Seven Notes; flying out tomorrow

Sorry to disappoint folks but I'll be flying to Florida tomorrow and won't return until Sunday so I won't be able to cover tonight's game against the Sixers or Friday's against the Celtics.

Since I couldn't do the video, here are Seven Notes:

1. Eddy Curry made his debut late first quarter and quickly made his exit mid-second quarter. He played winded for a total of 6:21, even after getting the break in-between quarters. He finished with one point, three rebounds.. and three fouls. I wish I had time to show you a couple of his clips but since I can't:
On one possession Curry was trying to get in position for a tip-in and jumped just high enough where his feet were above a Sixer player's sneakers. The ball was tipped up high into the air and Wilson Chandler got it by jumping high enough where his feet were above Curry's knees. Just a funny contrast.

The Sixers were on the break and missed a shot. They got the rebound, pulled the ball out and reset their offense. That was in the span of maybe five or six seconds. As they made their first pass after the reset, Curry was just reaching the three point line... walking back from our side of the floor. That should give you an idea of how out of shape he is at the moment.

Curry got into post position but Nate Robinson didn't immediately give him the ball so he pulled his hands down and just stood there. Nate was forced to shoot the three instead. Made it.

2. Speaking of Nate, he continues to be erratic from deep, coming up short on several attempts. But we play our best defense when he's on the floor and we really look flat without his energy.

3. For the second straight game, Jamal Crawford found his offense early and then struggled and disappeared. It's pretty apparent how he's not fitting into this system. Basically, he comes to the ball off screens like he's on sedatives and can't get the separation he needs to catch the ball. It's killing his number of touches (which is why he's disappearing). And he's still completely dependent on his crossover pull-up jumpers. I'll keep an eye on this as the preseason progresses cause if he's not providing offensively, then he's not providing at all. By the way, D'Antoni didn't play him down the stretch.

4. We can start to consider Anthony Roberson's tenure with the Knicks finished. Mardy Collins' performance has shown that he is far more valuable to the team at this point and Mike D'Antoni has played him for 29 minutes compared to Roberson's six. We know Collins can't shoot, and judging from his decisions on offense, he knows it too. But he's been slashing to the basket successfully and he's picking his spots very well. He finished with 10 points on 5-5 shooting (all inside) and had a great defensive stop on a clearout for Andre Iguodala.

5. Quentin Richardson finished 1-7 from downtown and is 3-14 so far. I don't think it's a stretch to say that he'll be third on the depth chart if Danilo Gallinari's jumper is as good as everyone's raving.

6. Stephon Marbury has 12 assists and only 15 shot attempts. And that's while playing shooting guard almost exclusively. It's not hard to see that he's holding himself back so no criticisms from me - other than him letting Iguodala dunk it tonight when he could've taken the charge. But the question is, how long will he keep this up?

7. I'll show you this in a video eventually but our passing is very sloppy at this point. That's not the say that we're not seeing or hitting open men. What I mean is that players are having to catch passes at their ankles, picking them up on short hops, needing to jump for balls, and being pulled off spots. Not on every pass of course, but it happens far too often. It's essentially negating our open players.