The New York Knicks’ 88-81 victory over the Chicago Bulls was a tale of two halves.
In the first half, the Knicks passed and cut with alacrity, were remarkably unselfish, pushed the tempo, and walled off Chicago’s drives to the paint on the way to a 53-31 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Knicks still passed the ball, but without the purpose they displayed in the first half. Cuts and drives were executed at half-speed, they didn’t run as eagerly, and their defense was a half step slow.
The Bulls outscored the Knicks 50-35 and had chances to overtake them on numerous occasions.
Why such the bipolar performance?
A number of reasons:
A mediocre roster
No interior offensive presence
No shot blocker or shot contester on defense
Mediocre shooters in a shooting-based philosophy
The relative youth of so many key performers.
The lack of mental toughness after jumping out to a huge lead.
Instead of focusing on the half-to-half differences, it would be best to focus on who consistently did what.
David Lee is the Knicks' best player and came through with a monster game—8-13 FG, 21 REB, 5 AST, 1 TO, 18 PTS ...
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Article written by Erick Blasco
New York Knicks Breakdown: Half Good May Be Good Enough
December 23rd, 2009 by Erick Blasco Leave a reply »
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