New York Knicks Announce Summer League Roster and Schedule

Written by Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Garrett Ellwood/NBA

The New York Knicks will be participating in the 2014 Las Vegas Summer league yet again this season. The league will run from July 11^th-July 21^st, and will be the first opportunity to see the new rookie class and some of the young players with bright futures. The Knicks, like all other teams, will play at least five games in the tournament-style format that will be held at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus.

The Knicks will be bringing a loaded backcourt to the summer league, which should prove positive results as the summer league is more about showcasing offense than defense. They have a number of young players that fans will be seeing in action for the first time, including second round draft picks Cleanthony Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo. This will also be the first time Knicks’ fans can see Shane Larkin in action, and 2013 All-Rookie First Team selection Tim Hardaway Jr. Here is the rest of the Knicks roster for the summer league.

Three other Knicks from last season, Jeremy Tyler, Cole Aldrich and Shannon Brown, will join the four players mentioned above, in addition to Langston Galloway, Jordan Henriquez, Zane Johnson, Cameron Moore, Will Sheehey, Brandon Triche, and Jordan Vandenberg.

The scheduled Knicks games right now will be:

July 11^th: 1 PM ET vs. Dallas Mavericks

July 12^th: 1 PM ET vs. Portland Trailblazers

July 14^th: 1 PM ET vs. Charlotte Hornets

The next games the Knicks play will be determined by how well they perform in the three games scheduled.

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Knicks Pull Off Big Upset In Golden State Over Warriors

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Sunday, March 30^th, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Golden State Warriors

Post Game Recap

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Knicks were able to grind out a tough, hard earned victory Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors. The Knicks finally looked like a team fighting for their playoff lives as they put the effort and energy in to beat a superior team. The Knicks were able to take control of the game in the second quarter, and would not relinquish it throughout the second half. They bended but did not break as the Knicks were able to pull out the victory. With the win, the Knicks are now one game behind the Atlanta Hawks for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks will look to finish the road trip 3-2 Monday night against the Utah Jazz before heading back home.

Player of the Game: The Bench

The bench has been much maligned for the Knicks recently, but tonight they were the catalysts to get the lead in the second quarter. Pablo Prigioni was inserted into the game and brought a different mentality to the team on both ends of the court. He was extremely aggressive and showed leadership by getting into his teammates when they were not in the correct positions. Prigioni wasn’t alone, as Tim Hardaway Jr. delivered a much needed scoring punch off the bench with 15 points. Iman Shumpert may not have shot the ball well, but he was able to stymie the Warriors explosive backcourt when he was in the game. Shannon Brown even gave the Knicks something without playing much in the game, getting the game sealing steal and knocking down two free throws after a clear path foul was called.

-Positives

EPA/John G. Mabanglo Corbis Out

Amar’e Stoudemire has remained positive no matter how bleak the situation, and tonight he backed up his talk. Stoudemire was a monster on the boards tonight, grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds, six of which were offensive. Stoudemire also delivered some timely baskets, scoring 15 points and knocking down two clutch free throws to give the Knicks a two point lead late in the fourth quarter.

With Carmelo Anthony in foul trouble throughout the first half, the Knicks needed someone to step up and that person was J.R. Smith. Smith poured in 19 points in the first half, carrying the Knicks with Anthony on the sidelines. Smith and Hardaway Jr. combined to score the last 15 points of the first half for the Knicks as they got in transition for easy baskets and knocked down perimeter jump shots.

Raymond Felton is picked apart nightly because of how poor his defense is, but credit needs to be given to him for forcing a turnover on the last possession of the game. Felton forced Stephen Curry to make a tough pass, which was stolen by Brown. Felton denied Curry the ball extremely well the final couple of possessions, and should be lauded for the defensive effort he put in tonight to seal the victory.

The Knicks struggles defensively have been well known, and where they struggle most nights is defending the perimeter. Teams have torched the Knicks from the three-point line, but tonight they defended it rather well. They lost Curry a couple of times, as he went 6-12 from deep but the rest of the Warriors combined for only 4-19. One player the Knicks held in check well was the other Splash Brother, Klay Thompson. Thompson struggled with his shot all night, making 3-11 from beyond the arc and 6-18 overall.

EPA/John G. Mabanglo Corbis Out

After allowing 32 points in the first quarter and looking to be well on their way to another blowout loss, the Knicks defense really stepped up. The remaining three quarters the Warriors scored only 52 points. This is a team that averages 103.4 points per game on the season, being held to what they normally would score in a half, the final three quarters of the game tonight.

-Negative

It was announced after the game that Anthony had x-rays on his left hand. There is no particular time announced of when he got hurt, but it something the Knicks cannot afford at this point in the season. The x-rays came back negative, but it is something to definitely keep an eye on for tomorrow as the Knicks will get right back at it against the Jazz.

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Knicks Routed By Suns in Phoenix

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Friday, March 28^th, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Phoenix Suns

Post Game Recap

For the second time on this west coast trip, the New York Knicks inexplicably no showed. This time it was against a team that had something to play for still in the Phoenix Suns, and the end result was a 112-88 massacre. The game was never really close, as the Suns got off to a scorching start and never let up on a Knicks team who just didn’t have it tonight on either end of the court. The Knicks once again lost out on a golden opportunity to close the gap between them and the Atlanta Hawks, now sitting two games behind them for eighth place in the Eastern Conference once again. The Knicks will be back on the court Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.

Player of the Game: None

It is becoming a troubling trend that the Knicks are playing so poorly there is no player worth naming as the player of the game. It was a rough game for everyone on both ends of the court.

AP Photo/Matt York

-Positive

Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert shot 50-plus percent from the field. The game was that bad that the only positive that can be taken from it was that three players made at least half their shots. Anthony scored 21, Stoudemire scored 19 in his return to the first place he called home in his NBA career, and Shumpert scored seven. Shannon Brown was able to knock down three of his five shots in garbage time as well, scoring six points.

-Negatives

Raymond Felton was lit up once again without much effort being put towards it. It is has been such a regular throughout the season it is almost a waste giving him a section of the article every post game. Goran Dragic torched him, shooting 11-17 from the field en route to a game-high 32 points. His eyes lit up whenever Felton was across from him, scoring in a number of ways including transition and from beyond the three-point line.

How the Knicks played so poorly offensively against a team that doesn’t really want to play defense is unexplainable. The Suns defend the three-point line well, but they are easily attacked in the paint without a real rim protector. The Knicks must not have gotten that memo, scoring only 24 points in the paint for the game. Overall, they shot 40.2 percent and 32 percent from the three point line.

It was double-trouble for the Knicks tonight, as the Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus, destroyed them throughout the night. They took it to the Knicks, combining for 25 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks. They dominated the Knicks big men, namely Tyson Chandler. Chandler got into with them during the game, which has become his MO when the Knicks get blown out. Chandler finished the game with one point and seven rebounds.

The Suns put on an aerial assault from the three point line and in transition, putting on a show for their fans. They knocked down 14 three pointers in the game, and 26 points in transition. The Suns also took advantage of the Knicks turnovers, scoring 25 points off of 13 turnovers. The Suns made the most of the opportunities given to them, while the Knicks watched as bystanders and were run off the court. 

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Knicks Blown Out By Heat Behind James, Wade

Thursday, February 27^th, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat

Post Game Recap

The Knicks came into the game with the best winning percentage against the Heat since the start of last season and left with it dropping a little bit. The Knicks were handled rather easily tonight by the two-time defending champs, getting blown out 108-82. It was tough to watch at points if you are a Knicks fan and it reached a low when they actually went away from the game for a bit in the fourth quarter to watch the end of a the triple-overtime thriller between the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors. If the season hadn’t hit a low point yet, having a game switched over to a less than marquee match up like that should do it. The Knicks will be back at it again tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden to take on the Golden State Warriors.

-Player of the Game: Carmelo Anthony

 

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

As it has been too often this season, Anthony looked to be one of the few Knicks to come in and try tonight. Anthony tried once again to put the team on his back tonight but he was unable to do it alone against one of the best teams in the NBA. Tonight Anthony finished with 29 points on 11-20 from the field, including 3-8 from the three point line and 4-6 from the foul line. He also added seven rebounds, two assists and one resounding block of LeBron James. He also had another highlight play with a dunk over James early on in the game. It was another efficient scoring night that has gone to waste as the Knicks got blown out.

-Positives

Tyson Chandler was the only other Knicks to have any real positive impact on the game. Chandler dominated a mostly undersized Heat team, terrorizing them on the interior while on the court. Chandler finished with 19 points on 6-9 from the field and a solid 7-8 from the foul line to go with 16 rebounds. Chandler made a living in the paint and caused some problems for the Heat rolling to the basket for alley-oop dunks and keeping plenty of possessions alive with six offensive rebounds. He joined Anthony as the only player to really show up tonight with some effort.

It is hard to believe but the Knicks were actually the aggressors for a lot of the game. They got at it on the offensive glass, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds for the game. They also got out some in transition, scoring 14 fast break points. They even got to the foul line more than the Heat, attempting 22 and knocking down 16 compared to 12-18 for Miami.

-Negatives

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Knicks offense was listless outside of Anthony and Chandler. No one else shot 50 percent from the field and as a team the Knicks were able to only hit 37.3 percent of their shots. It got even worse the further away they got from the basket, as they made only 4-23 attempts from beyond the three point line, good for a putrid 17.4 percent.

The Knicks matched their poor offense with an equally as poor performance on the defensive end. The Heat ran their offense without much of a problem as the Knicks kind of let them do whatever they pleased on the offensive end. The Heat finished the game shooting 60.8 percent overall and 40 percent from the three point line. The Knicks had no answer for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who scored 31 and 23 points respectively, combining to go 23-32 from the field.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had quite possibly his worst NBA game to date. He couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat in the ocean, going 2-15 from the field and missing all eight of his three pointers. He also was taught a lesson defensively by Wade, who worked him throughout the night. Wade brought out his whole arsenal on the Knick rookie, whose offensive woes were augmented with the problems Wade caused him on the defensive end. He would finish the game with an extremely ugly -35 on the night.

Hardaway Jr. cannot be blamed solely though for what happened tonight to him defensively. The culprit is Mike Woodson, who asked Hardaway Jr. to guard Wade in the first place. It is no secret that Hardaway Jr.'s defense is not up to par defensively, so having him defend an All-Star and future Hall of Famer in Wade when he struggles to guard fringe rotation players makes little sense. Woodson also paired him for long stretches on the court with Amar’e Stoudemire, who has his own defensive deficiencies as well. When he saw things getting bad he let them get out of hand without making a move. Woodson also made head scratching moves by taking Jeremy Tyler out of the rotation and essentially shortening it to only seven players. He also played Shannon Brown as the third player off the bench, a player the Knicks signed Wednesday. Woodson seems to pick his rotations for the night out of a hat instead of how players perform.

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