A loss is a loss, but this was a better looking one

Knicks lost again, for the sixth time in a row, to the league leading Chicago Bulls. This shouldn\'t have come as a surprise, but this is NBA regular season, and anyone can get hot at any given night and launch a surprise. My money was on the Bulls, but my heart or hope was on the Knicks.

The game was broadcasted in ESPN and MSG. Clyde Fraizer is always fun, although a little bit too homerish, but I watched ESPN instead. Because Hubie Brown is one of my favorite commentators (my most favorite is JVG). Hubie is a championship coach from long long time ago. Not a great coach, just a solid one, but he\'s a great old school guy and a great commentator. He breaks down the plays for you. He\'s very objective, and he tells you what he likes and dislikes about the play. He\'s extremely tolerant and encouraging to young players. Listening to him helps you learn a great deal of basic basketball.

Knicks got off a nice start. Everyone ran, and everyone cared. I like a few plays in the first quarter the most. Lin\'s bounce pass to hard running Tyson, and Melo finding the cutting Tyson. Both resulted to dunks. That\'s what you call - rewarding your running big man. Nobody can keep the high intensity level for 48 minutes. The challenge on big men is extremely high - they usually run the longest distance, from paint to paint; they have to rebound and box out; they have to challenge shots and block; they have to bang under the basket. So, whenever a big man is running with you on fast breaks, you ALWAYS try to set him up to score the easy one. Get the big men touches will do you wonders - he will do the dirty work for you and go to war with you.

The other play like the most in the first quarter was Lin re-posting Melo. Lin found Melo down low at the elbow with single coverage, and posted him up. Melo wasn\'t too comfortable with that position, and he kicked out to Lin, and immediately cut a step inside. Lin stayed with the play and didn\'t look away, and he re-posted Melo right away. Melo caught the pass, turned, and scored, plus the foul. That was beautiful to watch. When possible, always look for playing inside first.

Prior to the game, I was worried about Boozer. No, he\'s no longer the Carlos Boozer at Jazz. He used to score 25 points on Yao Ming and 25 points on Tim Duncan during playoffs. He\'s a walking match-up nightmare for any team, because he\'s long and strong, with great shooting range, strong rebounding, and a lot of offensive weapons. I was hoping that coach would put Tyson on him. Chandler did guard him well in the first quarter.

Overall, very solid game for the Knicks in the first quarter. They didn\'t become a defensive power house overnight, but they were visibly trying. Everyone is challenging shots, and they got 7 blocks at the half. That\'s A LOT for Knicks. Even Lin slapped away a shot from Rose.

Luol Deng and Hamilton couldn\'t play, and Boozer and Rose were off with their shots. The game looked tight, but there was definitely hope for an upset.

In the third quarter, Bulls\' offensive boards started to pile on. At one point, Bulls jumped to a 6 points lead. I was like, ohoh, not again, it is slipping away. But Amare kept them in the game, almost single-handedly, with his 13 points in the quarter. He was quiet in the first half, and his total 3 rebounds in the game was inexcusable. But his 15-feet jumper was money in the 3rd quarter. The Knicks hing on there till the 4th quarter.

I really hoped they could make a hard push with a higher gear, because it was a winnable game. But for some reason, the energy level actually dropped in the 4th quarter. 22 offensive rebounds for the Bulls total. Nobody can win against a home team by giving up that many 2nd chance opportunities. Knicks\'s 4th quarter was the worst quarter they played today. I don\'t know what\'s going on. Fatigue kicked in because they played last night? Something went on at the bench during the timeout? I got a feeling that Lin started to hesitate again. Tyson didn\'t fight as hard as previous quarters. Fields was kind of lost. Melo was upset and then kind of forced the action.

Bulls were fully charged with energy, offensive rebound after offensive rebound. For one possession, they got 3 consecutive offensive boards, from 3 different players! How the heck can that happen?! Amare was there but totally invisible. There was NO boxing out from the guards. Lin only got oen rebound. Rebounding is a team effort, and guards have to help out and get more of those long rebounds. At the offensive end, I felt Lin should have looked more for Amare and Melo, to post up, or play some sort of inside out. Knicks resorted to long jumpers and forced ally oop, instead of playing patiently with set plays. Hubie also pointed out, that they should not go away from the hot hand in Amare. There was one play, where Melo had Butler the rookie pinned down low, and waived hand towards Fields. Fields just hesitated and hesitated, then launched an awkward jumper. Melo was really upset on that play, rightfully so. I still vividly remember how Yao Ming got his man locked behind, and just couldn\'t get the ball from the guard. Fans, me included, just crucified Aaron Brooks for the tunnel vision.

Obviously, Bulls is a much better team, but Knicks had their chances. The positive taking away of this game is, they played better defense. Had they played similar defense in previous 5 losses, I would bet that they could have won at least 3.

Now, one thing gets me worried in this game was, I don\'t see the fire in Lin\'s eyes. His facial expression wasn\'t that excited even after a great play, for example. Hopefully nothing is bothering him off court. Lin actually played a controlled and very decent game with 15 points and 8 assists. At the defensive end, he really tried to chase down Rose, the MVP candidate. He is a smart kid, has been improving on his weaknesses. We just need to give him time, and don\'t expect him to be MJ overnight:) One instance was quite funny. In the 4th quarter, some fans started to chanting overrated towards Lin, they Hubie was like, overrated? oh come on, Lin should tell them - I play on minimum!.

Trade deadline is this Thursday, and I seriously don\'t see any blockbuster moves in the Knicks land, feasibility wise. There might be small additions, but the core is probably going to stay. They can still make the playoffs, and it just depends on how bad everyone wants it.

They lost again tonight, but I saw some will, resistance, and pride. Hopefully they can build on that.