Mike D'Antoni was dejected after our last loss, but maybe it's us fans who should be dejected with him.

Josh Sage gives his second, more in-depth, view of the New York Knicks’ loss to the Boston Celtics:

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Forget Santa Claus, the Big Three are coming to town. Is NY ready? (Source: NBA.com)

Josh Sage writes: The New York Knicks face the Boston Celtics tonight, in Madison Square Garden, while both teams are riding winning streaks of at least eight games. Now while everyone seems to shrug off the Knicks 8 game winning streak because they’ve faced several bad teams, no one seems too flustered by the fact that Boston’s 10 winning streak was built on victories to lousy teams as well.

The Celtics’ victories during the streak have come against the Atlanta Hawks (16-10), the New Jersey Nets (6-19) twice, the Toronto Raptors (9-16), Cleveland Cavaliers (7-17), Portland Trailblazers (12-13), Chicago Bulls (15-8), Denver Nuggets (15-9), Philadelphia 76ers (9-15) and the Charlotte Bobcats (9-15). Only three of those teams still have a winning record, one of which New York defeated last game. The game against Portland can’t be considered a strong victory since the Trail Blazers are not the same team they’ve been the past few years, due to the diminished abilities of their only star player Brandon Roy, and the Hawks only ever beat the bad teams. The Celtics 10 game winning streak, while impressive, is not overwhelming evidence to support the theory that the Knicks’ own 8 game streak will without a doubt end tonight.

When the Knicks and Celtics first faced each other on October 29th, the C’s were lead by Rajon Rondo’s career night (24 assists) as Boston narrowly avoided a late game collapse. The Knicks had five players in double figures, this from an offense still trying to find it’s legs, and had it not been for an uncharacteristic 9 missed free throws for New York (4 from Amar’e) the Knicks would have walked away with the victory.

From watching that game, and the progress the Knicks have made since, two things become obviously clear. The Knicks have to clamp up on the Celtic shooters, because once someone is open Rondo will find them. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett move very well without the ball and make life all too easy for Rondo, so the Knicks need to stay with their man and force Rondo to create space for his players. The kid’s good but he’s no Steve Nash, it’s the ability of his teammates to move without the ball that leads to crazy assist nights for Rondo. The second thing to keep in mind is that New York’s youth is their biggest asset. They need to use their superior speed and mobility to keep the aged Celtic defenders on their heels, driving into the lane and to the free throw line, where they must hit the majority of their attempts. If they can recreate one of those nights where both Gallo and Amar’e attempt 8-10 free throws a piece, then New York will be in prime position to take this game late.

One game however is not enough to properly gage how best to overtake a team, so let’s examine the Celtics last loss. Before their winning streak began, Boston lost to a terrible Raptors squad, that scored 102 points on them in route to the win. While Rondo was absent from that game, the performance of Andrea Bargnani shows that young forwards can go off on Boston’s older (much slower) bigs, scoring 29 points and reaching the charity stripe 13 times [Editor's note: technically Bargnani actually is a center, but that just means that he might go up against the slowest Celt of them all: Shaq].

With the Big Shamrock dealing with a leg injury, the Knicks must take advantage of the superior speed and mobility that Amar’e, Fields, Chandler and even Gallo will have over the much older Celtics mainstays. New York will have to out hustle, out work and just run the C’s ragged for a whole 48 minutes in order to win this game. The Knicks lack of defensive consistency (to say the least) dictates that NYK cannot allow this game to go down to the last shot, because no one can trust Mike D’Antoni to draw up a clutch defensive play to seal the victory.

In the Celtics’ 1-point victory over the 76ers, Boston allowed 7 Phillie players to score in double figures, winning the game in the final seconds due to a defensive blunder by Philadelphia. Once again Boston seemed to have an issue with those youngsters, Jodie Meeks (19 points), Andre Iguodala (14 points, 11 assists), Jrue Holiday (12 points), Louis Williams (16 points) and Thaddeus Young (16 points) all gave the older Celtics fits. Speed kills, and it certainly was killing Boston’s air of defensive superiority on that night. Had the 76ers had any kind of poise late, they would have (& should have) won the game.

Despite the blowout that many expect, this should be a very good game, competitive throughout, and will most likely come down to four key things:

1) The Knicks/Celtics 3-point shooting. Which team will have the artillery dropping tonight?

2) The Celtics defense. Can they shut down the ball movement and superior speed of the Knicks?

3) Can the Knicks get to the free throw line for around 20 attempts? If they can, it will be difficult for Boston to pull this one out.

4) Which point guard will have the better night? If Raymond Felton goes off for a double-double, New York is in good shape. If Rondo goes off for 15+ assists, New York is in trouble.

Could this trio still unite in New York? And who else should be on our radar? (Source: jockpost.com)

The New York Knicks should pursue some of these possible free agents and trade targets on teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia Sixers, writes Joshua Sage:

The Knicks continue to surge, led by the stellar play of Amar’e Stoudemire, while the Blazers, Hornets and 76ers all continue to stumble. To the joy of Knicks fans everywhere, the Houston Rockets have also played poorly this season [Editor's Note: this is particularly good because in the Tmac trade we gave Houston the right to swap 2011 draft picks if they want.  So since they'll likely have a worse record, we won't have to give 'em nuthin' this summer]. If these trends continue, come time for the trade deadline, the records of all these teams could affect the futures of several quality players around the NBA.

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Felton has done well scoring, but assisting? Not so much. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

From new Buckets writer, Joshua Sage, a post on how perhaps one of the reasons we lost to the Hawks was due to Raymond Felton.

The New York Knicks five game winning streak came to a halt yesterday at the hands of a troubled Atlanta Hawks team.  A Hawks team that looks like it’s in route to another disappointing playoff exit, but hey, at least Atlanta will be in the playoffs.

The Knicks trailed throughout the game, showed little defensive prowess, played selfishly on offense, and failed to win over their home crowd, which booed like they were getting payed for it.

New York once again lost the assist battle, only four times this season have the Knicks had more assists then their opponent. They were also out rebounded for the tenth time. So far this season, no Knick is averaging double figures in rebounds or assists.

The loss of David Lee has sorely affected the Knicks ability to keep opposing teams off the boards and muster up any second chance points. Another issue in NYC are the point guards, who look to just score, score, score. Ideally, Raymond Felton should be a quality veteran backup point guard, with a true floor general leading the starting five.

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The Knicks need to get a second star. ...Or do they already have him? (Source: Yardbarker.com)

New Buckets writer Joshua Sage talks about how the key to the Knicks winning a championship is having two studs, and how to make that happen:

Jordan & Pippen.

Shaq & Kobe.

Robinson & Duncan.

The perception amongst the media, fans, NBA GM’s and players, the unwritten rule, is that a title team needs two stars to carry the team to victory. All three duos listed above have all won multiple titles, so maybe they’re right. To that end, teams around the league have paired players together in an attempt to create that dynamic for themselves.

Deron Williams & Al Jefferson in Utah.

Carlos Boozer & Derrick Rose in Chicago.

Dwayne Wade & LeBron James in Miami.

These are the modern day duos meant to carry their teams to a championship. The first for the Jazz, the seventh for the Bulls and the second for the Heat. But who the hell cares about them, lets talk about the Knicks!

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Is this the look Mike D'Antoni gives his players when they ask him a question about defense? (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Another post from new Buckets writer Joshua Sage, saying we shouldn’t be blinded by our last three wins ‘cuz they only further proved we need a new coach who preaches defense:

The New York Knicks defeated the LA Clippers Saturday night, led by Danilo Gallinari and Amar’e Stoudemire in the final quarter. Now that bit of good news will be the only thing on most New Yorkers’ minds today. I, on the other hand, will be spending some time thinking of reasons why the Knicks haven’t fired Mike D’Antoni yet.

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Melo ain't looking too committed to Denver, but how can we get him here without carving up our own team? (Source: Yardbarker.com)

New Buckets writer, Joshua Sage, has the following thoughts on the continuing Carmelo Anthony saga:

Ever since Chris Paul made a toast at Carmelo Anthony’s wedding, proclaiming his (alleged) desire to form his own big three with Amar’e Stoudemire and Melo, the New York media has been swarming around Carmelo Anthony like vultures over an injured animal.

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Maybe we need Bill Walker and his sweet shooting stroke to get more minutes. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

After writing my post yesterday I saw that I’d received a sample from potential new Buckets writer, Joshua Sage, apparently using the same “Live by the three, die by the three” adage that I used.  Which, of course, is not to be confused with former television juggernaut Lost’s “We either live together or die alone” phrase.  Then again, that kinda works for bball too.  Anyway, without any further ado, here’s Joshua’s piece:

Thus far proven in-adequate by the loss of Steve Nash, from his ‘brilliant’ 7 seconds or less offensive system, Mike D’Antoni has resorted to relying almost exclusively on three pointers.

Some have argued that this isn’t the worse plan in the world and that it might actually be working if A) Raymond Felton would create more space for his shooters by mastering the pick & roll and forcing defenders to adjust to him and Amar’e, or B) the Knicks would actually hit the three pointers they’re supposed to hit.

The problem with both is one and the same. The Knicks don’t have the personnel on the floor to be a high volume three point shooting team. Felton has never hit better then 38% of his three’s (32% for his career), Toney Douglas is at 36% for his career and Chandler is an awful 30% from range (same as Landry Fields), and all three make matters worse by attempting three point shots off the dribble, increasing the difficulty of the shot and thereby decreasing their chances of making it.

The Knicks best three point shooter is Bill Walker at 41% (who NEVER gets any real playing time), followed by Kelenna Azubuike at 40% then Danilo Gallinari at 38%. After examining these averages it becomes apparent that the only Knick not hitting three’s like he should is the Rooster. No other Knick starter is good enough beyond the arc to warrant them taking a high volume of shots from distance, save for Walker & Azubuike. Toney is good enough but he continues to take far too many three’s off the dribble instead of catching and shooting.

The Knicks thus far have functioned best when attacking the rim and getting the opposing team into foul trouble. Danilo has an uncanny ability to get to the line nearly every time he drives to the rim. His mobility & ball handling for his height makes it very, very difficult for defenders to stop him from getting to the rim without fouling him. Any player that can match his 6’11″ frame can’t keep up with him (save Kevin Durant) and none that move faster can contend with his length. So if Danilo and Amar’e can get to the line at will, and Chandler’s/Felton’s strength is attacking the basket, then why rely on three point attempts?

If Mike insists on burying teams under the weight of three point makes, then why not start the teams’ best three point shooter at SG? If that is the system, then Walker is the ONLY option, at that position, in the starting 5. At least until Azubuike gets back that is.

I know everyone is high on Fields and his basketball IQ, he looks like the next Wilson Chandler, etc. The fact is he is a terrible three point shooter and the Knicks require a quality shooter with range at SG to help space the floor for Danilo, Amar’e, Raymond, and Chandler who all do their best work when attacking the rim.

Either Mike changes up the system or he removes Fields from the starting 5. The man better choose and quickly because if the Knicks hit another 6 game slide there will be fans waiting outside for him, with torches and pitchforks, like crazed farmers waiting for Frankenstein’s monster.