Knicks season in review + playoff talk with Marlana

I've known Marlana from twitter. She loves The New York Knicks, New York Giants and UFC.  If you have twitter, don't tweet a lot of follow Friday mentions.. She won't be a happy camper. 

Do you follow the league in general or just Knicks?

I follow the whole league. I'm a huge sports fan in general. NBA and NFL are top 2.

How dedicated are you to the Knicks? Do you collect knick stuff? Done any crazy things for the Knicks?  

I don't really collect stuff. But I have "Amare", Anthony and Shumpert jerseys. And I'm not the "doing crazy things" type lol

How did you start liking basketball and especially knicks?

When I was younger growing up in NJ, I was actually raised a Nets fan. But as soon as I got old enough to decide what team to like on my own it was the Knicks, and has been ever since.

Pick a player from another  team you’d love having them in new york uniform

All last season I was a huge Deandre Jordan fan. I recruited him to the Knicks and it went well. But we signed Chandler so that dream ended. Currently if I had to pick a player, give me Kevin Love or Dwill.

Who’s your favorite Knick of all time? And why?

John Starks. He was a huge part of those 90s teams, a great scoring option behind Ewing. He left everything out on the court. He could go 1 for 16 or 10 for 12 and it never effected his play or confidence. 

What is one of your favorite Knicks memories of all time?

John Starks huge dunk over basically the entire Bulls team lol

What do you think about the reports that said Melo wanted Mike fired?

I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. At the same time there was also reports that Dantoni wanted to trade Melo for Dwill. But one thing you learn about NY media, they will always make up stories or do anything to cause drama. They also reported Melo didn't want JR here, meanwhile we all know that's not true either.

Does the media puts too much blame on Melo?

Yes. The media has used Carmelo Anthony as a scapegoat all season. Granted he had a shooting slump to start the year and injuries, but most of his struggles were due to being in the Mike D'Antoni system and having to change his game and play off the ball. You look back at those games we lost and a lot of times Melo wasn't even getting 20 shots per game which is something that a rhythm scorer needs. When a team is losing, especially in NY you gotta blame someone. The media chose Melo.

Biggest difference between Woodson and Mike?  How would you grade them?  

The biggest difference is the team's effort. Mike's offense didn't work with this team. We had no real pg and he never adapted, which I think was his biggest downfall. So Woodson has the team's attention and support and they are playing great. Offense is clicking, playing great defense, and winning at home. All these things are accomplished under Woodson and failed under Dantoni. Grades I dont know but Dantoni had to go, and Woodson is doing a good job now. 

Have this been one of the crazy Knick seasons of all time? It seems like the team has divided at least 4 times.  First when Douglas was the starter, then with Lin being in charge, again when Lin was out and they had Amare and Melo & later on with amare out it was just Melo’s team.  Thoughts?

This team did go through many transformations this season. I feel the Douglas era wasn't fair to him. He proved hes not a true PG last season, and he was coming off major shoulder surgery. Throwing him out there expecting greatness at starting PG was doomed. I feel Linsanity was out of context because those were subpar teams we beat.  All that matters is Melo is playing great right now. Him and Stat are learning to play together so we can make a playoff push. And let's not forget Tyson he better win defensive player of the year because he has been the one constant bright spot all yr.

Linsanity! Thoughts? 
See above answer. The teams he beat were not that great. We needed a leader with Amare and Melo out so he stepped up. But he was still a PG that shot the ball too much for my liking, and hopefully he can learn to co-exist with Melo and get him the ball more next season.

Aside from Lin, which was the biggest moment from the season?

Prob the "resignation" of Mike Dantoni. Dantoni just wasn't getting the job done, his "system" didn't fit this team.  Meanwhile, Woodson has the ability to motivate the players in a way Mike Dantoni couldn't. This led to the real Melo coming back, and taking over this team. He's playing the best basketball we've seen out of him in a long time.

Which was the lowest?

There were a lot of low points this season, but I'd have to say the days before Lin and Baron Davis when we had no real point guard. The team seemed lost, that was tough to watch.


Knicks - Heat 1st round. 

Can the Knicks beat  The Heat in the first round?  Predict the outcome

I think the way Melo is playing, Amare is back, Shumpert's defense, Mobb Deep, and a list of other factors we have a puncher's chance to beat anyone. Bring on the Heat or Chicago. I say we win.


How many games does this series go?
6 or 7! No less than that

Biggest Key to beating them in a 7 game series?

Melo being Melo, Defense, and bench scoring!

Series prediction. ? 
Knicks in 6! Winning it at home at the world's most famous arena

If Knicks don’t win, who do you think will win it all?

I've said all year I think the team to beat is OKC. Durant, Westbrook, (pending Harden's injury) if he returns they are tough to beat. Great guards, Durant and 2 big men are tough for any team to matchup with.

Overtime:

I’m a huge fan of Tv shows and music, do you like any of those things?

Sure I like TV and music. The only show I truly follow and watch religiously every week is Once Upon a Time. I know you were a LOST fan, so shame on you if you don't want this show too!

You have clearly shown your hate over my follow Friday mentions on twitter? Care to explain what’s so annoying about them?

If I explain will you stop doing them? They are annoying because it's TOO MUCH. It's like going to a website and getting hit with 50 popups and you can never get to your original site. You are those annoying popups, it's like spam I have to weed through your zillion FFs to see my normal TL.

Follow Marlana on Twitter @Marlana814 and her Sports betting site   www.hottiehandicappers.com

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