1) Melo is 31 years young. Im not an NBA player, but Ive had a major knee reconstruction and played sports from 21-39. If an age sticks out at me as my best it was 31.... I still had the leftovers of 20's athleticism but the start of my 30's maturity. A perfect mix. We have heard the quotes and stories about Melo changing his game after his long time off and that's nice... some nights we have seen it more than others. The most promising thing was the bouncy athleticism Melo showed last night. On the 2nd night of a b2b (soft one, granted) he was beating good defenders like Butler right off the dribble for layups. He was showing that great 2nd leap, which was once one of the best in the league. An alley oop? Those are some huge signs for this team, because that is the Melo that can carry a team for month while the team goes 12-4. That's that POTM Melo, that we last saw two years ago when he almost single handedly turned that season around to get that team into the post season.

2) KP is tough. Of all the wonderful things we have seen from this player the one that tells me most is when he rips down a board in traffic and moves those arms as to say if you want to try and rip this ball out of my grip your arms are coming out of their sockets. Durability has yet to be addressed but he certainly knows how to translate his length and quickness into physical play. He TODAY possess bot a power game and a finesse game.

What we have seen the last 4 games is the rest of the team feeding off this dynamic duo. KOQ is cleaning up. Galloway is flying around doing his thing and AA has the deep skill set to take advantage of the space those two are creating.

I also hope his dribbling is starting to get better. Not being able to handle the ball and tighten up his craft as a dribbler probably hurt his game a lot.

Our next scheduled 10 games will be against playoff teams with records above .500
How we make out on our next 10 games? Will evaluate our strategic hopes in making the playoffs, plus where we will be standing in wins at the end of the season, without trading Calderon (before deadline) to get a NBA starter PG.

bigbasketballs wrote:

Kemet wrote:KP.Zingis 7 foot raw talent deserve 24 to 30 minute playing time off the bench, in Big lineup KP, Serafin, D.Will.
Quinn are a 30 minute starter PF that can average 12 to 15 rebounds a game attacking the offensive glass.

Ummmmmmm…what?

Stop acting like KP got 2 or 3 yrs experience under his belt .. he dont!
KP should be getting the majority of his playing time taking advantage over our opponents bench players while gelling with our young core players .. KP, Serafin, D.Will, Galloway, Grant.
After Galloway's performance last season, Fisher should've had Gallo as the backup PG, making Grant a slasher-passer SG.

Fisher experimenting the he doing will guide KP into getting injured in midseason games when teams start playing ROUGH for the win.

CrushAlot wrote:

Kemet wrote:

bigbasketballs wrote:

Kemet wrote:KP.Zingis 7 foot raw talent deserve 24 to 30 minute playing time off the bench, in Big lineup KP, Serafin, D.Will.
Quinn are a 30 minute starter PF that can average 12 to 15 rebounds a game attacking the offensive glass.

Ummmmmmm…what?

Stop acting like KP got 2 or 3 yrs experience under his belt .. he dont!
KP should be getting the majority of his playing time taking advantage over our opponents bench players while gelling with our young core players .. KP, Serafin, D.Will, Galloway, Grant.
After Galloway's performance last season, Fisher should've had Gallo as the backup PG, making Grant a slasher-passer SG.

Fisher experimenting the he doing will guide KP into getting injured in midseason games when teams start playing ROUGH for the win.

One of the things the broadcasters keep pointing out is that KP has been allowed to be just a rookie by playing with Melo, Afflalo, Lopez etc. I think it has worked well for him and his development. He and mElo have great chemistry together. The bench Seems to have found their chemistry again. I am not sure why you would shake that up.

fishmike wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

Kemet wrote:

bigbasketballs wrote:

Kemet wrote:KP.Zingis 7 foot raw talent deserve 24 to 30 minute playing time off the bench, in Big lineup KP, Serafin, D.Will.
Quinn are a 30 minute starter PF that can average 12 to 15 rebounds a game attacking the offensive glass.

Ummmmmmm…what?

Stop acting like KP got 2 or 3 yrs experience under his belt .. he dont!
KP should be getting the majority of his playing time taking advantage over our opponents bench players while gelling with our young core players .. KP, Serafin, D.Will, Galloway, Grant.
After Galloway's performance last season, Fisher should've had Gallo as the backup PG, making Grant a slasher-passer SG.

Fisher experimenting the he doing will guide KP into getting injured in midseason games when teams start playing ROUGH for the win.

One of the things the broadcasters keep pointing out is that KP has been allowed to be just a rookie by playing with Melo, Afflalo, Lopez etc. I think it has worked well for him and his development. He and mElo have great chemistry together. The bench Seems to have found their chemistry again. I am not sure why you would shake that up.

I saw everything I needed to know in one play... I honestly forgot the game, but KP was having one of those stretches where he's hot and hitting everything. Melo had the lead in transition and could have attacked but instead he passed it behind him to the trailing KP and yelled 3! KP pulled for a transition 3 which he missed, but the point was simply Melo was not only feeding the kid but he was thoroughly enjoying it. KP is in such a good spot to succeed here, and we don't need a ton from him. Hey... if he just boxes out and plays D for 30 minutes a game its a PLUS. The offense comes and goes... he's a rook, but that fine, especially with AA playing so well less pressure to score. He can feast when its there. High IQ

I missed that play but the real point is that Melo yelled 3! to distract KP so he would miss.

dk7th wrote:

fishmike wrote:I expect more ups and downs but at 14-14 and 30ish games in we are seeing a couple things that will critical to this making the playoffs in a very deep East where its prob going to take 45 wins to get in, and it could be higher.

1) Melo is 31 years young. Im not an NBA player, but Ive had a major knee reconstruction and played sports from 21-39. If an age sticks out at me as my best it was 31.... I still had the leftovers of 20's athleticism but the start of my 30's maturity. A perfect mix. We have heard the quotes and stories about Melo changing his game after his long time off and that's nice... some nights we have seen it more than others. The most promising thing was the bouncy athleticism Melo showed last night. On the 2nd night of a b2b (soft one, granted) he was beating good defenders like Butler right off the dribble for layups. He was showing that great 2nd leap, which was once one of the best in the league. An alley oop? Those are some huge signs for this team, because that is the Melo that can carry a team for month while the team goes 12-4. That's that POTM Melo, that we last saw two years ago when he almost single handedly turned that season around to get that team into the post season.

2) KP is tough. Of all the wonderful things we have seen from this player the one that tells me most is when he rips down a board in traffic and moves those arms as to say if you want to try and rip this ball out of my grip your arms are coming out of their sockets. Durability has yet to be addressed but he certainly knows how to translate his length and quickness into physical play. He TODAY possess bot a power game and a finesse game.

What we have seen the last 4 games is the rest of the team feeding off this dynamic duo. KOQ is cleaning up. Galloway is flying around doing his thing and AA has the deep skill set to take advantage of the space those two are creating.

why is making the playoffs that important?

Galloway has been impressive lately with some really nice moves and high IQ plays. Affalo hits shots at times we need it. D.Williams and KOQ are getting back to pre season form being aggressive.

fishmike wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

fishmike wrote:I expect more ups and downs but at 14-14 and 30ish games in we are seeing a couple things that will critical to this making the playoffs in a very deep East where its prob going to take 45 wins to get in, and it could be higher.

1) Melo is 31 years young. Im not an NBA player, but Ive had a major knee reconstruction and played sports from 21-39. If an age sticks out at me as my best it was 31.... I still had the leftovers of 20's athleticism but the start of my 30's maturity. A perfect mix. We have heard the quotes and stories about Melo changing his game after his long time off and that's nice... some nights we have seen it more than others. The most promising thing was the bouncy athleticism Melo showed last night. On the 2nd night of a b2b (soft one, granted) he was beating good defenders like Butler right off the dribble for layups. He was showing that great 2nd leap, which was once one of the best in the league. An alley oop? Those are some huge signs for this team, because that is the Melo that can carry a team for month while the team goes 12-4. That's that POTM Melo, that we last saw two years ago when he almost single handedly turned that season around to get that team into the post season.

2) KP is tough. Of all the wonderful things we have seen from this player the one that tells me most is when he rips down a board in traffic and moves those arms as to say if you want to try and rip this ball out of my grip your arms are coming out of their sockets. Durability has yet to be addressed but he certainly knows how to translate his length and quickness into physical play. He TODAY possess bot a power game and a finesse game.

What we have seen the last 4 games is the rest of the team feeding off this dynamic duo. KOQ is cleaning up. Galloway is flying around doing his thing and AA has the deep skill set to take advantage of the space those two are creating.

why is making the playoffs that important?

I think trying to make the playoffs is very important for the players. I am sure that the team has goals and making the playoffs is one of them.

maybe the players, but not fisher and jackson. fisher has made it pretty clear that the goal is not how many wins they get but how the team plays and develops into a cohesive unit with a bedrock culture that will last for years and years. if it were not for kp6 i doubt the playoffs are even being discussed.

do you think we are in "win-now" mode? i cannot make an assessment of this team until it has played 50 games.

You have spoken with Fisher and Jackson? Winning games is always the goal. Remember that's why we picked 4th and not first. Tell me what you see or have heard from Fisher or PHil for that matter that indicates there is any intention above winning as many games as they can. Crazy talk.. this is pro sports. We aren't Phili

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/sports/basketball/new-york-knicks-build-big-lead-over-minnesota-timberwolves-before-they-nearly-get-lulled-into-a-loss.html

“We just continue to reinforce the message that the score doesn’t really matter at the end of the day,” Coach Derek Fisher said. “It’s how you’re playing possession to possession. What decisions are you making? Are you still taking good shots?”

By inference, since the coach is reinforcing that the final score does not matter (no doubt he is on the same page as the president), then neither does the win-loss record.

Hard to spin this any other way but have at it