So I'm really just waiting on the game against the Christmas Deer to dictate the tone of this preview. Will it be A) "What a great game! Now that's more like it!" or B) "A win's a win, I guess, but why are we struggling against these bottom feeders? or C) "WTF, we had this one--why did Pop switch to tiny ball for no reason at all? He's clearly lost it as well as this game!" or D) "Fantastic. We managed to make that Bulls collapse look unremarkable by blowing a 50-point lead. You're welcome, Vinny. I've only got 3 cyanide capsules, so that's 2 lucky souls I can take with me. Who's in?"
UPDATE: It's A, it's A! ::sun streams from the heavens, birds warble joyfully, trees and flowers blossom in time-lapse photography::
San Antonio Spurs @ New York Knickerbockers Where: Madison Square Garden - New York, NY When: December 27, 2009, 5:00 PM Spurs time Watch: NBA TV; FSN Southwest How They Stack Up
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Matchups
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Tony Parker Go, Greased Lightning |
Point Guard I haven't watched a single Knicks game this season, so I'm not even going to pretend to analyze how they match up one-on-one against the Spurs. Instead, I'll just point out key stats and trends. In this case, I'll start with assists per game. Duhon is ranked 10th in the league; Parker is ranked 15th. However, among guards in the NBA, Tony is ranked 28th in efficiency while Duhon is ranked 49th. That could have something to do with Tony's FGP of 48.9 compared with Duhon's 36.0 FGP. Given that the Wee Frenchman also holds the edge in Pts/Reb/Asts, I'm giving the slight advantage to TP. Advantage: Spurs |
Chris Duhon is a guard for the NY Knicks. |
Keith Bogans Trying to avoid milk-carton status |
Shooting Guard How to put this nicely. . . . Okay, Bogans may be starting? But that doesn't mean he'll be playing a whole lot. Meanwhile, Wilson Chandler is averaging 16.5 points on .517 shooting (78-151 FG) with three 20-point efforts, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists over 36.6 minutes in his last 11 games. Sooooo . . . Advantage: Knicks |
Wilson Chandler is also a guard for the NY Knicks. |
Richard Jefferson Turning the corner? |
Small Forward Jefferson wasn't the star of last night's game, but he did set the tone by drawing first blood with a three-pointer; a welcome sight given his clankfest from beyond the perimeter against Portland. Let's hope we see more of that tonight. The three-pointer, I mean. Not the clankfest. Gallo has had a nice little run lately. He scored 26 points in the Knicks Christmas Day loss to Miami, and went 7 for 7 from the free-throw line. He's been clutch in December, and he's only 21 years old. Furthermore, he's been honing his three-point skills and currently leads the NBA in three-pointers made. Advantage: Knicks |
Danilo Gallinari is a forward for the New York Knicks. |
DeJuan Blair Puts the B in BAM |
Power Forward Blair had a great night against the Bucks--can he make it two in a row? One area in which we have a chance to dominate the Knicks is defense. We'll need Blair (and Hill, and Bogans, and Timmy, etc.) to show up defensively but avoid making careless fouls. Jeffries leads the league in drawing charges, so DeJuan needs to play smart. Pop is fond of calling Blair a "stat machine." If DeJuan can shine on the defensive side of the stats column, I'll be happy. Advantage: Spurs |
Jared Jeffries is also a forward for the New York Knicks. |
Tim Duncan The Big Constant |
Center I couldn't believe my eyes when I didn't see that white box around Timmeh's smiling face in LatinD's Bucks preview. That took some balls, my friend. Balls that I do not possess. David Lee is currently leading the NBA in double-doubles. But he's in the Eastern conference, so, you know . . . not quite as impressive. Advantage: Spurs |
David Lee is a center for the New York Knicks. |
Manu Ginobili Leader of the BAM |
Bench & Role Players Last night was a great night for our bench. Glorious, really. Manu had his rhythm back, and McDyess was a real play-maker. But look out--the Knicks bench is anchored by Big Al, and Big Al has already had 2 40+ games this season. In fact, he leads the NBA in scoring off the bench. Advantage: Tied |
Al Harrington plays off the bench for the New York Knicks. |
Gregg Popovich Wise Guy |
Coach
This should be interesting. D'Antoni certainly has a lot of experience facing off against Pop. But seven seconds or less is a long way back in the rear-view mirror. Advantage: Spurs |
Mike D'Antoni coaches the New York Knicks |
images via yahoo.com | ||
OTHER FACTORS |
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Intangibles |
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The Knicks and Spurs are on a similar trajectory at the moment. Note that both teams are 7 and 3 in their last 10 games. The Knicks seem to be rising above the Nate Robinson controversy and the (manufactured) D'Antoni "regret" story to play surprisingly solid ball lately. They are, however, the Knicks. And the Spurs now have 13 straight wins against sub-.500 teams. Advantage: Spurs |
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Mojo |
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Last night's game had to have been an enormous confidence booster to the newer Spurs and a big relief to the old ones. It's good to be boring again. Advantage: Spurs |
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Winner |
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I know I risk undoing all of LatinD's hard work on the reverse-mojo front by doing this, but . . .
Prediction: Spurs (mind you, I'm not saying it will be easy)
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Keys To The Game
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Strength of ScheduleIt's a SEGABABA for us, and it's practically a matinee as well, woo hoo! The Spurs have had plenty of time to stress and dehydrate on those long, weather-delayed flights, too. The Knicks played (and lost to Miami) on Christmas Day. That's got to be fun. By the way, did you see what Stan Van Gundy recently said? "I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game." He and Pop should have a curmudgeon-off, don't you think? On Twitter.
Last Time They MetThe Garden is a tough house. Last February, the Knicks managed to eke out an overtime victory at home, winning 112-107 behind a 32-point performance by Nate Robinson. It's probably safe to say Nate won't be leading a comeback charge this time around. The Knicks will have to look elsewhere for that spark.
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Some Other ReadingKnicksPosting and Toasting - The SBN blog for the Knicks. It's good, and I like that they analyze the media coverage of the Knicks with a gimlet eye. For instance, that much-trumpeted and re-linked Adrian Wojnarowski headline about D'Antoni regretting joining the Knicks? Posting and Toasting points out the fine print--it was a two-month old quote. I hate that shifty shit, and Woj pulls it all the time, by the way. KnickerBlogger.Net - The TrueHoop blog for the Knicks. Can't say as I've read it, but it looks active and lively. Spurs48 Minutes of Hell: Ennh, it's all right, but it's nothing special. HAHA, just messing with you! Tim Varner and Graydon Gordian are gods among sports bloggers, and you should be kissing the ground they type on. Project Spurs: Lots of good folks in here. Visit, read, comment, come back. And don't miss their podcast, either. The (sort of) Daily TwitterJust landed in NYC and still cold but nit as cold as Milwaukee ways good NYC and tweet fam OK! 3.30am and we finally made it to the hotel in NY. Time to sleep, we play again in less than 15 hours!! I CANNOT WAIT 4 THIS STEELER GAME 2 MORROW!!!!!! WE NEED THIS ONE CANT WAIT!!!! You can also find all the official Spurs Sports & Entertainment Twitter accounts here: http://twitter.com/spurs/official/members |
Other things of possible interestMmm, would you like a big slice of lovely piping-hot schadenfreude?
A seriously fantastic short film by Guy Maddin |
Where to Tune In
TVThis game will be aired on NBA TV (the actual channel, not League Pass). It will also be on Fox Sports Network's Southwest affiliates. OnlineAs always, NBA League Pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.. Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance. Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out. RadioIf you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM). |
And remember this about New York:
♪ ♫ If we can make it there, we'll make it anywhere (come on, everyone, high-kick chorus line!) ♬