Quizzical Season: Think You Know the Knicks?

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - The atmosphere felt familiar Thursday morning at the Knicks' training facility. For the 19th time this season, the Knicks reconvened to talk about another defeat. Several players, including Carmelo Anthony, did not practice because of injuries, and that felt familiar, too.

In the wake of Wednesday's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden, where the team was blown out (again) and the fans booed (again), Coach Mike Woodson somehow summoned the energy to talk about an important opportunity this week: back-to-back games against the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Raptors, who will visit the Knicks on Friday before hosting them Saturday. Woodson also reminded everyone that his team was, inexplicably, only three games out of first place.

This has been another of Woodson's frequent messages - that the Knicks, despite their many problems, remain in contention. Go figure.

Avid fans of the Knicks have heard this all before, of course, and the true die-hards know it all by rote: the coach's messages and the players' responses, the many injuries and the many losses. With that in mind, take the following quiz to gauge just how well you know the beleaguered Knicks.

Woodson on Losing

Mike Woodson has gained a lot of experience this season in the delicate art of briefing the news media in the wake of defeat. It is not an easy job. His emotions have ranged from angry to disturbed to frustrated to mortified. Match the quotation with the game.

1. 'Our defense, it stinks right now.'

2. 'You just can't come out on your home court and dig a hole, 21 points, and spot a team, and then have to fight so tough to get back in the game.'

3. 'I didn't like the fact that we let a 17- to 19-point lead shrink within six minutes. So that's something that was addressed today.'

4. 'Nobody should be happy about watching something like this happen.'

5. 'It's just unacceptable.'

A. An 85-83 preseason loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Oct. 25

B. A 109-100 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 3

C. A 120-89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 10

D. A 102-97 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Nov. 5

E. A 114-73 loss to the Boston Celtics on Dec. 8

Answers: 1-D; 2-B; 3-A; 4-D; 5-C

Day or Night?

Sometimes, losses defy explanation. Sometimes, it is better to avoid trying to explain altogether. Match the quotation with the player.

1. 'It was just one of those days.'

2. 'It was just one of those nights.'

A. Tyson Chandler after a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 3

B. J. R. Smith after a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday

Answers: 1-B; 2-A

Searching for Solutions

As the self-declared leader of the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony has attempted to remain upbeat amid the team's struggles. He wants to figure it out. No, really, he does. It has been a point of emphasis since the preseason. Match the quotation with the game.

1. 'I'm very confident we'll figure this thing out.'

2. 'We have to try to pinpoint the problem, try to figure it out and go from there.'

3. 'I'm very confident we'll figure this thing out.'

4. 'We, as a team, should feel that losing is unacceptable, and try to figure it out.'

5. 'If you never been through situations like this before, it'd be hard for you to try to figure it out.'

6. 'I don't want to try to figure this one out right now.'

A. After a loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 10

B. After a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 27

C. After a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 10

D. After a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 3

E. After a loss to the Boston Celtics on Dec. 8

F. Before a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 19

Answers: 1-D; 2-B; 3-A; 4-C; 5-F; 6-E

Opposing Views

The Knicks have established a bit of a pattern. After they are roughed up by an opponent, Mike Woodson talks about areas where his team needs to improve before lauding players on the other team. Match Woodson's quotation with the target of his affection.

1. 'There's nothing this young man can't do.'

2. 'I like everything about him.'

3. 'He causes havoc on anybody.'

4. 'He's starting to come into his own now as a player.'

A. Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers

B. Jeremy Lin of the Houston Rockets

C. Paul George of the Indiana Pacers

D. John Wall of the Washington Wizards

Answers: 1-C; 2-D; 3-A; 4-B

Who Said It?

Losing has become monotonous for the Knicks, but the players still have a knack for spicing things up during their postgame interviews. Match the quotation with the player.

1. 'I don't know how to fake the funk. I don't know how to put on anything like that. I'm a real straightforward person. So yes, I am remaining positive. Do it hurt? Hell yeah, it hurts. Losing hurts. The way we losing hurts. But I will remain positive.

2. 'Everything is disappointing.'

3. 'It's hard for any player to get a good rhythm when the ball don't move. When the ball moves, everybody ends up having a career year. If the ball don't move, guys can't get into a rhythm, they don't touch the ball often enough to get into a rhythm, and it makes it tough for the rest of the teammates to have fun out there.'

4. 'I just want to play, man. I just want to win. I know I can't predict the future. I can't say what anybody's going to do, all the trade rumors that are going on. There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is play hard.'

5. 'I'm always in trouble on Twitter. I don't know what it is. Trying to shake it.'

Baca Juga

6. 'It's obviously painful for me to watch.'

7. 'He had elbow pasta, and I had shell pasta, and I told him how my shell pasta was better than his elbow pasta, and he was pretty upset about that. He loves elbow pasta. But I disagreed. I think shell pasta is better. I don't care. I will stand by that. Shell pasta.'

A. Amar'e Stoudemire

B. J. R. Smith

C. Tyson Chandler

D. Carmelo Anthony

E. Metta World Peace

F. Raymond Felton

G. Iman Shumpert

Answers: 1-D; 2-F; 3-A; 4-G; 5-B; 6-C; 7-E

The Numbers Don't Lie

The Knicks' 9-19 record is bad. Some of their statistics are even worse. Match the category with their leaguewide ranking entering Thursday's games.

1. Assists

2. Points allowed per 100 possessions

3. Field-goal percentage

4. 3-point shooting percentage

5. Blocked shots

A. 23rd

B. 28th

C. 25th

D. 20th

E. 24th

Answers: 1-B; 2-C; 3-E; 4-D; 5-A

The Endless Hole

The Knicks have not used a shovel. No, the Knicks have used a backhoe this season, at least based on some of their comments. Match the quotation with the game.

1. 'It's an uphill battle. It's a tough hole to get out of.'

2. 'It's going to take a total team effort to get out of this hole that we've dug.'

3. 'Dug ourselves a hole.'

4. 'We're going to dig ourselves out of this hole. But we keep digging and digging and digging, this hole going to get deeper and deeper.'

5. 'We dug ourselves a hole that we really couldn't get out of.'

6. 'I just hope we haven't dug such a hole that we can't fight our way back to the top to being in the playoff hunt.'

A. Mike Woodson after a loss to the Washington Wizards on Nov. 23

B. Metta World Peace after a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 3

C. Carmelo Anthony after a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 27

D. Mike Woodson after a loss to the Washington Wizards on Dec. 16

E. Carmelo Anthony after a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 25

F. Tyson Chandler after a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 3

Answers: 1-C; 2-A; 3-B; 4-E; 5-F; 6-D

Pick an Injury, Any Injury

The Knicks are a banged-up bunch. As Mike Woodson reiterated at Thursday's practice, he has had something that approximated a full team for only one half this season, against the Orlando Magic on Monday. The Knicks played well. Then Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton were injured, and the Knicks nearly blew an enormous lead. Match the player with the injury (or, as the case may be, injuries).

1. Raymond Felton

2. Carmelo Anthony

3. Metta World Peace

4. Kenyon Martin

5. Pablo Prigioni

6. Tyson Chandler

7. Amar'e Stoudemire

A. Sprained left ankle

B. Broken toe

C. Left knee soreness

D. Strained groin muscle, pinched nerve in hip, strained left hamstring

E. Chronic knee soreness