Knicks Bulls recap

Stick with me Knicks fans as I try to make sense of this 98-89 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

This wasn't a loss because the Bulls played well. The Knicks came in strong, opening the game with a 17 point lead. I never got the feeling the Bulls overpowered us. They out-hustled us, going for lose balls and driving to the hoop, but they never had a firm grip on the game.

This wasn't a loss because the Knicks were lazy. I think this team comes in and competes every night, and it may not look like it Knicks fans, but this team tries hard consistently every night. You can see it in their eyes, they want to win. There's a fire in these players eyes that just wasn't there in the Isiah era, where it seemed like they were going through the motions. This team wants to win.

They lost for one simple reason.

They were exhausted.

That was the simple fact. I have been a fan of D'Antoni's 8 man rotation, as I think it keeps the players fit and it creates a stability with the team that just wasn't there in the Isiah era. The team knows who's going to play and what their role is and I think that's a good sign. But the simple fact is that Coach cannot play 6 guys for 48 minutes. By the 4th quarter the team was outright tired.

It all comes back to point guard Chris Duhon. If Duhon has a bad night, the team has a bad night, it's as simple as that. When Duhon settles for bad shots so does the rest of the team. When Duhon is calling plays the team thrives in the system. Don't be fooled by his stats tonight (18 pts 7 assists) as 9 of his 18 came in the first when the team was up by 17, and 3 of the points came from the final minute of the game when the team was down by 10. This means in the meat of the game he scored 6 points. Duhon's play in relation to the team's play shows how vital the point position is to D'Antoni's system. As much as I like Duhon, we need someone more consistent at the position. If we don't the team will continue to live and die with Duhon's play.

But back to the Knicks fatigue for a second. I am usually supportive of D'Antoni and his coaching moves. I think he's a smart coach who knows whats best for his team. But the fact he basically played 6 guys on the first night of a back to back is absurd. Toney Douglas played 4 minutes (1 in the final minute of garbage time) and Curry played 4 (we'll get to him in a second) I know Larry Hughes is out and he plays a lot of minutes but if he is missing games coach can't replace him by playing the other guys more minutes in an already short rotation. Maybe he should play Toney for more minutes. Maybe get rookie Marcus Landry in the game for 4 minutes and just let him play some hounding defense. The kid tries hard when he is in the game. Jordan Hill plays well in short stretches, maybe the Knicks play him for a few minutes in the game. I don't know what D'Antoni's stance is with Nate so I can't say whether or not to play him because I simply don't know the situation. I do know we could have used him tonight. Maybe when Jonathon Bender gets rolling he could help us, I don't know his game enough yet to comment on him. But I do know that the team can't continue to basically play 6 guys the entire game. Something needs to change.

Now I want to comment on Eddy Curry for a second. I noticed the past 3 games that Coach puts Eddy in whenever we have a lead, and as soon as he comes in, our team loses the lead. This cannot continue. I understand the reason why we're playing him, we need to trade him and no one is going to want him if he gets continual DNP-CD's, but no one is going to want him either if whenever he comes in the team loses their lead. He runs the pick and roll well and he does get great positioning, and I have to credit him for the mass amounts of weight loss... But man does he play terrible defense. I mean the Bulls just toyed with him tonight, driving right to him and making shots. He also has a lot of trouble getting into the flow of the game. I commented on this in the Charlotte game, he just looks lost out there. I watched the post-game report and it seems D'Antoni is getting really frustrated with him. I don't know how much longer this is going to last.

I will be at the Clippers game tomorrow night, and I will deliver a blog after I come back from the game. Hopefully we can get a win because the playoff hopes wont last if we continue to lose like this, even in the east.

That's all for now Knicks fans, as always if you have questions or comments about the game you can email me at nyec2010@yahoo.com

talk with you later.