Paul Stengel's New York Knicks fan blog

October 26, 2009

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Paul Stengel

Last night's game against the Cardinals left me quite upset. Prior to the past two years the Giants were one of the most frustrating teams to root for. They would start off well, then collapse, they'd talk trash and not back it up, they had a head coach that was a stickler for details, yet they seemed to be one of the most penalized, undisciplined teams, and alot of their players seemed unhappy and unlikeable. During the 2007 season, things seemed to change, but what caused that change exactly?

Most people could safely assume that the loss of Steve Spagnuolo would hurt the Giants defense, but I'm wondering if it may run deeper than that.  In regards to Bill Sheridan, I don't think that he's a bad coordinator but he seems to be someone that is only as good as his personnel, and I know it's early but you can already tell that he's vastly inferior to Spagnuolo. Spags always seemed to maximize the production of whoever he had out there; Despite the Giants pass rush tailing off at the end of last season, in the final 5 games it was obvious that the Giants OFFENSE did not play up to the level of their banged up defense in any of those games. I would actually like to tally up the number of three and outs that the offense had in those final 5 games. Consistent three and outs by an offense are demoralizing for any defense. Last nights game was the first time this year in which the defense outperformed the offense, which is also a big cause for concern.

Continue reading "Still Missing Spagnuolo (New York Giant Concerns - 10-26-09)"

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January 22, 2009

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Paul Stengel

The Knicks are going to start winning again (they were slightly above .500 before dumping Randolph and Crawford), simply because of the depth they suddenly have with Gallinari.  It seems like D'Antoni can put any five out there and be effective; he can even win with a short-handed team, but at the pace the Knicks play, it has to help the whole team to have a capable bench.  Nate and Gallinari could be a deadly change of pace.  

Gallinari just looks like a really good player, period.  Especially offensively, he looks like Turkoglu (almost), and he's only 20.  


Continue reading "Gallinari to the Rescue?"

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November 17, 2008

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Paul Stengel
Since Michael Jordan's retirement basketball has seen its popularity decrease tremendously.  Too many teams overemphasize individual play at the expense of passing, running and taking shots in the flow of the offense.  
As a fan of the game, I don't watch basketball to see world class athletes stand around or take free throws. D'Antoni amazes me in that he has found a way to bring a definite flow to NBA basketball.  Both as coach of the Phoenix Suns and now for my Knicks he has made basketball watchable again.  His teams play an up-tempo, freewheeling style that focuses on quick offensive possessions and constant fast breaks.  This style solves what I believe is one of the biggest problems with the NBA and its (un)watchability: the problem of wasted motion.  

Continue reading "D'Antoni has made the Knicks (and basketball for that matter) watchable!"

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