I'm just curious who still gives a damn about this teams as currently constructed. I'd make a poll but thats too much work.

I am still going to watch the games but I have no hope that we are going on a miracle run. I still like most of the players and I look forward to watching their development this summer. If Collins and Balkman can develop jumpshots, this team is going to be alot tougher next year. I also look forward to the controversial draft pick that IT will undoubtedly make.

I still care cuz there's still a slim chance. So long as there's a slim chance I expect this team to give it all they've got and try to win games. I agree that it's not really about the playoffs as much as it is about how these guys play and develop. We have 3 rooks and 3 2nd yr players that have a lot to learn. Curry has been in the league longer, but he's the same age as these other young players and clearly has a lot to learn as well. Then we have the draft to worry about.

I don't agree that the effort level has dropped off. I think just watching how hard the team played in Dallas shows that they still want to play hard, but with every game played with so few guys, you're gonna lose something physically and mentally. It's hard to sustain the highest levels over long stretches of the season shorthanded.

Posted by nixluva:

I still care cuz there's still a slim chance. So long as there's a slim chance I expect this team to give it all they've got and try to win games. I agree that it's not really about the playoffs as much as it is about how these guys play and develop. We have 3 rooks and 3 2nd yr players that have a lot to learn. Curry has been in the league longer, but he's the same age as these other young players and clearly has a lot to learn as well. Then we have the draft to worry about.

I don't agree that the effort level has dropped off. I think just watching how hard the team played in Dallas shows that they still want to play hard, but with every game played with so few guys, you're gonna lose something physically and mentally. It's hard to sustain the highest levels over long stretches of the season shorthanded.

Professionals and athletes in the NBA should sustain the highest levels over the season, that's what champions do. You see Jordan ever let up? AI? Magic? Any of the teams that have made it to the finals or there abouts?

Maybe they don't win them all like against Dallas cause they are outmanned and out classed in terms of talent, but you bring the effort every night.

rooting for the knicks must be like what it was to root for the Mets when they came into the league in 62. I don't think there is a thought that anyone on this current squad will be in a finals game as a knick. they might elsewhere, as happened with shandon anderson.

I'd have more hope if we were in last place and owned our own pick this year.

Posted by Marv:

the question was who actually still cares. i'd submit that every person that is continuing to post to this board still cares.

bingo

Do I care? Yes. Its called being a fan. I'm also not down on this team, because they're fighting every night with not one decent shooter left on the active squad. We've got Mardy Collins, Nate Robinson etc. playing 30-35 minutes a night. We're missing what...50 points, 25 rebounds from the lineup? Replaced them with rookies, 2nd year guys playing out of positon? And still competing?

we need to win games so we don't improve the bulls to the point where we can never catch them which is happening

I'm flying out of town for 2 weeks so that basically means that last night's game was my last image of the Knicks this year. When I come back I'll probably just start thinking of the draft all the time.

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by Bippity10:

You keep pointing out the Dallas game. Taht's one game. We slept walked through a half of last night. We slept walked through the Portland game at home. And yet you still just bring up Dallas. We need to play that hard every game. When that happens noone will be criticized.

You just seem to have a high tolerance for a lack of overall effort. You seem to be okay with it.

Who said I was OK with a lack of effort? I never said that. I yell at the screen just as much as anyone else when I see the guys moving slowly and not hustling. I'm just saying that in the case of a guy like Steph he can't play at 30+ pts a game level or more for 48 minutes every night AND also defend and not have some problems sustaining that without help. We don't have enough right now to keep it up for 48 every night. That's just my opinion.

I think that if we can add some more skilled players who can help to make things a bit easier then we may be able to get more out of this team. Since the Sixers really only had to worry about Steph and Curry that made their job on D much easier. Just stand near Curry and attack Steph when he touches the ball. That leaves the other guys left on our team to have to do something. Those guys for whatever reason haven't been up to the task. All this increased effort has taken it's toll on Steph and there isn't much else after him so we lose.

I guess I just get confused as to where you stand. You say you hate a lack of effort but anytime someone criticizes lack of effort you come up with a reason for it. You say you are Mr positive and criticized me during the preseason when I questioned the roster but when we lose gaems now you talk about how the roster needs to be fixed. I guess I can't tell if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me on any topic.

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by Bippity10:

You keep pointing out the Dallas game. Taht's one game. We slept walked through a half of last night. We slept walked through the Portland game at home. And yet you still just bring up Dallas. We need to play that hard every game. When that happens noone will be criticized.

You just seem to have a high tolerance for a lack of overall effort. You seem to be okay with it.

Who said I was OK with a lack of effort? I never said that. I yell at the screen just as much as anyone else when I see the guys moving slowly and not hustling. I'm just saying that in the case of a guy like Steph he can't play at 30+ pts a game level or more for 48 minutes every night AND also defend and not have some problems sustaining that without help. We don't have enough right now to keep it up for 48 every night. That's just my opinion.

I think that if we can add some more skilled players who can help to make things a bit easier then we may be able to get more out of this team. Since the Sixers really only had to worry about Steph and Curry that made their job on D much easier. Just stand near Curry and attack Steph when he touches the ball. That leaves the other guys left on our team to have to do something. Those guys for whatever reason haven't been up to the task. All this increased effort has taken it's toll on Steph and there isn't much else after him so we lose.

I guess I just get confused as to where you stand. You say you hate a lack of effort but anytime someone criticizes lack of effort you come up with a reason for it. You say you are Mr positive and criticized me during the preseason when I questioned the roster but when we lose gaems now you talk about how the roster needs to be fixed. I guess I can't tell if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me on any topic.

It's assumed that I've blind to the flaws in this team or mistakes that are made. I am not. I simply don't go overboard about it when it's clear that in many cases this team is a work in progress. We're in the 2nd yr of this new direction and we pretty much wasted last year, so it's almost like year one. We've actually made some good progress and if not for the injuries I believe we would've done MUCH better than this. Some want to just ignore the injuries and to me that's just STUPID. What developing team would just discount the effect of injuries? This team has too many new faces for us to be able to just fluff that off.

Some disgree with me on that, but that's how I feel. With regard to the Roster. I've never held it out as perfect so the idea that i'd like to see improvements or changes isn't counter to how i've been presenting my arguments. We added Curry and 3 rooks last year and they represented the future as of right now, however, based on how they develop that can change. Now we added 3 more young guys and so far we've seen Balkman and Collins grow. We'll see what Morris has next year along with our draft pick and anyone else Isiah adds. I think that at the least we started to build something that we can springboard off of next year. I also said at the start of the year that it really wasn't all about this year, but the years to follow. One brick at a time. We laid the foundation and we'll see how it goes from here.