Wizards 113, Knicks 102: No more monkey on our backs!

The Wizards finally got their first win on the road tonight against the Knicks in the place where the road funk really started. They didn't even play well except for some insane shooting, so it's nice that they got a win not playing their best. The Knicks outrebounded the Wizards again and got to the line more, but Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison simply were hitting everything.

Of course, for the Knicks, playing at home usually is akin to playing a road game, so if you really want to be facetious, you could say the Wizards still haven't really won on the road. Whatever. At least they won away from the Verizon Center.

For more, I'm going to turn it over to Seth from Your New York Knicks, who attended the game and was kind enough to drop me an e-mail with his thoughts. Even though Seth's an enemy blogger, it's great to hear thoughts from someone who attended the game, and I really hope this can become a common practice in future games. Thanks, Seth!

Yo, here's a few thoughts on the Wiz from tonight's game:

- The Wiz as a team really seem to be an extension of Arenas. In the last Knicks-Wizards game, Arenas couldn't buy a bucket, and the team followed suit. Tonight, Gilbert hit just about everything (including a casual 40 footer after a whistle), and the Wizards followed suit. Streakiest team I've seen in a while.

- Speaking of Arenas, one of things that makes him so amazing, in my opinion, is that he's completely predictable. When he's hot, you can tell very early on in a play when and where's he gonna shoot. The entire crowd knows, his teammates know, and even the defender knows. But when he's hot like he was tonight, it just doesn't matter.

- I don't remember Antawn Jamison ever being anything more than an occasional three-point shooter, but he was ridiculous (6-8) tonight. Now that I look, he's been raining threes for most of the season.

- Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood are both total stiffs on offense (which makes Curry's performance look much worse.)

- Songaila and Ruffin are hurt, but even still, the Wiz are not a very deep team.

- Apparently, the Wizards shot 41 of 84, but off the top of my head I can remember about 3 or 4 misses. They were unbelievable.

Anyway, the Wizards looked quite fluid, and they are due much credit for completely sucking the life out of the Garden. It was impossible for them to lose when Jamison and Arenas were so damn perfect from the field. Congrats.

Thanks again Seth, and tell your team that the Wizards thank them for making it possible to finally get the monkey off our backs!

As a sidenote, I'm probably out of commission tomorrow due to finals, so I will probably see you Friday when the Wizards take on Phily. If anyone has anything long to say, send me an e-mail and I'll put it up tomorrow.

Postgame thoughts? What stood out during this game?

Open Thread: Game 18

Regular Season Game 18
Wizards (7-10) vs. Knicks (7-13)
Madison Square Garden
7:30 PM
CSN, MSG, and NBA League Pass

Previous Matchup: Knicks 102, Wizards 82

Not much time to preview this thing in depth, but clearly, we cannot have a repeat of last time. Everything went wrong in that game. They didn't run an offense, they missed every shot, they failed to get any real rebounds, and they let Renaldo Balkman have a huge game. I hope it doesn't happen again.

Knicks Blogs: Knickerblogger, Your New York Knicks

I'll let Eddie Jordan have the last word.

"You have to grasp the opportunity, you have to grasp the moment and say, 'Look this is it, New York City, a team that beat us, really probably started a bad feeling in us. And this is a great opportunity, where it began. Let's end it.' And I think that's what they'll do," he said. "If you're going to win on the road, what better place than in New York City? It's a great place to play, our guys feel good about themselves after that performance last night, and I don't think there is, as Al Maguire would say, a pink elephant in the back of our minds or anything like that, that's gonna disrupt us and distort our focus. I think we feel good, we're jacked up. I think we all believe, from the players to us, that it's the energy and the confidence and the aggressiveness and yet the discipline we need to win on the road that we got last night."

Let's hope you're right, Eddie. I also agree and think it will stop tonight, but this team has baffled me before. Let's just say I'm not guaranteeing anything.

Prediction: Wizards 104, Knicks 94

If you're online during the game, give a shout!

[edit]: In honor of the Knicks, here's the video of Nate Robinson's travel from last week.

Keeping Things Simple

Losing to the New York Knicks can naturally set off a fan base as fragile as ours. Considering all the stuff we've been through, it makes sense for fans to go crazy after every bad loss. It's easy to forget that the Knicks, as bad as they were last year, did win 23 games, some of which were blowouts. Bad games happen, and even back-to-back bad games happen.

Reading some of the comments on the latest Wizards Insider entry made this post necessary. I feel like the problem with the Wizards through 7 games this year is not as complex as people are making it out to be. Time and time again, fans wondered aloud why the Wizards weren't taking the ball to the basket in this game. Ivan Carter himself even mentioned it. All these complaints ignored the fact that the Wizards scored over a third of their points last night on free throws. They were 36-40 from the line!!!! There are lots of reasons the Wizards got spanked last night, but a lack of aggressivness taking the ball to the rim is not one of them.

To me, the problem is much, much simpler. Jones on the NBA has a great post preaching patience and showing tons of examples of teams trying to do too much too quick. He applies this logic mostly in terms of front office moves, but I see the same type of things happening with the Wizards on the court. Players are pressing because they are trying to do too much. It's as if they are thinking in the back of their heads about their deficiencies instead of figuring out how to maximize their strengths.

Gilbert Arenas isn't going to turn into a playmaker overnight. Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood aren't going to be great every night right away. Jarvis Hayes hasn't played in a real game in a long time, so expecting him to suddenly fit in is unrealistic. I feel like the Wizards have failed thus far because they are trying to become a perfect team too quickly. Instead of looking at development as a series of stages, the Wizards want to jump all the way to the end.

I don't really have any emperical evidence to prove this, but it seems to me that the last two games have indicated that Wizards players are overwhelmed out there. Arenas is not playing with the same free flow as he did last year, probably because he's become overwhelmed with his deficiencies. Same with Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood. In general, the offense seems too routine; it's as if I can predict exactly what will happen on any given possession. Defensively, there have been high points and low points, but we can't expect the team to become a better unit right away.

What I'm advocating for is a simple mindset change. The Wizards have gotten away from their scrappy style in the last few games, and that needs to return. Interestingly enough, Detroit is another team that has to regain their mentality early on. I hate resorting to an argument like this, but the bottom line is that whichever team can regain their edge will win tomorrow.

Is this warranted? Should we actually be concerned after 7 games? Is this really the problem?

Knicks 102, Wizards 82: Umm...Yeah...

I'm always hesitant to promote intangibles as a primary cause for success or failure, simply because of the danger of over-relying on elements that are difficult to emperically define. However, in light of this performance, I feel pretty confident in saying the following statement.

The Knicks wanted it more than the Wizards tonight.

How else can you explain how the Knicks' second unit, led by David Lee and Renaldo Balkman, outplaying the Wizards starters in the fourth quarter? How else can you explain the Wizards going 36-40 from the free throw line and getting blown out by 20?

Understandibly, the Knicks second unit has arguably been stronger than their first unit, but this has occured mostly against other team's second units. Today, Isaiah Thomas finally played them for extended minutes, and it paid off. Balkman finally got real minutes and he made the most of them. They had more energy on both ends of the floor, and it was contageous. Lee in particular was a beast on the offensive boards, and Balkman was all over the floor offensively and defensively. It's no accident the Knicks pounded the Wizards 52-39 on the boards, held them to 31.5 percent from the field and 0-15 from three-point range.

This kind of felt like one of those mid-majors going up against a Kansas or a North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament. The underdog, with the crowd in its favor, uses the energy and races ahead to a consistent 4-8 point lead for a long period of time. All the while, you sit there thinking sooner or later the better team will get their act together and turn things around. The problem is, the more the underdog, energetic team invariably gains more energy, gets the crowd into it more, and uses that energy to thwart a comeback and potentially turn the game into even more of a blowout. I can remember the crowd being very out of it early on and slowly getting into it when the Knicks were turning it on.

Again, I hate using this analysis, because it's all based on subjective findings and it doesn't help to signify a strong trend. But I have to hand it to the Knicks tonight; they deserved to win by even more and they really shut down the Wizards' offense.

If I can pick out a real trend that is particularly disturbing, it's rebounding again. Do not ignore the importance of rebounding. The Wizards struggled tonight, and it meant that they got blown out despite going to the free throw line so much. The Knicks aren't exactly known as a rebounding powerhouse, which makes tonight's line even more disturbing.

All this makes for an interesting game on Friday against Detroit. Both teams are struggling, and both teams are in about as much of a must-win situation as you can be this early in the season. One thing's for sure though; a loss tonight really hurts the Wizards.

Postgame thoughts? What did you think of tonight's loss? If you need to air some grievances, feel free to let it loose.

Open Thread: Game 7

Regular Season Game 7
Wizards (3-3) vs. Knicks (2-6)
Madison Square Garden
7:30 PM
CSN and NBA League Pass

The game has already started, so this will be short and quick. Wizards need a win, Knicks stink, therefore, a win is expected.

If you are here from SI.COM, welcome to Bullets Fever, your community site for the Washington Wizards. If you are a regular reader, the big news is that Sports Illustrated writer Andy Gray mentioned Bullets Fever in his 3-Pointers column, specifically the open thread for Brendan Haywood trade offers. Be sure to check out the column.

Knicks Blogs: Knickerblogger, Your New York Knicks, Father Knickerbocker

There's more major site news coming soon, so stay tuned, whether you are an old reader or a new one. That's all I'll say about that.

In the meantime, a prediction. Wizards 118, Knicks 107. And yes, I know Jamison is sucking so far today, and the Knicks have the early lead. Take it to the hole!

Go Wizards!

Yeah, he's really worth 10 million a year...

Jared Jeffries is out for the beginning of the season with a broken wrist.

Still think the Wizards should have matched the Knicks offer? Unfortunate news for the Knicks, but they're soon going to find out that Jeffries is useless even when healthy. He teases you with his length and athleticism, but he can't score, isn't much of a rebounder, and isn't even all that great a defender. His lone value is his versatility, because he can act as a nice 8th man as a 3 or a 4. That's not good enough to merit a 5 year, 30 million dollar contract (which, because of the luxury tax, is more like 5 years, 60 million).

The Wizards are about 10 times better off with DeShawn Stevenson. I feel bad for Jeffries, but the Knicks are going to realize how inept Jeffries is when Renaldo Balkman takes over his job early on.

Does this injury mean anything at all for the Knicks? How do you feel about swapping Jeffries for Stevenson and Songalia?

[edit]: It's even worse than we thought. They're now saying Jeffries will be out 6-8 weeks. Enjoy your investment, Isaiah Thomas!

Analyzing the Competition

The New York Knicks were simply a mess last year. There's no other way around it. After an offseason that saw general manager Isaiah Thomas attempt to mold the Knicks into his image, the Knicks ended up with an overpaid Jerome James, an overrated Quentin Richardson, a similarly overrated Eddy Curry, and a couple unknowns in Channing Frye and David Lee. Thomas also lured Larry Brown away from Detroit to mold this mess into a playoff team. Instead, Brown was probably the worst possible fit for this team. He clashed early and often with franchise point guard Stephon Marbury and kept tinkering the lineup for no apparent reason. The end result was that the Knicks were never able to gain the continuity and cohesiveness necessary to win in the NBA. Making matters worse, Thomas continued to show his incompetence as a general manager, trading valuable assets for the bloated contracts of Steve Francis and Jalen Rose. Those two continued to add to the roster mess, making a bad situation even worse. The end result was a 23 win team that conceivably could have been even worse had there not been that 6 game winning streak in January that generated optimism.

Additions: Jared Jeffries (FA-Washington), Renaldo Balkman (Draft 1-20), Mardy Collins (Draft 1-29)
Subtractions: Jackie Butler (FA-San Antonio), Maurice Taylor (FA-Sacramento)

Notwithstanding the blunders of paying Jared Jeffries the full mid-level exception, drafting Balkman so early in the draft, and letting Butler escape to San Antonio, the Knicks didn't really do much this offseason (note the sarcasm). Still, there were no collosal blunders like trading for Steve Francis or trading multiple unprotected draft picks for Eddy Curry.

Most importantly, though, there is no more Larry Brown. The Knicks remain a mess, but at least the coach that arguably sabotaged the season is gone. Brown played an obscene 42 different lineups last year, which has to be a record. Naturally, if you don't develop a rotation, you're never going to win. Eventually, the team quit on Brown, as they probably should have. Replacing Brown with Isaiah Thomas does not appear like an upgrade, but in this context, it's probably the best thing the Knicks could do.

New York still has a ridiculous logjam on the wing and they still have way too many small forwards. However, one thing they will have is a rotation. Thomas is going to eventually figure out a way to divide minutes more effectively. It won't be easy to do it on the wing, but Thomas will find a way. That alone should cause some improvement, because the Knicks do have talent.

I still don't see New York in the playoffs, however. It will take a while to divide minutes and settle on a rotation, which should doom the Knicks to a slow start. Beyond that, however, who's going to rebound on this team? Eddy Curry has never been a strong rebounder, and Channing Frye posted poor rebounding numbers in college. The Knicks' best hope is that David Lee will emerge as a rebounding machine, but he's never been that type of player either. A team that can't rebound is a team that can't win.

I do expect the Knicks to make a late push for the playoffs once they figure out their rotation, but their slow start should doom them to another season in the lottery.

Projected Record: 34-48

Bench Renaldo took a look at the Knicks yesterday on the NBA Blog Previews and sees an 18 game improvement from the Knicks to 41-41.

If management can stay out of the picture and just let Isiah run the team (wait, hear me out!), they should be alright. Last season, a major distraction was that no one knew who was calling the shots. There was a power struggle between Brown and Thomas from day one, and now that Brown has lost the fight, it's on Thomas to prove that he's the right man for the job (or else James Dolan will have no choice but to can him). Remember, he did a commendable job as coach of the Pacers a few years back (albeit, with a better team).

I wouldn't say Thomas did a "commendable job" when he coached the Pacers, but I do see some improvement. 41-41 is saying a little too much though, if you ask me. Still, be sure to check out Bench Renaldo for some funny NBA coverage.

Think I screwed this one up? Let me know. How many wins do you think New York will have this year?