Fair points. Nothing else is working so its probably worth a shot. They dont lack offensive talent, they lack guys who can create their shot. And they lack an interior offensive presence without Amare in there which affects spacing. They also lack an offensive coach besides Jason Kidd who should be doing just that at this point....
Okay..let's analyze this. Is it playcalling? No. (Last game, only 10 ISO's were called. 47 P&R's.) Is it talent? No. Unless your expectations are to win a championship with this nucleus. But missing ECF's? yep, a failure. The Issues: Not a good defensive team. (No other way to slice it. If you are midpack, you are not very good defensively. It is interesting that if we have a Indy/Miami, SA/Memphis Final four..we would have 4 of the top 6 defenses.) A Very good Defensive Rebounding team....w/ Chandler. When he goes to the Bench, the Knicks are one of the poorer Reb. Teams. Selfish play. One pass, no Cut, Chuck offense is not gonna cut it. A Deliberate attempt to compete in the points in the paint category is necessary. The Answer: The bench is poor. Revamp it. Can the old guys. Only Martin is a worthwhile rotation player of the aged. Kidd is worthless. Seek out specialists. Send JR Smith very far far far away. He was and is, and always will be an inefficient basketball player, a loser. Chandler was and is a bad contract. 14.5 mil for what is a defensive specialist is a poor waste of resources. I said so at the time, I still think that. He however has a ton of value. if you can include him in a strip down, of the roster, that would be great. A player such as Nic Batum should be a target. Forget all the Paul fantasies. You don't have the chips or cap space to get him. There is the talent in the offseason, every year to improve this team where it can overtake Indiana and re-create the Knicks/Heat rivalry. You just gotta make good decisions. Dumping Ronnie Brewer...that is a bad move. The guy is an efficient player, and a great defensive specialist. Go after Eric Bledsoe. Be inspired. Find the next big thing. He is it, BTW.
IMO the Knicks strike me as a team of one-dimensional players who haven't shown any inclination to develop other parts of their game. I see guys like Melo and Smith who score, but not much else, Chandler who defends but doesn't score, Kidd who is smart, but can't score anymore, Schumpert who is athletic but has developed much skill or technique, Felton is more rounded than the rest of the roster, but doesn't seem to be a true distributor, Amare lacks range, Novack only has range and Martin is kind of average at everything. I like Prigioni. I think he could develop into a versatile player. It just seems to me that players are easier to defend when you know what they're going to do. And if you make that one thing hard for them they can't adjust to do anything else.
LOL he's finding guys that are getting run-off of 3s. He's finding shooters in all the wrong places. They can't make shots because they're not taking high quality shots.
Your opinion is as valuable to me as a bag full of yard sausage. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Good luck trying to win a title with Carmelo Anthony. Guy is a career underachiever for a reason. He's the Jay Cutler of basketball players.
They can't afford to get rid of Chandler IMO. Defending the rim needs to be the highest priority for the Knicks. He's one-dimensional, but that dimension is too important to eschew, especially when you have to go through the Heat. If I were the Knicks, I'd try and dump Melo for Chris Paul. Build around Paul and Chandler.
You're not gonna advance far when your leader/best player/top scorer can't shoot north of 40%. Especially when he does nothing but score.
Lol this has turned into a pile on against the Knicks. I'm ready to rip the Pacers a new one. Can't wait for the ECF now
I agree on some things like Brewer, talent being available every year, Chandlers contract, and the idea that this team isnt talented enough. However youre wrong on a few points. - Paul can happen...this details how: http://theknicksblog.com/knicks/if-you-do-the-math-cp3-to-the-knicks-is-possible/ - The knicks did go after specialists. As a matter of fact as Rafael details below their roster is filled with them. They need to get away from that line of thinking to a degree and get more well rounded players. Batum as you mention would be an option. As would trying to pry away a buy low candidate coming off a below par or injury filled season. Someone like Kevin Love comes to mind... - Im not sure Bledsoe is a better player then Reggie Jackson to be honest. Jackson is a much more explosive player while Bledsoe has slightly better passing skills and initiates an offense better. Different players but I guess it depends on the roster. The biggest thing for me is if you have an elite PG that could make Carmelo more efficient (which is a great thing for the Knicks) and it takes the ball out of his hands so that said PG can create opportunities for other players. The Knicks really dont have a true playmaker. Prigioni is the closest thing. Kidd is washed up and should be coaching. Felton is adequate and certainly played hard and rebuilt his image but hes not a big time passer. He doesnt do a great job initiating offense for other players. The knicks also need a reliable offensive paint presence since Amare's health is unreliable. Getting more athletic on the front line would be a start. Prigioni is 37. He pretty much is what he will be. But I really started to like the way he played towards the end of the season. Hes tough as a pitbull. I forget who it was but one big name star forward got in his face and challenged him to a fight after one of the games around late March...his response was Ill see you in the parking lot. It may have been Josh Smith...It was hysterical since Prigioni is like 185lbs soaking wet. Amare has range by the way. Hes just a lot more efficient around the hoop. But if you watched game 3 you saw Amare catch, take a dribble and shoot a 3 to end the 3rd quarter. He can hit that shot. Its just not a shot you want him taking regularly. The rest I agree with.
To be fair, the Knicks deserved to be piled on. They played one way the entire season and now you dont see the same team at all. The coaching and offense have gone to crap. Its a very frustrating experience to be losing to a team theyre more talented then but the pieces arent fitting together right now. And to make matter worse, the guy getting the blame, Anthony, is the guy doing the most to help his team win with a bum shoulder. Theyre asking him to shoot less and the only guy who is making any shots and initiating any offense for anyone is him and Felton. And teh guys who should be getting blame...Chandler, Smith and Woodson arent getting nearly as much heat. Chandler should be ashamed of his play. Im astonished that a former DPOY can play so pathetic vs a mediocre talent like Roy Hibbert.
Boik..those scenarios ask for the Clippers to bury themselves in Cap and Luxury Tax Hell. So, my point still stands..not realistic. BTW...Donald Sterling paying upwards of 40 million in Luxury Tax just to help the Knicks get Chris Paul? Huh?
To be fair, its not entirely realistic to assume its up to Sterling. As you know in the NBA, players, especially stars, have a lot of say in where they will be playing. If Paul wants to play in NY, he will find a way to get there. Im sure a multi-team scenario can be worked out IF CP3 wants to be a Knick as he originally said. If he doesnt then the Knicks will have to find a plan B....which as you said could be a guy like an Eric Bledsoe. Personally, I think my plan B would be a Tyreke Evans. Its not often you see players have their best season as a rookie yet thats exactly where Evans is. He needs a good environment to flourish and being on a winning team (even if its not a championship team) could be a start.
LMFAO..."Prigioni...hes taking your cookies man"...Im deleting it cause of the language it links to but damn if it isnt funny. To be fair, only the blitted idiots sound like that. The dude didnt even open his eyes the whole video. Hopped up on weed and a 40oz probably.
Well if you do that where are the points coming from? Chris Copeland? Still gotta have a go to scorer and Anthony is one of the 3 best in the league at that. The move is dumping Tyson's one dimensional whiny ***. Sell high and get something for that overpaid sloth while we still can.
Worry about the points after you build an elite defense. Look at the teams that give Miami the biggest challenges. They aren't the ones that prioritize scoring.
Im not so sure that a 30 year old center who is getting DESTROYED by Roy Hibbert is the cornerstone of an elite defense. But hey, you cant spell destroyed without Roy. Tyson is the first piece Id ship out. Hes a nice player but severely overpaid and does not compliment Stoudemire at all. We're stuck with Stoudemire...no need to be stuck with Chandler too. Find a younger more athletic shot blocker who can actually guard the rim as well as play man to man D while being able to step outside the paint on offense. Im not saying the Knicks have to prioritize scoring but they do have to prioritize a player who can facilitate offense for other players.
Wow it's already started. All the Pacers fans talking about how they are such a nightmare matchup for the Heat. Why does every team in the league feel they are a nightmare matchup for us?
It's a miracle the Heat aren't a lottery team. Since everybody has the colonel's secret recipe to beating them. Meanwhile..44-3 in last 47, and 22-1 in the last 23 road games.
Toughest matchups left are the grizzlies cause of their size and the spurs cause of their experience and playmaking.
The heat ARE a tough matchup for everyone. But the things that can beat the heat are size (Memphis) and a barrage of 3's (spurs). And we saw the struggle vs Boston vs PGs who can distribute last year. I think Pacers are too much like Chicago and have trouble scoring when playing from behind. I fully expect Miami in 5 or less vs Indy. The Knicks would be a harder matchup...just the way the matchups shake out.
Pacers are still shook from last year's series. Just let Haslem handle any riff-raff and the Heat will be fine.
remember.....the Heat "struggled" with Boston (they got robbed in game 4 and a 3-1 lead if you remember) WITHOUT Bosh. Bosh returned....and it was a wrap. I do agree with everything you wrote here though. Heat in 5 over Indy..in 6 over NY..in what would have been a delightful MSG Heat close out.
Size = Before Anderson. How many teams have beaten us with size since then? I'm not talking about had an advantage, I'm talking about actually bullying us. Threes = Not happening in the playoffs with our defense. The Spurs rely on getting open threes and that won't happen. We struggle with teams who get hot and shoot ridiculous circus threes like JR Smith or Nate Robinson in game one. There is almost ALWAYS a hand in the shooters face. San Antonio would be lucky to steal a game from us, I'm not sure how you think they match up well. They are my dream team to face in the finals.
LMAO @ Fapatalk2. The Spurs run a very similar offense to what the Knicks run. Not quite as robotic and they have less iso and better coached (obviously Pop is the best in the biz imo). Parker up high with 3 wing players and a lot fo screen and roll to the basket with Duncan. Duncan can play that old man ball. Theyre going to be a tougher matchup for you then OKC was because of their spacing, coaching and their big game experience imo. Not saying the Heat wont win, they probably will but the Spurs will be your biggest obstacle should they beat Memphis. Memphis' only chance would be board dominance, a tremendously efficient series from Gasol/Randolph/Conley and a reversal of that DUMB Rudy Gay trade which right now may be all sits between them and a legit chance at beating you. They have NO ONE who can iso off the wing which is something you need in the playoffs and only 1 player, Conley, who really excels at creating their own shot unless they go small and put Bayless in the backcourt with Conley which is a death wish vs Miami. All Miami would have to do is pull Chalmers, go LBJ at PG, Wade at the 2 and run post ups on them all day so thats not an option.
Rose just becomes impotent when playing the Heat. That's not really under-achieving. Carmelo gets eliminated by teams he should be able to beat.
The fact a Chicago kid playing through injury helped to close out the Bulls, while another Chicago kid refused to return from injury to even try to play, has to be considered a bit ironic. Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
