Last night marked the beginning of Tracy Mcgrady's (and Eddie House and Sergio Rodriguez's) tenure in New York. We Knicks fans have been abused by Tracy and Eddie when they both played for the Rockets and Celtics respectively, so seeing them in our uniforms was somewhat comforting. They give us two offensive weapons and in Mac's case, a legit shooting guard who can play to the dynamic standards of what a 2 is supposed to play like. (Yes, shots fired at Larry Hughes........)Shooting it out with a team like the Thunder is no small feat as they have one of the top 2 pure scorers in the game in Kevin Durant. They also have Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green who are extremely solid players in their own right, as well as James Harden, Thabo Sefalosha and Nick Collison. It's not a game anymore as this young group has risen to become one of the better teams in the West.
And yes, it was entertaining as hell. We lost, but I noticed a few things that I'll get into:
- Just based off this one game, I'd say we can afford to have Chris Duhon come off the bench to back up Sergio Rodriguez (if not have him not play the rest of the season....). Mike D's offense is heavily perimeter based and for some reason, it looked like Sergio got "it" in his first game. We finally have a guard who is willing to repeatedly penetrate the D and dish off. Duhon's been with the Knicks for quite some time now and it doesn't look like he's getting any better. With Sergio, we have a guard who can make our pick and roll way more effective by passing to a cutting David Lee, a trailing T-Mac, or Danilo G or Al Harrington (who I'll address later) on the perimeter. There's no reason for Duhon to have played 20+ minutes and end up with 0 points and 2 assists. Sergio played 25 minutes with 5 points, 6 assists and 2 turnovers.
- Eddie House is one of those players who you LOATHE when he's on the other team but root for when he's on your squad. Dude has a cannon and hit some go-ahead shots in the 4th. Season high 24 points. He can benefit greatly from playing with a drive/dish guard like Sergio. His ball handling is less than advertised but I can live with that. If he plays the 2 on D, he is obviously a defensive liability, but he makes up for that with his intangibles and shot making.
- David Lee is a guy who doesnt need plays ran to get buckets, so he'll definitely thrive with Sergio and co on the floor with him. He'll need a backup center for sure as our next big man is Jonathan Bender who at 6'11 plays like a 2 anyway....He had 30/10
- Al Harrington is being exposed. I never was a fan of his game....a 6'9 tweener who doesnt make up for that in good shot selection and defense. Dude is streaky as hell. It's crazy that he was our leading scorer at one period. I honestly dont think he will get along with T-Mac. If he's off the bench, he can be a potent 6th man. I can easily see an Alpha Male battle for this team for some reason...
- Wilson needs to learn how not to force the game. He's improved and is good at getting to the line. With his slashing skills, him and Mac can produce from the line as well as play off each other.
- Gallo? T-Mac can play point-forward and handle the rock. Don't wanna restrict Gallo to just being a 3 point shooter...but if it aint broke dont fix it. He's extremely crafty but sometimes I cringe watching him handle the rock.
- We need a big. Preferably one with shot-blocking skills.
- Like I said, we need a big. Preferably one with shot-blocking skills.
You can see highlights from the game below
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