Knicks · What do we the no the rest of the season holds? (page 1)

We have seen a good sample size of this team now, I'd like to know how people think the Knicks will go for the rest of the year, First round? Second Round? Conference finals? I think second round personally, I believe that is a realistic goal to set ourselves this season. That just means getting a decently high seed and taking out another average East team, very achievable.

That's quite a thread title

Hahaha my bad people, thanks autocorrect for making my poor typing display from 'think' into 'the no'

Knicks67 wrote:Hahaha my bad people, thanks autocorrect for making my poor typing display from 'think' into 'the no'

lol...I tried to read it several times to make sense of it

We are a playoff team I believe. We will be a tough out in the 1st Rd. It really comes down to health and continue to build chemistry. The upside of this group is prob ECF but not this year. Our young guys will have to grow more and we will still have to improve the bench slightly. Defense should improve but will never be our calling card, so we will need to be a great offensive team. Would be nice to add a bench player this summer who can score quick points. Our bench still struggles to get points at times. Maybe DWill can return next year for the mid level exception once we get done resigning our guys.

As of today I see us a first round out. The areas that need to improve are defense and hero ball out of our big three. I think KP has begun too content hitting the long range 3.

Team is on the brick of collapse.
If KP, or Rose, or Melo will go down we are done for the year.
Probability is against us.
Other team will only play better and with the sense of purpose.
The defense intensity will increase a lot after the ASB and we are atrocious in it.
I think it will be customary end of the season meltdown.

arkrud wrote:Team is on the brick of collapse.
If KP, or Rose, or Melo will go down we are done for the year.
Probability is against us.
Other team will only play better and with the sense of purpose.
The defense intensity will increase a lot after the ASB and we are atrocious in it.
I think it will be customary end of the season meltdown.

Any team who loses one of their best players is going to struggle. That's just how it works. A team like Toronto probably would have a hard time making the playoffs if they lost Lowry or DeRozan for an extended period of time.

Knicks67 wrote:We have seen a good sample size of this team now, I'd like to know how people think the Knicks will go for the rest of the year, First round? Second Round? Conference finals? I think second round personally, I believe that is a realistic goal to set ourselves this season. That just means getting a decently high seed and taking out another average East team, very achievable.

We'd have to end up with the 4th,5th or 6th seed to win in the first round.

we're in a rut at the moment, but I am still very optimistic about this team. We are seeing signs of life from Noah

We need to continue to improve as a team -- being on same page, emphasizing certain strengths, mitigating or hiding weaknesses, which will come

Of course, I like any other fan would like more wins and a higher seed, but I'm more concerned with us peaking at the right time.

ECF or semifinals (hopelessly optimistic...)

Chandler wrote:we're in a rut at the moment, but I am still very optimistic about this team. We are seeing signs of life from Noah

We need to continue to improve as a team -- being on same page, emphasizing certain strengths, mitigating or hiding weaknesses, which will come

Of course, I like any other fan would like more wins and a higher seed, but I'm more concerned with us peaking at the right time.

ECF or semifinals (hopelessly optimistic...)

We have lost 2 close games in a row. If just one of them went in our favorite, things would look differently. That being said, we are still in the 5th seed currently.

IMO I think this team has a TON of upside! The main reason is I think we can see that this team is far from clicking on all cylinders. The one aspect outside of defense is the Rose/KP tandem. This should be a BIG weapon for us but so far it's not yet operating at a high enough level. If I was in Jeff's shoes I'd pull them aside and talk to them about spending a lot more time working on their 2 man game until they develop better chemistry.

IMO Rose and KP lack a real sense for how to work off each other and that isn't acceptable. Stick them in a gym drilling that 2 man until they figure it out.

Knixkik wrote:

Chandler wrote:we're in a rut at the moment, but I am still very optimistic about this team. We are seeing signs of life from Noah

We need to continue to improve as a team -- being on same page, emphasizing certain strengths, mitigating or hiding weaknesses, which will come

Of course, I like any other fan would like more wins and a higher seed, but I'm more concerned with us peaking at the right time.

ECF or semifinals (hopelessly optimistic...)

We have lost 2 close games in a row. If just one of them went in our favorite, things would look differently. That being said, we are still in the 5th seed currently.

there have been a lot of missed opportunities, for sure. Think back to how the Cavs initially struggled when they were assembled with James and Love. It took time. Same will be true for us

I think our coach is actually quite smart -- was optimistic and he's still exceeded expectations. This will be huge in playoffs.

My list of critical factors for Knicks' big success is:

(a) Rose health -- super critical [same can be said for other players like Melo and KP but i don't sense they're injuries waiting to happen)
(b) Noah continues to improve -- huge room for upside and he can do it. He needs to keep teams honest and to cover him. We need him to improve the defense and he's super critical for certain teams that actually have real centers
(c) Lee needs to shoot more including drives to hoop -- he has something like less than 10 FT this season?!? FTs are the most efficient way to score -- way bigger than beloved 3 pt shots -- and they soften the D as players get in foul trouble. I have been more than pleasantly surprised by Lee's play
(d) get the ball out of Melo's hands -- let him shoot tons but don't let him make the decisions; e.g., he should not be walking the ball up at the end of quarters
(e) KP has to figure out what to do with stretch 4s or 5s

nixluva wrote:IMO I think this team has a TON of upside! The main reason is I think we can see that this team is far from clicking on all cylinders. The one aspect outside of defense is the Rose/KP tandem. This should be a BIG weapon for us but so far it's not yet operating at a high enough level. If I was in Jeff's shoes I'd pull them aside and talk to them about spending a lot more time working on their 2 man game until they develop better chemistry.

IMO Rose and KP lack a real sense for how to work off each other and that isn't acceptable. Stick them in a gym drilling that 2 man until they figure it out.

this is a good point. Right now, i think Rose is trying to figure out how to play with Melo. He has been quite public about his desire to develop PnR with Melo, not KP. Personally I don't get this. Melo is mid range. KP can do pick and pop for 3s or roll to the hoop for actual dunks. I can't remember the last time i saw Melo dunk when contested. Still have nightmares about Hibbert

Look at that -we're a 500 team. We've played well at times, and at others, stunk things up.

I kinda see much of the same the rest of the way - maybe we end up a few games over 500- like 44 & 38, 42 & 40.

I think we may be a hard out in the 1st round, but I don't see them advancing.

franco12 wrote:Look at that -we're a 500 team. We've played well at times, and at others, stunk things up.

I kinda see much of the same the rest of the way - maybe we end up a few games over 500- like 44 & 38, 42 & 40.

I think we may be a hard out in the 1st round, but I don't see them advancing.

That should be the goal, 1st round and a tough out. I still only see 3 teams in the east that are clearly better. Cavs, Raptors, and Celtics. As long as Porzingis and Willy improve and the rest of the group continues to develop chemistry, next year we should make real noise in the playoffs. But 1st round and a tough out would be real progress this season.

I think the team is better than the record at this point.

Rose has missed several games and the team is still learning how to play D as a unit.

It will improve. I think they will be a top 4 seed and make the 2nd round at least.

franco12 wrote:Look at that -we're a 500 team. We've played well at times, and at others, stunk things up.

I kinda see much of the same the rest of the way - maybe we end up a few games over 500- like 44 & 38, 42 & 40.

I think we may be a hard out in the 1st round, but I don't see them advancing.

I disagree. I think this team is going to catch fire at some point this season. You can see a lot of potential still untapped and they haven't hit full stride yet. When this team finally gets it going they're gonna be a lot to handle.

GoNyGoNyGo wrote:I think the team is better than the record at this point.

Rose has missed several games and the team is still learning how to play D as a unit.

It will improve. I think they will be a top 4 seed and make the 2nd round at least.

EXACTLY!!! You've gotta look past the record which is not a true indication of how good they can play. This team lost early due to chemistry issues and they still aren't all the way there in terms of chemistry yet.

My observations:

Rose started out of control/taking bad shots but now has settled down and is actually playing really well for us.

Jennings started really controlled and was making great passes taking good shots now he has been playing a little out of control and taking worse shots. Horny needs to show him tape of earlier games and get him back to that form.

Courtney Lee is fine I like him and if we were passing the ball better/more often his numbers would definitely go up. He doesn't change the game but needs to get more open looks if we want to maximize his talent.

Holiday-- I like him and I feel like he needs a system to thrive.

Kuzminskas-- Like him also but I feel like in those limited minutes he plays he is trying to impress and is taking a little too many shots sometimes.

Baker-- instant spark of energy, like him a lot, cant say anything bad about him hes a rookie and plays hard

Lance-- this is what your gonna get from him, nothing better nothing worse, definitely tradable, tries hard hes just limited talent wise, not knocking the guy.

Melo-- Melo gonna be Melo, but he is realizing that he has other scoring options on the team now and I have seen it this season that he sharing the Garden with Porzingis. Still has the same moves, catches the ball in the same spots wont run catch and shoot, same isolation stuff, gets away with it on talent alone, I think he realizes he has a diminishing role on scoring at least. Was playing with the team great then the second game they had with the Cavs he went back to OLD MELO cause his homie LeBron was there so had to show he was still the MAIN STAR on the team. He will never mature, but that's okay now cause we have a supporting cast.

Porzingis-- I am getting worried about his development. First he cant get the post-up pass, he has enough size to where he should be able to get that post-up pass 90% of the time, they need to work on this with him. Number two- there was a stretch when he was dribbling under his legs trying to do crossovers everygame, and doing only ISO wtf!!! He seems to be learning bad habits from Melo!!! When Porzingis lets the game come to him he is UNSTOPPABLE when he forces throughout the whole game he ends up 3-15 or 4-18 etc. Also when he has no arch in his shot his percentage goes WAAAAY down when he does he makes long threes, anyone notice that?

Noah/OQuinn/Gomez--- I'm fine with a rotation of Noah OQuinn and Gomez, cant ask for anything more out of OQuinn he has been doing an AWESOME job for us. Noah needs to step up but can he??? Gomez, man I love this kid, not the most talented out there but knows what he can and cannot do, has a great bball IQ and has great footwork. Can he teach Porzingis his post moves and great passing? I mean he ran a fast break once by himself! The Knicks had a stretch when everytime they put in Gomez, Jennings and their second unit they were playing amazing.

Things that are encouraging:

We are fifth in offensive rebounding.

Almost the entire team can shoot the ball (except Noah) (Even OQuin has that automatic 20 footer)

We are actually REALLY GOOD on ONE on ONE defense I think our defense is bad because we are trying to overdo our help defense and leaving someone open. I really do think we have good enough man to man defense to not have to help with anyone else that isn't named LeBron, Westbrook etc.

Porzingis defense at the basket changes the game, I have seen him alter so many shots and force teams to rely on the three point game except (read above statement) we are overdoing our help defense.

Our biggest need right now is not a trade but better PASSING. When we pass we win... PERIOD. We have THREE guys that have the ability to score almost at will. But we force too many shots and when the best players on the team have the habit of doing that it is infectious. Like I said before Porzingis seems like he is taking a few pages from Melos book and I don't like that.

PASS PASS PASS.

Stevo718 wrote:My observations:

Rose started out of control/taking bad shots but now has settled down and is actually playing really well for us.

Jennings started really controlled and was making great passes taking good shots now he has been playing a little out of control and taking worse shots. Horny needs to show him tape of earlier games and get him back to that form.

Courtney Lee is fine I like him and if we were passing the ball better/more often his numbers would definitely go up. He doesn't change the game but needs to get more open looks if we want to maximize his talent.

Holiday-- I like him and I feel like he needs a system to thrive.

Kuzminskas-- Like him also but I feel like in those limited minutes he plays he is trying to impress and is taking a little too many shots sometimes.

Baker-- instant spark of energy, like him a lot, cant say anything bad about him hes a rookie and plays hard

Lance-- this is what your gonna get from him, nothing better nothing worse, definitely tradable, tries hard hes just limited talent wise, not knocking the guy.

Melo-- Melo gonna be Melo, but he is realizing that he has other scoring options on the team now and I have seen it this season that he sharing the Garden with Porzingis. Still has the same moves, catches the ball in the same spots wont run catch and shoot, same isolation stuff, gets away with it on talent alone, I think he realizes he has a diminishing role on scoring at least. Was playing with the team great then the second game they had with the Cavs he went back to OLD MELO cause his homie LeBron was there so had to show he was still the MAIN STAR on the team. He will never mature, but that's okay now cause we have a supporting cast.

Porzingis-- I am getting worried about his development. First he cant get the post-up pass, he has enough size to where he should be able to get that post-up pass 90% of the time, they need to work on this with him. Number two- there was a stretch when he was dribbling under his legs trying to do crossovers everygame, and doing only ISO wtf!!! He seems to be learning bad habits from Melo!!! When Porzingis lets the game come to him he is UNSTOPPABLE when he forces throughout the whole game he ends up 3-15 or 4-18 etc. Also when he has no arch in his shot his percentage goes WAAAAY down when he does he makes long threes, anyone notice that?

Noah/OQuinn/Gomez--- I'm fine with a rotation of Noah OQuinn and Gomez, cant ask for anything more out of OQuinn he has been doing an AWESOME job for us. Noah needs to step up but can he??? Gomez, man I love this kid, not the most talented out there but knows what he can and cannot do, has a great bball IQ and has great footwork. Can he teach Porzingis his post moves and great passing? I mean he ran a fast break once by himself! The Knicks had a stretch when everytime they put in Gomez, Jennings and their second unit they were playing amazing.

Things that are encouraging:

We are fifth in offensive rebounding.

Almost the entire team can shoot the ball (except Noah) (Even OQuin has that automatic 20 footer)

We are actually REALLY GOOD on ONE on ONE defense I think our defense is bad because we are trying to overdo our help defense and leaving someone open. I really do think we have good enough man to man defense to not have to help with anyone else that isn't named LeBron, Westbrook etc.

Porzingis defense at the basket changes the game, I have seen him alter so many shots and force teams to rely on the three point game except (read above statement) we are overdoing our help defense.

Our biggest need right now is not a trade but better PASSING. When we pass we win... PERIOD. We have THREE guys that have the ability to score almost at will. But we force too many shots and when the best players on the team have the habit of doing that it is infectious. Like I said before Porzingis seems like he is taking a few pages from Melos book and I don't like that.

PASS PASS PASS.

i like this assessment but would add more intensity and consistency on defense -- full 48 minutes