Michael Moraitis writes of the old adage 'defense wins championships', and how the New York Knicks new-found commitment to stopping their opponents can push them into the postseason.
Don't look now, but the New York Knicks defense is ranked 12th in the NBA, allowing 94.6 points per game this season and fifth in defensive efficiency. What was a solid defense under the anti-defensive coach Mike D'Antoni is now starting to look like an elite defense under Mike Woodson.
The Woodson-led Knicks are 8-1 and the theme of those eight wins has been defense. During this nine-game stretch, New York has allowed only two of its opponents to break 90 points and only one those opponents, the Indiana Pacers, broke 100.
The Knicks still won that game by 15.
Once New York brought in a top defender in Tyson Chandler, it was thought the culture of this team's defense would immediately change. And while it did upon Chandler's arrival to Madison Square Garden, it wasn't quite where it is now.
Since the coaching change, the Knicks are playing with a new level of energy on the defensive side of the ball.
The reasons for this are two-fold:
1. Woodson's defensive-minded approach gives the Knicks a better gameplan for opponents as well as more structure on the defensive side of the ball.
2. Woodson keeps his players on the floor for shorter stints and in turn, the team has more energy to play defense for the period of time they are on the floor.
Even notoriously bad defenders like Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony have been playing the best defense of their careers. Both are beginning to dispel the idea they are incapable of playing defense. Granted, neither are perfect, but not even the biggest haters can deny that when you watch these guys that they are much improved from what they once were.
All that being said, the biggest problems for New York this season weren't ones that many experts thought it would have.
While the overall health of some of the Knicks' players was questioned—and rightfully so looking at the current injury report—their offense was not thought to be a concern. However, offensively the Knicks have been very inconsistent this year.
It's been their defense that has seen the most consistency. It's been their defense that has picked them up time and time again during the season and saved their numerous offensive droughts during the 2011-12 season.
Like an MVP player, there's no telling where the Knicks would be without their defense. It's been vital to New York's success and it's certainly been the difference between it being on its way to the playoffs as opposed to on its way home for an early finish to the season.
Boy, I never thought I'd say that again about the New York Knicks in my lifetime.
The most important recipe for a championship team is its defense, and it appears the Knicks have that nailed down for the most part. If their offense can ever match the defensive intensity they've displayed this season, the Knicks will be a championship contender.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Ferguson turns kids into men
Manchester United defender Jonny Evans on how much of an impact Sir Alex Ferguson has had on him as a footballer and as a person -
"The thing that really stands out is how he turns all the kids that come through the Academy into men. He encourages you, but will also have a quiet word when he feels he needs to. He just knows the right things to say at the right time."
"The thing that really stands out is how he turns all the kids that come through the Academy into men. He encourages you, but will also have a quiet word when he feels he needs to. He just knows the right things to say at the right time."
DVD Review: No Man of Her Own (1950)
The story is an almost perfect coincidence. A pregnant woman, Helen (Stanwyck), boards a train with just a few coins left in her pocket and no idea what she's going to do. She meets a friendly couple; they offer her a seat. The young woman is also pregnant. The women go to the restroom together, the young woman lets Helen try on her wedding ring, and reveals the juicy tidbit that she has never met her husband's family, and indeed, they have no idea what she even looks like. At that point, the train crashes, and the young couple dies. Helen is whisked to the hospital, mistaken for the young pregnant woman, Patrice.
Stanwyck beautifully expresses her inner torment (with a bit of interior monologue) as she decides to keep up the ruse, for the baby. It's a perfect setup, except for the fact that one other person knows who Helen really is. To make matters more complicated, she feels a little romantic spark with the dead man's brother, Bill (John Lund).
Most of the strength of the movie rests on Stanwyck -- one of the greatest of all screen actresses -- and her ability to sell this story. She rarely rests or accepts her situation. In several scenes, she lets her guard down -- such as a scene in which she's testing a new ball-point pen in a shop and accidentally writes "Helen" instead of "Patrice" -- and then falls into a twist of rage and fear for forgetting her situation for an instant.
The director, Mitchell Leisen, is not among Hollywood's most celebrated. Today he is probably best known for comedy/romances like Midnight (1939), and two Preston Sturges screenplays, Easy Living (1937) and Remember the Night (1940). No Man of Her Own is his only film noir, and he seems tentatively intrigued with shadows. The film's final sequence has a couple of striking single shots: Bill climbing a crooked staircase, engulfed in steam from a passing train. Then there's the throwaway bit of dialogue about how the dead man's body made it onto the train -- but his head didn't. If Leisen had a dark side, this one of the few times he was able to let it out.
Meanwhile, Woolrich stories had been, and continue to be adapted for movies and TV, including Jacques Tourneur's The Leopard Man (1943), Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), and Francois Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black (1968).
Olive Films released this item from the Paramount vaults. It has no extras, but the quality is fine, and it's most welcome.
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