Kristaps
Grant
Affalo
Lopez
OQuinn

*all new players!

My darkhorse could be Ndour if he magically makes the roster.

Ilovestarks wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote: I'm a big proponent in growing plants into trees.

Could not agree more, i think that if we do the statistics form the last decade or so our team will be competing for worst ever title...
But lets be optimistic,KP and Grant is where my hops are

With home grown players you have hopes, with starpunching you have expectations.
There are many ways to with with first and many way to lose with second.
What Knicks did for decades is trying to play only premium hangs in Poker.
The sure thing to lose all you chips quick.

mreinman wrote:of course everyone will pick one of the kids.

My fav is sweet lou.

Are you sure of that mreinman? I know of a few that might select a certain 12 year vet over the yoots.

Clearly Phil has gone with the non big name star and youth route. It wasn't likely that we would get one of the big names to come here and in the end only one top guy left his team. He had a sound plan for what he'd do if none of the bigger names came, which was the most likely scenario anyway. You have to at least try to see if there's interest but plan for how you'll build without any of the bigger names.

Now this roster is more about the future than the present but there is a nice balance to the age of the roster and the ability to win even now and the next few years.

Ilovestarks wrote:FA is slowing down ,SL has ended and our roster is almost full.
I know he's not the best player/future potential but I like what Grant brings ,excited to see him play for us

Calderon
L.Thomas
L.Amundson
D.Williams

RonRon wrote:ROLO is a BIG BODY and SETS GREAT SCREENS

IMO,
To fully utilize his screens effectively, it would best to have the talent that could

1- run the PnR effectively and efficiently, with players that have the ability to penetrate and finish through contact, and be able to facilitate/create for the team, preferably with HIGH IQ players with athleticism, speed/quickness, and a good decision maker

2- have the players to spread the floor with 3pt shooters that can catch and shoot right away and can penetrate/finish if kicked out to

We currently only have Jerian Grant, who is a "rook", that has the ability, next up would probably be Ledo who IMO, has to continue to work on his handle/speed and quickness with the first step
It is important to have multiple players that can create their own shot and create for the team, with the ability to facilitate, players that know how to get high % shots
Galloway and Calderon are PG's that are spot up shooters and lack the speed/quickness to penetrate and finish consistently, however, as the 2nd or 3rd ball handler/faciltiator it would be a solid piece, they could spread the floor and move the ball if not open

Melo is also scoring more efficiently out of a half-court play that was rarely run for him earlier in his career. To the surprise of some, Melo's been much more effective facilitating pick-and-rolls than facing up his defender in isolation this season.

"He's capable of doing a lot of other things on the floor, too," Woodson said.

While he's been in isolation setups 29.4 percent of the time, he's averaging 0.879 points per play. But while he's been the pick-and-roll ball handler 10.4 percent of the time, he's averaging 0.964 points per play -- fifth best in the NBA (minimum 100 possessions).

In fact, Anthony has been practicing the two-man game with Tyson Chandler dating back to last season. Melo was third in the league in points per play as the pick-and-roll ball handler last year. But he ran the play only 133 times. So far this season, he's already up to 110.

Melo in pick-and-rolls puts even more pressure on opponents because he's such a switch nightmare for his pull-up, driving and 3-point abilities. His presence creates open lanes for Chandler and shots for his teammates.

"That's something we work on," Melo said. "You've got to honor Tyson rolling, you've got to honor me coming off. Some teams switch, some teams trap the pick-and-roll. That gives us more options to find Tyson or find other guys."

I don't know if that is in the plans at all but it would be a good idea to use RoLo and KP as the screen and roll man with Melo from time to time.

In order to anticipate the OFF rebounds consistently, the team must be able to anticipate when the shot is going up due to the 3 second violation without drawing help from opponents HELP DEFENSE
This was how Jeremy Lin was able to produce wins with less talent, where CA, STAT, Tyson Chandler all struggled that season prior to Lin's run known as Linsanity
It is no mistake that Laundry Fields struggled to play with CA, however, was able to produce with Wilson Chandler/Gallo/MosGoV, and was able to contribute when CA was out of the lineup

CA takes poor shots and his team mates are unable to play off his style of play, not knowing if he is going to dribble dribble, pull up, or try to go all the way in, thus players tend to be standing around and stagnant
For the same reason, many here wanted to draft Mudiay, and majority of the board that voted weeks prior to the draft thought Mudiay would be the best player available at #4
I personally thought Mudiay was the BPA and even would be the safer pick than Russell, because Mudiay looks to create for his team first, and has the size/strength, handle, speed/quickness, and skills to finish
He is still young and like Marcus Smart, he has a NBA body already, he needs to work more on his shot and speed/quickness, where most players his age have the speed/quickness but need to get bigger and stronger

KP does have a very high ceiling and I do think that he was the BPA at #4, after watching his Las Vegas workout
However, that was what sold me, it was his demeanor, the way he wants to improve, and wanted to be in New York, which I found all genuine with his interviews
He isn't the "soft" Euro that some think he could be, over time with his work ethic, HIGH BB IQ, and NO NONSENSE/NO DRAMA/ attitude with high character, confidence with no ego issues that will separate him
I knew the stereotype of Euro's and let everyone know he was not that type of player and will prove that over time

@NixLuva

KP could run the PnR with Lopez, that would leave much room to operate for the

PG, SG, SF

For those positions, it would be great if they could rebound the ball, post up, and have the ability to catch and shoot/take it to the rim and finish through contact

In regards to Lopez setting the screen, it is a HUGE weapon to have players that can take advantage of that screen
We want as many HIGH % shots as possible with other options to exploit teams that do not have good 1v1 defenders

Currently KP running the PnR *with KP setting the screen* will not be very effective because he is way too skinny
Over time in a couple of years when he fills out and gets stronger, as he matures he will be able to mimic a lot the moves Dirk and Gasol made when they were in their prime, especially Dirk *though KP has to improve in a lot of areas first*

No matter what I say right, I can NOT get over the fact that we used 3m and 2 roster spots for the 14/15 man on our roster
We need more talent on this roster, with some players to develop, and some that can contribute now and still be part of our future

N Dour deserves a roster spot and both LT and LA have no future on this roster
I think we are best to try to trade Cleanthony Early, early in the season...
Sign N Dour first and promise Thanasis that he will be called up soon but need him to keep his mouth shut with his agents

We signed many "high character" players to begin with that will be part of the future, we didn't need to use the 3m on both Lou Amundson and LT
Especially Lou Amundson, who makes 300k more but costs us 1.7m in cap space vs the vet min, that we could use on Ndour or Thanasis secured to 3year, maybe even 4year deals

There are a couple "needs" our roster needs to fill with the talent issue...

fishmike wrote:Melo. If he can play at the level he did before he got hurt, and I don't see why he cant, then watching him be the motor on a worst to first Knick team will be the most rewarding possible scenario. The kids will get into it, these blue collar guys Phil signed will be bringing their lunch pales. Best of all there is nothing like watching hater fans squirm uncomfortably like a toddler denying there is poop in his diaper because their team is galvanized by the play of the guy they so loath. Im sure there will be plenty of "Jose is the real MVP" type threads but those make for pleasant reading when you look at what gets posted these days

Ehh, he'll be gone by the all star break.