Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Heat–Knicks rivalry

By Rafik Dimian

The Knicks–Heat rivalry was a rivalry between two professional basketball teams, the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat, of the National Basketball Association.
Known as one of the fiercest rivalries in recent history, the Knicks–Heat rivalry was derived from their frequent, and frequently long, playoff series. Prior to their rivalry, there had never been an occasion in the NBA wherein two teams had met in postseason play four consecutive seasons and had seen each series extend to the maximum number of games in each of the four series. The Knicks and Heat thus made history by meeting in the playoffs for the maximum number of games every year from 1997 to 2000. The aggressive nature of these games—defensive struggles marked by numerous foul calls and intense physical play—can be traced to the highly defensive style of Pat Riley, former coach of both teams and the central figure of the rivalry.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

We will win tonight

By Rafik Dimian

Arena:
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

We will win tonight

Amare Stoudemire: 'We're Going To Be A Pretty Good Team"

Rafik Dimian
On the difference between Phoenix and New York:
"Well the difference in Phoenix is that we were always championship contenders and fighting for a championship every year. This year is more of a greater challenge with trying to make the playoffs and keep a winning record. Also just trying to be able to help lead. I think we have the third or fourth youngest team in the NBA. So you make your mistakes in the basketball game and have to make sure you get over the hump."
On where New York is compared with other playoff teams:
"We’re still improving. We don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves. We still have to get better on the defensive mindset, but if we can play together and make sure we understand our strategy on the defensive end, execute those, then we have a great chance to beat those guys. Those teams are playing great basketball but we’re definitely trying to compete."
On what he expects the rest of the season:
"I know one thing, as the season goes on, we’re definitely going to continue to improve. In the first month we’re showing that we’re a team to be reckoned with. If we continue to play as well as we have and keep improving, we’re going to be a pretty good team this year."