KP is our center and it showed vs the magic. KP setting the screens and rolling or poping is way more deadly then having willy or noah play the center role of setting the picks and rolling or poping. we should have been putting KP in that role all year... I know the magic are bad but it just showed us that involving kp in every play really opens the door for rose to destroy the defense and also gets melo more open looks as the defense is more focused on trying to guard a 7'3 monster that can score from anywhere on the court. KP rolling to the basket is strait up scary to opposing defenses. you can no longer put a small guy on him.
now are there going to be growing pains on defense when he guards a bull of a center yea but he's still our best paint protector...KP is quick for 7'3 but his lateral movement is slow for the Power forward position again he is not a power forward. he is a future super star center I hope he plays there the rest of the season.
our future/now power forward is melo he is a superstar at the 4 on offense he can't be stopped as well as being quick and aggressive on defense vs 4's there was a reason he had his best year for us in 2012 as the power forward . Melo is to slow to guard 3's he's a bruiser at 245 and can easily hold his own vs bigger 4's. he needs to stay there the rest of the season.
Lance is a perfect fit at the 3 in our starting line up as long as he is healthy he glues our defense together and on offense can make the super stars better he's a aggressive pump faking driver/open three point maker. he needs to start the rest of the year, a healthy lance is what this team was missing all year.
He is a center no question. Long-term, i still expect him to start next to Willy, because i think they compliment each other well. Willy should be starting as well, but assuming he plays 28-30 mpg for example, KP should be playing the other 18-20 mpg at center. Still more than half his minutes. And Willy might not finish every game due to matchups. He can start, but might be best finishing with a smaller lineup at times. And if this is the long-term priority, a SF like Tatum, Isaac, or Miles Bridges can be great options if we don't get the PG we are looking for. Bridges, in particular, if we fall out of the top 10. He can essentially be a more offensively gifted Lance Thomas. Big, athletic, 2-way combo forward.
I like Lance and I think that his injury is one of the reasons we are struggling.
stupid auto correct "melo is OUR"
look at our second unit with that starting line up
Noah/KOQ
willy
kuz
holiday/baker
baker/randle
you can't blame phil for signing jennings or noah how could he know Baker was a lockdown defender perfect triangle back up pg, and willy was a rebounding machine.
Id like to see us groom willy into a low post PF he's pretty small for the center position and with KP there is no room for willy in our starting line up as a center or a back up center if noah is on this team for the long run. willy in the second unit is getting him more offensive touches and can be a major factor/backbone. when melo retires or is moved you can easily move willy into the starting 5 right into his prime, to have a bruising PF next to KP is perfect. now if we can get jordan jenkins in the draft and pushes lance to our back up role we will have quiet the team. thats a very defensive second unit with lance in it.
NYKBocker wrote:I like Lance and I think that his injury is one of the reasons we are struggling.
I 100 percent agree. I forgot how dynamic of a defender he was as well as a sneaky offensive player.
fitzfarm wrote:NYKBocker wrote:I like Lance and I think that his injury is one of the reasons we are struggling.
I 100 percent agree. I forgot how dynamic of a defender he was as well as a sneaky offensive player.
He's valuable. It's nice that he can also shoot a little bit. I wish he could do a little more offensively, but he's solid on both ends.
fitzfarm wrote:stupid auto correct "melo is OUR"look at our second unit with that starting line up
Noah/KOQ
willy
kuz
holiday/baker
baker/randle
you can't blame phil for signing jennings or noah how could he know Baker was a lockdown defender perfect triangle back up pg, and willy was a rebounding machine.
Id like to see us groom willy into a low post PF he's pretty small for the center position and with KP there is no room for willy in our starting line up as a center or a back up center if noah is on this team for the long run. willy in the second unit is getting him more offensive touches and can be a major factor/backbone. when melo retires or is moved you can easily move willy into the starting 5 right into his prime, to have a bruising PF next to KP is perfect. now if we can get jordan jenkins in the draft and pushes lance to our back up role we will have quiet the team. thats a very defensive second unit with lance in it.
Come on with this bull crap. Baker lock down defender??? Total crap. Fair defensive player maybe, Way too slow to be a " lock down defender" Lets see him play Harden, Westbrook, etc. He will get torched!
BigRedDog wrote:fitzfarm wrote:stupid auto correct "melo is OUR"look at our second unit with that starting line up
Noah/KOQ
willy
kuz
holiday/baker
baker/randle
you can't blame phil for signing jennings or noah how could he know Baker was a lockdown defender perfect triangle back up pg, and willy was a rebounding machine.
Id like to see us groom willy into a low post PF he's pretty small for the center position and with KP there is no room for willy in our starting line up as a center or a back up center if noah is on this team for the long run. willy in the second unit is getting him more offensive touches and can be a major factor/backbone. when melo retires or is moved you can easily move willy into the starting 5 right into his prime, to have a bruising PF next to KP is perfect. now if we can get jordan jenkins in the draft and pushes lance to our back up role we will have quiet the team. thats a very defensive second unit with lance in it.
Come on with this bull crap. Baker lock down defender??? Total crap. Fair defensive player maybe, Way too slow to be a " lock down defender" Lets see him play Harden, Westbrook, etc. He will get torched!
Is there anyone who doesn't get torched by Harden and Westbrook?
BigRedDog wrote:fitzfarm wrote:stupid auto correct "melo is OUR"look at our second unit with that starting line up
Noah/KOQ
willy
kuz
holiday/baker
baker/randle
you can't blame phil for signing jennings or noah how could he know Baker was a lockdown defender perfect triangle back up pg, and willy was a rebounding machine.
Id like to see us groom willy into a low post PF he's pretty small for the center position and with KP there is no room for willy in our starting line up as a center or a back up center if noah is on this team for the long run. willy in the second unit is getting him more offensive touches and can be a major factor/backbone. when melo retires or is moved you can easily move willy into the starting 5 right into his prime, to have a bruising PF next to KP is perfect. now if we can get jordan jenkins in the draft and pushes lance to our back up role we will have quiet the team. thats a very defensive second unit with lance in it.
Come on with this bull crap. Baker lock down defender??? Total crap. Fair defensive player maybe, Way too slow to be a " lock down defender" Lets see him play Harden, Westbrook, etc. He will get torched!
Who doesn't get smoked by harden or Westbrook, esp when the refs make them super human.... baker is our second best defender to LT ... he can be a pest, it's time to admit baker is a solid rotation backcourt player... like lance his defensive effort is infectious.
If Lance/Rose/KP/Melo stay healthy this team probably makes the playoffs. They have a very soft schedule. Lance is rested. Willy/KP/KOQ are playing well and Im sure Melo will stay at the 4. Ideally it blows up his trade value
I'm very curious to see how this lineup works out the rest of the way. It seems like they finally have a lineup that works and very good rotations off the bench.
nixluva wrote:I'm very curious to see how this lineup works out the rest of the way. It seems like they finally have a lineup that works and very good rotations off the bench.
Agreed also this makes me think we go after tucker in free agency for our second unit lance and tucker are some of the best defenders in the game... again we will see KP flourish on offense playing the center position.
KP and Willy are our front court of the future. Melo is irrelevant
It will be interesting to see how KP does against Okafor. Against the Magic Biyombo gave him a harder time than Vujacic.
The problem for that lineup is rebounding
On O and man D and rotations better
Rebounding will be a problem
I like it so far though
Lance may be our MVP
meloshouldgo wrote:KP and Willy are our front court of the future. Melo is irrelevant
Not saying Melo is going to work out long term or stay
But assuming they play well with Melo at 4, KP at starting 5, they can run a 3 man rotation at C/PF
Willy can come in for Melo or KP.
But OQuinn is a real steal man he can play
nyknickzingis wrote:The problem for that lineup is rebounding
On O and man D and rotations better
Rebounding will be a problemI like it so far though
Lance may be our MVP
I just listened to a podcast where they were talking about how the Knicks are last in defensive rebounding despite playing the big line up. You can't get much worse than that.
KP has to gain weight and get stronger to play 5 on a consistent basis...
A lot of you guys seemed fine with the fact that he did not come in bigger this year- NO upper body work and no weight gain that I could see, yet now folks are talking about him playing 5?
I expected him to come in around 250 this year...obviously, this did not happen.
From the time we got him I talked about him playing the 5, but you cannot do this unless he is physically ready, first.
If these last 2 games are any indication KP is ready to play 5 now
They've done well with KP out there he's right now leading the team in +\- by a lot (late 3rd)
This on a really bad night so far by Melo
Yeah this KP/Melo/Thomas lineup has immense potential
I think it depends on the other team if you ask me. Some games it would work, others...not so much.
nyknickzingis wrote:meloshouldgo wrote:KP and Willy are our front court of the future. Melo is irrelevant
Not saying Melo is going to work out long term or stay
But assuming they play well with Melo at 4, KP at starting 5, they can run a 3 man rotation at C/PF
Willy can come in for Melo or KP.
But OQuinn is a real steal man he can play
KP and Willy combine better and can switch roles fluidly. Melo doesn't complement anyone, he just does what he does. KP/Willy/KOQ is a good frontcourt, makes Melo even moreexpendable
