Wow. Two Shelden Williams posts in one week?!?!

In case you missed it in Will’s preview, coming off his surprisingly effective performance defending Dwight Howard two nights ago, it’s looking like Mr. Landlord Williams will get the Knicks first crack at Brook Lopez against New Jersey tonight. If he manages to go two for two in giving the East’s two most offensively talented big men (apologies to a sober JaVale McGee) extended headaches, who knows how far he can take us. The sky’s the limit when Shelden Williams is your starting center.

From Chris Sheridan:

Shelden Williams starts at C tonight for Knicks vs. Nets. Ronny Turiaf (ankle) is out. Shawne Williams (back spasms) is doubtful.

Some Love For Shelden (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

There were several reasons why the Knicks squeaked by Orlando last night: A few fortunate refereeing decisions (see Dwight Howard’s sixth foul and the Carmelo/Jason Richardson action movie tussle), the absolutely monstrous second half by Anthony, and functioning grit of Shelden Williams. Wait, hold up. What two words did my fingers just type? Shelden Williams? That’s right, Candace’s man, The Shelden Williams.

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Sorry for the slight delay on this recap, my effort today has been slightly on par with Carmelo Anthony’s. It’s incredibly difficult to come back from a 32-9 deficit—what the Knicks faced after one quarter—and make a basketball game competitive, so hats off to New York for doing just that. But that’s about the only positive to be taken from this Sunday matinee. The first quarter saw apocalyptic level shooting from just about every Knick player—they shot 4-25 in the first 12 minutes and didn’t seem interested in switching up the offensive game plan. The much maligned defense played like its described, specifically in the transition game. On one early Chauncey Billups miss, the Bucks quickly pushed the ball up the court and, with three Knicks back and ready on defense, found a wide open Carlos Delfino whose facial expression said “why isn’t anyone guarding me”. Coming off a game two days ago where he hit eight three-pointers, Delfino, of course, drained the shot. His first of six behind the arc for a career high 30 points.

Behind Chauncey Billups (21 points) and the usual suspect, Amar’e Stoudemire (25), the Knicks were able to cut their 23 point deficit to six by halftime. Most of it was due to an outstanding protection of the basketball. (The Knicks only had six turnovers in the game.) But none of that really mattered. The team shot 38.6% on the day. When your interior defense is a Kleenex, it’s very difficult to win any games shooting the ball like that.

* Carmelo Anthony had 23 points on 14 shots, five rebounds, and one assist. Not to pile on the poor guy, but the numbers have a difficult time describing how terrible a performance this was. Defensively Anthony was atrocious. His main assignment, Carlos Delfino, was the one flaunting the superstar swagger Anthony normally hones. Delfino was open all day long. It’s like Carmelo doesn’t know guarding players when they don’t have the ball counts as “playing defense”; I don’t understand it. Taking pride in your defense doesn’t mean your man goes off for a career high scoring performance when you’re guarding him. Hopefully he ratchets it up come playoff time.

* Landry Fields was a ghost today, but I have a difficult time putting blame on his shoulders. Nobody’s sacrificed more in the field of scoring points than the rookie, and it seems he’s having a difficult time finding shots within the flow of the game. He had 0 assists, and due to an inability to defend John Salmons (the Knicks reluctantly switched Turiaf onto the Bucks shooting guard on a few plays), only played 21 minutes. New York usually loses when Fields has games like this one.

* D’Antoni started Shelden Williams at center. He played the first six minutes, then watched the following 42 from the bench. What the hell is the point in doing this? Williams was his usual terrible self in his minutes on the floor, adding further evidence to the “Shelden Williams isn’t an NBA player” argument.

* BOX SCORE

* Toney Douglas is getting floor time for his defensive abilities, but it’s his offensive play receiving a majority of the scorn/praise. Today it’s mostly scorn. He had nine assists, but shot 3-13 from the field for seven points. Douglas has become the team’s true X-factor, and his up and down play has been symbolic of the team’s, so usually when he either shoots lights out, plays solid defense, or just makes solid decisions, the Knicks contend. Today his shots weren’t falling. Result: loss.

On To The Next One...

* Late last night as I was boogie boarding around in my nightly search for irresistible Knicks related stuff on the internet, a snippet caught my eye, looking both peculiar and hilarious at the same time. It seems ex-Knick Cuttino Mobley (he was traded here in 2008, but never played a game due to heart trouble) has his sights on making the world a better place. How does he plan on putting his name back in the spotlight and irrevocably adjusting your life for the better, you ask? Well, Mr. Mobley is trying his damnedest to open a Medical Marijuana Dispensary in always sunny Warwick, Rhode Island. From the looks of it, this might actually be a smart business venture should it ever get off the ground.

* Removed your head from the clouds yet? Back to basketball in a big way with a serious statistical mess from your favorite all things relevant/cultural/political website involving your main man Carmelo Anthony.

* New York Magazine gives their weekly Knicks power rankings. (Spoiler Alert: Shelden Williams is ranked higher than 3 of his teammates, making this list a total crock…Just kidding, Shelden!)

* As usual, the Verbal Masturbation Master arrives an hour late to the party.

* Amar’e's jumper is way better than everybody else’s.

* Back to picking on poor Shelden.

* A nice piece on the importance of chemistry within an NBA team.

* To honor the birth of rap music’s G.O.A.T., here’s a little basketball related lyricism for your eyes and ears.

* Chauncey Billups looks to remain on the mend.

* A very interesting article by Rob Mahoney on the overlooked importance of individual defense. Rob uses former Celtic Tony Allen, who will likely share time with Shane Battier guarding Carmelo Anthony tonight, to drive his point, and it’s one I couldn’t agree more with.

* Using statistics (gasp) the New York Post takes a look at the Knicks bump in production since the Carmelo trade.