Posted by Michael6835:

Q's injury hurt as well. He was playing good bball until he had the injury and then his back started acting up. Not for nothing, but those guys were 3 of our top scorers. we lost them all around the same time. Have you seen the games lately, this is the opponents defensive strategy: double curry,triple curry. Force Balkman, Collins, Jeffries to take a shot, put a tall person on nate, zone against Marbury. It's difficult to do things with out your key guys. I think the best thing we can take from the injuries is that it gave more time to Balkman to show case his skills.

Isiah said they knew that he was damaged goods when they traded for him and that he would eventually miss significant time because of it. So don't go using his injury as an excuse.

Q will miss all of 6 more games this year than last.

Posted by TheGame:

Basically, this is how I see it.

We lost 4-5 games that we would have won in the first quarter because Jeffries was hurt, the negativity at home messed with the team, and the players were still learning the system.

We played at about our potential for the next 2 quarters of the season, with steady improvement.

We lost about 4-5 games that we would have won in the last quarter of the season due to an excessive rash of injuries to key players, i.e. Lee, Crawford, Q, and Marbury. That is basically 4 of our top six players that missed extensive time or played hurt in the last quarter of the season.

Thus, I think that if this team had the stability that it should have developed last year under LB and our injuries were more spread out and did not involve as many key people, we would have won about 40-42 games this year.

I expect that this team should win about 45-48 games next year if everyone comes back and Balkman and Collins improve their games (and we waive Francis).

we definitely lost winnable games early and late in the season ostensibly because of injuries. but we also lost a ton of winnable games during that stretch where we were "playing to potential" and "improving."

it's time to stop judging this team on how many games it could have won and just hold people accountable. or, stop trading our lottery picks. either one's good with me.

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by TheGame:

Basically, this is how I see it.

We lost 4-5 games that we would have won in the first quarter because Jeffries was hurt, the negativity at home messed with the team, and the players were still learning the system.

We played at about our potential for the next 2 quarters of the season, with steady improvement.

We lost about 4-5 games that we would have won in the last quarter of the season due to an excessive rash of injuries to key players, i.e. Lee, Crawford, Q, and Marbury. That is basically 4 of our top six players that missed extensive time or played hurt in the last quarter of the season.

Thus, I think that if this team had the stability that it should have developed last year under LB and our injuries were more spread out and did not involve as many key people, we would have won about 40-42 games this year.

I expect that this team should win about 45-48 games next year if everyone comes back and Balkman and Collins improve their games (and we waive Francis).

one thing about the injuries...

quentin hasn't been healthy in years so chances are, he will break down again.

lee is a physical hustle player, he may continue to get nagging injuries based on his style of play. same goes for balkman. his reckless abandon will ensure he doesn't play a full season.

marbury has ALOT of mileage on his knees and ankles, expecting him to hold up all year again would not be wise.

and crawford missed 12 games his first year here and now 24 games this season.

it's the way of the nba, ewing was hurt EVERY year, especially towards the late 90's - there will always be injuries to players and you must take that into account when trying to build a team. and it should not be used as a crutch. that's part of changing the culture of an organization.

I agree that injuries are part of the game, but you cannot plan for losing 4 of your top 6 players. Most teams might lose one or 2 key players at any point in the season, but when you are talking about losing 4 of your top 6 at the same time, there is really no planning for that. That would be like Dallas losing Terry, Howard, Harris, and Dampier and then saying we are still going to win at the same pace. It is not happening. We suffered an unusual amount of injuries at the same time and the team is suffering for it. Next year if it happens again, hopefully Collins and Balkman will have improved their games enough that it will not matter as much, but this year it definitely had an impact on our W/L record.

The fact of the matter is with Eddy Curry who everyone is blowing around here we are at best a little better than .500 thats not the type of player i give up two lottery selections for, especially since he is one dimensional and you have to cater every need in your system towards him as far as:

Shooters to space the floor so he doesn't get confused when he is doubled and turn the ball over

A pg that is going to give him the entry pass or he will openly complain during and after games

Defenders that aren't going to let anyone in the paint

A weak side shotblocker to make up for his lack of effort

Next season we still have the same problem, Marbury, Crawford, Nate, Francis, Collins

If you take our healthiest, very best stretch of the season, we were around a .450 team. Time to celebrate!

Posted by TheGame:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by TheGame:

Basically, this is how I see it.

We lost 4-5 games that we would have won in the first quarter because Jeffries was hurt, the negativity at home messed with the team, and the players were still learning the system.

We played at about our potential for the next 2 quarters of the season, with steady improvement.

We lost about 4-5 games that we would have won in the last quarter of the season due to an excessive rash of injuries to key players, i.e. Lee, Crawford, Q, and Marbury. That is basically 4 of our top six players that missed extensive time or played hurt in the last quarter of the season.

Thus, I think that if this team had the stability that it should have developed last year under LB and our injuries were more spread out and did not involve as many key people, we would have won about 40-42 games this year.

I expect that this team should win about 45-48 games next year if everyone comes back and Balkman and Collins improve their games (and we waive Francis).


[Edited by - thegame on 04-11-2007 09:56 AM]

This post is ridiculous have you even bothered to look up what the W-L total was after LEE, CRAWFORD, and Q got hurt within the first 12gms? They were .500. That's right they played .500 baskebtall for 12gms initally during the injury barrage. They went from 26-32 to 28-33 with Craw and Lee missing and played .500 ball for another 5gms or so bringing their record to 30-36. The bottom fell out after the Steve Francis drama in Washington. If they would have ever played above .500 basketball when 100% they would have a legitimate shot right now.

Please explain why teams like Toronto, Hornets, and even the Rockets have weathered their injuries to the point they win their Division, close to Clinching a Top seed or are within a game of reaching the playoffs.

Your response is ridiculous because if you had bothered to read the post, it says that we lost 4-5 games in the last quarter of the season, which is still playing out. We are still losing games because of the injuries and we no longer have Marbury to carry the team.

Additionally, teams like Toronto, Hornets and Rockets did not lose 4 of their 6 best players at the same time nor were they forced to start rookies. It is one thing to lose a player and replace him with a veteran. It is a whole other situation when you have to replace an injured player with a rookie on a team that is already young and inexperienced.

[Edited by - thegame on 04-11-2007 10:31 AM]

[Edited by - thegame on 04-11-2007 10:32 AM]

If this team lost Stephon Marbury who most feel is still the best player on the team for 35gms this season and Curry for 10gms this season which I guess would be the equivalent of Yao and T-Mac what would the Knicks record be? Keep in mind the Midwest Division is Madison Square Garden above the Craplantic Division.

Posted by TrueBlue:

Then what you really are implying is we couldn't continue to play .500 ball once we lost Q otherwise the loss to Lee and Craw wasn't as HUGE as we're making it out to be.

Please name those 4-5games we lost due to being undermaned? Because the last qrt of the season started at the 61rst played game and the team's record was 27-33. Don't say



Portland very winnable game @ home without Zach 68th game

Hornets very winnable game at home horrible road team but not against us of course 65th game

Orlando @ home they have been putrid second half of the season but not against us 70th game

Seattle just a 2 star team like us another game @ home against a terrible road team 62nd game

Then there's Philly a team with no franchise player or even All-Star to this point, not a good road team but we bellied up 74th game.


I listed 5gms, all close games that this team dropped at home. If we win those games we're sitting not too shabby right now. Injuries had nothing to do against those gutter teams. Face it this team isn't good and never was good.



[Edited by - TrueBlue on 04-11-2007 10:23 AM]

There were no excuses for losing those games but God knows excuses are being given on a regular basis.

Is the team better? Is the team better? Watch the team from last year and give it the ol' eyeball test. This is a much better team.

some of you are right. there is no excuse. injuries are part of the game. according to isaih, we have a deep team. well, this deep team has done squat. i am tired of isaih contradicting himself. first he said after injuries that it is not an excuse and we will play hard. then after a loss, he mentions injuries and fatigue. man, shut up. i was an isaih supporter but now i am starting to dislike him as much as layzie ( layden). this team should compete for 48 minutes. if someone is injured, you need to have others prepared to take their place. utah had major injuries to andrei, boozer and okur at the same time. you know what? they competed. philadelphia should be the WORST team on paper with their best player ( iggy) a limited offensive player who plays decent defense anhd just athletic. but they are playing with more heart and desire than we have played the past month. it is strange whenever someone mentions the way the players play after his extension, thomas becomes defensive. because we are not dumb. the players are taking a vacation and thomas is not doing ANYTHING to prepare them for their games. ridiculous. another year that the sixer fans will make fun of the knicks saying new york sucks and i can't say a damn thing about it. can't even mention our future is better because thomas f#$%ed that up too!