The time for action is now.

Starters

Shumpert is not perfect but he can be trusted to manage the point.

Steve Novak played the fourth quarter and affords a sniper to compliment Carmelo's inside game.

Landry Fields has some bounce in his step and led the team in assists last night. He keeps it moving.

Carmelo is having a blast with the spotlight and embracing any challenge thrown his way by Mike Woodson.

Captain Tyson Chandler is setting the defensive tone with rugged determination in the mold of Bill Russell.

Who Got Next

JR Smith, the teachers pet, as sixth man and defacto ballhandler.

Jared Jeffries, on a pitch count, gets 15 minutes

Mike Bibby gets 9 minutes off the bench.

The return of Bill Walker is imminent.

Unless Baron Davis is totally hobbled, he has to remain the starter, at least to get token minutes and set a tone. I also believe that Shump is acceptable at the backup 1 (way better than TD or Bibby, TD being the worst of all), but in the playoffs he will get squeezed more and his ball handling isn't there yet. Love everything else about him though.

Knicks' big weakness again is the PG. Here's hoping B diddy can hold it together just enough.

misterearl wrote:Yeah, that's the ticket

mrKnickShot wrote:I think you meant at the 3 right?

Cool.

Either start Novak at the three, or start Jeffries at the three. Give Jared his 15 minutes early.
Bring Novak at the midway point of the first quarter.

Shump gets Lebron
Jeffries gets Bosh
Chandler gets anyone who dares roam into the paint

WHo guards Wade. Lebron is to big for Shump. Thats a Melo and Smith job with a little help from Fields. I do kind of like the idea of starting Novak because it would possibbly take Bosh out the lane plus you can hid Novak on Turiaf. Maybe we start fields on Lebron and let Melo take the center on D. They will have to find a place for Fields if they want Melo on Lebron.

ChuckBuck wrote:So basically:

Shumpert - PG
Fields - SG
Novak - SF
Melo - PF
Chandler - C

Obviously Novak would have to guard Bosh, and Melo would have to guard Lebron.

i think i like that. but the bench becomes REAL thin. time to bring Jorts back into the roto.

THAT SAID - the team has looked really good on offense with Baron running it to start the game.

misterearl wrote:Stretch Run

Shumpert - PG
Fields - SG
Novak - SF
Melo - PF
Chandler - C

Davis gets Shump, just for a quick two minute breather, then Shump slides to the two
Jr gets Fields and helps on defensive end against pesky guards
Jeffries gets Novak, instant offensive charge accepted
Amar'e gets Melo

In case of emergency, Harrellson picks up Chandler

I actually love this lineup. However, it will be matchup dependent. Novak can get torched on defense if he is guarding a strong opposing 3.

kNYks342 wrote:I disagree.....whereas stevie novakiaine provides a good shot...he does nothing else on the offensive end. He cannot create his own shot, he is not even moving around cutting to the hoop or even slashing. He is primarily an open shot taker where someone else creates for him. At this point I think he is ideal off the bench because you need him to come in and stretch the floor when melo is out, that way it is not too condensed and maybe just maybe someone can drive to the hoop. Right now our main issue is not having Lin ...we NEED him back.

Wrong. I've seen Steve Novak fake, dribble and pop on the run.

kNYks342 wrote:Right now our main issue is not having Lin ...we NEED him back.

Jeremy Lin is not walking through that door any day soon.

nychamp wrote:Nah. Novak is a severe liability on defense. Can only be put in the game in spurts, with a deft touch by the coach. Too one dimensional to be a starter.
I love Novak, but in his current role as sharpshooter off the bench.

Unless Baron Davis is totally hobbled, he has to remain the starter, at least to get token minutes and set a tone. I also believe that Shump is acceptable at the backup 1 (way better than TD or Bibby, TD being the worst of all), but in the playoffs he will get squeezed more and his ball handling isn't there yet. Love everything else about him though.

Knicks' big weakness again is the PG. Here's hoping B diddy can hold it together just enough.

+1000
spot on, Novak is suspect on D. Putting him in the starting line up means he would be in there logging heavy minutes defending the other teams best players. I don't think that is his strong suite. Novak is better suited in the role he is in now. A more important thing is to make sure that when he is in the game, they actually run plays designed to get him an open shot. I saw some of that last night, but over the past few games, he wasn't getting anything. He has shown, he'll make it if you get him a good look, so get the man a clean look! Novak can easily average like 12-15pts off the bench just in 3's if we ran a few for him. Guys like him don't miss, he's like steve kerr. Barron is good enough to run the point in limited minutes, which is what he has been doing. TD is just worthless at this point, got to imagine he's going find himself out of the league at some point.