Into season. Almost everyone if not everyone had us counted into a to 5 lottery pick.
i was certainly not thinking we could be this good. For many years now, we had talent on paper, but never put it together.
I think Melo was a big factor in past failures.
And also Phil with his triangle held this team back.
It is still early, and we haven't played many away games where we are 1 & 4. So, we could end up back to earth.
But we are finally seeing what this team can do free of Melo-Drama and forced Triangulations!
12 out of 17 games at home. Please never forget this.
Welpee wrote:12 out of 17 games at home. Please never forget this.
Yeah, our team stats point to us being at about .500. We might stumble the next few weeks, but we still won't be bottom five bad. Not without some hope from the front office anyway.
BigDaddyG wrote:Welpee wrote:12 out of 17 games at home. Please never forget this.
Yeah, our team stats point to us being at about .500. We might stumble the next few weeks, but we still won't be bottom five bad. Not without some hope from the front office anyway.
It's hard to say. 9-3 at home and 1-4 on the road right now.
Bonn1997 wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:Welpee wrote:12 out of 17 games at home. Please never forget this.
Yeah, our team stats point to us being at about .500. We might stumble the next few weeks, but we still won't be bottom five bad. Not without some hope from the front office anyway.
It's hard to say. 9-3 at home and 1-4 on the road right now.
Let's improve that away record today against the worst team in the NBA
Welpee wrote:12 out of 17 games at home. Please never forget this.
Having said this, we didn't win many games home or away last year. So this is a positive so far.
unexpected but not surprising. I thought the Knicks would be better than last year and win 5 more games. I also said I would not be surprised if we were a +500 team as I think we have good talent, plenty of depth and would be improved enough at guard for Jeff to run what he wanted to run. I think we are seeing all those good things happen. Knicks showed nothing last year or preseason that would have suggested this, but the potential is there.
The biggest thing is we only have one guy on the team who cant be benched, and he plays his butt off on both ends. That means when you have this kind of depth you can ride guys playing well and giving max effort. That makes coaching much easier.
Bottom line? This is a better team than last year.
PG: JAck/Frank are better than Rose/Jennings/Baker. Rose gave scoring but nothing else. Our PGs defend and set up teammates
SF: Stats are similar but anyone watching knows we are getting much better play from THjr than we have gotten from Melo in last couple seasons.
C: Kanter has been a stat stuffer, bull dozer and he and KOQ have been great
The eye test is important. Lee's stats arent much different from last year, but he sure feels different doesnt he? Lee's $11mm salary is great for what he's bringing every night. You know the chemistry and coaching are better when see the same players putting up the same stats but they look like higher impact players.
The key question is sustainability? We have already seen teams adjust to KP's scoring and now we have adjusted to those adjustments. Its all about being a 2-way team, because defense never rests. Ewing had plenty of bad shooting games, but it also seemed to be he would get you 15 boards and 4 blocks on those night. We saw that from KP vs. Toronto with a bunch of big plays on D despite a bad shooting night.
Time will tell. That is what makes this part of the process so exciting.
ESPN final did something right by putting the 76ers Vs knick on Xmas day...that is going to be a very good game, Both teams are young and on the rise, it's a division game, and currently tied with same record..can wait
Hornacek approach too pre season was consistent with his first year. He likes to let his teams free lance. He plays everyone in all kinds of line ups. He doesn't really show off the play book. This pre season he did that for every single game. I guess he was trying not to build up a good scouting report for teams to follow.
That first game against OKC the Knicks actually gave them hell but started getting sloppy because that was really their first time playing serious. We smoked Detroit too but the save thing happened blowing that huge lead. We are now playing great basketball. It's a process. Coaches have different styles, and it takes teams a while to get the kinks out. It's all good.
We literally have 5 starters that give a damn and play hard. We have 3 subs that do the same in KOQ, Frank and Derm... the other bench guys are plating hard as well. That's all you ask and all you need. Everything else will take care of itself.
Despite the rough start I felt this team should exceed the general consensus that they would stink. There are so many positive changes starting with addition by subtraction of stubborn and selfish personalities. Can’t be understated how important it is to have a team all pulling in the same direction.
Last year this team lost a LOT of games they were in late. Poor execution on both ends and not enough players giving max effort. This year that has changed completely. The team is getting so much more effort and commitment to defense. We had so many people KILLING Rambis and Jeff regarding their ability to coach defense. Now we see a HUGE problem was the players who didn’t give a F!!!
EnySpree wrote:Hornacek approach too pre season was consistent with his first year. He likes to let his teams free lance. He plays everyone in all kinds of line ups. He doesn't really show off the play book. This pre season he did that for every single game. I guess he was trying not to build up a good scouting report for teams to follow. That first game against OKC the Knicks actually gave them hell but started getting sloppy because that was really their first time playing serious. We smoked Detroit too but the save thing happened blowing that huge lead. We are now playing great basketball. It's a process. Coaches have different styles, and it takes teams a while to get the kinks out. It's all good.
We literally have 5 starters that give a damn and play hard. We have 3 subs that do the same in KOQ, Frank and Derm... the other bench guys are plating hard as well. That's all you ask and all you need. Everything else will take care of itself.
Well said. Perry & Jeff made that the theme of the season since training camp. They and the players have followed through and bought in. Don't really care what the final record end ups being. Play hard every night and continue to develop KP, Frank, Hardaway jr.
nixluva wrote:Despite the rough start I felt this team should exceed the general consensus that they would stink. There are so many positive changes starting with addition by subtraction of stubborn and selfish personalities. Can’t be understated how important it is to have a team all pulling in the same direction. Last year this team lost a LOT of games they were in late. Poor execution on both ends and not enough players giving max effort. This year that has changed completely. The team is getting so much more effort and commitment to defense. We had so many people KILLING Rambis and Jeff regarding their ability to coach defense. Now we see a HUGE problem was the players who didn’t give a F!!!
you always do! But you are not only right but its almost shocking to see. The issues were 100% effort related. THjr/Kanter/McD are simply better basketball players than guys they replaced. Those 3 were all regarded as defensive liabilities but we see with some effort and some good impact defensive guys around them that the problem was the players we had in here last year.
Rambis was in charge of the D last year. Rambis and Melo had a blow up last year. Gee... wonder what it was about? What do you do when you cant bench a player who does not care about defense or give max effort? So glad that we have moved on from that and I love this group. Perry's 2 moves have been huge. The Melo trade and bringing in Jack. Both really show this guy has some idea
