Knicks Struggles Continue in Chicago

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Thursday, October 31^st, 2013

New York Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls

Post Game Recap

The Knicks fought hard on the second night of a back-to-back but came up short in the end in Chicago against the Bulls, losing by a score of 82-81 thanks to a Derrick Rose floater with 5.7 seconds remaining in the game. The Knicks showed some good resolve tonight as the Bulls enforced their will upon the Knicks but they never gave in. The Knicks went to their best player in Carmelo Anthony for the last possession but he clanked a long jump shot off the rim, a common theme for Anthony tonight against a tough Chicago defense. The Knicks will have a couple of nights off before returning home to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night at Madison Square Garden at 7:30 PM ET.

Player of the Game: Andrea Bargnani

Howard Simmons/New York Daily News

Bargnani got the nod for the starting lineup tonight and looked like a disaster at the start. He struggled to get anything going again on the offensive end as he committed three offensive fouls and missed all three of his shots. Woodson showed some much needed confidence in Bargnani going back to him to start the second half and he responded in a big way. He knocked down four of his five shots for nine points and kept the Knicks in the game. He also played and competed hard enough on the defensive end that Woodson was able to get Tyson Chandler some rest at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth by pairing Bargnani with Amar’e Stoudemire. It was a positive night for Bargnani on a night that the Knicks did not have many things go their way.  

-Positives

Knicks Take Season Opener In Sloppy Game

Wednesday, October 30^th, 2013

Milwaukee Bucks vs. New York Knicks

Post Game Recap

It was a tale of two halves for the Knicks tonight as they were able to send the fans home happy opening night with an ugly 90-83 win over the Bucks. The Knicks put on a Jekyll and Hyde performance for the ages as they held as much as a 26 point lead in the first half but struggled to keep up the intensity in the second half as the Bucks came storming back. It was not pretty but in the end the Knicks were able to get a victory to start the season and will have a quick turnaround as they will fly to Chicago to play the Bulls Halloween night at 8 PM ET.

Player of the Game: Tyson Chandler

Jim McIsaac/Newsday

Chandler was a huge difference maker on both sides of the court tonight for the Knicks. He thoroughly outplayed Bucks starting center Larry Sanders all night as Sanders was in foul trouble, playing only 12 minutes and recording five fouls. Chandler anchored the Knicks defense tonight as he challenged shots and made life difficult for the Bucks in the paint. He also added five blocks and three steals to the stat sheet. Chandler also made an impact on the offensive end with highlight put back dunks while showing off his new jump shot, knocking down one of his two attempts from 15-plus feet. Chandler would not let his team lose tonight and was a part of all the good things the Knicks did tonight. Chandler also had the second highest +/- tonight on the team with a +18.

-Positives

New York Jets Team Grades: Week 8

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

October 27^th, 2013

Week 8 New York Jets Team Grades

The New York Jets suffered their worst loss of the season on Sunday to the AFC North Cincinnati Bengals, who dominated the Jets, and handed them their fourth loss of the season. The Jets record now half way through the season is (4-4), which is a bit better than most people probably would have predicted at this point.

Passing Offense Grade (F)

Sunday was not an easy day for the Jets passing offense led by Geno Smith, who had one of his bad games against the Bengals good defense. Smith finished throwing for 159 yards on 20 for 30 passing, but the big problems for Smith were the two interceptions he threw, both of which were returned for touchdowns. To Smith's defense one of the interception might not have been his fault, as there was a clear mis-communication between him and Jeremy Kerley. The poor play from Smith, and the lopsided score led to Matt Simms getting some action, and Simms finished up in mop up time throwing for 17 yards on three for seven passing. The one bright spot for the passing offense was the nice game put together by David Nelson, who caught eight passes for 80 yards.

Logical Breakdown of the Vanek-Moulson Trade

Earlier the Islanders traded Matt Moulson, a first round this year and a second round pick next year for Buffalo Sabres winger Thomas Vanek. Fans are in up-roar moaning about giving up fan favorite Matt Moulson and two picks, some are saying the Islanders got “fleeced”. Before any opinion is made lets try and breakdown the trade very logically.

Before getting down into the actual moving parts of the trade lets just breakdown the players.

Matt Moulson is soon to be 30 years old and an unrestricted free agent. Knowing the GMs in the NHL and similar players, it is very conceivable Moulson could get around 6 million dollars per year in the free agent market. Matt Moulson has played 99% of his ice time with John Tavares since joining the Islanders. He was a no show while playing with Tavares in the playoffs, which forced a line change to remove him from that line. Earlier in this season Moulson was not playing well with Tavares in 5v5 situations, which again forced Head Coach Jack Capuano remove Moulson from that line. Most of the damage Moulson has done this year as been on the power-play, where he has 5 of his 6 goals and 2 of his 3 assists. In other words he is not making plays when the situation is even strength. Moulson is also not known for his skating ability, puck handling ability or his defense. He is essentially a one-dimensional player that doesn’t fit the Islanders current play style.

Thomas Vanek is also a soon to be 30 year old unrestricted free agent. He too is a player that could command around the 6-7 million dollar per year mark in the open market. He too has tallied 9 points on the season. He has 4 goals and 5 assists playing for the inferior Buffalo Sabres. However only 4 of his points have been on the power play and only on of those points are a goal. Vanek is 6-2 220 pound, skilled skater, defender, puck handler the Islanders needed to put with Tavares. Scored 20 goals every year he has played in the NHL and was on pace for 40 goals last year in the shortened season. In short Vanek is the far superior player.

Now to the part everyone seems to be moaning about. The traded of draft picks. The Islanders traded a first and second round pick along with Moulson to get Vanek. Here is a question, would you rather trade prospects instead of the draft picks. Would you rather trade players closer to competing at the NHL level, say a player like de Hann? Or even a player who is currently on the team like a Matt Donovan? The draft picks were the best things the Islanders could have given up. They are unknown players who won’t even begin to contribute to this team for  several years. They will also be road blocked by the core of Islanders already locked up, plus the likes of Andres Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome, Griffin Reinhardt and Ryan Poulock.

The Islanders traded more than fair vaule for Thomas Vanek. Last year Jerome Iginla was traded for a 1^st round pick and two prospects for LESS games than the Islanders will have Vanek for. The most important piece of the trade is that the Islanders now have the inside track to give Vanek an extension. Vanek will have 70 games or so to see if he truly likes playing with Tavares and the rest of the Islanders crew. If Vanek does choose to re-up with the Islanders, it is no brainer that the Islanders won the trade. The only possibly scenario in which the Islanders lose the trade is if they fail to make the playoffs AND Vanek does not re-up with the Islanders. This was a good trade for the Islanders and it brings them one step closer to making that deep playoff run.

Week 7 New York Jets Team Grades

wfmz.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

October 20^th, 2013

Week 7 New York Jets Team Grades

The New York Jets were able to pull off a great win against their division rival New England Patriots on Sunday in an overtime thriller. The win moves the Jets to (4-3) on the season, which keeps them right in the hunt for a Wild Card spot in the AFC.

Passing Grade (B)

The passing offense was pretty good for the Jets in this game led by Quarterback Geno Smith, who in his second game against the Patriots played much better than he in the Week 2 loss. Smith did have one major mistake in the first quarter, as he threw a pick six to Logan Ryan when the Jets were driving. Smith did bounce back from his first quarter woes and finished with a nice game throwing for 233 yards on 17 for 33 passing with a touchdown. The Jets receivers did a good job in this game despite being short handed without Winslow and Holmes, as Jeremy Kerley had a fantastic game catching eight passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. David Nelson made the most of his opportunity to play more, as he caught four passes for 80 yards.

Islanders Break Losing Streak, Win 3-2

After going 0-2-1 in their last 3 three games the Islanders finally picked up a win defeating the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 3-2. Despite a span 8 seconds where Edmonton’s Taylor Hall scored two goals and another where Edmonton had 3 power plays in 8 minutes, this was a game completely dominated by the Islanders. Josh Bailey got the scoring started with a goal in the first period. Kyle Okposo scored the game-tying goal on a power play and then later in the period John Tavares would score the eventual game-winning goal on a wrist shot from the slot area. This was an important win for the Islanders who were in danger of losing to a team with only one win.

NBA: Eastern Conference Predictions

By Ryan McDonald (@RonnieMac90)

With the start of the NBA season just around the corner, it's time to play psychic with the regular season standings of the Eastern Conference.

The Miami Heat were the 1 seed last year, can they claim the 1 seed this year? Do they even care about being the 1 seed? I don't think so. Thus, this leads to the new 1 seed..

1. Indiana Pacers - (Last Season: 49-32) - Lost in the return of Derrick Rose is Danny Granger, who is returning to the Pacers after missing all but 4 games of last year. Once thought to be their franchise player, Granger will now hopefully come off the bench in a 6th man role.

In addition to Granger, they also added C.J. Watson and Luis Scola to their bench. Watson is the backup point guard the Pacers desperately needed in their series against the Miami Heat last year. Struggling to bring the ball up the court on numerous possessions, Watson looks to fix that problem and also bring some three point shooting as well. For Scola, he might not fit what they want in terms of defense, but he'll be able to replace the post scoring ability when Hibbert and/or West when they sit down.

Expect Paul George to continue to emerge as a star in this league. One of the best two way players in this league already, if he can improve his offensive game from last year, he can be one of those guys that fight for 2nd place votes in the MVP race (LeBron's winning again). And finally, one of the main reasons the Pacers only had 49 wins last year was due to Roy Hibbert's god awful play in the first half of the 2012-2013 season. Hibbert was shooting 41% from the field during that time. For a 7'2" center, that is god awful. It was mostly rectified in the 2nd half of the season, and especially during the postseason where he seemingly dominated a former defensive player of the year in Tyson Chandler. If Hibbert can average 48% from the field which is close to his career average, the Pacers should be able to attain the 1 seed with their top 5 defense.

Expected Record - 60-22

2. Miami Heat - (Last Season: 66-16) - The Heat didn't make any moves this off-season that improves their team unlike last season where they added Ray Allen. They'll have a full season of Chris Andersen instead of half, but everyone on this team is now a year older. Shane Battier and Ray Allen were considered old last year. As well as another year of wear and tear for Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

They still have LeBron, whom I expect to somehow improve like he does every season. However, I think they'll take more of a San Antonio Spur approach to the season which means lots of rest. They may have taken this approach if not for that 27 game win streak with their other players, especially Dwayne Wade who looked gassed in the postseason.

The Heat are no stranger to the 2 seed, in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 season, they finished in the 2 seed. They went on to the NBA Finals each year. They're an older team, they can't afford to exhaust themselves in the regular season when it's championship or bust.

Expected Record - 58-24

3. Chicago Bulls - (Last Season: 45-37) - The Bulls get their former MVP back in Derrick Rose. So clearly they're going to improve as long as he stays healthy.

The Bulls won the 1 seed when Rose was healthy the last two years, so why are they in the 3 seed now? Well, the other teams around them have improved since last Rose played. The Heat won 2 championships, and the Pacers who are in the Bulls division have gotten significantly better.

They'll still contend for the 1 seed, I just don't think they have enough to make it.

Expected Record - 55-27

4. Brooklyn Nets - (Last Season: 49-33) - This team improved the most this offseason with their blockbuster trade with Boston. Acquiring Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, and signing Andrei Kirilenko. However, their seeding is the same, 4.

The reason for this is because the teams above them aside from the Heat improved as well. They lost to a Roseless Bulls team in the playoffs, which was an embarrassment. Rose is now back.

KG gives them a great interior presence and Brook Lopez did improve in his help defense, but their backcourt struggled last year keeping bodies in-front of them. Paul Pierce and Jason Terry will only add to that problem.

Furthermore, the Nets hired rookie head coach Jason Kidd to lead the team. I like Kidd, I think he'll be a great head coach someday. But with this roster, and this pressure filled situation where it's championship or bust, is not great to learn coaching on the fly.

KG and Pierce will probably only play 20-25 minutes a game. Infact, I expect Kirilenko to average more minutes a game than Pierce does.

Expected Record - 51-31

5. New York Knicks - (Last Season - 54-28) - Last year, they were the 2 seed. How did they fall 3 seeds in one season? Last year, for the first quarter of the season, Carmelo Anthony was on fire. An early MVP candidate, Melo led the Knicks on a hot start but fell back to normal later. He suffered injuries late in the year which plagued him in the postseason. Melo rehabbed and looks back to his normal self. But is it enough?

Amar'e Stoudemire will most likely be on a minute cap of 20 for the entire season. JR Smith will be out the first month of the season recovering from offseason surgery. They lost Jason Kidd to retirement (and to the Nets).

They gained Andrea Bargnani who will look to start at the power forward position, moving Melo back to the small forward position. They also signed Metta World Peace to backup Melo.

 Bringing in Bargnani spreads the floor on offense as he can shoot the 3, but he can't rebound or defend. Amar'e, another power forward, also can't really rebound or defend. Kenyon Martin can do both, but can he get the minutes he deserves with these two on the roster? I guess you could play Martin or Amar'e at center to backup Tyson Chandler, but Martin would be undersized and Amar'e is just awful playing defense at center (great offensively).

Coach Mike Woodson will have to find a good mix with this roster.

Expected Record - 50-32

6. Washington Wizards - (Last Season - 29-53) - The Wizards. 6th. Someone had to be I guess. There's 5 teams I see fighting for the last 3 spots. I look at the Wizards roster and I think it's the best out of these teams.

John Wall hopefully will stay healthy this season and finally live up to all that potential he has. Bradley Beal will continue to improve off a strong rookie campaign. The drafting of Otto Porter Jr. gives them a good wing player and moves Trevor Ariza to the bench where he most likely belongs. They also brought in Eric Maynor to be their backup point guard which is a good signing.

No more 50 win teams though, that stops here.

Expected Record - 42-40

7. Cleveland Cavaliers - (Last Season - 24-58) - Where to start? They signed Andrew Bynum, they drafted Anthony Bennett. They get back Anderson Varejao from injury last year. They're one of the youngest teams in the league. But injuries.

Bynum is a huge question mark but what goes under the radar is that Kyrie Irving has yet to play a full season. Granted, he's only been in 2 seasons, but he also had an injury at Duke. He's injury prone. This is really a hit or miss team. If they can stay healthy, they'll make the playoffs easily, but it's a big if.

People forget however that Varejao was a beast before he got hurt. So I expect Bynum to only play 20 games (I'm probably being generous), I still think they make the playoffs with Varejao. They have a good young core and I expect Kyrie to play at least 70 games.

That being said, doesn't take much to snag one of these lower seeds in the eastern conference. Guess Cavs should be happy they're not in the West.

Expected Record - 39-43

8. Atlanta Hawks - (Last Season - 44-38) - They lost Josh Smith to free agency, still don't know why they didn't trade him. To fill the void, they signed Paul Millsap. Certainly a different skill set, and you lose something on the boards and defensively, but Millsap is the better offensive player currently.

They still have Al Horford, who is one of the better centers in the league. Elton Brand was also signed who is a serviceable big man at this point in time to come off the bench. Jeff Teague is a young point guard who can still improve.

Louis Williams should return mid-season from an ACL tear as well.

The negative is they're probably going to start Kyle Korver at small forward. They don't really have anyone better for the position, but Korver should be coming off the bench.  

Expected Record - 36-46

As for the snubs,

Detroit Pistons - (Last Season - 29-53) - They signed Josh Smith. They're going to play him at small forward. They're going to play Stuckey at shooting guard. This means, out of their starters, only Brandon Jennings can shoot threes effectively and he sometimes shoots too much.

The floor spacing is going to be terrible. Their frontcourt seems dominate on paper, with Smith, Monroe, Drummond. It's monstrous, but how effective can it be when 4 defenders have a foot in the paint at all times?

Expected Record - 34-48

Toronto Raptors - (Last Season - 34-48) - They get Rudy Gay for a full season, he's a solid player. I don't think he's a franchise player though, nor can he carry a team. Jonas Valanciunas had a decent rookie year, but I can't see him emerging as a legitimate post threat which is what the Raptors need.

Perhaps their season rests on the development of DeMar Derozan who's better known for his athleticism. If he can improve his range on his jumper, they'll do better than I expect.

Expected Record - 34-48

As for the Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks,  Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, and Philadelphia 76ers, they'll be competing for the number 1 pick.

W2W4: New England Patriots vs New York Jets

bostonherald.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

October 20^th, 2013

W2W4: New England Patriots vs New York Jets

The New York Jets coming off of a tough loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home in which they only scored 6 points at home. On Sunday they will be playing their division rival the New England Patriots for the final time this season, and will be looking to bounce back from an early season 13-10 loss.

- Welcome to the Crib

With a depleted Wide receiving core and the loss of Clyde Gates for the season, who was their kickoff returner, the Jets have signed one of the better kickoff returners in history in Josh Cribbs. In his career Cribbs has returned eight kickoffs for touchdowns, which ties him with former Jet Leon Washington for most in NFL history. Cribbs probably wont factor in much of the passing offense however, as although he is technically a Wide Receiver he only has caught 107 passes in his eight NFL seasons. To fill in the role Gates served in the offense, the Jets signed Greg Salas from the Eagles practice squad, but he was on a stationary bike for most of the Jets practice.