Knicks · The Good - 10 3 pointers in the win last night! . The Bad - Almost 40 minutes per starter (page 1)

The Ugly - is going to be an injury if Coach keeps this up. Though the bench with 3 points is ugly. This is a shortened season and we can't take those chances. Our guys won't have anything left. No Balkman or Novak?

Coach is insistent on winning to keep his job and I don't like the shortsightedness in this shortened season.

Team looked gassed last nite. The game was made closer than it need be.

Don't laugh, but we need JJ. TD shoulder must be hurting cuz he can't hit a shot.

DJ Augustin was so tired he showed no emotion. He must be like that all the time. The dude is plain stoic!

When the bench isn't producing you have to play your starters for extended minutes. I think last night was the exception not the rule. MDA has been good thus far with the rotation.

When was the last time a Mike D'Antoni team only shot 10 threes?

I wonder if someone said something to him, or if he realized the absurdity of their chucking.

The big minutes for the starters - an issue, especially as both Melo and Stat were forcing the issue at times and taking some miserable shots. Its one thing if those guys are in a groove- but at some point, you need Melo out there orchestrating (which he has done well) and setting up the bench players.

earthmansurfer wrote:The Ugly - is going to be an injury if Coach keeps this up. Though the bench with 3 points is ugly. This is a shortened season and we can't take those chances. Our guys won't have anything left. No Balkman or Novak?

Coach is insistent on winning to keep his job and I don't like the shortsightedness in this shortened season.

Mike is notorious for over using his star players. He's done this over his entire coaching career. This is where a short season hurts more than any coach. He didn't have the time to get his team ready for his fast pace, up and down system, where your stars play close to 40 minutes a night.

Hopefully, with JJ and BD coming into the lineup, he will have more players on the bench that he can trust to log major minutes. Not sure what Bill Walker is providing so far. He used to be clutch from 3. Now hes that momentum killer for us. JJ will be a major upgrade to that bench, and would help reduce Melo and STATS minutes.

But has always pushed his players to their limit. This is what I'm afraid of most, over the entire season. Especially for the rookie not used to logging these minutes, against this type of competition.

blkexec wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:The Ugly - is going to be an injury if Coach keeps this up. Though the bench with 3 points is ugly. This is a shortened season and we can't take those chances. Our guys won't have anything left. No Balkman or Novak?

Coach is insistent on winning to keep his job and I don't like the shortsightedness in this shortened season.

Mike is notorious for over using his star players. He's done this over his entire coaching career. This is where a short season hurts more than any coach. He didn't have the time to get his team ready for his fast pace, up and down system, where your stars play close to 40 minutes a night.

Hopefully, with JJ and BD coming into the lineup, he will have more players on the bench that he can trust to log major minutes. Not sure what Bill Walker is providing so far. He used to be clutch from 3. Now hes that momentum killer for us. JJ will be a major upgrade to that bench, and would help reduce Melo and STATS minutes.

But has always pushed his players to their limit. This is what I'm afraid of most, over the entire season. Especially for the rookie not used to logging these minutes, against this type of competition.

Not a fan of MDA but ill defend him here. He tries to sit his guys but our bench blows the leads or starts to fall behind.

We just started to build the team. We get 3-4 major peaces at the expense of having nothing else at all.
This season is an extended training camp. It is no way we can get anything more that fast exit from first round.
So why bother with Mike. I would let him go for the sake of saving the health of our main assets.
He is a great coach but not for this group and not in this situation. Now he brings nothing to the table.

Shump needs to drink Badger Milk.

Seriously, he should talk to Ewing and ask him how he handled it during his playing days. The Big Fella is an All-Star when it came to sweating.

NYKBocker wrote:Shump needs to drink Badger Milk.

Seriously, he should talk to Ewing and ask him how he handled it during his playing days. The Big Fella is an All-Star when it came to sweating.

Badger Milk made me think of the honey badger for some reason lol:

I don't know why MDA leaves Walker in the game when his shot is clearly off and he doesn't contribute in other areas of the game except stupidity. Why not play Novak who can at least hit an open 3 and give us some bench scoring? I hope Walker is cemented to the bench when Barons comes back

the minutes and stye of play seemed similar to a playoff game atmosphere and minutes regarding our starters.
The best players play the most, with Iman leading the PG duties on both ends at 110%.
He is the difference, between TD and the offense, and the ability he has to apply pressure/steals and initiate that fast break.
Truth is we cant play these guys with that many minute and same energy on a nightly basis with this shortened schedule.
However, we just couldn't put them away, we needed our best players on the court together for this revenge win.
While we are still finding ourselves, a system, and communication, we need to find our 2nd unit as well.

Baron Davis - if healthy he will probably slowly work back in the rotation till he gets his legs back as the 6th man with the way Shumpert is looking

TD - must find back his mojo, he can be a great rotational player, focusing on shooting good shots, moving the ball, and take a page of DFFENSE from Shumpert and Anthony Carter.
Unlike Shumpert, he can not be a facilitator and has to work on his penetration/pick and rolls. Most importantly, he doesn't have that confidence and BB IQ Iman has.
I think he lacks confidence to begin with and being asked to play starting PG and failing, hurt his ego a lot. He should be a 6th man type role, like poor version of Terry, he should be looking to shoot GOOD shots and not force the issue.

JJ - I hate to say it, but he we could use some minutes at PF because we don't have any outside of Balkman. Jorts and Jordan both don't have the speed to play PF.

Jorts - He will continue to work and get faster, he has to continue what he is doing + a couple of wide open shots. I love what he brings, how much he has improved as a late bloomer, and continues to find his role on the team.

Bibby - can't penetrate and shouldn't play any minutes without anyone that can penetrate but he still has a sick shot and some passing ability
Lin - I hope he can get some minutes as Bibby/TD can not penetrate and he can. With BD hurt, he should get a look if we have a lead at backup PG duties

Balkman - He will play on and off with this 66 game schedule, there will be games he wont play at all but he can be a nice rotation player to give our starters a breather
Jordan - He probably won't play much unless we have an injury with Chandler/Jorts/Amare. I think he can be productive at times but this is more of a learning year for him till he can continue to get stronger and gain some more skills/moves. Its great to have him learn from a player like Tyson Chandler.

Novak - he can shoot 3's but that is is only skill set, he is far from a Shawne Williams role. We really could use Shawne now and I think he regrets taking more money at this point.
He has to be a better defender or have another skill set to log more minute and be a consistent rotational player

2.5m exemption... I think any RFA aren't realistic, we need the best UFA from Europe/China/D league to use for a 2 year deal. Which position and type of player would be up to Grunwell and his scouts. I prefer Ak47, being able to play SF-C, I think he will be a nice player to team up with Tyson Chandler with his shot blocking.

FA
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Kenyon Martin - can be a backup PF that does a little of everything
Jr Smith? - can be a great scorer but a cancer as well *stephon marbary*

D League
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Green - can be called if we make a trade and free up roster spots
Hunter - I thought we could have used a 6'11 athletic PF/C to run with, playing with Chandler and playing at Center with Amare but he never really got a chance...

Iman Shumpert - can play PG and can play SG, to compare him to Rose right now is exaggerated the way Rose has improved in 2 years, currently his 3rd season.
However, he can be compared to Westbrook/Rose's 1st 1-2 years, he has a high ceiling and works hard. His strength would be to stop the PG's with his size, speed/quickness, length, strength, explosiveness/athleticism, and great defense mentality. He is probably our best option at the SG as well, with Fields being more a backup SF.
This kid just gets it and we all see how he changes the game vs TD is amazing. He is exactly what I thought he could be and he should be part of our UNTOUCHABLEs...
He plays at such a high energy and logs in a lot of minutes, he has to pace himself at times. He could get hurt the way he plays and has to take a tone down or Dantoni has to lower his minutes... however, we just dont seem to have that luxury with the way our 2nd unit is playing....

gunsnewing wrote:I don't know why MDA leaves Walker in the game when his shot is clearly off and he doesn't contribute in other areas of the game except stupidity. Why not play Novak who can at least hit an open 3 and give us some bench scoring? I hope Walker is cemented to the bench when Barons comes back

he makes a lot of bone headed rookie mistakes but he played great a couple times this year even though we didn't get those wins. I think he lacks speed and coordination but he has athleticism that Novak doesn't have....

RonRon wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I don't know why MDA leaves Walker in the game when his shot is clearly off and he doesn't contribute in other areas of the game except stupidity. Why not play Novak who can at least hit an open 3 and give us some bench scoring? I hope Walker is cemented to the bench when Barons comes back

he makes a lot of bone headed rookie mistakes but he played great a couple times this year even though we didn't get those wins. I think he lacks speed and coordination but he has athleticism that Novak doesn't have....

He is more athletic if only he would motivate himself in better shapeso he can keep up with guys on the perimeter and get to the basket more like the old billy walker

gunsnewing wrote:I don't know why MDA leaves Walker in the game when his shot is clearly off and he doesn't contribute in other areas of the game except stupidity. Why not play Novak who can at least hit an open 3 and give us some bench scoring? I hope Walker is cemented to the bench when Barons comes back

I suppose because Walker used to be pretty good on offense (good 3 pt shooter, sometimes good at driving to the hoop), he seems to be the only bench player at the SF who has the potential to score. He was injured for most of training camp, so I'll give him more time to get his game back.

Perhaps it might help if you go check out Billy Walker's career stats before you "cement him" to the bench. He is a career .491 shooter, .395 from 3 point range. When you see him play he looks awkward, and a bit unruly. Doesn't look much like a winner. Still, it's a mistake to overlook his career shooting numbers. Also he missed the preseason with an injury and so he is going to need some extra time, to get comfortable on the floor.

For the last 10 games, Billy is shooting .447 that is the second highest percentage on the Knicks behind Tyson Chandler. Yes higher than Amare, Melo, Shumpert, Toney, and Landry.