dk7th wrote:Knicks1969 wrote:dk7th wrote:i like williams and his opportunistic style of play. but lets remember he started basketball late in life and his upside as a true team player may be limited. he was a good risk but he in no way should have a style of play to accommodate his skills, like jackson said of michael jordan.the triangle system of play is being instituted and all players will have to toe the line if they want playing time. some of you may see that as unfair, but then again some of you have no patience with the challenges of learning the triangle, and the same posters may well have ridiculous expectations for this team this season too.
there's probably a strong correlation between impatience and too-high expectations. i think these expectations are informing many of these kinds of posts, crapping on fisher relentlessly and condemning the triangle as outmoded. i predicted 34 wins for this team.
i wonder what knick69 win-loss prediction was for the knicks this year?
My prediction was based on Fisher's growth as a coach. I predicted with an improve Fisher, we would win a good 40+ of games. Because of his misuse of the talents, we have underperformed. Ask me what rotation I forsaw going into the season.
they're on a pace to win 37.2 games as of tonight. http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv...
if your prediction of the record is based solely on fisher's improvement as a coach, then he is largely if not exclusively responsible for a 20-game improvement. that doesn't seem to be good enough for you, unless you want to look elsewhere for reasons why the knicks will not reach the 40+ wins you predicted.
what rotation did you foresee going into the season?
mine in the summer was lopez, melo, oquinn, afflalo, and reluctantly calderon (who i cannot abide). that quickly changed to lopez, melo, kp, afflalo, galloway. but afflalo is hindering the triangle because he almost never passes the ball. plus he is a woefully overrated defender.
now it would be lopez, melo, kp, thomas, galloway or swap out lopez for oquinn.
ironically, a bench of calderon, lopez, afflalo, (galloway), and williams could accommodate williams if fisher decided to have an uptempo second unit.
As it relates to Fisher, I continue to see the same mistakes he exuded last season. A penchant for using too many players when it is not necessary, which in my opinion is a disrespect for continuity. He took too long to settle on a 10 men rotation; and when he finally did decide to settle with the 10 men, he rode a few guys who did not help to balance the rotation. I.e: guys like Sasha, Seraphin, and Lou.
Regarding the rotation I forsaw going into the season, I knew all along that we needed speed in the back court; as well as, a guy who would be strong and agile enough to keep up defensively. I proposed to play Grant from the jump to help solidify his footing in the league, because he is a four year guy who is matured enough to come in and play right away. Next to Aflalo and Carmelo, this dude would not need to think the game too much; his sole job would be to bring up the ball and attack the basket on offense. On defense, he can't do no worse then Calderon. that on its own is already an upgrade. For that my proposed rotation was as follow: Grant, Aflalo, Carmelo, KP, and Rolo. the replacements: Galloway, Calderon, Williams, Lance and KO.
However, based on what I have seen thus far, I advocated to have both Williams and KO as starters. I would used those two to replace Calder and Rolo. Why? because Carmelo proved to be a more willing passer then he is known to be. He is better at bringing up the ball, speeding up the tempo, and he looks to feed the likes of KP and Williams. Williams adds the much needed dimention that the knicks have not had: athleticism. KO on the other hand provides crisp passing for a big man, and on defense he is simply a monster. he runs the floor with gosto and his IQ is off the chart.