Lee is a decent defender, Melo is still average, KP is a plus defender, and Noah can't seem to stay on the court to have any defensive presence felt.

This will be a continuous question all season long. How can this team go anywhere if it can't defend consistently?

mreinman wrote:I am worried about injuries since we have many players who have had long records of injuries.

I am also worried about our bench - we have no 3rd string pg and many unproven backups aside from Jennings (great pickup) and LT who has had one good year.

+1 injury risk is a big deal, and depth goes hand in hand with that

ChuckBuck wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:Defense obviously. Rose is not that big an upgrade over Calderon who's putrid. Rose actually had a negative DRPM or defensive real plus minus, which means he sucks dick on defense. We went from godawful to just awful on point guard defense.

Lee is a decent defender, Melo is still average, KP is a plus defender, and Noah can't seem to stay on the court to have any defensive presence felt.

This will be a continuous question all season long. How can this team go anywhere if it can't defend consistently?

I agree with you, it's defense. And i can't believe you called Melo average at defense . I thought you would tell us he's the worst defender in all of professional sports.

Come on man, I try to be the most unbiased poster on here! Is that what you all think of me?

I give Melo a hard time because it's warranted.

If you are "trying" then i am scared to know what isn't trying lol.

knickscity wrote:For me it's defense and the bench. While I do think the Knicks will be a good offensive team, I think their defense will be highly suspect. The concern about the bench is the depth. A lot of unknowns there, and while I like Jennings being added, I'm not a fan of him being in a sixth man type role. I also think the starters will have to log heavier than they should minutes because of the bench.

The Knicks coach claims not to be concerned they will have too weak a bench because of the way he plans to use his three big guns — Rose, Porzingis and Anthony.

“I’m hoping with the three guys, hopefully have two of those guys on the court,” Hornacek said. “It will take pressure off the bench guys to make an open shot. They’re not going to be a real focus necessarily. That always makes it easier for the guys to be comfortable out there. If you’re trying to sub five guys in as a group, it would be more difficult.”

“Look at our roster, between Carmelo, Kristaps, Derrick, three guys who can put the ball in the hole,” Hornacek said. “We have to have role guys. If they want to stop one of those guys with a double-team, we have a guy who can knock a shot in. That [shooting-guard] spot is important for a guy who can knock down shots, create the space.”

Since he made those statements we officially signed Lee and he could be included in the mix. Then added Jennings and re-signed Thomas. Brought in Willy, Kuz and Ndour. Holiday, Sasha, and maybe Baker and Randle give this team a lot of possible depth. I think this team has some talent to work with.

callmened wrote:the bench is a big problem in my opinion. we have players who have had major injuries in the past few yrs. i can live with that if we had more of a bench.

Do you mean more vets??? Cuz that's really the only way that you could really have "more of a bench". At some point we have to have some young low cost players on the roster. The Knicks aren't at the Spurs stage of things where they've been a Contender for years and older vets want to come here on minimum contracts. They will have to DEVELOP these younger players into quality reserves. I think there is a lot of talent on this bench and that a coach like Hornacek can get something out of them and thus preserve the older vets on the team.

callmened wrote:yep. i wish we had some more proven vets off the bench. these kids MIGHT be good but i dont know that. until they prove themselves the bench is my concern. if they kept galloway i'd feel a LIL bit better.

PG Jennings
SG Galloway
SF Henderson (for example)
PF Lance Thomas
C OQuinn

now thats a bench id like...no superstars...but solid vets

instead he have
PG Jennings
SG Holiday - still unproven to me
SF Lithuanian kid - looks athletic
PF Lance Thomas
C QOuinn

yeah i worry about the unproven players we have on the bench

So getting a dime a dozen combo guard and a dime a dozen swing man makes a difference in the depth?

Don't argue just believe it

callmened wrote:yep. i wish we had some more proven vets off the bench. these kids MIGHT be good but i dont know that. until they prove themselves the bench is my concern. if they kept galloway i'd feel a LIL bit better.

PG Jennings
SG Galloway
SF Henderson (for example)
PF Lance Thomas
C OQuinn

now thats a bench id like...no superstars...but solid vets

instead he have
PG Jennings
SG Holiday - still unproven to me
SF Lithuanian kid - looks athletic
PF Lance Thomas
C QOuinn

yeah i worry about the unproven players we have on the bench

It's as I said about money in the end. You have to make some compromises. In the end I don't think Holiday is likely to be a huge drop off from Galloway. I think Holiday can be an effective 3nD SG for this team off the bench. He's a long 7-1 wingspan 6-6 SG and he's spent time with Golden State in their Championship season. I think he's got a chance to help this team with more of a role.

my guess is that hornacek will have to rely on clever substitution patterns to mitigate a low level of synergy. does he have that level of cleverness and leadership?