Knicks Game 8 Recap

Knicks 93 Jazz 95
Record: 1-7

Happy?

The Knicks are becoming a broken record. It seems like every game this season has been the same story. Knicks sink behind by double digits early, play some of the worst basketball possible, and end the half down by about 20. Then in the second half they storm back, newly motivated and inspired, moving the ball, forcing turnovers, hitting big shots and getting easy buckets. They manage to pull within single digits, the crowd gets hyped, the Defense chants start to shake the Garden....and they come up short. Whether it is double overtime against the Bobcats, overtime on Halloween against the Sixers, the quasi-comeback against the Cavs, or tonights heartbreak against the Jazz, it always ends with a loss.

Here is what you need to know about the game tonight,  bullet style.

• The Knicks played a 2-3 zone the whole game, and it kind of worked, mainly because the Jazz don't have any decent 3 point shooters. 
• Andrei Kirilenko (AKA Ivan Drago) exploited the zone and hit 5 for 8 on 3 pointers, but the rest of the Jazz were 3-13. I can't see this defense working against most teams, but nice strategy by D'Antoni.
• Danilo Gallinari had 2 beastly rejections. Could the Rooster be a dark horse Swat King? I like to think so.
• Toney Douglas had the night of his young career, taking over in crunch time and leading the Knicks Comeback. Douglas led the Knicks with 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting, including 3 for 7 from deep.
• Jared Jeffries and Larry Hughes led the team in plus/minus with a respective +9 and +8. Why do the worst players seem to always have the best +/- numbers? Hughes was 3 for 12, but I guess Jeffries had decent numbers. Watching the game he just seemed like he sucked, but he was 2 for 2 with 8 boards, 2 assists and 3 blocks, so I guess he did some good. 
• Al Harrington is not getting buckets, and this could get ugly. He shot a typical 4 of 14, including 1 for 7 on 3 pointers. On the season Al is shooting 7-32 on 3 pointers, which is 22%, but is still a decent 42 percent from the field. What does all this mean? STOP SHOOTING SO MANY 3's!
• Gallinari only played 25 minutes. He was 2 for 7 and 1 of 3 on 3's, but he needs more time and more chances. He can bang 3 of 4 threes in a row at any time and change a game. Gallo was inexplicably yanked with 5 minutes left in the 4th, and only played 11 minutes in the 2nd half. Some fellow fans and I started a "We Want Gallo" chant during the fourth, but he didn't come back in the game until the final play, and was the inbounder for some reason. We need a Gallinari buzzer beater 3 pointer to win so badly it's ridiculous. Let him do his thing, everyone knows 4th quarter time is Rooster time.
  
• Duhon should never start again. Toney Douglas showed he has game on both ends, and Duhon was lame again. Give Toney the reins and let's see what he can do.
  
• Only 8 guys played tonight. No Hill or Darko tonight.
  
• Wilson Chandler had a decent game with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but he just does not look confident. On one play he caught a pass at the top of the key, pump faked when he should have shot, looked for someone to pass to, didn't see anyone, shrugged his shoulders, and timidly hoisted an out of rhythm 3. He still hasn't dunked this season I don't think. He only has been to the line 9 times this year! Wil needs to get more aggressive, but maybe he just doesn't have it in him.
• Deron Williams may have only scored 5 points, but he dished out 16 assists. Nice, unselfish distribution against the zone.
• Jared Jeffries looked more ridiculous than usual, with a really thick headband that made him look like the shrunken head guy from Beetlejuice. 
• The Knicks score 31 points in the first half! They doubled that in the second half with 62.
• Toney Douglas took the final shot, a tough, off balance runner. Larry Hughes was blocked on a hanging mid range ill advised jump shot the possesion before. 
• Carlos Boozer quietly dominated the Knicks on the inside, with an efficient 23 and 14 on 14 shots attempts. He seems like a jerk and his free throw routine is ridiculou and he shoots like Marcus Camby.
• Mike D'Antoni was absolutey freaking out on the team throughout the game. I could hear him shouting as loud as he could "LET'S GO!!!!" trying to get his team to push the ball and hustle up on offense. If you can't motivate the team to hustle to the offensive end, how can you expect them to hustle back on defense?
• I noticed Jared Jeffries looks like Lowly Worm from The Busy World of Richard Scarry.