2012-2013 Knicks Season Preview

The Knicks open their 2012-2013 season Friday night with high expectations.  After losing to the same Miami Heat team in May that they will play tonight, the Knicks hope to improve on their 36-30 season and 7th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Point Guards

The Knicks major loss this offseason came when they let Jeremy Lin sign with the Houston Rockets.  James Dolan chose not to match the offer the Rockets gave for the breakout point guard last season.  Lin was the major reason for the 8-15 Knicks turning their season around last year.
Raymond Felton will now lead New York's backcourt.  Felton returns to the Knicks after playing 54 games here in 2010-2011 in Amare Stoudemire's first season.  Felton looks to have the success he had early on here after having a disappointing season last year with the Portland Trail Blazers.

New York also brought in 40-year-old point guard and future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd to come off the bench.  Kidd is a nice addition providing some depth and a guy who can lead this team.  Kidd has been there before and will be able to mentor guys like Felton.
The Knicks also brought in 35-year-old rookie from Spain, Pablo Prigioni, to be another effective point guard off the bench.  

Shooting Guards

At shooting guard, the Knicks will mix and match a couple of guys until Iman Shumpert returns from his torn ACL.  New York brought in Ronnie Brewer, who becomes the opening night starter.  Brewer is known more for his defense, something the Knicks definitely need out of the backcourt.
J.R. Smith returns after being a key contributor in the second half of the season for New York last season.  Smith should come off the bench as a 6th man and will see plenty of playing time.  When he's on, he can score at will.  They're going to need his scoring out of the backcourt.  Smith has the ability to score 15 points a game off the bench.  The Knicks are going to need that scoring and energy from him that we saw last season.
The Knicks also added high flying guard/forward James White, who played overseas last season.  The 30-year-old will provide a spark off the bench as he should be the recipient of some big-time dunks.

Small Forwards 

At small forward, the Knicks are of course led by their star Carmelo Anthony.  After having an incredible Olympics run and winning the gold medal, Melo is ready to have a huge season.  With Stoudemire being out the first 6-8 weeks of the season, Anthony becomes the Knicks go to guy.  Look for him to play the power forward position a lot until Stat returns to action.  Anthony should thrive in that role with not many power forwards being able to stop the versatile scoring forward.
The Knicks also bring back three-point specialist Steve Novak this season.  Novak provided a huge spark off the bench last season making a plethora of big-time three point shots.  With Anthony playing at the four, expect Novak to get some big minutes off the bench at the three.
Expect to hear Chris Copeland's name a lot this season.  Copeland played overseas last season and had a huge preseason surprising a lot of people.  Copeland can score at will at times and will shock a lot of people coming off the bench this season.  If the Knicks continue having injury problems, look for the 6'8" 28-year-old to fill in.

Power Forwards 

The Knicks will go the first 6-8 weeks of the season without their starting forward, Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire went down in preseason with a knee injury and will not return until late December.  Coach Mike Woodson is going to use a lot of different lineups with Stoudemire out.  The Knicks acquired veteran Kurt Thomas in the trade with Raymond Felton.  Thomas is very familiar with New York after playing here for seven years from 1998-2005.  Thomas should see some minutes and is a nice veteran to have to help some of the younger guys.
The Knicks also signed 38-year-old Rasheed Wallace to come off the bench.  Wallace came out of retirement to join a Knicks team that went with some veteran bench presence this season.  Wallace will get minutes with Stoudemire out along with Thomas at power forward.

Centers

Tyson Chandler returns as the Knicks starting center this season.  Chandler had a solid first season in New York averaging 11.3 PPG and 9.9 RPG.  Chandler is a double-double machine at center and will be pivotal in the paint, especially in the first two months of the season without Stoudemire.  His defensive presence down low will be essential for the Knicks success this season.
The Knicks also bring back another one of their former players in Marcus Camby.  Camby will back up Chandler and get some major minutes this season.  The key for the 38-year-old is staying healthy.  Camby has been injury prone throughout his career dating back to when he played for the Knicks from 1998-2002.  Camby's defense and ability to block shots will be big for this team over the course of the season.

Prediction

The key for the Knicks this season is staying healthy.  Stoudemire is already out and injuries have been a major issue for this team.  If Stat and Melo can gel together, this team could be a contender in the East.  Melo is expected to have possibly the best season of his career.  The key is him working well with his teammates.  Coach Woodson did a tremendous job last season filling in and getting this team to the playoffs.  Woodson hasn't been able to get the Hawks or the Knicks over that first round playoff hump.  With the talent in the Eastern Conference this season, it will be tough for him to do it this year.  If the Knicks stay healthy over this 82-game season they will return to the playoffs.

Expect a 46-36 season and the 5th seed in the East for the Knickerbockers this season.

Is Eli the Best QB in the NFL?

It's about time time Eli Manning got some love.  The guy has won two Super Bowl rings.  He's a two-time Super Bowl MVP.  Manning has become Mr. Clutch in the NFL.

Sunday afternoon, he did it again. 

Down by 3 with 1:32 remaining in the game...everybody knew that Big Blue would win this football game thanks to the man behind center.  Manning led the Giants to another comeback win in the 4th quarter and this time it only took two plays.  On the second play of the drive, Manning make a beautiful pass right into the arms of Victor Cruz.  Cruz took it to the endzone for a 77-yard touchdown to give the Giants the lead and their defense would finish it off for the win.  Manning did it again. 

It was Manning's 8th game-winning drive in the 4th quarter or overtime since the start of last season.  Eight 4th quarter comebacks in a season and a half.  That is unheard of.  Anytime the ball is in the hands of Eli Manning late in the 4th quarter, it has become a given that the Giants will win the game.  It's a great feeling for Giants fans to be able to have confidence when trailing in a football game.  No matter what the score is, Manning can lead this team to comeback wins and he continues to do it week after week.  

So the guy who used to be referred to as Peyton's brother is now on his way to becoming the best Manning.  Not only is he on his way to becoming the best Manning, but he is on his way to becoming the best quarterback in the NFL.  Without a doubt, there is nobody I would rather have in the 4th quarter than Eli Manning behind center.  He has arguably become the best quarterback in crunch time in NFL history and he's barely halfway into his football career.  

The Giants are 5-2 and CRUZ-ing in first place in the NFC East.  Big Blue looks like one of the best teams in the NFL with arguably the best QB in the league.  The way the Giants offense is rolling, it would not be a surprise if this team makes a run for a repeat.  We might just see Eli's brother watching his little bro in February holding a third Vince Lombardi Trophy. 

Jets Drop Heartbreaker to Rival Patriots

The Jets had all the opportunities in the world to leave Foxboro Sunday atop the AFC East standings with a win.  They scored 13 points in the 4th quarter after trailing 23-13.  They held a 26-23 lead with 1:37 to go, but found a way to lose the game and hand the Patriots their 4th win and first place in the division.

The Jets dropped a heartbreaker to the Patriots, 29-26, in overtime Sunday.  For once, the loss should not go on the shoulders of Mark Sanchez.  While the game ended with Mark Sanchez fumbling the ball in overtime to finish off a heartbreaking loss, this was a team effort.  After establishing the run game last week against the Colts, the ground and pound was not affective against the Patriots.

The Jets ran the ball for a combined 106 yards after running for 252 yards last week.  Once again, Tim Tebow hardly saw any carries after the Jets said he would see some time at running back this week.  4 carries for 12 yards isn't going to cut it if the Jets want to win football games.  They brought this guy in to help them win games and he has not been given the chance.  It's one play and he's out.  Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano needs to get the ball in the hands of Tebow more than four times a game.  He can make plays and shake up the defense from the conservative offense with Sanchez on the field.  The Jets NEED to run the football.  On 3rd and 2 at the Patriots 2 yard line on the Jets first drive to start the second half, Sparano decided to throw the ball instead of running the ball after Shonn Greene was running the ball effectively the whole drive.  That is a position where the Jets have got to run the ball up the middle for the score.  The reason the Jets brought in Tebow was for an exact play like that.  Terrible playcalling Sunday in Foxboro.

Sanchez threw the ball 41 times for 328 yards, a week after throwing the ball just 18 times for 82 yards.  It was a solid performance from Sanchez, but his receivers hurt him with some pivotal drops.  Stephen Hill dropped a pass that might have cost the Jets a chance at a victory Sunday.  On 3rd and 4 late in the 4th quarter, Hill dropped a perfect pass from Sanchez that would have gave the Jets a first down in the redzone.  The ball went off his hands and the Jets were forced to go for a field goal for the tie.  Hill has struggled all season catching the ball.  Chaz Schilens also had a couple of key drops that proved to be costly.  Jets receivers need to hold on to the football.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Jets in a game that they had plenty of chances to win.  It's a loss that completely changes the season.  Instead of being 4-3 returning home to face the 3-3 Miami Dolphins, the Jets drop to 3-4 on the season.  Rex Ryan will need to make sure to get this team back to running the ball effectively.  Sanchez should not throw the ball 40+ times again this season.  It becomes a recipe for disaster if the "Sanchise" has to carry the Jets on his back.

10/21/2012-The 5th Quarter in New York Sports

Listen to the podcast of my show "The 5th Quarter in New York Sports" on AM1240-WGBB.  We discussed the Jets heartbreaking loss, the Giants wild win at home, and the rest of the NFL week 7 games. In the second half of the show, we previewed the Knicks season with Knicks beat writer for the NY Post, Marc Sherman.  We talked about where the Knicks and Nets will finish in the East as well as the rest of the NBA playoff predictions.

10/21/2012 The 5th Quarter in New York Sports

Ground and Pound Gives Jets Dominant Win

Sunday afternoon, the Jets finally didn't need to worry about any sort of quarterback controversy.  They let their running game do the talking.

Rex Ryan's "ground and pound" offense finally made an appearance against the Colts Sunday leading the Jets to a dominant win over Indianapolis, 35-9.  Shonn Greene had a career-high 161 yards rushing to go along with three touchdowns.  The Jets rushing attack combined for 252 yards, which was the most all season.  Mark Sanchez didn't need to do much thanks to the success on the ground.  Sanchez was just 11 for 18 for 82 yards to go with two touchdowns.

The Jets did what they were looking to do all season on Sunday.  They ran the bell extremely effectively allowing Sanchez to be more comfortable in a limited role seeing him throw a lot less passes.  Gang Green let Shonn Greene and even Joe McKnight do the talking in the week six win over the Colts.  McKnight had a big 61-yard run in the third quarter that would lead to a Jets touchdown before leaving the game with an ankle injury.  That came right after the Jets had lost running back Bilal Powell  to a shoulder injury.

Not only did the Jets running game destroy the Colts, Gang Green's Revis-less defense held rookie quarterback Andrew Luck in check all afternoon.  Luck was just 22 for 44 for 280 yards and two interceptions.  The most important thing that the Jets defense did Sunday was pressure the quarterback. We finally saw a pass rush from the Jets defense as they sacked Luck four times.  The rookie was hurried all day long as the Jets defense made it extremely difficult for him to become comfortable in the pocket.

And what's a Jets win without a little bit of Tim Tebow?

On a 4th and 11 from the Colts 40, Tim Tebow executed the fake punt to perfection as he received the snap and threw the ball to a wide open Nick Bellore.  It came at a great time and was perfectly executed by Tebow and would lead to a Jets touchdown to give them a 21-6 lead in the second quarter.

It was refreshing to see the Jets do what they wanted to do since day once...run the football successfully.  There was no controversy needed over the quarterback position.  The Jets had their best all-around performance of the season thus far.  They were successful on the ground, in the air when they needed it, on defense, and even on special teams.

The win propels the Jets to a 3-3 record and their 2-0 division record puts them atop the AFC East.  All four teams are tied at 3-3.  That will change next week as the Jets will next travel to Foxboro to battle their division-rival New England Patriots.  The Pats are coming off a devastating loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.  If the Jets could have continued success on the ground and continue to bring a pass rush, we could see some more winning football from Coach Ryan's team this season.

Is it Tebow Time for the Jets?

No Darrelle Revis.  No Santonio Holmes.  No Dustin Keller.  Mark Sanchez coming off one of the worst games of his career.  It all spelled disaster for the Jets Monday night.

Despite all the injuries, the Jets had the ball with a chance to win the game at the two minute warning.  That's until Mark Sanchez's pass to tight end Jeff Cumberland went off his hands and into the arms of Kareem Jackson.  The Jets lost Monday night to the undefeated Texans, 23-17.

While the fault does not go directly to Sanchez, it was another poor showing from Gang Green's quarterback.  Sanchez was 14 for 31 for 230 yards and two picks.  His QB rating was 10.0.  Has the 4th year quarterback reached the breaking point?

Sanchez heard boos from the fans at MetLife Stadium all night.  Jets fans seem ready to move on and put Tim Tebow behind center.  Every time Tebow came off the field and Sanchez came on, the boos emerged.  How long until Jets fans give up and start showing up?  While the attendance was announced at 79,088, there were nowhere near that many people there Monday night.  Selling tickets will be a hard thing for Woody Johnson's team to do for the remainder of the season...especially after Johnson publicly stated he would rather have Romney win the Presidency over the Jets winning games.

It has become a nightmare in Jets land.  Their owner is making comments that should not have been made.  GM Mike Tannenbaum did not do much this offseason to improve a team that missed out on the playoffs last season.  The quarterback that was given a $58 million extension this offseason has been abysmal since his impressive week one performance.  The injuries are clearly the major issue at hand, but Sanchez's play is not going to put people in the seats.  While it is only week six, and the Jets are just 2-3, it might be time for Tebow to take over.

It's Tebow time for the Jets.

10/07/2012-The 5th Quarter in New York Sports

10/07/2012-The 5th Quarter in New York Sports

Listen to the podcast from my show "The 5th Quarter in New York Sports" Sunday on AM1240-WGBB.  We discussed the Giants win over the Browns, the Yankees-Orioles playoff matchup, the MLB playoffs, the struggling Jets, and the rest of the week 5 NFL games. Callers discussed Eli Manning, the Giants, the Yankees, and Andrew Luck with me.

Murder at The Meadowlands

A sea of red could be seen throughout MetLife Stadium Sunday afternoon.  San Francisco 49ers fans were out in full force at the Meadowlands in what was a Jets home game.  It sure didn't look or hear  like one Sunday.

It was all 49ers Sunday as they destroyed the Jets, 34-0.  Gang Green played awful football in every facet of the game.  Mark Sanchez was abysmal all afternoon.  Sanchez was 13 for 29 for 103 yards to go with an interception.  His quarterback rating was a microscopic 2.8.  He was also sacked three times against a superb 49ers defense.  If that wasn't enough, the Jets' rushing attack was just as brutal.  They had a combined 45 yards of 17 rushes.  The longest rush was for five yards.  

To add injury to insult, Santonio Holmes went down with a foot injury after making a reception to start the 4th quarter.  He fell to the ground in pain, and proceeded to throw the ball up to Carlos Rodgers, who took it 51 yards to the endzone for a touchdown.  It is not known how long exactly Holmes will be out for, but it does not look good.  He is expected to be out at least for a couple of weeks.  This comes a week after the Jets lost their best player, Darrelle Revis, for the season with a torn ACL.  Now, the Jets are left without their best offensive and defensive playmakers...and it's only four games into the season.  

Can it get any worse for Gang Green?  This team was already in a ton of trouble after losing Revis for the season.  Without their two best players, the Jets are expecting contributions from a lot of bench players, who just are not good enough.  The Tebow chants began Sunday in just the second home game for the Jets.  Sanchez struggled once again.  After an impressive week one, Sanchez has been hard to watch for Jets fans the last three weeks.  

The talks of Tim Tebow taking over have already begun.  Will Tebow's time come soon? If Sanchez continues to play as he did Sunday, it may be sooner than later.  It also doesn't help when owner, Woody Johnson, says publicly that he would rather see Mitt Romney win the Presidency than the Jets win football games.  Good that the owner has the team's back right? 

Things could get ugly quick for Rex Ryan's squad.  They take on the 4-0 Houston Texans next Monday night at MetLife Stadium.