Knicks Heat Round One Playoff Preview

The 66 game regular season has come to an end.  The playoffs have finally arrived.  The Knicks are locked on to the 7th seed and will play the 2nd seeded Miami Heat in the first round.  Game one will be Saturday afternoon at 3:30 in Miami.  The Heat finished the season with a 46-20 record while the Knicks finished with a 36-30 record.  Miami dominated New York in the regular season winning all three games against them by an average of ten points.

The Heat are not the best matchup for the Knicks.  That is without a doubt, but the Carmelo Anthony led Knicks could make a series of this.  The Knicks have been playing good basketball finishing the season very hot.  With the exception of Jeremy Lin, who will most likely miss the entire first round, the Knicks are coming into the playoffs fairly healthy.  Amare Stoudemire is back and looked strong in the last couple of games of the season.  Tyson Chandler will be ready to go as he got to rest himself for a couple of games.

The key to this series will be the play of Amare Stoudemire.  Stoudemire needs to help Melo in the scoring department and needs to outplay Chris Bosh.  As soon as Amare went down in last years playoff with injury the series was a wrap.  The Knicks need to get the continued incredible play of Anthony as well as a strong series from Amare if they want any chance to make this a series.  Another huge factor in this series will be the defense of Iman Shumpert on Dwyane Wade.  We have seen the aggressive defense from the rookie Shumpert all season that has had many guards frustrated.  If Shumpert can contain Wade throughout the series and force LeBron James to carry this team, the Knicks will make this a long series.

The problem is that the Heat just have too much athleticism and talent for the Knicks.  LeBron James will most likely win an NBA MVP this season, Dwyane Wade has done it before in the playoffs and the Heat are looking to start the dynasty that they hoped for when signing the "big three" last season.

The Knicks will keep this a good series because of their improved depth and the strong shooters they have off the bench such as Steve Novak and J.R. Smith.  New York is going to have to get improved play from their backcourt and some big buckets by guys other than Stat and Melo.  The Knicks hope to revive Madison Square Garden and pull off the upset this series like they did against Miami 12 years ago.  Sunday afternoon the rivalry continues....

My Prediction: Heat in 6

Knicks Headed Back to Playoffs

With the Bucks loss Thursday night to the Pacers, the Knicks have officially clinched a playoff spot.  The Knicks will head back to the playoffs for their second straight year.  The Knicks have not made back to back playoff appearances since the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons.  From 1987-2001 the Knicks made the playoffs every season.  From 2001-2010 they made it just once, where they were swept by the Nets in 2004.

Clearly, it has been a long time since the Knicks have put together back to back playoff seasons.  Last year's playoffs showed that the Knicks needed some more pieces as they were swept away by the Celtics in the first round.  This year could be a huge improvement for the Knickerbockers as the team has some more depth and shooting, something they needed desperately last season.  Once Amare Stoudemire went down with injury in the playoffs, Carmelo Anthony had the ball every possession taking more shots than he should.

The Knicks will get Stoudemire back tonight against the Cavaliers and will have him ready for the playoffs this year.  The team has pieces this year that it lacked last season coming off the bench.  Steve Novak has been monumental in the Knicks success lately as he continuously knocks down clutch three pointer after clutch three pointer.  J.R. Smith has started to come alive of late and everyone knows when his game is on, he will make a lot of shots.  Rookie Iman Shumpert has done a tremendous job bringing energy and a defensive presence that will be key come playoff time.  Mike Bibby has also played a role of late starting in the absence of Baron Davis and playing well.

The Knicks clearly have much more depth and a bench presence than they had last season.  Melo is also playing the best basketball we have seen him play as a Knick and maybe his career.  The Knicks are really hoping that they fall into the hands of the Bulls and stay away from the Heat in the first round.  We have seen how competitive the Knicks have played with the Bulls and how remarkable of a series it could be.  It is guaranteed the Knicks will play one of the two in the first round.  We will find out in a week who it will be.  The Knicks are the one team that nobody at the top of the conference wants to play.  I can guarantee that this year's playoffs will be a much better one for the Knicks as the Garden will be rocking like it did back in 2000.

Melo Haters Silenced

Anyone who had anything bad to say about Carmelo Anthony was quickly silenced Sunday afternoon.

Anthony put on an unbelievable performance at Madison Square Garden in a playoff atmosphere against the Bulls, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference and the most wins in the NBA.  The Knicks beat the Bulls, 100-99 in overtime. Melo scored an astounding 43 points.  He showed integrity and determination down the stretch making clutch basket after clutch basket.  With 11 seconds left, Melo drained a long three pointer with the long arm of Taj Gibson right in his face.  The Garden erupted into a thunderous roar.  The Knicks seemed to be out of the game, but thanks to four missed free throws by Luol Deng and Derrick Rose, the Knicks stayed alive.  Melo's clutch three helped send the Knicks to overtime where he was not done yet.

Melo would make a driving layup with just over a minute to go in overtime to cut the Bulls lead to two.  With eight seconds left, Melo would make the Garden shake once again.  He drained another long three pointer with Deng's hand in his face to give the Knicks a 100-99 lead.  The Knicks would get a stop on defense and come out with the victory.

Anthony showed all his haters that he knows that it is his time.  The Knicks are playing without Jeremy Lin for the rest of the season and possibly without star Amare Stoudemire for the year.  Sunday was up there as one of the most magical performances ever seen at MSG.  The Knicks needed that game as the Bucks are creeping up behind them for the eight seed in the East.  It was a monumental win in a game that could be a playoff preview of the first round.  Anyone who had doubts about Melo has hopped on the bandwagon now and is on for the ride.

The Knicks clearly are the team that the Bulls and Heat do not want to play in May.  The Knicks are tied with the Sixers for the seven seed at the moment with the Bucks sitting just a game behind.  New York has ten games remaining and will play the Bulls once again on Tuesday night in Chicago.

Johan Shines, Mets Start Season With Shutout

April has arrived and baseball season is back.  Johan Santana took the mound against the Braves on a beautiful Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.  Santana made his first start since 2010 and he looked like he had not missed a step.  Santana went five strong innings giving up no runs, two hits, and striking out five.  David Wright hit an RBI single in the sixth to drive in the Mets only run.  That would be enough to beat the Braves, 1-0.

The Mets bullpen did something that they had trouble doing all of last season.  The bullpen held the one run lead throwing four shutout innings.  Ramon Ramirez, acquired from the Giants, threw two scoreless innings.  Jon Rauch also made his Mets debut throwing a scoreless inning.  New closer, Frank Francisco, threw a perfect ninth inning and the Mets started the season with an impressive victory.  The Mets have won 33 of their last 43 Opening Day games after losing their first eight.

Andres Torres left the game in the seventh after trying to run down a ball in center field.  Torres is headed to the disabled list with a left calf strain.  The Mets have brought up Kirk Nieuwenhuis to replace him in centerfield.  Terry Collins is expected to platoon Nieuwenhuis with Scott Hairston, who replaced Torres yesterday.

Citi Field finally felt like home for the first time since it has opened.  The walls are now blue and it finally has more of a feel as the Mets home ballpark.  The 42 thousand plus fans left the ballpark feeling good with Let's Go Mets chants breaking out along the concourses.  It marked my tenth straight Opening Day and it was one of the more memorable ones as it is the Mets 50th anniversary.  The Mets honored the late Gary Carter before the game and unveiled a sign on the left center field wall in honor of "The Kid." The Mets continue the series with the Braves Saturday afternoon at Citi Field as R.A. Dickey takes on Jair Jurrjens.

Broadway Tebow

The Jets are back on the covers of newspapers stealing the headlines once again.  In a crazy day Wednesday, the Jets made a trade for Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.  Hours later, the trade was off for the moment because of a clause in Tebow's contract.  Hours later, the trade was back on as the Broncos and Jets agreed to each pay around half of the five million dollars Tebow would be owed.  The Jets traded a 4th and 6th round pick for Tebow and a 7th round pick.

When Peyton Manning signed with the Broncos, it was almost a lock that Tebow would be traded.  Not a single person thought of the Jets as a possible landing spot for Tebow until Tuesday when it was rumored that the Jets were in talks with the Broncos.  Tebow grabbed all the headlines in the NFL last year with his incredible fourth quarter comebacks.  Tebow led the Broncos to a playoff appearance and a playoff victory over the Steelers.  Once Manning signed the huge contract with the Broncos earlier in the week, Tebow's time in Denver would be over.  The Jets had signed their quarterback, Mark Sanchez, to a big contract assuring him to be under center for the Jets for at least a couple more seasons.  With all the drama and attention around the Jets, this one topped it all. 

The reaction of Jets fans has been all over the place.  Many fans are scratching their head believing this may become a huge distraction.  Mark Sanchez will have a bit more pressure to succeed.  As soon as Sanchez starts to struggle, you are going to start hearing the chants for Tebow.  The key is that Mark Sanchez is still the starting quarterback of this team.  The signing of Tebow helps the Jets in several ways.  It gives the Jets a great backup in case Sanchez goes down with injury.  We have seen Sanchez suffer from several injuries his first couple of seasons.  He has not missed much time, but he has played banged up a lot.  Also, Tebow will work well with the new offensive coordinator, Tony Sparano.  Sparano took the "wildcat" to a whole other level with the Dolphins.  Tebow can come in on select plays and surprise the defense switching it up from the Jets normal offense.  It gives the Jets another option on offense to help a team that struggled at times offensively last season.  

Yes, the Jets stole the headlines once again.  For all the opponents of this trade, it needs to be realized that this is still Mark Sanchez's team.  Tebow is another piece to try and help the Jets get back to the playoffs.  He is a winner and a guy who can and will make big plays for the Jets.  The key for the Jets right now is filling in other pieces that they need to achieve success.  This team still needs a big time pass rusher, some help on the offensive line, and another guy that Sanchez can throw to.  That should be the main concern for the Jets right now.  Tim-sanity might bring in a lot of media attention, but that is something the Jets are used to.  This team already gets enough attention for all the talk that goes on in the locker room.  Get ready Jets fans....it's Tebow time. 

D'Antoni Did The Right Thing

Mike D'Antoni knew his time was up in New York.  The Knicks had lost 6 games in a row.  They were falling out of the playoff standings, and the player-coach relationship was not there.  Carmelo Anthony was opening his mouth,  and D'Antoni was firing back.  On Wednesday, D'Antoni called it quits.

The Knicks have underachieved for the most part of the 2011-2012 season.  They started the season 8-15 before Jeremy Lin came in and took over as point guard.  They would then win their next seven games in a row during Lin-sanity.  The Knicks would then start to struggled once Carmelo Anthony returned from injury.  The style of play had changed completely and the team had no chemistry.  D'Antoni clearly had trouble working with the new offense and it showed in their play.

Now, assistant coach Mike Woodson takes over for the rest of the season and Woodson know what he has to do with this team.  It all starts with Stat and Melo.  Amare Stoudemire has been nowhere near what he was last year and it is time for him to be more aggressive and look for his shot more.  Jeremy Lin can take less shots and the Knicks can move the ball more.  Woodson knows exactly what this team has to do to win games.  Woodson has been there and in the playoffs before.  He is a defensive-minded coach, something that the Knicks lacked with D'Antoni.

The Knicks needed a change and they needed it quick.  Mike Woodson is going to send this team in the right direction the rest of the way and help the Knicks get back to the playoffs.  We are going to see the Knicks playing hard-nosed basketball the rest of the season headed into the playoffs.  The talent is there for the Knicks to get to the playoffs and to make noise in the playoffs.  With 23 games remaining and the Knicks tied for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, there is still time for the Knicks to get back to the team we saw in February that had Madison Square Garden going Lin-sane and ticket prices off the charts.

Just Shut Up and Win

The Knicks have gone from a team that had all of the NBA talking for all the right reasons just two weeks ago.  They now are being talked about for all the wrong reasons.  New York is on a six game losing streak, Carmelo Anthony won't keep his mouth shut, and Mike D'Antoni has lost control of his team.  The Knicks chemistry is at an all time low as fingers are being pointed in all different directions.

Coach Mike D'Antoni has lost complete control of his team.  Carmelo Anthony has commented putting blame on the coach, while D'Antoni has done the same on Anthony.  Clearly, the relationship between the coach and his players is horrific right now.  The Knicks are not worried about winning and are more worried on blaming each other acting like children.  It's about time for them to just shut up and win ball games.  The Knicks are on the verge of missing the playoffs as they have fallen into a tie for the eighth seed in the east with the Bucks.  The Cavaliers are sitting right behind the Knicks just one game back.  If the Knicks cannot get a win in the next couple of games, D'Antoni's time in New York may be up before his contract expires at the end of the season. 

The Knicks clearly have the talent and a deep bench to get to the playoffs and do the damage.  This team needs to get their act together off the court and play the kind of basketball we saw in the month of February.  The team has struggled mightily since the return of Anthony following his injury.  Anthony cleared up the rumors of him wanting to be traded by saying he wants to remain a Knick.  Most Knicks fans at this point would have no problem trading Anthony, but there is nowhere he could go right now.  The Knicks gave up a ton to get him and he is not going anywhere. (at least not this season)  

The Knicks need to stop the talking and get back to their winning ways before it gets out of hand more than it has already.  The Knicks will face the Blazers at the Garden tonight and are in need of a huge win.  It's time that the Knicks win games, play team basketball, and stop pointing fingers at each other.  The Knicks have 24 games remaining, with 14 of those being against teams over .500.  

Sanchez Strikes it Rich

This might just say it all.....Mark Sanchez will be making two million dollars more than Aaron Rodgers next season.  The Jets extended Mark Sanchez's contract three more years.  The total deal comes out to be five years, $58.25 million.  The deal includes $20.5 million in guarantees in 2012 and 2013.  It includes $40.5 million in "new" money and Sanchez can make an additional $10 million in escalators.  The deal gives Sanchez the seventh highest overall contract amongst NFL quarterbacks.  This obviously bows the Jets out of the Peyton Manning sweepstakes as well as Manning had no desire to play for the Jets.

Jets fans are sitting around scratching their heads wondering why GM Mike Tannenbaum is throwing more money at Sanchez, who looked to have regressed as an NFL quarterback last season.  The Jets did not beat one team that finished over .500 the entire season.  After going 8-5, Sanchez and the Jets lost their final three games to finish with an 8-8 record and missing out on the playoffs.  Sanchez was hard to watch throwing seven picks in the final three games as the Jets saw their playoff hopes fade away. 

Sanchez did have a good start to his career leading the Jets to two consecutive AFC Championships.  Sanchez did have a tremendous defense and running game as well those first two seasons.  Sanchez was extremely clutch in the playoffs both seasons playing mistake-free football and nearly getting the Jets to the Super Bowl.  Many thought that Sanchez would continue to improve this season, but he seemed to have gotten worse and faced much scrutiny from the media.  

In all fairness to Sanchez, the Jets did not have as good of a supporting cast as Sanchez had the prior two seasons.  The Jets defense clearly was nowhere near what it was the prior two seasons.  The offensive line also was extremely disappointing this season and injuries troubled the Jets as well.  The Jets defense struggled mightily forcing nearly no pressure on the quarterback after losing defensive end Shaun Ellis to the Patriots in the offseason.  The offense was forced to do more than it had to in their two seasons making the AFC Championship game.  

There are many Jets fans who are frustrated right now.  Jets fans need to realize that there are bright spots to look forward to.  Yes, the Jets may have overpaid a guy who struggled last season, BUT they did free up over six million dollars in cap space for 2012 from this deal.  Also, they will have a fresh start and a new playbook offensively as Brian Schottenheimer will not be back next season.  Schottenheimer was very conservative with his play calling at times and in the matchup against the Giants had Sanchez throwing an astounding 64 times.  A new season and a new playbook and some time to develop in the offseason will be pivotal for Sanchez in getting better and helping the Jets get back to the playoffs again.  

There has been a lot of ups and a lot of downs with Mark Sanchez under center.  Jets fans need to take a deep breathe and give Sanchez a chance next season.  The Jets have some cap room and will make this team better any way they can, especially on that defensive line as well as the offensive line.  Tannenbaum, Woody Johnson, and company believe in Sanchez.  Jets fans need to have some hope and confidence as Sanchez will be under center for at least the next couple of seasons.