They'll be soft until they die

The Knicks are just a bunch of scared boys with only a handful of real men on this team. When this group of guards and small forwards face a group of skilled basketball players they bitch up and there is no other way to describe it.

So afraid of being beaten off the dribble or getting contact the guards don't play tight defense or fight through screens. The small forwards are so afraid of playing against athletic bigs they force jump shots because they don't want any part of going mano a mano.

The only chance the Knicks had to be competitive today against the Hawks was to do exactly what got them the five game winning streak they enjoyed against lesser opponents. By slashing to the hoop for easy baskets and fouls, moving the ball around until the best shot became available and playing the passing lanes to get easy steals or place themselves in position where they could contest the next pass or the shot.

Other than Turiaf, Stoudemire and Landry this team gets intimidated very easily and only see themselves capable of nothing more than hoisting desperate three point attempts. When you are bitch made like the majority of these guys there is no amount of practice or experience to that can overcome it. They'll be soft until they die.
The Knicks Lose Again, Hawks 99 - Knicks 90 and it wasn't nearly that close

At Least They Tried

The Knicks lose again, Denver 120 - 118 Knicks  however, there were some promising signs.

The Knicks attacked the rim with gusto which led to lots of easy baskets and drew enough fouls to force the Nuggets to respect them.

They still didn't shoot particularly well from beyond the three point line, got out hustled a bit on the boards at times and were way to cavalier from the free throw line which was the cause of them losing tonight. However, I think that collectively they now understand the style of play that will make them competitive against the better teams and able to easily beat the mediocre teams of the league.

When Gallinari grows up a bit and learns how to contribute in other ways when his shot isn't falling the Knicks will be a .500 team. But not until then.

Landry Fields was impressive again.

This is a dumb team

The Knicks lead after the first quarter by attacking the basket on offense and crashing the boards. It was a surefire formula for victory over the Rockets that couldn't miss. Which is probably why the didn't stick with it for the remaining three quarters of the game.

Let's face it. This is a dumb team. Any excuse to toss up a three point shot and not box out on defense this team will take.

It's not a matter of this team not knowing how to win, they clear did in the first quarter. The problem is they don't want to win if they can't show off their skills shooting from the perimeter and Amare' can't show off his ball handling skills and ability to create his own shot off the dribble.

At some point a player with a high basketball IQ would understand that when his shot wasn't falling and the other team's big men were scoring that it was his job to penetrate and attempt to draw fouls to get the opponent's best players in foul trouble. Unfortunately there are no such players on the Knicks and D'Antoni seems completely unable to teach.

The Knicks will be back in the lottery after this season because they will not be in the playoffs. On the bright side, Landry Fields is doing his best to contend for rookie of the year.

The Knicks Lose Again, Rockets 104 - Knicks 96