POS	        STARTER	             
Point Guard	Raymond Felton	     Jason Kidd	        Pablo Prigioni		
Shooting Guard	Ronnie Brewer	     J.R. Smith 	Iman Shumpert	  	
Small Forward	Carmelo Anthony	     Steve Novak	James White	  Chris Copeland	
Power Forward	Amar'e Stoudemire    Kurt Thomas	Rasheed Wallace		
Center	        Tyson Chandler	     Marcus Camby	

The possible roster to start this year.

POS	        STARTER	
Point Guard	Raymond Felton	     Pablo Prigioni	Beno Udrih	
Shooting Guard	Iman Shumpert	     J.R. Smith  	Tim Hardaway Jr.	
Small Forward	Carmelo Anthony	     Metta World Peace  CJ Leslie 
Power Forward	Andrea Bargnani      Amar'e Stoudemire	Kenyon Martin		
Center	        Tyson Chandler	     Jeremy Tyler	

There could still be changes but overall the core of this roster is an improvement over the core to start last year IMO. My reasons for saying that are due to the presence of Bargs, MWP, THJ and Beno. I believe this team should get more production from these players than the guys they replaced.

The health of JR, STAT, KMart and Tyler is a real concern. Obviously it would help a lot to get some production from these players. We'll have to see what the Knicks do with the end of the roster. Those spots aren't just place holders since STAT and KMart are heavy question marks. The Tyler and Leslie spots are still up for grabs IMO along with the 15th spot.

Bargnani is going to be very important this year. We need him to have a strong season and to stay healthy. His presence serves to help the team hold on early in the year as we wait to get guys back healthy and up to game shape. MWP will also have a huge role with so many guys on the mend.

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:Eh, most Raptors fans are more excited about getting some 2nd round picks than keeping Bargnani - actually *far* more excited about the picks would be more accurate. Look at all these reactions.
http://fans.raptors.nba.com/topic/635-knicks-trade-for-andrea-bargnani-raptors-get-steve-novak-marcus-camby-and-picks/

The NY Post back page stated "Good Riddance" when Ewing was traded..

So Bargs has two bad NBA seasons left and then is gonna be out of the league? I think I get the analogy.

Was busy the last couple of days..But to clarify...The reason why I compared the two players is because it made sense in terms of media/fan expectations...When Ewing was drafted by the Knicks, media and fans all expected a Championship..Ewing was essentially blamed for not delivering a ring..Thus the scathing sendoff by the New York Post..I'm sure many fans felt that way too...I remember the day Ewing was traded..Mike Francesca was on "WFAN" saying Bill Walton was a better pro than Ewing..Ewing who scored 24k career points and Walton who didn't even score 7k career points...

When Bargs was selected as the first pick, fans had expectation of a player who could lead them to the playoffs and further..Bargs isn't that type of player...He is a third option type player at best..We hope he can develop into a number two with off season work...I doubt that tho...He would have put the time in to improve already...So my overall point is, fans dissatisfaction has nothing to do with how good a player is..Ewing was tremendous for us...Bargs could be a decent role player...Fans sendoff isnt a good gauge of who a player really is...Have to say I'm a little surprised u took the low road tho...

Yeah, sometimes fans have high expectations and it doesn't work out. That doesn't justify throwing out the 7 years of knowledge the Raptors fans have about Bargnani.

nixluva wrote:It's not about throwing out the Rap fans knowledge, but rather putting it into perspective. If you don't look at him as a #1 overall talent but rather a good piece to add to a puzzle on a good team, then you look at his career a bit differently.

In any event on this team we have a totally more realistic expectation for Bargs. We basically want him to just be the guy he was for about 4 yrs of his career until last year. That's not a great player, but a useful one for THIS team. He's avg'd 17/5 the last 5 yrs. I'd take that at the very least this year and hopefully Woody can get a bit more out of him on D and the boards, but if he's just what he's been that can help this team.

CrushAlot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

nixluva wrote:It's not about throwing out the Rap fans knowledge, but rather putting it into perspective. If you don't look at him as a #1 overall talent but rather a good piece to add to a puzzle on a good team, then you look at his career a bit differently.

In any event on this team we have a totally more realistic expectation for Bargs. We basically want him to just be the guy he was for about 4 yrs of his career until last year. That's not a great player, but a useful one for THIS team. He's avg'd 17/5 the last 5 yrs. I'd take that at the very least this year and hopefully Woody can get a bit more out of him on D and the boards, but if he's just what he's been that can help this team.

No, none the fans mentioned anything about where he was drafted (as far as I remember at least) in that thread. They just preferred some 2nd round picks moving forward over Bargnani the player. Forget #1 pick. They're saying they'd rather have some picks around 51 than him!And accepting 5 rbs a game from a PF/C? That's crazy

Well I think that is a pretty weak take. The percentage of players that even make the nba after the first round is extremely small. You can hate the guy but he has talents, is a seven footer and knows how to score. The pick traded next year is projected to be the second to last pick in the draft. I am looking forward to the what the knicks gave away threads after Toronto picks 59th next year.

The thing is that Bargnani is a player that doesn't fit the normal expectations for a guy his size. So it's easy to bash him for what he doesn't do when the expectation is that a guy his size is gonna be a rebounding bigman that can hold down the middle. Bargs doesn't play that way so automatically he's a target. All I care about is that we could've used his offense last year and I think he can help this year.

Bargs is another weapon that this team needed to add in order to have a more diversified attack. Bargs in NY doesn't even have the same pressure that STAT had coming here. His role is much less here and the pressure to carry the team like STAT did is not there. With Melo here AB can just fit in and have some time to build up his confidence in his game again and develop some chemistry with his new team.

nixluva wrote:Tommy Dee did a nice set of videos of all of Bargnani's shots in the Wiz game.

http://www.krossover.com/intelligence/shared/5262fe00df96c

One thing I like about the 7 plays they highlight is that AB is making fairly quick decisions. I suspect he'll get even quicker as he gets more and more comfortable. I'm still amazed at how easily he gets by his defender on the perimeter. The Floor spacing is EXCELLENT with him and Melo together. If they get to develop more chemistry over the course of the year it should be really good. I want to see them each look for each other more tho, but that should come with more time.

knicks1248 wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Tommy Dee did a nice set of videos of all of Bargnani's shots in the Wiz game.

http://www.krossover.com/intelligence/shared/5262fe00df96c

One thing I like about the 7 plays they highlight is that AB is making fairly quick decisions. I suspect he'll get even quicker as he gets more and more comfortable. I'm still amazed at how easily he gets by his defender on the perimeter. The Floor spacing is EXCELLENT with him and Melo together. If they get to develop more chemistry over the course of the year it should be really good. I want to see them each look for each other more tho, but that should come with more time.

So far Bargs has been pretty good. hopefuly it will translate to most of the regular season

I wouldn't exactly say he's been pretty good, more like decent. His 3 point shooting is picking up from right where it left off last season, and that ain't good.. He should be shooting it as well as THJ considering who he's replacing..On other hand, he gets to the FT line and hits them with regularity (thats always a +in my book) which is something novak never did..I'm really just hoping he picks up his shooting because we are going to need that to be a major threat in the east..

As I always say... "Tomorrow is going to come"

djsunyc wrote:here's how the last 3 years (post bosh) played out:

2010/11 - first year post bosh and bargs was made the focus of the offense. he put up 20ppg on not terrible shooting %'s. he knew every game he was going to get his shots and he looked decent on offense. defense was still horrible.

2011/12 - new coach, strike season. his motivation this year was to make the all star team. casey came in and told him he wants him to be like dirk. he played like a real all star the first 13 games of the season. he basically carried the team to a .500 record (when everyone thought it was going to be the pits) for those first 13-14 games. showed passion on both ends. played alot of minutes, strained his calf. came back and casey ran him to the ground on a back to back and he blew his calf out. came back at the end of the season basically just coasting to finish off the year.

2012/13 - some playoff expectations. colangelo on hot seat. bargs role on offense changed slightly and he was put out on the perimeter. he played like crap and could never get comfortable. he wasn't hitting shots and was loafing defensively. team meeting called where he and lowry were called out. next game he goes up for a dunk and lands on his elbow. he's out injured, team starts season 4-19. media really going at colangelo and now bargs. rudy trade made. bargs comes back but now has to fit into the team. played terribly as this was now rudy + demar's team. demoted to bench and played like crap. got hurt again and was done for the year.

so outside of 13 games at the start of 2011, he has played very bad (even on offense) the past 2 years. talk amongst raptors brethren is that it's possible bargs has lost it.

Can't you just lie to us DJ? You remember what it's like to be a Knick fan after a trade- we need you tell us Bargs is great and will help us win a championship!