming road opponent Toronto has a huge price differential to see Lin play (cheap seat: $44.00) as opposed to an upcoming game with the Spurs (cheap seat: $12.50).

• Madison Square Garden stock has zoomed by 6.2 percent to $31.25 since the day before Lin started the Knicks on their winning streak.

To be continued.......

Lin's ascension in the NBA could end up being one of the best basketball stories in years as long as the Knicks continue their winning ways.  Lin represents the true story of the "underdog" fighting for his unlikely chance and making the most of said chance upon receiving it.  Allowing ignorance or hated to cloud the journey and story of Jeremy Lin would be an absolute tragedy.  Jeremy Lin will be a free agent at season's end and the Knicks will have to make a very tough decision because if Jeremy Lin continues this incredible run and the Knicks are able to make the playoffs, then they must use the full mid-level exemption to re-sign Lin so that Lin-Sanity can continue in New York versus elsewhere.  Continue the thirst Knicks fans but please don't become salty.  

Dedicated to Vic!

Read More