Knicks Start Final Playoff Push Tonight in Chicago
Feb 16 2010 12:09PM
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Mike D'Antoni and the Knicks kick off their final postseason push with a home-and-home series against the Chicago Bulls.
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The All-Star break is over and the final stretch of the season is set to
begin Tuesday night when the Knicks visit the Chicago Bulls in the first
game of a home-and-home series between the two teams.
The main objective for the final 31 games of the regular season is obviously to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004, but head coach Mike D'Antoni still wants to continue developing his younger players for the future. That means Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler will be called upon to play big roles in the final push and rookies Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas could see increased playing time.
"They want to finish out the year right," D'Antoni said after Monday's practice at the team's training facility. "My biggest thing now is to make sure Gallo and Wilson keep improving and to get a really good look at Jordan and Toney. And from there try to help the rest of the guys either here or wherever they go."
D'Antoni is pleased with the progression of Gallinari and Chandler so far. Gallinari is leading the league in 3-pointers made while shooting 40.2 percent from downtown in just his second NBA season following an injury-plagued rookie campaign. Chandler, a third-year forward, is averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game while shooting a career-best 47.8 percent from the field. He scored a career-high 35 points in last Tuesday's overtime loss to Sacramento in the Knicks' final game before the break.
To make the future look even brighter, fifth-year center David Lee was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this season. Lee, who is averaging 20.0 points and 11.4 rebounds, was selected for the game as a replacement for Allen Iverson, who was forced to sit out due to personal reasons. Lee scored four points and grabbed two boards in over 12 minutes in front of a crowd of over 108,000 fans in Dallas.
"The biggest thing he has to improve on is changing over to becoming a heck of a winner," D'Antoni said. "That means making big shots down at the end and defensively picking it up. For all those guys, it's a mindset and hopefully being around those guys will help a little bit. The intensity that they play and talk about the game, it's got to help him and help him get confidence from that, too."
More things will be expected from Lee now that he will forever be known as an NBA All-Star, starting with becoming a team leader. The younger players, especially Hill, a reserve big man, could be inspired Lee's recent accomplishments just a few seasons after being taken with the last pick in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft.
"I think just being in that atmosphere, being around the other players, it should change a player," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said of Lee's All-Star experience. "It's for the good."
While D'Antoni would like to play the rookies a little bit more down the stretch and Walsh wouldn't be opposed to seeing them more on the court, the Knicks don't want to stray away from their journey to the postseason. The Knicks are currently six games back of Chicago for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
"I still want to win, I still think we want to do that and have the best year that we can have, whatever that is" D'Antoni said. "But, yeah, we want to look at (the rookies) and I think I'll start doing that a little bit more. And that doesn't mean 20 (minutes) tomorrow or 10 (minutes). We want to see how the game goes, but also knowing that's where we want to go."
The main objective for the final 31 games of the regular season is obviously to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004, but head coach Mike D'Antoni still wants to continue developing his younger players for the future. That means Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler will be called upon to play big roles in the final push and rookies Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas could see increased playing time.
"They want to finish out the year right," D'Antoni said after Monday's practice at the team's training facility. "My biggest thing now is to make sure Gallo and Wilson keep improving and to get a really good look at Jordan and Toney. And from there try to help the rest of the guys either here or wherever they go."
D'Antoni is pleased with the progression of Gallinari and Chandler so far. Gallinari is leading the league in 3-pointers made while shooting 40.2 percent from downtown in just his second NBA season following an injury-plagued rookie campaign. Chandler, a third-year forward, is averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game while shooting a career-best 47.8 percent from the field. He scored a career-high 35 points in last Tuesday's overtime loss to Sacramento in the Knicks' final game before the break.
To make the future look even brighter, fifth-year center David Lee was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this season. Lee, who is averaging 20.0 points and 11.4 rebounds, was selected for the game as a replacement for Allen Iverson, who was forced to sit out due to personal reasons. Lee scored four points and grabbed two boards in over 12 minutes in front of a crowd of over 108,000 fans in Dallas.
"The biggest thing he has to improve on is changing over to becoming a heck of a winner," D'Antoni said. "That means making big shots down at the end and defensively picking it up. For all those guys, it's a mindset and hopefully being around those guys will help a little bit. The intensity that they play and talk about the game, it's got to help him and help him get confidence from that, too."
More things will be expected from Lee now that he will forever be known as an NBA All-Star, starting with becoming a team leader. The younger players, especially Hill, a reserve big man, could be inspired Lee's recent accomplishments just a few seasons after being taken with the last pick in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft.
"I think just being in that atmosphere, being around the other players, it should change a player," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said of Lee's All-Star experience. "It's for the good."
While D'Antoni would like to play the rookies a little bit more down the stretch and Walsh wouldn't be opposed to seeing them more on the court, the Knicks don't want to stray away from their journey to the postseason. The Knicks are currently six games back of Chicago for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
"I still want to win, I still think we want to do that and have the best year that we can have, whatever that is" D'Antoni said. "But, yeah, we want to look at (the rookies) and I think I'll start doing that a little bit more. And that doesn't mean 20 (minutes) tomorrow or 10 (minutes). We want to see how the game goes, but also knowing that's where we want to go."
