This is the second Friday night affair against the New York Knicks this year and Seth at Posting and Toasting was happy to respond to a few more questions. A lot has changed since the last time we checked it on the Knicks, including the acquisition of T-Mac.
HQ: Obviously the Knicks made a big move at the trade deadline. What are your thoughts on the deals? Did the Knicks give up too much for cap space and a chance at one of the big free-agents or was this a must do?
PT: Jeez, I have no idea. I don't think I'd personally have the stones to gamble on this summer, but Donnie Walsh is a ballsier man than I and went for the homerun. What I'm really excited about is the acquisition of Bill Walker. [Nickname pending] has been tearing things up in his first big minutes, and he's got Knick fans wondering if we lucked into an extremely cheap and valuable asset to keep around for next year.
HQ: How would you evaluate McGrady at this point? It seems like his knee's still are not right. What have you see from him thus far and do you think he has anything left in the tank?
PT: McGrady's confidence in his knees seems to waver from game to game, but he's done an excellent job managing the ball and sharing with his teammates. In all the hullabaloo about his loss of conditioning and athleticism, McGrady hasn't lost his intelligence or humility. McGrady's struck a nice balance between wetting his own offensive beak and distributing to teammates.
HQ: What's the key to a Knicks win this Friday?
PT: Rebounding. If Bargnani, Turkoglu, et al. get hot from downtown again, then the Knicks will have to concede this one. If that's not the case, the only the Knicks will steal a victory is if they crash the boards more than they have been in recent games. That'll require somewhat overmatched guys like Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington, and Bill Walker to defend and give David Lee help on the boards. If that sounds like a tall order...it is. The Knicks have had trouble with Toronto before and now, sans Jared Jeffries, it'll take an unusually focused effort to grab a victory.