We are nothing special but we are a good collection of quality, hard-working players. No more malcontents, stiffs or just plain worthless dregs. We have a team now. An actual team that will play for each other and their coach. And we have a young potentially franchise-changing rookie we can watch grow.

I'm ready!

And, yes, it is me. You know who. I just wanted to drop in for a quick hello to my old pals. Miss you all.

As you said, the malcontents are gone and we've got an influx of new talent. It should be both exciting and we should have a pretty good "product" on the floor.
I think we'll know by 1/3 into the season how good this team is, and then we can make some noise and get the chemistry flowing nicely in the 2nd half.

I'm mostly looking forward to a more team oriented game and watching Grant and KP develop.
The way the team is constructed, I do think we will surprise people, by the 2nd half.

fishmike wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:I've probably said that I'm looking more to this season than any other since the Ewing days, in about 1/3 of my posts. lol

As you said, the malcontents are gone and we've got an influx of new talent. It should be both exciting and we should have a pretty good "product" on the floor.
I think we'll know by 1/3 into the season how good this team is, and then we can make some noise and get the chemistry flowing nicely in the 2nd half.

I'm mostly looking forward to a more team oriented game and watching Grant and KP develop.
The way the team is constructed, I do think we will surprise people, by the 2nd half.

this. +1
Well said

I'm pretty much in the same boat. Dumping the malcontents/stiffs/dregs (read: JR, Chandler, Bargs, etc.) was a key part of what will make this team exciting to watch. Stoked for Zinger and Grant to blossom together.

"There's something happening here....what it is ain't exactly clear..."

The yrs we have gotten blown out by 20 or more in the preseason (the last 2 yrs) well, we know how the season turned out.

knicks1248 wrote:I think we get excited at the start of every season, you just hope everything goes right. If i start seeing us getting blown out in preseason, I'm going to be very concern. I know a lot of people think preseason doesn't matter much, but the yr we won 54 games, I saw a different team in preseason, a solid defensive scheme, a unselfish group and we never got blown out.

The yrs we have gotten blown out by 20 or more in the preseason (the last 2 yrs) well, we know how the season turned out.

Not me, I don't get excited every season, as I said not in a long time. Sure, hardcore Knicks fans might, but I am the kind of Knicks fan who hasn't appreciated what Dolan and company have done to this team. I stopped with league pass, etc. Now there is some light at the end of the tunnel, or rather right in front of us.

Interesting about the pre-season, Grant looked EXCELLENT as did KP. See, now you got me excited again.

I'm hoping for lots of ball movement, utilizing the triangle offense, more fast breaks, and an emphasis on team defense.

There's still the lingering question marks with Calderon's old slow ass and will Melo continue to buy in, but we'll leave that for another discussion.

This season is all about the development of these 2 young bucks.

Any number wins is nice, just as long as these 2 grow into the future cornerstones of the renovation.

Cartman718 wrote:i hope we develop into a memphis type of blue collar team.

That's pretty much what Phil was going for. I mean just look at the type of players he brought in and you can tell that he is looking for a strong team that plays more like Memphis than Golden State. It's more of an Old School style of game but he didn't completely ignore having some speed and athleticism. We have a nice mix and this team should be very flexible and able to match up with any team..

knicks1248 wrote:

Cartman718 wrote:i hope we develop into a memphis type of blue collar team.

I just want more ball sharing, penetration, free throws (80% on the season), defense, solid rotation,and we can win atleast 45 games on that alone

nixluva wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

Cartman718 wrote:i hope we develop into a memphis type of blue collar team.

I just want more ball sharing, penetration, free throws (80% on the season), defense, solid rotation,and we can win atleast 45 games on that alone

You should be pretty happy this year then, cuz that's what this team was built to do. We have a lot more passers, defenders, penetration and guys that should draw fouls and can hit their FT's. It's a lunch pail roster thru and thru.

Cartman718 wrote:Affalo hammy? In a more alarming development, Arron Afflalo missed practice for hamstring reason. Has he had many hammy issues before? If not, I am not worried.

Not quite concerned about him.
he is complimentary peace to help keep Melo head straight.
If this will not work out in both respects its fine with me.
His contract is tradable so no concern here

mreinman wrote:still not convinced that the triangle translates well to the modern game (without a top 5 HOF player). Lets see how it plays out this year. I have a feeling that the knicks are gonna lead the league again in long 2 attempts and if they do, I will be pretty disgusted.

Yeah, this is one of my few concerns. In the highlight videos for training camp I still saw a bunch of them in the scrimmages.

Other than that,
I just want to see this to be a year of good progress and solid foundation to be set for us to succeed even further in the future.