Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Pre-Game News and Notes
New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks
The Knicks will look to bounce back
against the Central Division leading Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night after a
tough overtime loss at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets Monday night. This will be no cake walk for the Knicks, as
they have struggled with the Bucks in recent seasons and they finally have some
offensive firepower to go along with a suffocating defense.
The Knicks will be without Jason Kidd for the
second game, who did not make the trip because of back spasms and is said to be
day-to-day by head coach Mike Woodson. Here are some things to watch for
tonight:
-Ball Movement
The Knicks struggled mightily Monday
without Kidd in the lineup, placing an immense amount of responsibility on the
shoulders of Raymond Felton to run the offense.
Felton responded with his worst performance of the season, shooting
three of 19 with only five assists.
The lack of another facilitator also saw
Carmelo Anthony revert back to his old ways of hero-ball and a ton of
isolation. This made things easier on
the Nets, as they just threw everything they had at Anthony knowing he was the
only thing the Knicks had going for them.
That needs to change against a Bucks team that has more ammunition than
the Nets did to throw at Anthony.
The Knicks assisted on only 14 of 33
makes against the Nets, a number that has to improve as that indicates that the
Knicks were not moving the ball enough and relied too heavily on tough shots
going one-on-one.
-Get Back to Basics
The most basic play in basketball is the
pick-and-roll; a simple play that every team uses extensively yet is one of the
hardest things to defend. The Knicks
need to utilize this more tonight than they did against the Nets; meaning
Felton has to put together a solid effort against a tough backcourt in Brandon
Jennings and Monta Ellis.
With Jennings and Ellis in the
backcourt, the Bucks have a very quick and swift perimeter, helping them in
allowing the least amount of three point attempts per game at 16.7. Running the pick-and-roll will open up the
lanes and create easy scoring opportunities for the Knicks. If they can open up the middle some, it will
make the Bucks’ wing defenders help off their man equaling open jump shots.
-Slow Down the Backcourt
Without Kidd, the Knicks will most
likely go with a more traditional lineup with Kurt Thomas starting at the 4 and
Anthony sliding back to the 3. This means
Felton and Ronnie Brewer, if he starts after dislocating his finger Monday
night, will get the first shot at slowing down the dynamic combination of
Jennings and Ellis.
Jennings historically has lit up the
Knicks, averaging 20.3 points per game against them in his career, his highest
against any Eastern Conference team. The
Knicks passed on Jennings in the 2008 NBA Draft in favor of Jordan Hill.
Brewer or whoever starts at the 2 will
be manned with the responsibility of slowing Ellis down and keeping him out of
the paint. If the Knicks can force Ellis
into jump shots, it will go a long way in stopping him as his efficiency and
shooting percentage drops the further away he gets from the basket.
-Bench Play
The Knicks bench struggled mightily
Monday night against the Knicks, giving almost no help whatsoever to the
starting lineup in the way of scoring. The
bench mustered only 13 points Monday, their lowest output of the season by
15. J.R. Smith scored a season low five
points and Rasheed Wallace shot an ugly two of 11 from the field.
The Knicks bench will need to step up
tonight with Kidd and possibly Brewer out of the lineup. The Bucks have depth for days at virtually
every position with some shuffling done, so the Knicks will have to be prepared
for many different matchups and schemes from the Bucks.
One person the Knicks will have to keep
an eye on is Mike Dunleavy, who torched the Knicks last season for 25, 26 and
19 points in the last three meetings the teams had last season.
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