callmened wrote:http://KnickerBlogger.Net/the-bargnaniamare-survival-guide/

My concerns exactly

I thought this was kind of a dumb article. The last thing we really have to worry about is Amar'e and Bargs playing together at the same time. I don't think it's going to be a significant issue. The Knicks have already stated that they intend to limit Amar'e minutes and to me I think Woody is going to settle on starting Bargnani. I think it makes the most sense. I think it's a good match to have AB and Tyson on the floor. The 2 7'ers actually don't clash, but rather complement each other a bit. I can see some big to big passes coming from AB to Tyson as teams pay attention to AB with the ball and lose Tyson moving towards the basket.

When AB and STAT do play together it can work since STAT will likely go into the low post and AB can float from mid to the 3pt line and give STAT plenty of room. Of course they don't make the best defensive tandem, but it will be up to Woody to teach AB how to play the paint as a help defender. This isn't something I think we'll see for a lot of minutes every night. Woody isn't crazy. KMart is a much better help defender and I think he'd be useful to have in there to cover for either STAT or AB.

nixluva wrote:We all want more, but we have to also keep things in perspective. It's so hard to build a contending team and here we are with a team that does in fact have a chance. No one really believed the Mavs were gonna win a title until they did. This team can be that kind of team. We have to let it play out. I can understand frustration but there has to be some sense of reason to the criticism of this team. It's not the greatest team but it's not some garbage team either. This team was 2 wins from the ECF's. Perhaps this years team will get to the ECF's. They have a chance to do that. We haven't been able to say that about a Knicks team in a decade.

That same Dallas team you mentioned added Chandler and won the same year they did so, and ironically faced the brand new Miami heat.

Didnt the Lakers go to the finals the same year they got Pau? And faced a team that was newly assembled in the Celtics?

But here's the difference....those teams already had top notch players, solid coaches, a winning system built on defense and solid offensive execution, and the pieces they added all play defense and outside of Tyson are two players and even Tyson thrives in the pick and roll.

And for the record, 16 teams have a "chance"....technically...and over half the league goes to the playoffs.

You seem to believe the team is better just because it's younger and talented, but quite a bit of that youth will have to be groomed to even contribute, and while it is more talented, it even more inefficient....unless the new guys added all of a sudden change the way they USED to play, which isnt likely.

Could they reach the ECF? Sure.

They could also get knocked out in the first round, or advance no further than they did last year.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1784542-how-andrea-bargnani-can-thrive-with-ny-knicks-in-2013-14

The article has a good amount of photo and video to support the point that Bargnani should add versatility to the way the team plays.

NEW YORK -- Andrea Bargnani is back on the practice floor.

The new Knicks forward had been away from basketball while battling pneumonia. But Bargnani was on the court Monday playing with his teammates in informal workouts at the Knicks' facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., on Monday.

"He looked good," Raymond Felton said at an Under Armour event at Macy's in Manhattan. "He's been really sick though. ... He's a little winded right now."

It makes sense that Bargnani would be a bit out of shape. He hasn't been able to play basketball for at least five weeks. He was forced to forgo playing for the Italian national team in the EuroBasket tournament because of pneumonia.

Felton said Bargnani looked strong while playing pickup basketball with his teammates.

"That guy looked great, in my opinion," Felton said. "Everything that I was hoping that he was going to do, he kind of did it the first day we played pickup. So that kind of made me excited as a point guard."

Bargnani, who was acquired in a trade with Toronto, will have to work his way back into playing shape during the Knicks' training camp and preseason. The first training camp practice is Oct. 1.

Eventually, Felton believes Bargnani can be the Knicks' "new Rasheed Wallace."

"A seven-footer that can always space the floor," Felton said. "That's a big help to our team, I think."

smackeddog wrote:Phew, glad he lives! Really annoying he's been ill and couldn't work out over the summer. Man, we're going to be off to a slow start with Bargs and JR taking a while to round into shape, Tyler out injured, and Amar'e rusty from not playing in the offseason. We really need Felton and Shump to step up early, and for Tim Hardaway Jr to show us something.

I'm not too worried about AB's fitness. He's gonna have enough time to get his wind up. I just don't want him to catch anything since his immune system is likely still recovering. You know how much sickness is floating around NY! When you're already coming off pneumonia and then come to a city like NY that has way too many people with all kinds of illnesses that's a bad combination. I hope they have him on a good immune system boosting plan.