Knicks · I Feel The Need For Sheed (page 8)

When Wallace was with Mike Woodson in Detroit, according to a source, Wallace’s dedication was so strong, once time he wouldn’t take off his right sneaker and sock for four days for fear his twisted ankle would swell up.

Even before showing an on-court spark, Wallace had been a godsend in the locker room and on the bench. The Knicks sound as if they want to nominate Wallace, the NBA’s leader in technical fouls, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I know, I know this could be just one psycho commenting another psycho, but you have to admit, JR's been flying right side up since he's been here:

“People have the wrong impression of him, 100 percent,” Smith said. “People just see him talking, yelling, screaming. They just think he’s just a wild person. He’s just a mild-mannered person trying to get everyone involved. That definitely should be expressed to everybody. He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with. He’s making myself, [Carmelo Anthony] smarter and hungrier — the way he talks to us in the huddle, pulls us aside individually.”

“I’ve experienced it firsthand,” Smith said. “Him and Jason [Kidd], those guys have had the biggest effect on me so far, talking defense, watching my man, being in the right position. Those two guys are unbelievable, especially Rasheed.”

From the DPOY:

“I could hear his voice from the bench, alerting me,” Chandler said. “He’s doing great things from the bench, and obviously what we’ve seen him bring to the game.”

I feel the need for a an all-looney Knicks team thread.

Wallace, in his 6.7 minutes a game, is leading John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating. The rest of the top five: No. 5 LeBron James, No. Tim Duncan, No. 3 James Harden, and No. 2 Mike Dunleavy, obviously. (Other Knicks rankings: No. 7 Carmelo Anthony, No. 31 Jason Kidd, No. 34 J.R. Smith. Last year, the Knicks only had two players in the top 40, Anthony at No. 28 and Jeremy Lin at No. 38.)

Now, that's obviously skewed and can't last, but boy, it's sorta beautiful to look at anyway, right?

Wallace is still probably best suited to the Scalabrine, words-of-wisdom-from-the-bench role, though his experience could come in handy during the playoffs. But we still haven't seen the fun 'Sheed yet. He doesn't have any techs, and he hasn't done anything gloriously crazy. Then we'll know he truly belongs and is welcome here.

We can't wait.

Rasheed will have the honor of whipping the home crowd into a frenzy (at the direction of Mike Woodson of course) if a game needs a sudden jolt of adrenaline. It is a time trusted tactic of Red Auerbach, who used technical fouls to lead the Boston Garden faithful into a frenzy. As he left for the locker room, Red KNEW that his Celtics were about to make a run. Bill Russell did not get named Player/Coach without having prior experience. Remember, back in the day, there were no assistant coaches. The players were left on their own if Red was ejected.

It's Broadway, right?

Rasheed understands the emotion of the game and exactly which refs are on his list.

It will not be dull.

"He’s giving us so much out there," Tyson Chandler said. "Not even when he’s on the floor but on the bench. Last year a lot of times my voice was the only voice out there. Now there’s so many voices. We got so many defensive players.

"Then you’ve got ’Sheed on the bench. A lot of times he’s screaming. I may be focusing on something on the left side of the floor and I can hear his voice from the bench. That kind of alerts me and then I’m able to get everybody else’s attention. He’s doing great things on the bench as well as obviously what we see him bring to the game."

So when Wallace says “I accept my Brian Scalabrine role”, that’s potentially problematic. For one thing, Wallace is playing well enough so far that the Knicks ought to be looking to play him sooner, and more. When Marcus Camby returns, that makes Wallace, ideally, the beta tester for offensive force at the four on the second unit, ahead of Amar’e Stoudemire’s return.

SupremeC - The "I'm Camby Dammit" shiftline is long and highly skilled. Camby and Sheed are both 6'11. Novak is 6'10. JR Smith is 6'6 and Pablo Prigioni is 6'3.

This revised 6-8 minutes shiftline may have more overall offensive firepower than the starters. The low post play of Sheed makes Novak more dangerous spotting up. JR has a license to shoot anything that moves and Pablo's three point shot does not suck that bad.

They are certainly as good defensively inside, Camby and Sheed will grab every rebound.... with Novak as the weak link.

We can go ten deep without losing a step.

Mray20 wrote:

Not really. There was no "diss." It was Simply Sheed calling bullsh#t on a reporter eager to start some sh#t.

Rasheed makes us tougher in more ways than one. Media training? Yeah, right...

You work the rotations
Melo, Amare, Sheed
Melo, Sheed, Tyson
Novak, Amare, Sheed or Camby

Your second option is intriguing. Melo/ Sheed/ Tyson would rock.

Syniko wrote:Sheed is old and pointless.

“My first speech at our team dinner, right before we opened camp, I told everybody that they had to leave their egos at the door,’’ the coach said Saturday after practice in Greenburgh. “If we’re talking about trying to win a title and win at a high level … we got to leave the egos at the door. I’m not going to deal with guys with bad egos. If there’s a problem, they’ve got to go.”

Rasheed Wallace changes the Knicks dynamic because he brings a toughness to the court and his running buddies know that he has their back. Anyone who has played a team sport understands how valuable cohesion is.

The threat of his low post play creates space for our jump shooters. Steve Novak will have plenty of clear views of the rim. JR Smith will benefit from seams in the defense for dives to the rack. Pablo will find them. Suddenly, our second shift is not only able to hold a lead, but play from behind and make runs when the starters are sluggish, if needed.

That is huge.

The predicament of how to fit Amar’e Stoudemire into the Knicks’ rotation is one the team doesn’t look likely to face soon.

But a window into how it could work was possible, thanks to Rasheed Wallace’s usage against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Wallace played 18 minutes, took six shots, grabbed six rebounds. He was the first big to enter off the bench, and the second player to enter, after J.R. Smith.

But what was most interesting was seeing Wallacee play most of the second quarter alongside either Tyson Chandler or Marcus Camby. This was a first for the season; Wallace had been backing up Chandler, not playing the four next to him. And Camby hadn’t played until Friday night.

Wallace has been a high-usage player as a Knick so far, and to make Stoudemire happy in anything other than a starting role, he’d need to be, too. But it isn’t hard to imagine a second unit succeeding with Stoudemire as the interior offensive option, Novak as the three-point safety valve, Smith creating on the perimeter fed by Prigioni, and Camby defending the paint since Stoudemire, well, doesn’t all that well.

Where that leaves Wallace is another story, but depending on him to play huge minutes was never the plan. And it isn’t going to make sense not to take advantage of Stoudemire’s ample offensive gifts, if he is healthy.

Just worth thinking about Wallace as a potential stalking horse for Stoudemire usage moving forward. And to be sure, the early returns suggest that’s quite a useful fill-in option, indeed.

- Howard Megdal

In just 13 minutes 4/8 3 rebounds

"Rasheed gave us a big life coming off the bench tonight. We beat a great team tonight." - Mike Woodson

3/7, 9 points 7 rebounds and one blocked shot

Sheed outplayed Roy Hibbert who is making a lot of chedda

I did not expect the player that I am seeing in Sheed.

I think he might be averaging 25 minutes really soon.

And, the offense is starting to come around.

Forgot how great he is defensively

Love the way he boxed out

Love his game today in every way.

mrKnickShot - the fun part about this season is that our individual questions leading into training camp are being answered by men who appear to enjoy sharing a locker room.

Our veterans have responded by setting the tone. They have bought into Woodson's defensive strategy and led the way with effort. Once Carmelo flew into the stands after a loose ball, or Ronnie Brewer boxed out with some force.... or Sheed barked out a defensive assignment - the message became contagious.

Forget the offense, that is gravy... Sheed's rebounding is a welcome bonus.

holfresh wrote:No way I thought Sheed would have been playing like this..Last I remember of him was on Boston's bench slightly overweight ..Im shocked to see him post, defend and rebound..Im just pissed we have no young bigs to learn from Sheed..What a steal if he stays healthy..

Sheed and Rashard Lewis are my two biggest surprises so far. Also, I know I am on an island but I think Amar'e could learn a lot from Sheed minus the 3.

"I was a huge Patrick Ewing fan; that's what made me sway this way. You had Oak, you had J-Starks . . . It was an all-around good team and they played hellified defense. That's what I liked about them."

Spoken like a player who always wanted to play in New York.

"I think it's everybody in the locker room. We have two two-time defensive players [of the year] and other veterans who pride themselves on defense. You have a defensive coach, two defensive assistant coaches, so it's just a matter of time before everyone buys into it, and once we all do, it's going to be hellacious."

- Rasheed Wallace

The passion and the pride... even the boisterous playground attitude... is a perfect fit for the city.

Welcome to New York.

But overall, in the Wizard I trust.

Anji, you are indeed Jedi

Anji wrote:I'm Feeling Sheed should start against bigger teams if Camby is in playing condition.

Rasheed is playing on memory these days. His game-speed conditioning appears to be coming around enough that he is already approaching a double double in 16 minutes of play. That is an encouraging trend. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are too much for Chandler and Carmelo. By the time the Knicks play Memphis again, Rasheed Wallace will be in the starting lineup.

Shift Du Supersize Me

JKidd 6'4, Brewer 6'7, Carmelo 6'8, Sheed 6'11, Chandler 7'.

25 minutes or less for Tyson might keep him healthy and flu-less for the playoffs