So now Larry Brown is responsible for Frye's play this year. That's a complete joke.

Point taken with your comparison, but you're probably pressing the point too eagerly to try to stick it to the LB "haters." I don't recall anyone criticizing LB 4 games into last season, and that's where the parallels between then and now fail. Not to say that I agree with it all, but the LB critiques snowballed from the persistent patterns he exhibited, extending over weeks and months, of badmouthing players through the press and having bizarre substitution patterns (eg, benching a guy after he'd been playing really well, as opposed to benching a guy playing like complete crap). Just about everyone was enthusiastic about him to start. In that respect, LB's Knicks received a lot more slack than Isiah's Knicks have early in the season.

How is benching Frye after 3 1/2 games rational? How about trying to put him with players who complement him rather than players like Curry, Marbury and Francis, who do not?

Maybe putting him in with Lee, Nate, Q and Collins, guys who don't need the ball as much as Frye's fellow starters do, to see if that could get him going.

To say that the "rational" thing to do with Frye at that moment, when he was losing confidence, was to bench him is completely asinine.

Posted by eViL:

And how much of that, do you think, can be attributed to the amount of blame many put on LB for last year's team's poor performance?

I don't know, to be honest. For the most part I've been ambivalent about LB and have ignored most of the epic pro/anti-LB arguments. My eyes glaze over at that stuff. Either way, I don't think having an axe to grind one way or the other about LB should flavor how one judges the present Knicks.

Posted by tomverve:

I don't know, to be honest. For the most part I've been ambivalent about LB and have ignored most of the epic pro/anti-LB arguments. My eyes glaze over at that stuff. Either way, I don't think having an axe to grind one way or the other about LB should flavor how one judges the present Knicks.

Fair enough. But from my view, even if we throw the coaching drama out the window -- we're looking at a team, this year, that is remarkably similar to the team last year. Our starters go down early. Our reserves bring us back. We're falling into huge holes quickly. We can't guard the pick and roll. Teams are making three pointers at will against us. We don't take care of the ball. Any small sign of cohesion disappears the minute the team is faced with adversity.

We've both watched enough Knicks basketball last year to know that these are known problems. These are not new issues. How is it that, through an entire off-season, we have not managed to correct one of these issues?

It doesn't leave me with much hope when the best I can say about our teams improvement is Q-Rich looks better. He was terrible last year. He'd have to die to put up worse numbers than last season. Curry looks a little better too, but his main issues -- offensive fouls and defensive rebounding are still glaring.

I don't want to get too down on the team this early, but when effort is an issue -- we are in trouble. And in the last three games effort was a problem. Effort is the minimum we should expect and we are not even getting that. I'm sorry Tom, but I don't know how you aren't a bit more disturbed by our teams showing.

Frye has not been good since his injury. He was bad in preseason. His defense was nowhere to be found in summerleague.

The guy only has one move, his jumpshot. And get this he is a forward/center.

There are also scouting reports on Frye so teams are going to come at him harder. Until Frye develops more tools to his offensive game then he will continue to play poor.


On a side note, it could be that new NBA Ball. If you noticed many players shots have been off unless they are driving to the hole.

Also kinda funny is how Malik Rose has resurfaced. Another thing fans bitched about last year. Kinda funny how when guys dont play defense (any) a coach is forced to constantly shuffle line ups. The only reason Isiah wont get to do it 42 times is he wont be here long enough

If Rose is playing well noone will bitch. The real gripe was LB playing players who were playing awful over players that were playing well.

Rose had a special role last night because nobody knows Duncan like he does. You could see that Rose had a bag of tricks just for Duncan. If Rose plays that well every night he can start in my book. Not gonna happen.

oohah

Posted by fishmike:

then why didnt Isiah go to him earlier?

He's gone to Rose when other guys arent playing defense. See Hawks game see last night. The Knicks were down double digits early last night.

No.. he went to Rose when Larry went to Rose. He got sick of watching the usual suspects embarrass themselves on D. See Mardy Collins

Larry Started Rose, so I don't think they went to Rose at the same time. But since you are stating they did, do you think IT made the right decisions?

Rose did not play good defense or offense last season. If you are asking me to defend or condemn Isiah's decision making, give me a few more games, as I gave LB 25 games before I began criticizing him.

oohah

Posted by fishmike:

do I think IT might the right decisions? How could I? I've been saying all summer that Frye starting with Curry was a disaster in the making. Both are centers, neither defend and neither are good rebounders. This is what I have been saying, but I get ragged on for not being patient bla bla bla. I thought it was pretty obvious what would happen.

So far we are 1-3, have lost 3 straight by double digits, blew a 19 point lead in our 1 win and Frye is shooting 22% in his first 4 games.

Its a bad fit. Since we all know we are married to Curry so long as Isiah is here I am OK with trading Frye if we can get a good pick back, get a young player with more of a future here, and hopefully combine him with a contract we want to get rid of

4 games in and you already have it figured out? The answer is to trade Frye? Exactly why would anyone take him the way he's playing right now? Nothing you've said makes any sense at all.