[05] KNICKS [17-12]: Season 1 over!

[Leander]

GAME 9 @ Orlando Magic






Mardy Collins saw 11 minutes of play against the Magic but only scored 1 point.

I adjusted the sliders and also Eddy Curry's rebounding ratings to make the game a bit more difficult but as I had been able to improve over the last games I still could win this one.

The Magic were led by a well-playing Hedo Turkoglue but they could not stop the Knicks inside. Especially Zach Randolph drew foul after foul, shooting a season-high 11/12 from the charity stripe. His 21 points and 11 rebounds were not enough: he also registered a season-high 4 blocks although he is not that good at it.

Crawford could not find his touch but still had 24 points while Marbury finished with 8 points, 9 assists, a season-high 4 rebounds and six steals. Moreover, Quentin Richardson fought off David Lee for the starting point and had his best game of the season with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, hitting 3 of 4 from threepoint line.

Nate Robinson sprained his foot and will miss the next two games. He is unlikely to appear in further Knicks games due to his bad shooting and defense. Although he hit some important threes and dished out a nice number of assists he could not get any steals (NBA Live bug? His size?) and he is just too small. Too many blocks. You can't teach size.

GM Leander Leitner said in an interview that Nate Robinson is "on the verge of a trade. He has played with all his heart but he will not be able to meet our expectations. Mardy Collins is too young and unexperienced so we will trade Nate Robinson for a good backup point guard."

[Leander]

TRADE RUMOURS

The New York Knicks are likely to trade guard Nate Robinson to the Lakers for Jordan Farmar. Other trades involve Robinson and Malik Rose for Luke Ridnour and Johan Petro but the Seattle Sonics do not seem to be interested enough in this deal.

The Lakers have yet to agree on Robinson´s move to LA for Jordan Farmar but experts claim that the trade will definitely be made.

[Lamrock]

Good trade, if it goes down, but Farmar, at least in real life is significantly better than Nate.

[Leander]

Farmar: 59 OVR, Robinson: 66 OVR. Keep in mind that Nate's overall rating is higher due to his high dunk and speed ratings.

[Lamrock]

Farmar only 59? Should be in the sixties.

Either way, I like the trade.

[Leander]

I use Andrew's the NLSC 0708 roster for Live 07, with ratings recalculated for Live 2005.

[Leander]

GAME 10 @ Memphis Grizzlies






David Lee with two of his 8 points in Memphis.

A good game on both ends of the floor was not enough. The Knicks still lost by 13 against the Memphis Grizzlies.

In this fast-paced game the Knicks allowed a season-high 123 points by one of the league's worst teams in overall ratings. Memphis took a huge number of freethrow attempts with 33 to seal the win. The Knicks were led by Crawford's 30 points. Marbury finished with 9 assists and 16 points, Randolph had 17 points and 9 rebounds. New York played the first time without backup Nate Robinson who missed the game due to injury. Mardy Collins filled the gap well with a season-high 6 points in 10 minutes of play.

New York will be without Robinson for the next game again. Afterwards he will be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jordan Farmar.

[Leander]

GAME 11 vs. Phoenix Suns






Randolph Morris had a hard time against Stoudemire.

There are teams that are almost impossible to beat. The Phoenix Suns are one of them. The Knicks played really well: Crawford had 5 rainbows, Marbury 9 assists (7 by halftime)...Balkman scored 8 points with 6 rebounds. The Knicks had one thing in common: they could not stop Shaq O' Neal.

The explosive force in the paint scored 20 points (10/11 FG), grabbed 14 boards and had 6 blocks. Amare Stoudamire had 6 blocks as well. Dunks and layups got blocked by one of the best teams in the league. O' Neal and Stoudemire ruled the paint, Hill had a nice game as well, Nash and Bell are hard to defend. Marbury, averaging 5 steals per game, could only get 2.

New York got Phoenix into foul trouble, especially Nash who had only 6 points in 11 minutes. The Knicks could even the Suns' 9 point lead in the third quarter. The game was tied with three minutes to go in the fourth but some clutch baskets by Phoenix were too much.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

The Bobcats release C R. Hollins.

The Knicks trade Nate Robinson (66 OVR) to the Lakers for Jordan Farmar (59 OVR). Farmar will wear #6.

Here are Nate Robinson's final statistics:

[Leander]

SPOTLIGHT ON STRANGE STATS

Sometimes NBA Live is strange. Nate Robinson could not record a steal in 9 games although his rating is not that low. It could be the game logic: "he is too small to get steals".

Another interesting point has been Balkman's shooting so far. His FG% is 77%. His inside scoring is average, his shooting rating is low. Still, he almost never misses. Even long-range jumpers go in. Against the Suns he made three jumpers in a row with to defenders in his face. The ball bounced around on the rim but then went in.

[Leander]

GAME 12 @ Minnesota Timberwolves






Newly acquired guard Jordan Farmar went hot in his first game.

After two losses in a row the Knicks knew that teams like Phoenix are almost impossible to beat. In today's game in Minnesota New York learned that the league consists of bad teams as well.

Minnesota is a team without stars. Young players have yet to develop while free agents such as Michael Olowokandi cannot turn the team into a playoff contender either. The Wolves got their teeth pulled by explosive Knicks, the home team did not howl but cried like little puppies.

In the first quarter Crawford drained three shots from downtown and scored 15 of his 30 points. Jordan Famar hit his first two shots - one of them from threepoint range - and Crawford continued with a good touch to give the Knicks 3 back-to-back threepointers.

Minnesota could not find a way to score (Telfair went 5/21) but New York found a way to defend one of the league's worst teams. They outrebounded Minnesota for the first time this season: Curry had 7 offensive boards while Randolph had 5. Unbelievable!

New York compensated for the Wolves comeback spurts with concentration and intelligent play. In the end Minnesota was crushed by 31 points.
GM Leander Leitner celebrated the biggest win of the season: "Wow, our team just went crazy. Jamal with 30, Marbury with his first double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. Curry and Randolph also with double-doubles...a season-high 53% from the field...I still cannot believe it. And our new player Jordan Farmar had a great first game, too, with 9 points and 3 assists."

Zach Randolph attended an individual training session after the game. His steal and defensive awareness ratings improved by 1.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

Philadelphia releases L. Amundson and signs K. Powell (7-year-contract)

[Ipsofire]

Why dont the T'Wolves have Jefferson?

[Leander]

He was injured...out for 6 days,

[Leander]

Game 13 @ Toronto Raptors





A game was four quarters and the Knicks lost in the fourth although Chris Bosh was not completely fit due to a back injury suffered in the second quarter when he collided with Patrick Ewing.

Crawford, Randolph and Marbury scored 17 for the Knicks apiece. Renaldo Balkman was rewarded for his good games in the season so far with his first start.

Here are the stats after 13 games:

[Leander]

Game 14 vs. Detroit Pistons







The Knicks wore their alternate jersey in the 14th game of the season.

[Leander]

Game 15 @ Los Angeles Lakers







Eddy Curry blocks former teammate Nate Robinson's shot without jumping.

Although the sliders were more difficult than ever New York still won and had a high FG% as well.
Curry had a season-high 5 blocks...former Knick Nate Robinson showed why he was traded: he could not make many shots and got blocked about 5 or 6 times.

Former laker Jordan Farmar had a good game.
Mardy Collins was on fire with 18 points in just 12 minutes of play.
Stephon Marbury was limited to only 17 minutes because of a back injury in the second quarter. He will also sit out the upcoming game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kobe Bryant played like a tame sheep because of early foul trouble. He even got almost ejected from the game.

===========

I won't write much anymore and rather post some screenshots because I hardly get any comments. It takes too much time to write stuff that only one or two people read.

[Cartar]

@ the Curry vs Nate pic, Curry´s feet are like swimming in the floor, he´s bit under the court. Nice win, wow your 10-5, that´s like almost half of the games that NY won in real life already. Well good luck

[jonthefon]

Looks like your going pretty well though, 10-5, who would've thunked it?

[Pistol]

Curry not only didn't jump, but his fat actually made him sink into the court

Nice win.

[Leander]

Small update:

1) I will not write recaps any more. It takes too much time and people are not that interested in mine.

2) I will only present the results of each season (player & team stats, trades etc.) at the end of the season, as initially intended.

3) Zach Randolph is injured and misses five games.

4) Two more games to play before the playoffs.

5) Just played a very strange game. I was behind by 15 all the time but finally won by 5. Curry grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds, Marbury had a season-high 9 steals and I had just NO blocks in this game although Curry and Ewing are averaging 2 BPG.

It is also interesting how different strategies yield different stats. With zone defense I get more rebounds (C and PF have 10 per game)...but it is difficult to reject shots while with man to man it is the other way round. Don't know what's better.

[Oskar]

If you don't make recaps, what will you do then ? I hope you change your mind, I enjoy reading it. Sorry that I haven't made comments, but I will if you continue.

I hope you do it.

[Leander]

I will upload a website with detailed stats, pictures, videos etc.
I do this for myself anyway and do not have time for more.

[Leander]

The season is over. I finished 10th in the league. Detailed stats coming soon.
At the end of the season I had to resign R. Morris for one year and Fred Jones for two years.

Patrick Ewing retired...surprise, surprise. I had known that before the start of the season but wanted to play with him. He should be an initial boost and lead the Knicks to a new era.

I had one roster space left and could draft one rookie...with the 20th pick I drafted C #12 Marius Payne whom I had scouted before. He had a C- in shooting and a B in blocking. I decided to get him because of his size and blocking value.

Here are some of his ratings and two pics.

Name: Marius Payne
Position: C / PF
#: 12
Height: 7' 0''
Weight: 236lbs
Overall: 54
FG: 51
Stl: 39
Blk: 82!!!!!!! Yes!
Reb: 59 / 53 (well...but he is tall anyway)
Pass: 17
Aware, speed etc.: in the 50s
Strength: 47 (needs to work hard!!!)
Inside scoring: 58
Jump: 83!



More info to come!
e.g. Marbury won the defensive player of the year award.
Morris improved from 49 overall to 52 overall, Mardy Collins from 50 to 55.

And here are some stats after 29 games: