TMS wrote:

martin wrote:

TMS wrote:it doesn't hurt either... how much effort would it have taken MDA to just take Larry aside & let him know he's not out of the plans all of a sudden? u got to know the personalities on the team, not all of them need to be handled the same way... Hughes was a professional earlier in the season when he was benched... u can't just keep taking that for granted & expect that he'll just shut up & take another benching w/o getting upset... not everyone's wired like Fishlips... Larry Hughes has never been a scrub player over his entire career... this is a guy who's used to being featured on a team, not playing a bit role... he's still in his relative prime & he's looking to earn a contract this season, how can u blame him for wanting the coach to at least communicate w/him over this situation & not treat him like some unproven rook or scrub bench warmer? i'm not trying to get on MDA's case here but seriously, is it too much to ask? i mean even Shandon Anderson got upset at Isiah Thomas when he got phased out & got the ice treatment, & he's not someone you would expect to be a complainer or crybaby... guys just wanna know their roles... Larry Hughes is not a bench warmer type player, he's way too good for that.

what you are asking for is that before each game MDA should tell Hughes: You may play tonight, be ready?

no actually what i am asking is that MDA approach Hughes & let him know he's not out of the plans going forward just because he didn't play the last couple games... a little diplomacy can go a long way.

that insinuates to hughes that he WILL be back in the rotation. if the other players that stepped up when their number was called in place of hughes and stay in the rotation, then hughes is going to have an even bigger problem with miked becuase then he'll say "coach told me i'd be back in the rotation in a few games and now im not getting back in."

this is a game to game thing. miked doesnt owe anyone anything.

TMS wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

TMS wrote:

martin wrote:

TMS wrote:it doesn't hurt either... how much effort would it have taken MDA to just take Larry aside & let him know he's not out of the plans all of a sudden? u got to know the personalities on the team, not all of them need to be handled the same way... Hughes was a professional earlier in the season when he was benched... u can't just keep taking that for granted & expect that he'll just shut up & take another benching w/o getting upset... not everyone's wired like Fishlips... Larry Hughes has never been a scrub player over his entire career... this is a guy who's used to being featured on a team, not playing a bit role... he's still in his relative prime & he's looking to earn a contract this season, how can u blame him for wanting the coach to at least communicate w/him over this situation & not treat him like some unproven rook or scrub bench warmer? i'm not trying to get on MDA's case here but seriously, is it too much to ask? i mean even Shandon Anderson got upset at Isiah Thomas when he got phased out & got the ice treatment, & he's not someone you would expect to be a complainer or crybaby... guys just wanna know their roles... Larry Hughes is not a bench warmer type player, he's way too good for that.

what you are asking for is that before each game MDA should tell Hughes: You may play tonight, be ready?

no actually what i am asking is that MDA approach Hughes & let him know he's not out of the plans going forward just because he didn't play the last couple games... a little diplomacy can go a long way.

that insinuates to hughes that he WILL be back in the rotation. if the other players that stepped up when their number was called in place of hughes and stay in the rotation, then hughes is going to have an even bigger problem with miked becuase then he'll say "coach told me i'd be back in the rotation in a few games and now im not getting back in."

this is a game to game thing. miked doesnt owe anyone anything.

come on now, playing Jonathan Bender over Hughes is a joke... yeah he hits some open shots every once in a while & last nite he blocked a couple shots, but he can barely move around on the floor w/o looking like he's gonna topple over any minute... u can't have him on the floor in crunchtime either, he's a turnover waiting to happen... Hughes is not perfect by any means but let's get real here, he's a much better player than Bender... u telling me u wouldn't be upset if you were in Hughes' situation & there was a scrap heap reclamation project playing ahead of you on this team? even Marcus Landry is getting minutes over Hughes at this point... that's gotta be tough to take for a veteran like Hughes.

this is where we really disagree. i think bender has played pretty well and yes id rather have him in the game than hughes right now. between the rebounding, blocks and 3pt shooting i think bender gives us much better productions out there and without all the unnecessary jumpers that hughes takes.

right now you have a choice, hughes or nate because it's one or the other. bender isn't taking hughes minutes, nate is.

nyk4ever wrote:

TMS wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

TMS wrote:

martin wrote:

TMS wrote:it doesn't hurt either... how much effort would it have taken MDA to just take Larry aside & let him know he's not out of the plans all of a sudden? u got to know the personalities on the team, not all of them need to be handled the same way... Hughes was a professional earlier in the season when he was benched... u can't just keep taking that for granted & expect that he'll just shut up & take another benching w/o getting upset... not everyone's wired like Fishlips... Larry Hughes has never been a scrub player over his entire career... this is a guy who's used to being featured on a team, not playing a bit role... he's still in his relative prime & he's looking to earn a contract this season, how can u blame him for wanting the coach to at least communicate w/him over this situation & not treat him like some unproven rook or scrub bench warmer? i'm not trying to get on MDA's case here but seriously, is it too much to ask? i mean even Shandon Anderson got upset at Isiah Thomas when he got phased out & got the ice treatment, & he's not someone you would expect to be a complainer or crybaby... guys just wanna know their roles... Larry Hughes is not a bench warmer type player, he's way too good for that.

what you are asking for is that before each game MDA should tell Hughes: You may play tonight, be ready?

no actually what i am asking is that MDA approach Hughes & let him know he's not out of the plans going forward just because he didn't play the last couple games... a little diplomacy can go a long way.

that insinuates to hughes that he WILL be back in the rotation. if the other players that stepped up when their number was called in place of hughes and stay in the rotation, then hughes is going to have an even bigger problem with miked becuase then he'll say "coach told me i'd be back in the rotation in a few games and now im not getting back in."

this is a game to game thing. miked doesnt owe anyone anything.

come on now, playing Jonathan Bender over Hughes is a joke... yeah he hits some open shots every once in a while & last nite he blocked a couple shots, but he can barely move around on the floor w/o looking like he's gonna topple over any minute... u can't have him on the floor in crunchtime either, he's a turnover waiting to happen... Hughes is not perfect by any means but let's get real here, he's a much better player than Bender... u telling me u wouldn't be upset if you were in Hughes' situation & there was a scrap heap reclamation project playing ahead of you on this team? even Marcus Landry is getting minutes over Hughes at this point... that's gotta be tough to take for a veteran like Hughes.

this is where we really disagree. i think bender has played pretty well and yes id rather have him in the game than hughes right now. between the rebounding, blocks and 3pt shooting i think bender gives us much better productions out there and without all the unnecessary jumpers that hughes takes.

right now you have a choice, hughes or nate because it's one or the other. bender isn't taking hughes minutes, nate is.

how do u figure? just cuz they play a different position doesn't mean much when u have guys like FL, Wilson, Gallo & Al who all can play multiple positions... take Bender off the floor & allocate those minutes to Hughes & u adjust accordingly... then depending on how Hughes & Nate are both playing that night you allocate more or less minutes between the 2... Hughes was making a real impact in the games where we finally started to play better basketball... i have yet to see Bender make any real impact on a game... he's a nice feel good story but that's all he is... he is not fit for a playoff rotation in my eyes... Hughes can lock down his man on defense & when he's got his offense going can also make an impact on the offensive end, plus he's a much better orchestrator than Nate is, who is better used as a scorer off the bench, so really when Duhon is not on the floor Hughes is the only guy who can really orchestrate

In addition, to simply diss the impact of Bender's defense and outside range dismisses the need to loosen up the middle for the elegant and creative drives of The Mayor. Bender had 4 blocked shots. Blocked shots. I thought we liked blocked shots.

Most important, the Knicks WON a pivotal game against a spirited opponent noted for its tough defense. The Bobcats may not be household names, and the record is not flashy, but they are by no means a day at the beach. They hit hard.

The New Knicks played solid down the stretch and made me feel good to be Knicks fan. I don't have much time to pick boogers over what coulda been or who shouda played. I'm too busy dusting off my Bernard King Game Face after taking it down from the moldy chest in the attic. The Garden is starting to roar again and it is only the start of a New Year.

Bear in mind, until Harrington sat out last night, the core Knicks have been relatively healthy. Gallo's shoulder and The Mayor's ankle (still at less than 100 per cent) will bear watching. It is a stone cold fact that at some point other players will be required to step in and step it up. If Larry Hughes is steaming in his own competitive juices on the pine for a few games, good. It is a long season and everyone will get some burn.

The future is so bright I gotta wear shades.

Just win baby.

Somebody cool needs to work the crowd during timeouts.

Larry Hughes will get his turn.

Personally, I'd love to see him run the point with Chandler in the BBC, (the big back court), recasting the former roles of Houston and Spree. I'd also like to see the second coming Clyde and The Pearl running the offense. However, for now, I'll accept Chris Duhon hitting his outside shots at a better rate than the 20 per cent he started with in November.

Perhaps it is us who need the adjustment. The early season "woe is us", "we suck", "I can't wait until next season as we tank this year" has suddenly become "hey, these guys don't suck that bad..!" and as a result there is a bit less to bitch and moan about.

1. Bender earned his minutes somewhere. He was not pulled in off the street as some random pick up. Walsh had been monitoring his progress all Summer and had enough information on him to warrant an audition. D'Antoni gave the 7' Bender instant burn as any frontcourt can use a 7 footer with some skills.

2. Don't take it personal. If I gave you any spiel about Nate last year it was just that, a spiel.

3. Inferring that D'Antoni's so-called "communication skills" are deficient is based on some third hand report of a writer on deadline who needs to sell newspapers is a waste of time. I don't care about any communication other than players talking on defense. The rest is just speculation to fuel the permanent, non-stop drama cycle in New York.

4. You claim "he owes it to the Knicks franchise & the fanbase to get the absolute best out of the players he's coaching," I would offer that based on the on-court performance - not simply wins and losses but the cohesion and enthusiasm - after all the gnashing of teeth in November, D'Antoni is doing an excellent job of that.

Herm: "You play to win the game"

TMS wrote:

martin wrote:

TMS wrote:

martin wrote:

TMS wrote:it doesn't hurt either... how much effort would it have taken MDA to just take Larry aside & let him know he's not out of the plans all of a sudden? u got to know the personalities on the team, not all of them need to be handled the same way... Hughes was a professional earlier in the season when he was benched... u can't just keep taking that for granted & expect that he'll just shut up & take another benching w/o getting upset... not everyone's wired like Fishlips... Larry Hughes has never been a scrub player over his entire career... this is a guy who's used to being featured on a team, not playing a bit role... he's still in his relative prime & he's looking to earn a contract this season, how can u blame him for wanting the coach to at least communicate w/him over this situation & not treat him like some unproven rook or scrub bench warmer? i'm not trying to get on MDA's case here but seriously, is it too much to ask? i mean even Shandon Anderson got upset at Isiah Thomas when he got phased out & got the ice treatment, & he's not someone you would expect to be a complainer or crybaby... guys just wanna know their roles... Larry Hughes is not a bench warmer type player, he's way too good for that.

what you are asking for is that before each game MDA should tell Hughes: You may play tonight, be ready?

no actually what i am asking is that MDA approach Hughes & let him know he's not out of the plans going forward just because he didn't play the last couple games... a little diplomacy can go a long way.

that's the thing though.... don't you think the Atlanta game and then Indiana games were true exceptions for Hughes not playing? Nate busting a nut and then Indiana laying over dead? Was MDA supposed to rush over to Hughes after each game to pet Hughes' ego and reassure him?

absolutely agree w/the ATL & IND games, but Hughes didn't play last nite either... at a certain point it's not asking for much for the head coach to communicate w/1 of his veterans who he is looking to provide some leadership on this team & explain his intentions going forward... i don't believe Hughes will be a diva like Dinglebury & refuse to play if MDA called his # after a prolonged benching, but does Hughes really deserve that? do u honestly think J Bender has done anything to warrant getting playing time over him at this point? or Marcus Landry for that matter? come on.

i kind of doubt going to the press to complain about d'antoni is going to help hughes' chances of coming back into the rotation, and could explain why landry has played, especially given that we hear the coaches like him.