1179 replies to this topic

[Jed Zeppelin]

Next time I'll use the quote button...thought it was clear I was talking about Fields after JA's post.

[EvilEmpire]

I think the correct word for Lin is unpolished. There's obviously something there, otherwise he wouldn't have done the things he did, but then he seems to be doing childish fundamental mistakes. Perhaps this is the reason that everyone discounted him and he keeps doing this sort of mistakes 6 months or a year from now, I bet it would a source of aggravation for Knicks fans.

They are talking about Fields.

Fields does seem to benefit from some good chemistry with Lin right now. That chemistry will develop with Melo and Smith given more time on the court together.

[SemperFidelisSox]

Knicks have had the leagues weakest schedule to date. That will end. Out of the 32 games remaining on the Knicks schedule, 18 are against teams that currently have winning records. They play the Bulls and Pacers three more times each, Miami and Orlando twice, Lob City, and finish the season with 4 of 5 on the road.

[jon abbey]

Knicks have had the leagues weakest schedule to date. That will end. Out of the 32 games remaining on the Knicks schedule, 18 are against teams that currently have winning records. They play the Bulls and Pacers three more times each, Miami and Orlando twice, Lob City, and finish the season with 4 of 5 on the road.

Yeah, this is a big concern, but at least they have the personnel to compete now. Not expecting much tonight but very excited to see how they start to gel after some practices over the break.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

It is incredibly frustrating just how many bad losses this team has had. I know every team has had their share due to the lockout, but the Knicks really should have put a few more Ws in the column at this point just by virtue of playin awful teams at home.

Anyway, on Fields--he plays very well without the ball. Putting out Lin and either Shumpert or Smith with Melo and Amare puts four ball-dominant players on the court. Moving forward, to me Shumpert has a very specific role as a defensive stopper for big 1s and 2s, plus an energy guy. Smith is your instant offense. Everything else really continues to be Fields. I'd have the numbers something like 20 for Fields, 18 for Smith and 10 for Shumpert most nights.

Anyway,

[jon abbey]

JR Smith might be the best two way player on the team right now, good luck keeping his minutes under 25 or so. He was the best player on the floor last night IMO, so impressed with his D and passing and boarding and even his (relative) unselfishness on offense.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

I'm really not taking anything from last night. Atlanta clearly went to Scores in lieu of a shoot around.

I am disappointed however that Shumpert won't play tonight. I'd love to see how a Lin-Shumpert-Melo-Jeffries-Chandler lineup defended the Heat. Jeffries on Lebron, Shumpert on Wade and Chandler defending the middle/Bosh seems about as good a defense you can put out there. I know Melo does a good job on Lebron, but I'd love to see how Jeffries could frustrate the hell out of him.

[TomRicardo]

Second unit played a better game than first.

[TomRicardo]

Well Chalmers ate Lin alive.

[jon abbey]

They were tired on their 4th game in 5 nights against the best team in the league, plenty of blame to go around. Fields' inability to hit a 3 (4-23 in the last 13 games) makes it much harder for Lin and Baron, it's easy to doubleteam the point when the SG has no chance of burning you from deep.

Anyway, great few weeks, and they'll get to finally practice together a few times before the next game.

[Brickowski]

LOL. maybe the Knicks are rethinking whether on not they will use their full MLE on Lin if another team tenders an offer sheet.

Actually I like Lin's game. He knows where the ball is supposed to go. My biggest criticism is that he picks up his dribble too quickly. He'll learn.

Edited by Brickowski, 23 February 2012 - 09:48 PM.

[dolomite133]

Wow did Lin look bad tonight. Just ... wow. I've never watched him play a full game before, and I have a serious question for you Kincks fans: Does Lin always dribble the ball so high and away from his body? His dribbling style against the Heat was just awful ... I'm surprised he doesn't turn the ball over more if that's the way he brings the ball up the court. And I assumed he was a passing point guard, but tonight he missed several open teammates underneath the basket, often choosing to take it in himself and, if he was lucky, draw the foul.

Edited by dolomite133, 24 February 2012 - 01:18 PM.

[jon abbey]

No, he's had some sluggish stretches before, but he just looked exhausted from the start tonight, like this has all finally taken its toll on him, and Miami was seriously geeked up to shut him down, not a good combo for young Jeremy.

It's a shame he has to play in this silly exhibition tonight, hopefully he can get some rest after that.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Wow did Lin look bad tonight. Just ... wow. I've never watched him play a full game before, and I have a serious question for you Kincks fans: Does Lin always dribble the ball so high and away from his body? His dribbling style against the Knicks was just awful ... I'm surprised he doesn't turn the ball over more if that's the way he brings the ball up the court. And I assumed he was a passing point guard, but tonight he missed several open teammates underneath the basket, often choosing to take it in himself and, if he was lucky, draw the foul.

I actually have some mild concerns about that. In fact, I'm willing to admit that I was amongst those who thought Lin should be cut prior to this stretch, as he'd looked absolutely terrible in the garbage time minutes he'd played, and part of the reason I didn't think he was an NBA player was because he wasn't just turning the ball over with bad passes or overly aggressive drives, but because people were just taking it from him. I think he's had his pocket picked (like Chalmers did to him early last night) three or four times this year. So yeah, there's definitely some concerns. I was hoping to see him cut IF the Knicks were a legit option for Paddy Mills. But. . .

I keep having to remind myself that he is, for all intents and purposes, a rookie. His turnover ratio is in line with other young point guards, and to some extent the raw number of turnovers is a factor of how much he's had the ball in his hands over this stretch (according to Hollinger, his possession % is the third highest in the league since he entered the starting lineup). I'm not certain that he'll ever grow out of the turnovers and become a ball protecting guard along the lines of a Paul or Rose, but I do think he'll improve in that area and fall in line with other aggressive point guards who get in the paint like Westbrook and Nash.

Edited by Grin&MartyBarret, 24 February 2012 - 08:59 AM.

[johnmd20]

Gone Too Far

No mention of fortune cookies is allowed at all when Jeremy Lin is involved. Fortune cookies are racist! Admittedly, I'm still mystified the fortune cookie sign was racist but now calling fortune cookies as an ingredient seems like the backlash has gone too far.

[singaporesoxfan]

Gone Too Far

No mention of fortune cookies is allowed at all when Jeremy Lin is involved. Fortune cookies are racist! Admittedly, I'm still mystified the fortune cookie sign was racist but now calling fortune cookies as an ingredient seems like the backlash has gone too far.

On the other hand, they replaced bits of fortune cookies with bits of waffle cones, which sounds like an overall improvement.

[jon abbey]

Obviously a lot can change between now and the summer, but JR Smith said he expects to exercise his $2.5M player option for next year and stay with NY, that would be HUGE.

http://www.denversti...rom-the-nuggets

[radsoxfan]

Obviously a lot can change between now and the summer, but JR Smith said he expects to exercise his $2.5M player option for next year and stay with NY, that would be HUGE.

http://www.denversti...rom-the-nuggets

Unless the author of that article has more inside info, he may have been jumping the gun with that assessment.

Smith is quoted as saying "Thats my plan. If everything keeps going well, God willing I will be with the Knicks". It's not clear what question he was responding to, but not sure that means he will definitely be picking up his 2.5M player option.

I would be shocked if he didn't get a better offer than that from someone. If he stays with the Knicks, I have a feeling they will have to sign him to a much better deal than 1 year 2.5M

Edited by radsoxfan, 25 February 2012 - 10:20 PM.

[amlothi]

Gone Too Far

No mention of fortune cookies is allowed at all when Jeremy Lin is involved. Fortune cookies are racist! Admittedly, I'm still mystified the fortune cookie sign was racist but now calling fortune cookies as an ingredient seems like the backlash has gone too far.

Lin grew up in California. Fortune cookies were invented in California. I don't see how that is racist.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

A possible cause of Amare's lack of athleticism--which no one that I've read has brought up--is his weight gain. Over the summer, he put on what was reported to be 25 pounds. To be fair, it was reported as new muscle, and presumably Amare did that so his body could hold up banging with 5's all year. By all reports, he was still going to be playing center most of the year as the Knicks preserved cap space to get Chris Paul. How was he to know that Glen Grunwald would blow the roster to hell after the new CBA, picking up Tyson Chandler to play center?

Now what you see is a player who has played most of his career at about 240, with iffy knees, trying to carry around 260-265 after a long lockout, offseason back surgery and maintain the same explosiveness. I think its fairly likely that if Amare were to get back down to his usual weight of 240 (probably can't happen till next year) he'd be a vastly superior player at the 4, similar to what we saw last year. Anyway, that's my hope.

Edited by A Bartlett Giamatti, 28 February 2012 - 09:45 AM.

[Brickowski]

If Jeremy Lin had played for the Celtics in the 60's or 70's, I wonder what nickname Johnny Most would have assigned to him.

[jon abbey]

A possible cause of Amare's lack of athleticism--which no one that I've read has brought up--is his weight gain. Over the summer, he put on what was reported to be 25 pounds. To be fair, it was reported as new muscle, and presumably Amare did that so his body could hold up banging with 5's all year. By all reports, he was still going to be playing center most of the year as the Knicks preserved cap space to get Chris Paul. How was he to know that Glen Grunwald would blow the roster to hell after the new CBA, picking up Tyson Chandler to play center?

Now what you see is a player who has played most of his career at about 240, with iffy knees, trying to carry around 260-265 after a long lockout, offseason back surgery and maintain the same explosiveness. I think its fairly likely that if Amare were to get back down to his usual weight of 240 (probably can't happen till next year) he'd be a vastly superior player at the 4, similar to what we saw last year. Anyway, that's my hope.

He supposedly didn't play 5 on 5 all summer because of his recovering back, then he went the first 25 games or so of this season with no PG. I think he's going to be better going forward for the rest of the season than he has been so far, the question is how much (there is a lot of room there certainly).

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

Couple of points on the weight from Alan Hahn (the best follow by far for Knicks news, by the way) today:

@alanhahn How Does Amare look? Any better yet?” put in extra work postpractice. Seems to be looking to shed weight
@KillaBuddah: @alanhahn Amare trying to lose weight is HUGE news. I think the muscle he put on his slowing him down.” agree

I think its a number of factors holding down Amare this year--certainly the lack of practice time and lack of a point guard are issues, but the decline in sheer athleticism is harder to explain. That's why I look optimistically at his weight gain and hope its just not a structural issue with the back/knees.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

There can be disagreement over whether Landry should be in the rotation...but this should end any dispute over his singing ability.

Alas, Shump should stick to his day job.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

This would be an interesting team if they had a competent NBA head coach.

[jon abbey]

NY outscores CLE 71-42 in the second half to come from way down and win by 20, NY's highest scoring total of the year (120). Lin and Baron had 21 assists and 1 turnover combined, the bench was incredible in the second half.

[dolomite133]

This would be an interesting team if they had a competent NBA head coach.

Agreed. Question is, is that coach Phil, or someone else?

[jon abbey]

I liked the way D'Antoni adapted in his first game with the deep bench, leaving Baron in for extended minutes when he was going well, and playing Shumpert down the stretch instead of Fields with the other four starters. The sooner he figures out that Fields is the 11th man in this rotation and should only be playing if for some reason he wants to go 11 deep, and certainly not starting, the better. He was clearly the worst of the 10 guys who played last night (Harrellson was a late scratch, I guess).

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Personally, I find the D'Antoni hatred to be a bit misguided.

I certainly think there are coaches potentially available who would present an upgrade--the Rick Carlisle rumors are interesting--but otherwise I'm not sure I've heard a rational argument yet as to why this team's issues should be pinned on D'Antoni. I was at the game last night, and the number of fans calling for D'Antoni's job during the first half surprised me, particularly since the major difference between the teams up to that point in the game was as simple as Cleveland making open looks and New York missing theirs. The shots were there; they just weren't falling.

Ultimately, there are some serious flaws in the construction of this team, chief among them that Amare and Carmelo simply haven't shown they can coexist. D'Antoni gets a ton of unwarranted blame for not emphasizing defense, but the Knicks are an above average defensive team despite playing the worst defensive player in the league (Amare) and Carmelo. I'm not exactly opposed to a coaching change, if the right guy is available I think it's something you have to consider this off season, but I think there are certainly some risks involved and I pretty vehemently disagree with the notion that this is a well constructed team that's being held back by Mike D'Antoni. Personally, I think this team is rounding into a pretty solid team, and that D'Antoni deserves some semblance of roster continuity, something he's never had in New York. This Knicks team isn't even comfortable playing with each other yet; the idea that they should be a well-oiled machine, or even the idea that the rotations should be clear yet feels premature to me.

And lastly, for those who feel a coaching change is needed, let me ask you this: Is Jeremy Lin Jeremy Lin playing for anybody else in the league?

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Just looking at some stats that I think warrant mention (unrelated to the above D'Antoni post):

Outside of Mike Bibby, who is legally dead, Amare Stoudemire has far and away the worst floor time stats on the team. His raw +/- is an awful -53, and per 48 minutes the Knicks are 3.2 points worse when he's on the floor.

I think that +/- is a pretty flawed metric and obviously subject to a ton of variables, but in Amare's case it's consistent with what I see when I watch him play.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

Just looking at some stats that I think warrant mention (unrelated to the above D'Antoni post):

Outside of Mike Bibby, who is legally dead, Amare Stoudemire has far and away the worst floor time stats on the team. His raw +/- is an awful -53, and per 48 minutes the Knicks are 3.2 points worse when he's on the floor.

I think that +/- is a pretty flawed metric and obviously subject to a ton of variables, but in Amare's case it's consistent with what I see when I watch him play.

I could not agree more. I've always figured that Amare is a great athlete who simply doesn't WANT to play defense. But when I watch him more closely, I see a guy who simply doesn't recognize what defensive play is occurring. It makes me wonder if he simply doesn't have the cognitive ability to understand what he has to do to get in position to help. Now that he's lost, for whatever reason, a great deal of athleticism that problem is exacerbated. And he does not make up on the offensive end what he takes off the table on defense.

As for coaching, my main problem with D'Antoni is not his in-game moves, but more his team management. He seems unable to motivate, relying on external factors (so called big games, team leaders like Chandler) to do the job for him. What that leaves are huge periods of time where the team sleep walks and doesn't execute. I couple that with his stubborn adherence to a system regardless of what his personnel says, and what you're left with is an excellent college coach who doesn't fit the NBA. To answer your question as to who could have gotten more out of Lin, its probably no one. But to answer the question as to who could have gotten more out of this team as a whole, the answer is probably everyone. D'Antoni's coaching created a problem that only D'Antoni's coaching could solve--if it happened to get lucky. Which is in no way a recipe for success.

Sadly, this team IS a championship contender with the right coach, but they won't get there with D'Antoni. And moving forward, a lot of the pieces (at minimum, Novak, Davis and Smith) will be gone. A total shame.

Edited by A Bartlett Giamatti, 01 March 2012 - 10:21 AM.

[NatetheGreat]

Lin had a really nice bounceback game. The Knicks are a deep team, and honestly Amar'e might be the worst player getting any real play time on that roster.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

I could not agree more. I've always figured that Amare is a great athlete who simply doesn't WANT to play defense. But when I watch him more closely, I see a guy who simply doesn't recognize what defensive play is occurring. It makes me wonder if he simply doesn't have the cognitive ability to understand what he has to do to get in position to help. Now that he's lost, for whatever reason, a great deal of athleticism that problem is exacerbated. And he does not make up on the offensive end what he takes off the table on defense.

Agree completely. He has a low basketball IQ, on both ends of the floor. It's pretty quickly becoming the worst contract in the league, which unfortunately, isn't really a surprise. The only real surprise is how fast it's happening.

As for coaching, my main problem with D'Antoni is not his in-game moves, but more his team management. He seems unable to motivate, relying on external factors (so called big games, team leaders like Chandler) to do the job for him. What that leaves are huge periods of time where the team sleep walks and doesn't execute. I couple that with his stubborn adherence to a system regardless of what his personnel says, and what you're left with is an excellent college coach who doesn't fit the NBA. To answer your question as to who could have gotten more out of Lin, its probably no one. But to answer the question as to who could have gotten more out of this team as a whole, the answer is probably everyone. D'Antoni's coaching created a problem that only D'Antoni's coaching could solve--if it happened to get lucky. Which is in no way a recipe for success.


Sadly, this team IS a championship contender with the right coach, but they won't get there with D'Antoni. And moving forward, a lot of the pieces (at minimum, Novak, Davis and Smith) will be gone. A total shame.

We'll just have to agree to disagree here. I don't see this team as a championship contender, and I don't really buy the argument that the poor execution is a symptom of D'Antoni's inability to motivate the team. In my mind, it has a lot more to do with roster turnover, lack of a true training camp, and a condensed schedule leading to fewer practices. This has been a truly ugly season of basketball throughout the league. Team offensive efficiency is way down across the league (for instance, the Thunder, a team with the same roster as last year, have the league's 2nd most efficient offense this year, but their current production would have ranked 10th last year) and defensive efficiency is way "up" (the Knicks are 8th in the league, but have a better defensive efficiency this year than any team in the league last year), so I think singling D'Antoni out because the Knicks aren't executing well is a bit unfair. Poor offensive execution has been a league wide issue this year, and it's clear that the Knicks offense is at least trending in the right direction.

Edited by Grin&MartyBarret, 01 March 2012 - 12:24 PM.

[Gravistar]

Personally, I find the D'Antoni hatred to be a bit misguided.

I certainly think there are coaches potentially available who would present an upgrade--the Rick Carlisle rumors are interesting--but otherwise I'm not sure I've heard a rational argument yet as to why this team's issues should be pinned on D'Antoni. I was at the game last night, and the number of fans calling for D'Antoni's job during the first half surprised me, particularly since the major difference between the teams up to that point in the game was as simple as Cleveland making open looks and New York missing theirs. The shots were there; they just weren't falling.

Ultimately, there are some serious flaws in the construction of this team, chief among them that Amare and Carmelo simply haven't shown they can coexist. D'Antoni gets a ton of unwarranted blame for not emphasizing defense, but the Knicks are an above average defensive team despite playing the worst defensive player in the league (Amare) and Carmelo. I'm not exactly opposed to a coaching change, if the right guy is available I think it's something you have to consider this off season, but I think there are certainly some risks involved and I pretty vehemently disagree with the notion that this is a well constructed team that's being held back by Mike D'Antoni. Personally, I think this team is rounding into a pretty solid team, and that D'Antoni deserves some semblance of roster continuity, something he's never had in New York. This Knicks team isn't even comfortable playing with each other yet; the idea that they should be a well-oiled machine, or even the idea that the rotations should be clear yet feels premature to me.

And lastly, for those who feel a coaching change is needed, let me ask you this: Is Jeremy Lin Jeremy Lin playing for anybody else in the league?

I didn't see last night's game, but part of what has been annoying me in the past five games or so is that the current system doesn't seem to get the most out of the overall talent level. It seems like this team would benefit greatly from having more set plays that they could use in a half-court offense (this would be especially helpful come playoff time). Correct me if I'm wrong, but do the Knicks run any set plays other than the pick and roll (which they got away from after Melo and Amare came back)? There are so many me-first players on the team (adding JR Smith doesn't help) that having a set offense might limit the number of one-on-ones in each game. It's not like the Knicks have a really dynamic fast break offense like the Heat, so why not do something like what Doc did with the C's?

[Grin&MartyBarret]

I can't shake the feeling this morning that yesterday afternoon's game was a must win for the Knicks. They're now sitting at 18-19, and of their next 11 games 9 are against playoff caliber teams in Dallas, San Antonio, Philadelphia (3), Chicago, and Indiana (2). They'd be very fortunate to get out of that stretch with 4 wins.

Also, at what point do we see Baron Davis getting some minutes with the first unit to see if they function better than they do with Lin running the point? Against Cleveland, and again yesterday, the first unit created significant holes that the second unit brought them back from. That's not a habit you want to get into, especially against good defensive teams, and Indiana, Portland, Dallas, Chicago, and Philadelphia are all top 10 defensive teams.

[jon abbey]

Fields has been the worst player in NY's rotation for two games in a row now (the only two games since NY had their full complement of guards), Shumpert should certainly be starting over him with Smith as the 6th man and Fields knocked down to the rarely used 11th man.

D'Antoni must be pretty close to doing this, Fields sat the final 26 minutes yesterday after singlehandedly giving back the lead at the start of the second half. One more dud half and I bet he doesn't start the second half against Dallas tomorrow night...

[BigSoxFan]

Well, the Celtics have a tough stretch coming up as well. Or are you worried about one of the Cle/Mil/Tor group rising into the playoff race? The Knicks are good enough when they're playing well to have a nice stretch even against that schedule.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Well, the Celtics have a tough stretch coming up as well. Or are you worried about one of the Cle/Mil/Tor group rising into the playoff race? The Knicks are good enough when they're playing well to have a nice stretch even against that schedule.

More than that, I'm worried about the Knicks being unable to get out of a 7th or 8th seed, and having to face Miami or Chicago in the first round.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Fields has been the worst player in NY's rotation for two games in a row now (the only two games since NY had their fulll complement of guards), Shumpert should certainly be starting over him with Smith as the 6th man and Fields knocked down to the rarely used 11th man.

D'Antoni must be pretty close to doing this, Fields sat the final 26 minutes yesterday after singlehandedly giving back the lead at the start of the second half. One more dud half and I bet he doesn't start the second half against Dallas tomorrow night...

Agree with this. I actually think Fields compliments the second unit better anyhow, as that unit struggles to rebound the ball. I'd like to see Smith/Shumpert get more time with the first unit depending on need. When a shooter is needed, and that first unit often needs a shooter, Smith is the guy, and when a defender is needed it should be Shump. Fields minutes should definitely be cut, no question about it.

[BigSoxFan]

More than that, I'm worried about the Knicks being unable to get out of a 7th or 8th seed, and having to face Miami or Chicago in the first round.

Gotcha. Well, that may be tough but you're going to have to go through those guys anyways. I also think that the Heat would have an incredible amount of pressure on them if they got matched up with the Knicks in Round 1.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

I've been a big proponent of keeping Fields' minutes, mostly along the line of thinking that removing Fields from the starting lineup is a dicey proposition. I am fine with the allotment of minutes from yesterday (Fields 15, Smith 20, Shump 31) most nights, but I think you risk a little bit of chemistry with Lin. Maybe that's not such a big deal, and worth shaking up what's been a pretty stagnant start to most games.

Really, Fields is more of a 3 anyway. A second unit of Davis (for the time being), Smith, Fields, Jeffries, Novak makes sense.

[jon abbey]

I think the Lin/Fields chemistry thing people keep citing (not just you) is largely imaginary and based on their off the court friendship. The Shumpert/Lin duo together has been much more effective in the past few games than Fields/Lin.

As for your proposed second unit, Harrellson deserves minutes IMO way more than Fields, who I continue to think just doesn't fit on this team if everyone is healthy. Jorts is the best post defender on the team after Chandler, and can shoot 3s at least as well as Fields has been the past month or so (very low bar).

I do think that Fields is a good fit for the third unit, though, him, Jerome Jordan, Toney Douglas, and Mike Bibby.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

I think the Lin/Fields chemistry thing people keep citing (not just you) is largely imaginary and based on their off the court friendship. The Shumpert/Lin duo together has been much more effective in the past few games than Fields/Lin.

As for your proposed second unit, Harrellson deserves minutes IMO way more than Fields, who I continue to think just doesn't fit on this team if everyone is healthy. Jorts is the best post defender on the team after Chandler, and can shoot 3s at least as well as Fields has been the past month or so (very low bar).

I do think that Fields is a good fit for the third unit, though, him, Jerome Jordan, Toney Douglas, and Mike Bibby.

Harrelson/Novak/Jeffries as a front line takes away from the effectiveness of what that unit has been doing. I'm not sure you want to go from Shumpert at the 3 and all the athleticism and ball handling he brings to Harrelson. Fields is a better fit.

[rembrat]

Brick after brick. Led by Melo.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

These guys just don't show up. Its time for D'Antoni to go. Hopefully if they lose to Milwaukee he'll stay out in the midwest and hand the reins over to Woodson.

[jon abbey]

It's a real mess, and Chandler doesn't seem like he'll be healthy for the rest of the year. He rules, but if he can't hold onto the ball, he rules a lot less.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

They're just not a well constructed team, and a seven game stretch of Lin leading a league average offense against a stretch of mostly bad teams blew expectations way out of proportion.

[BigSoxFan]

I was at the game tonight. The Knicks might as well not even suit up if Chandler doesn't play. The defense was beyond pathetic. Amare looks more and more like a 35 year-old KG without the defense. There is no explosion in his game anymore. I don't know what the deal is there but it's noticeable. Carmelo had a typical Carmelo game - only perimeter shots, poor defense, etc. JR Smith needs to get more run but the problem is that he's too similar to Carmelo. I think the Knicks need to shorten the rotation or clear up the clutter via a trade.

[Stu Nahan]

They're just not a well constructed team, and a seven game stretch of Lin leading a league average offense against a stretch of mostly bad teams blew expectations way out of proportion.

I couldn't agree more. I keep hearing about how unbelievably talented the Knicks are but it's not translating to the court. The pieces just don't seem to fit together. I'm sure D'Antoni is going to pay with his job because he doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to make this team work. With that said, I'm not sure this team is a major threat no matter who coaches it. When you throw in Chandler's health and the fact that Amare looks like he has fossilized this year, the Knicks are another also ran with some big names on the roster.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

I couldn't agree more. I keep hearing about how unbelievably talented the Knicks are but it's not translating to the court. The pieces just don't seem to fit together. I'm sure D'Antoni is going to pay with his job because he doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to make this team work. With that said, I'm not sure this team is a major threat no matter who coaches it. When you throw in Chandler's health and the fact that Amare looks like he has fossilized this year, the Knicks are another also ran with some big names on the roster.

Plenty of coaches are getting by with disparate rosters*. Setting aside system issues, this team just doesn't come to play--and that's on the coach. Really, the thing that doesn't make sense about the Knicks is having Amare and Carmelo together--two shoot first guys who arent' willing passers and defenders. Lots of teams have a redundancy issue, but lots of teams dont' have other talented parts around them. The Knicks should be at least around a 6 seed with what they have right now and a decent coach.

*Off the top of my head, rosters that don't make sense on paper that are better/on the Knicks Level:

Miami (we know about this)
Atlanta (lots of random parts)
Orlando (horrible contracts surrounding D12, no wing scorer)
Golden State (Ellis/Curry issues)
Memphis (Two huge, plodding post players, redundancy at the wing--ok, this one might be a stretch)

Edited by A Bartlett Giamatti, 08 March 2012 - 01:28 PM.