Remember, the Path to 2008 Wasn't as Smooth as Some Would Like to Remember...

[ejk3489]

team has shown it can win when it matters most.

Game 7 of the championship round qualifies as "when it matter most", right? Why didn't they win that one? Yea, we were without our starting center...but we don't have our starting center this year as well...and nobody knows if he'll be even back. And please don't give me the free throws disparity excuse...that's why HCA is so important. We didn't have it last year..and we don't have it this year as well...but we had it in 2008 and look up the free throws disparity in game 6. We got the better end in that series.

KG is healthy compared to last year..but the improvement in his health has been negated by the acquisition of new players that, like you said, are still learning to play with our team.

That flip the switch mentality came back to bite them in the butt last year...and if they don't raise the level of their play by several notches, then this season is going to end up in disappointment too.

Ok, I should have said "when is matters most, beside game 7 of the NBA Finals". And no, I'm not one of those who think the refs dictated the outcome of the game last year. It was absolutely our fault for giving up 53 rebounds (23 offensive) to the Lakers. All I'm saying is that this year isn't that much different from last. And I agree, they most definitely have to play better in the next few rounds if they want any chance at beating the Lakers/Spurs/OKC/whoever.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

[BASS_THUMPER]

go few years before that..wow?

those who were fans before ray and kg got here know it was a ruff road gettin this far again after bird..parish..etc..

back in time..i mean during a terrible season we had huge wins..

one of those memorable wins was when we beat la and shaq called paul "the truth"

what im sayin is as this goes down to the wire..paul gotta lead us..he needs to take this team back

when paul does that the rest will follow

[barefacedmonk]

I'm glad we're up 2-0...but the team's performance hasn't been the "flip the switch" type that half the people here wanted us to believe in....we haven't looked much different from where we were at a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear against Miami last year that we came out with a different focus, and the team gained momentum from there.  (Game 1: 85-76; Game 2: 106-77).  We're not playing even close to that level right now, but hopefully they can get it together.  This team is certainly talented enough, although there's some legitimate cause for concern.

Agreed. Game 2 last year was completely the opposite of what we saw tonight. KG was suspended and yet we blew out Miami. Can you imagine if KG was suspended for a game in this series? Amar'e will have a merry time.

We absolutely need Shaq against Miami year...PG and the C position is their weakest link and we must take advantage of that. LeBron and Wade will get their points and their superstar calls....its those other two match ups that we must exploit to the fullest if we want to give ourselves a good chance at beating them 4 times.

[GreenEnvy]

I'm glad we're up 2-0...but the team's performance hasn't been the "flip the switch" type that half the people here wanted us to believe in....we haven't looked much different from where we were at a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear against Miami last year that we came out with a different focus, and the team gained momentum from there.  (Game 1: 85-76; Game 2: 106-77).  We're not playing even close to that level right now, but hopefully they can get it together.  This team is certainly talented enough, although there's some legitimate cause for concern.

Agreed. Game 2 last year was completely the opposite of what we saw tonight. KG was suspended and yet we blew out Miami. Can you imagine if KG was suspended for a game in this series? Amar'e will have a merry time.

We absolutely need Shaq against Miami year...PG and the C position is their weakest link and we must take advantage of that. LeBron and Wade will get their points and their superstar calls....its those other two match ups that we must exploit to the fullest if we want to give ourselves a good chance at beating them 4 times.

Since you brought it up, what makes the team so much better last year than this year? I don't think you can criticize Rondo, Ray, or Pierce all that much. JO has been everything Perk offered thus far. BBD is BBD.

You want to compare benches? Green and Delonte are stronger than what we had to offer last year even if 'Sheed was a plus.

Face it, the Knicks are a good team that the Heat and Bulls didn't want to face. They managed to avoid them, we didn't.

Now we have to grind out wins against a dangerous team. Our fault, but I expect us to prevail however necessary.

[barefacedmonk]

Since you brought it up, what makes the team so much better last year than this year? I don't think you can criticize Rondo, Ray, or Pierce all that much. JO has been everything Perk offered thus far. BBD is BBD.

Where have I said that last year's team was better? All I have been saying is that we need to improve our level of play going forward. I haven't criticized any player in this thread...I've only criticized our level of play in the first two playoffs games.

[barefacedmonk]

Since you brought it up, what makes the team so much better last year than this year? I don't think you can criticize Rondo, Ray, or Pierce all that much. JO has been everything Perk offered thus far. BBD is BBD.

You want to compare benches? Green and Delonte are stronger than what we had to offer last year even if 'Sheed was a plus.

Face it, the Knicks are a good team that the Heat and Bulls didn't want to face. They managed to avoid them, we didn't.

Now we have to grind out wins against a dangerous team. Our fault, but I expect us to prevail however necessary.

You either misunderstood or didn't bother reading any of my posts. I have no idea what you're trying to say here. I haven't criticized any player on our team or said anything that implies that Knicks are a weak team. I have only criticized the two performances our team has put up to begin this years playoffs.

[wahz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_NBA_Playoffs


the Celtics flat out have a history of playing tough playoff games. The 60 Celtics did it way more than you all recall. They had to win many 7th games.

were ok for now. I realize this thread is about the recent champs but maybe management here will not delete this post

[GreenEnvy]

Since you brought it up, what makes the team so much better last year than this year? I don't think you can criticize Rondo, Ray, or Pierce all that much. JO has been everything Perk offered thus far. BBD is BBD.

You want to compare benches? Green and Delonte are stronger than what we had to offer last year even if 'Sheed was a plus.

Face it, the Knicks are a good team that the Heat and Bulls didn't want to face. They managed to avoid them, we didn't.

Now we have to grind out wins against a dangerous team. Our fault, but I expect us to prevail however necessary.

You either misunderstood or didn't bother reading any of my posts. I have no idea what you're trying to say here. I haven't criticized any player on our team or said anything that implies that Knicks are a weak team. I have only criticized the two performances our team has put up to begin this years playoffs.

You wanted us to imagine a KG-less squad against Amare. No, we don't win by 29. But, considering we didn't win another game by anything close to 29 WITH KG, I don't see what that one game has to do with anything, as it was more of an aberration.

Unless your point (and Roy's) was to compare a Game 2 of team with 10 different players to a series against another Game 2 against a completely different team in another season, then OK...

If anything, this game was more comparable to Game 3 when Wade was on fire, and we won similarly to tonight. So if we come out and win decidedly, will everyone say we are hands down better than last season because Game 3 was a nail-biter?



This team has not played all that well, and still find themselves up 2-0. That in itself is comforting. We withstood a great game by Amar'e, and then an insane game by 'Melo. If they both put it together in the same game, I don't know what team can beat them. But there's no reason to expect them to do that very consistently.

These are the Knicks, last year were the Heat. 2008 were the Hawks. Next round will likely be a different Heat team. What do they all have in common? Nothing.

[barefacedmonk]

Since you brought it up, what makes the team so much better last year than this year? I don't think you can criticize Rondo, Ray, or Pierce all that much. JO has been everything Perk offered thus far. BBD is BBD.

You want to compare benches? Green and Delonte are stronger than what we had to offer last year even if 'Sheed was a plus.

Face it, the Knicks are a good team that the Heat and Bulls didn't want to face. They managed to avoid them, we didn't.

Now we have to grind out wins against a dangerous team. Our fault, but I expect us to prevail however necessary.

You either misunderstood or didn't bother reading any of my posts. I have no idea what you're trying to say here. I haven't criticized any player on our team or said anything that implies that Knicks are a weak team. I have only criticized the two performances our team has put up to begin this years playoffs.

You wanted us to imagine a KG-less squad against Amare. No, we don't win by 29. But, considering we didn't win another game by anything close to 29 WITH KG, I don't see what that one game has to do with anything, as it was more of an aberration.

Unless your point (and Roy's) was to compare a Game 2 of team with 10 different players to a series against another Game 2 against a completely different team in another season, then OK...

If anything, this game was more comparable to Game 3 when Wade was on fire, and we won similarly to tonight. So if we come out and win decidedly, will everyone say we are hands down better than last season because Game 3 was a nail-biter?



This team has not played all that well, and still find themselves up 2-0. That in itself is comforting. We withstood a great game by Amar'e, and then an insane game by 'Melo. If they both put it together in the same game, I don't know what team can beat them. But there's no reason to expect them to do that very consistently.

These are the Knicks, last year were the Heat. 2008 were the Hawks. Next round will likely be a different Heat team. What do they all have in common? Nothing.

I'm not (and I don't think Roy is either) trying to compare the team to last year or 2008. I agree its pointless. What we did last year or 2008 has no bearing on what we will do in these playoff games.

I was responding to other posters who are trying to convince others of the results that we can expect moving forward...I don't care what we did last year or what the rest of the league is doing this year. Bottom line is we squeaked by two very close wins...and if we want to win banner 18 then our level of play has to go up several notches.

[GreenEnvy]

Since you brought it up, what makes the team so much better last year than this year? I don't think you can criticize Rondo, Ray, or Pierce all that much. JO has been everything Perk offered thus far. BBD is BBD.

You want to compare benches? Green and Delonte are stronger than what we had to offer last year even if 'Sheed was a plus.

Face it, the Knicks are a good team that the Heat and Bulls didn't want to face. They managed to avoid them, we didn't.

Now we have to grind out wins against a dangerous team. Our fault, but I expect us to prevail however necessary.

You either misunderstood or didn't bother reading any of my posts. I have no idea what you're trying to say here. I haven't criticized any player on our team or said anything that implies that Knicks are a weak team. I have only criticized the two performances our team has put up to begin this years playoffs.

You wanted us to imagine a KG-less squad against Amare. No, we don't win by 29. But, considering we didn't win another game by anything close to 29 WITH KG, I don't see what that one game has to do with anything, as it was more of an aberration.

Unless your point (and Roy's) was to compare a Game 2 of team with 10 different players to a series against another Game 2 against a completely different team in another season, then OK...

If anything, this game was more comparable to Game 3 when Wade was on fire, and we won similarly to tonight. So if we come out and win decidedly, will everyone say we are hands down better than last season because Game 3 was a nail-biter?



This team has not played all that well, and still find themselves up 2-0. That in itself is comforting. We withstood a great game by Amar'e, and then an insane game by 'Melo. If they both put it together in the same game, I don't know what team can beat them. But there's no reason to expect them to do that very consistently.

These are the Knicks, last year were the Heat. 2008 were the Hawks. Next round will likely be a different Heat team. What do they all have in common? Nothing.

I'm not (and I don't think Roy is either) trying to compare the team to last year or 2008. I agree its pointless. What we did last year or 2008 has no bearing on what we will do in these playoff games.

I was responding to other posters who are trying to convince others of the results that we can expect moving forward...I don't care what we did last year or what the rest of the league is doing this year. Bottom line is we squeaked by two very close wins...and if we want to win banner 18 then our level of play has to go up several notches.

Well then I don't see the point of bringing up a 29-point win last year (as Roy did) and asking how we would fare without KG against the Knicks.

Yes we have to play better going forward, but maybe the Knicks are just a tough matchup for us. I see Turiaf defending KG very well, and 'Melo/Amar'e hitting low-percentage shots.

Does that mean Bosh will be that good defensively, or LeBron/Wade will be hitting circus shots? Not to me it doesn't.



But I think we agree on most points, and I'm not here to argue after a win that brings up closer to a championship.