Game 1 could not have gone much worse
for the Knicks and their fan base. The following
post breaking down the grades for the team will reflect that.
Coaching: Grade: D
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There is not much to be said about this
one. Since the last meeting between the
Knicks and Heat on April 15th, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has
done more to change game plans than Knicks head coach Mike Woodson and it
showed in Game 1.
The first evidence on this was the
difference in how the Heat guarded Carmelo Anthony. They started off fronting him in the post and
mid-range areas with whoever was guarding him, most cases being Lebron James or
Shane Battier. A trap would then come
from another member of the Heat defense.
This effectively took Anthony out of the offense, forcing him to pass
the ball to his teammates hoping they would make a playoff or into tough shot
attempts. The Heat were well prepared on
stopping the Knicks superstar and the Knicks had nothing to retaliate with.
The only reason this grade is not an F
is because Woodson did have his squad ready to come out and compete mentally
and physically. But Anthony had a rough
start, causing a collapse of the Knicks offense and a hole being created that
Woodson could not get his guys out of. A
potential reason for this happening is the success the Woodson and the Knicks
have been having running their half-court offense through Anthony
recently. Once that was shut down by the
Heat, the Knicks were lost on offense and the Heat built an insurmountable
lead.
Woodson flashed some of his frustration uncharacteristally
picking up a technical foul early in the 3rd quarter. A combination of his team struggling and some
questionable calls from the officials put Woodson over the edge. Look for Woodson and Knicks to have a more
complete game plan the next time these teams face off Monday night.
Backcourt: Grade: D+
Baron Davis is single handedly
responsible for this not being an F. Even
though the Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks struggled in the 1st
quarter on offense, Davis picked up the slack scoring 10 points. He knocked down two 3 pointers and even
finished a fast break with a dunk. It was
still obvious watching that Davis is limited because of numerous injuries he is
playing through. Davis would eventually
hurt his back and not return to the game.
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Iman Shumpert was quite most of the
night as well. He had a nice sequence
early in the game against Dwayne Wade but was not heard of much from after
that. Being a rookie playing in his
first playoff game it looked like he was slightly intimidated; especially with whom
the opponent for the Knicks was. Sadly,
Shumpert was not able to finish out the game as he suffered a left knee injury
in the 3rd quarter.
The injury is a devastating one for
Shumpert and the Knicks, as he tore his left ACL and lateral meniscus. He will miss the remainder of the playoffs
and will be sidelined another 6-8 months.
Surgery is scheduled for Monday afternoon back in New York.
Frontcourt: Grade: F
It is hard to argue with this
grade. When your two superstars in
Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire effectively do not show up for a game,
there is no higher of a grade you can give.
Anthony was shut down and dominated by Lebron James right from the
outset. James smothered Anthony on
defense for most of the night barely giving him enough space to breathe. Anthony missed his first seven shots of the
game, and ended up with 11 points on 3-15 shooting.
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For whatever reason, Anthony seemed
hesitant at times on offense. He was not
his normal attack the defense self that he has been for the last month. Let’s just hope this was an off game for
Anthony and that he will bounce back.
Anthony did at least grab 10 rebounds and was aggressive in doing that.
Stoudemire was mired in foul trouble for
a lot of the game and was unable to get into much of a rhythm. His highlight came in the first quarter when
he finished with a thunderous dunk through the heart of the Miami defense. Other than that he was pretty much a
non-factor, scoring only nine points on 2-7 shooting.
Defense: Grade: F
The score should provide all the reason
you need behind this grade. While the
Heat scored 100 points, the Knicks tied a franchise low in scoring 67.
The health of Tyson Chandler will be
something to pay attention to throughout the series. Without him playing up to his normal
abilities, the Heat slashed through the Knicks defense at will. There was little resistance given and the
Heat took advantage ending up with 33 free throw attempts compared to 11 for
the Knicks (this was not all the Knicks fault as it seemed that the referees
had strict instructions that Lebron James and the Heat needed all the help they
could get.).
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Another thing that does not help this is
the availability of Jared Jeffries. He
is battling a knee injury and is visibly restricted by it. He is limited to only 15 minutes per game,
and was said to be great amount of pain after Saturday afternoon’s game logging
only seven minutes. With all three of
the Knicks defensive stoppers in Chandler, Jeffries and Shumpert either
battling injuries or already out, it will fall upon the other Knicks to step up
their game.
Bottom line is that the Heat came
prepared in stopping the Knicks superstars and the Knicks could not do the vice
versa. The Knicks looked lost on defense
while the Heat prepared a game plan and worked it to perfection.
Bench: Grade: B
The bench was the only real positive for
the Knicks in this one. J.R. Smith,
Steve Novak and Landry Fields all did what was expected of them in the game.
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Smith struggled at times with his
handle, turning the ball over four times, but he was not alone in that as the
Knicks tied a franchise high with 24 turnovers.
Where Smith exceled was attacking the paint. He showed no fear going up against James on
the defensive end was confidently shooting the ball from the perimeter.
Novak did what he normally does,
knocking down both his 3 point attempts.
He also added four rebounds, something the Knicks will need more of with
the health concerns of Chandler and Jeffries.
Fields provided energy and a spark off the bench in his short 18 minutes
of playing time. Look for Fields role to
change for the remainder of the series though, as he is likely to rejoin the
starting five with the injury to Shumpert.
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