Knicks · Game Thread: Knicks try to blow out the Pistons 11/1 (page 12)
#1 should be easy to fill -- just someone who gets it better. I really like Yogi Ferrell. I honestly think he'd be a better fit than Jennings and would be a guy we could move forward and build with. Bryce Cotton's similar to Ferrell--offensive-minded PGs but much more under control than Jennings...Also think Spencer Dinwiddie would be a real nice improvement over Jennings--he's big, skilled and heady. And likewise, a player we could build with..We need better mins/better play out of our backup point guard, bottom line. Jennings actually had some moments last night--enough where I was thinking, 'ok Jeff, good call, let's see Rose/Jennings together, even to close the game maybe'---but then, wham!, there goes Jennings being Jennings again. Complete wild card/loose cannon player out there. Too cavalier, too maverick.. Ashame, he's got talent but he doesn't come close to utilizing it to the fullest. He's been around and there's a reason he was available in FA for as cheap as we got him (little to do with the achilles injury which is a non-issue). There was a play last night where Justin Holiday had a nice block at the rim, then ran his ass off getting back on offense and should've gotten the ball back -- instead Jennings ran it down and heaved up a terrible 3. That's all you need to know with Jennings. 
A good floor general would've known to reward Holiday there. Maybe he works on some teams (SVG was singing his praises last night) but he's a square peg in a round hole here. I think this is gonna end badly for him in NY where next year, he'll be a FA and he'll be blasting everyone from Jeff Hornacek, to his teammates, to Phil's triangle. He'll have a ton of reasons why it didn't work out for him here, watch.
#2 -- A little harder to find. Let's face it -- a good three-way post scorer/rebounder/shot-blocker is probably an all-star level player. But say a rebounder/post scorer (maybe we need to see more Willy but truth be told, he looks pretty green out there right now. When Willy's been out there, I see too much passive play and too many mistakes). Looking for guys that might be getable -- I mentioned someone like Diamond Stone--might have the same problems as Willy though. Might need someone a little more established and NBA-ready here. Richaun Holmes maybe (toughness and a good defender/shot-blocker, he can even shoot/score, but doesn't necessarily have the go-to post-game I think we need)... I'm actually a Greg Monroe fan. If we could ever get him and not give up too much (for O'Quinn/Jennings/cash maybe?)..Where's Craig Brackins these days? 6'10" 230, always a good offensive player and he could post up.. There was talk last year about obtaining Markieff Morris in a trade. Maybe we explore that. Different team now--not sure I see a trade match with WASH. Plus I think they like him--he's been good for them so far.. How's Al Jefferson working out in Indy? I see he's not getting a lot of minutes. He's older now but could work here if the price is right (would they be interested in O'Quinn and/or Jennings?). Do we ever try to get Kevin Seraphin back if we could get him cheap? Ideally, I'd like to see KP play a little more in the post but it's just not his game full-time and I honestly thought Willy was a little more ready to play in the NBA but not sure I see that yet. O'Quinn's just not a post-up threat.. Gotta see who the top post players in the DL wind up being. Maybe there's someone who makes sense that we could add cheap.
Other things I'd look to clean up/tweak:
#3 - Also said the other day, I want less Phil meddling. I was reacting to the complete and utter confusion we saw offensively in the opener followed by Rose speaking out against the triangle immediately after that game. Now we're hearing Byron Scott criticizing Phil, saying that he needs to back off and let Jeff coach the team. And let's not forget the problems Phil had with Derek Fisher last year when Derek wanted to install some modern offense to augment Phil's triangle--part of what got him fired and this guy was one of Phil's own disciples. There's got to be something to this--I just hope it's not as bad as I think it might be. Back off and let Jeff do it his way and stop forcing your own principles on this coach and these players. Earth to Phil---people respect you but no one likes your system and what you're selling! It's overly complicated for these guys and it's leading to confusion, resistance, hesitation and frustration. They're not enjoying it and they're not having success with it. He actually did a reasonably good job putting this team together this year--now back the F off and let Jeff figure out how to get the best out of this team. It's not like he assembled all triangle players anyway--he didn't. Then why try to force triangle down their throats?? There's too much talent here to look as lost on offense as we do. Honestly believe Phil's meddling is detrimental and could be part of the problem here.
#4 - Courtney Lee is lost out there. I can't figure it--he's not a bad player. He might be one of these guys that simply can't grasp this system. He should be fitting in much better than he is. They need to figure out how to get him going and how to get more out of him. At first, I thought it was his fault, that he wasn't being aggressive enough. Not so sure that's entirely the case now. Just can't go games on end where we get nothing out of our starting 2G. I personally like Afflalo better as a player but I'm not trying to blast Lee. He's capable enough. Hard to pin point what's wrong here.
#5 - Less Lance Thomas; more Kuz/N'Dour.
#6 - More Plumlee. When Noah sits, part of me thinks it be nice to replace him that same toughness, same no-nonsense style, etc.. What Plumlee brings might be more important than what O'Quinn/Willy bring. In spurts against certain opponents at least.