Knicks 101, Celtics 105: Time Will Tell

Not a lot of positives tonight, as the Knicks, unable to put the Cletics away early, fell apart and could only hang with Boston until the final whistle. Though they were always close, there weren't many moments where I had hope for a lead, or a run, or a frenzied comeback. In my recaps, I'll try not to be too repetitive, so the things deemed problematic or promising the game before might not be mentioned again for a while, though still present. On that note, the rebounding is just as it was, the threes were equally vexing, and Toney Douglas continues to confuse and astound. Also, I think the unpleasantness of the game wore at me over two and a half hours, to the point that I saw too much bad and overlooked the good.

Promising:

• Mozgov Running the Floor - After all the grief I gave him and his presence in the lineup/rotation last game, and intend to this time around too, I'll take a peep at the bright side. Mozgov is fast for his size, and can be a huge benefit if he keeps moving himself up and down the floor with urgency. His two good moments in this game came in the form of a follow-up dunk against three Celtics in transition, and a transition block some time later. With his size and speed, he can shore up the embarrassing transition defense and tidy up the fast break offense. Beyond that, he is by far the biggest player the Knicks have not named Eddy "Falling Apart" Curry and is a better option for guarding Shaquille-like centers than Ronny Turiaf. However--I'm increasingly convinced--that will be the acme of his positive impact for this season. In all, everything about him screams bench role/spot starter.
• Landry Fields Pulling His Weight - This went on pretty fine for the first half, with Fields performing adequately as a rookie starting shooting guard. He took good shots, didn't waste possessions, and was active on defense. He can keep up sufficiently with other guards and swingmen (especially the slower, older ones). He can shoot uncontested shots and is athletic enough to get the rim, when it's somewhat unobstructed. This didn't really hold up in the second half, but the Knicks fell apart as a whole on offense and defense and I'm not so unreasonable to judge Fields too strongly for that. If he can keep "first half Landry" up for the season without having starting go to his head, hitting a rookie wall, or disrupting the offense (if it ever comes together enough to be disrupted), the Knicks will be well off. It will keep Will in the second unit, where he dominates, and will make the Knicks enviably deep when Randolph and Azubuike start playing.

Problematic:

• Transition Defense - Very, very poor, in more than one way. Either the Knicks commit sloppy needless fouls, or shy away and don't defend at all. This is also, not coincidentally, Danilo's weakest area. He took himself out of the game with transition defense fouls and that ruined his whole night. If the Knicks want to run, and that's looking like a bigger and bigger if, they have to be able to defend against the run as well.
• Mozgov Shooting, Defending, Posting Up, etc - As surprisingly good as he is in transition, he is useless in half court. He can't shoot, get to the basket, receive the ball in the paint, post up or clear out space too well. On the other end, he can't play help defense or clog the paint well enough. Again, leave him out of the offense, out of the defense except against fat-asses, and off the court.
• Amare Shying Away (on Defense) - He's very aggressive on offense, and its wonderful to watch. However, on the other end, he doesn't contest shots or take charges. He doesn't just get driven by, he actual steps aside to let his man get to the basket. As eager as he is to block shots from the weakside, he won't raise a hand to the man he's guarding. I can't see Amare having any serious reason to worry about fouling out of too many games (3.4 fouls a game) so he should be more assertive and physical on defense.
• Roger Mason Playing - Kelenna's coming back soon right?
• Wilson Chandler not Shooting Free Throws - As good as he's been (and he's been wonderful), he hasn't shot any free throws (okay, he's had 2). Once his shots stop falling, he's going to be able to keep up his offensive contributions by drawing contact and getting to the line. Even when he is scoring well, it would be good to accentuate that, not with increased shot volume, but by getting fouled and making free throws. It's not even that he hasn't been attacking the basket, he has; it's more that he isn't attacking the opponents, driving against his man or at the opposing center. It'll keep defenders honest and in foul trouble and add some points for the Knicks.
• There are a few other more serious problems, like the offense overall and the rotation, but I want to dedicate a separate post to address that. Look for that today or tomorrow.

Things that Make My Head Hurt:

• Danilo - He was in foul trouble and he was shooting terribly (and taking bad shots), so to an extent he deserved to be benched (He played 12 minutes and ended up with only 3 fouls). But this was probably the perfect game to let him shoot himself into some sort of offensive continuity, and to figure out how to hold back on defense (especially in transition). Going in to the fourth quarter, the Knicks didn't have a realistic shot to win, so unless D'Antoni was kidding himself, he should have let Danilo play and not worry about him putting the game out of reach. On the other hand, Danilo is more talented than this, and needs to start showing it. I still have every faith in him, and want him on this team for the next however many years, but even at the tender age of 22, it's time for him to get consistent.

A Few Final Thoughts:

I'm all thought out.

Stat Attack:

Amare shoots 3 threes and makes 2; Wilson Chandler gets at it defensively (2 steals and 4 blocks); the Knicks rebounding ineptitude makes Paul Pierce look young and spry (14 rebounds); and Rajon Rondo embarrasses the Knicks with a triple double (10, 24, and 10), but also himself with 7 turnovers.

Quote of the Night:

"Pierce can drive by this guy (Danilo) every time."
-Celtics' senile color commentator Tommie Heinsohn revealing he has never actually taken time to watch Danilo play defense.

LeBron Hate of the Night:

So. The Heat are really good, no?