I think we are on a par with Milwaukee, Atlanta and Chicago in the East's second tier. Chicago could jump up to top tier - but they have no shooters either. Orlando might match on Reddick.

AnubisADL wrote:Still NO shooters.

Hope folks don't yell at me, and I am cringing because I have to agree with Mr. ADL, but I actually agree. The starting lineup has one legit sniper, and one guy- Felton, who was a low 30% guy from the 3 until last year. And Felton is the guy who is supposed to get the ball to the shooters.

Chandler showed improvement as a shooter last year, going from 42% to 48% FG%, because he seemed to give up the 3 and took more midrange shots. (he shot 1.5 fewer 3s/game while taking a slightly higher number of shots per game- 12.9 to 13.2) You don't want him shooting 3s again.

If you think about how MDA wants to run things, you need at least two solid perimeter threats on your wings, a pick an roll tandem where the big can hit a 3, and maybe some slashers to spice things up. This starting lineup may not be able to spread out the floor enough for our coach, and if James was coming here I would have said the same thing.

To be honest we don't even have a true post-up player on the team.

Don't get me wrong- I'm pretty excited about this season, but there will be some growing pains as the team takes on an identity.

If Azubuike is back 100%, don't be surprised if you see a lot of him this year because he can defend and he has better range than Chandler. It will also be interesting to see how Walker and Rautins fit in the lineup. I also see Fields as a wild card, and if shows that he has Chandler-like abilities- you may see Chandler on the move this year or during FA next year.

MDA is going to have to earn his salary. I see him doing some experimenting at times, and hopefully, he will try to make some adaptation to the players he has. It will be very interesting to see how he works Randolph into his game plans, too.

Pure speculation here:

Walsh seems to have built a team that is much different from what you might think MDA wants on the floor. I am not unhappy with what we have done, but I feel that a number of disagreements between the two about what kind of lineup it takes to win have taken place, and Donnie seems to be exerting himself.

This year is really on D'Antoni. If we stink it up, he's gonna have to face issues of job security.

Nalod wrote:Youthier, longer, faster, and upside with cap space and tradable assets. Good job!

Did you see what Isiah just pulled off!

http://www.knickscity.com/forums/showthread.php?3239-Stephon-Marbury-Hyping-Zach-Randolph-Hilarious

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:Still NO shooters.

Hope folks don't yell at me, and I am cringing because I have to agree with Mr. ADL, but I actually agree. The starting lineup has one legit sniper, and one guy- Felton, who was a low 30% guy from the 3 until last year. And Felton is the guy who is supposed to get the ball to the shooters.

Chandler showed improvement as a shooter last year, going from 42% to 48% FG%, because he seemed to give up the 3 and took more midrange shots. (he shot 1.5 fewer 3s/game while taking a slightly higher number of shots per game- 12.9 to 13.2) You don't want him shooting 3s again.

If you think about how MDA wants to run things, you need at least two solid perimeter threats on your wings, a pick an roll tandem where the big can hit a 3, and maybe some slashers to spice things up. This starting lineup may not be able to spread out the floor enough for our coach, and if James was coming here I would have said the same thing.

To be honest we don't even have a true post-up player on the team.

Don't get me wrong- I'm pretty excited about this season, but there will be some growing pains as the team takes on an identity.

If Azubuike is back 100%, don't be surprised if you see a lot of him this year because he can defend and he has better range than Chandler. It will also be interesting to see how Walker and Rautins fit in the lineup. I also see Fields as a wild card, and if shows that he has Chandler-like abilities- you may see Chandler on the move this year or during FA next year.

MDA is going to have to earn his salary. I see him doing some experimenting at times, and hopefully, he will try to make some adaptation to the players he has. It will be very interesting to see how he works Randolph into his game plans, too.

Pure speculation here:

Walsh seems to have built a team that is much different from what you might think MDA wants on the floor. I am not unhappy with what we have done, but I feel that a number of disagreements between the two about what kind of lineup it takes to win have taken place, and Donnie seems to be exerting himself.

Glad someone else agrees with my observations.

Teams are going to sag off alot of our guys and dare them to make shots if we try to spread the floors. We are going to have to keep guys moving, cutting, and setting screens. The stand on the perimeter and wait to jack and 3 offense is NOT going to work with these guys.

Now the benefit of our players is we should should be able to REALLY lock guys down at EVERY position this year. We should focus on not letting teams get anything going in the paint like the Atlanta Hawks with Horford and Smith.

Simply put if we focus on defense our offense will come with easy transition buckets.

9 man rotation

PG- Felton
SG- Chandler
SF- Gallo
PF- Amare
C- Turiaf (have him start games to establish some defensive intensity- though he may only play 20 mins) per)

Bench

SG/SF- Azubuike
SG/SF Walker
PG/SG Douglas
PF/C Randolph

I expect these 3 guys to play heavy minutes and the best part is they all have the versatilty to swing between at least 2 positions on the floor.

Extra depth:

C- Curry- if he manages to actually want to play he can cause some matchup issues if he plays up front with Amare
C- Jordan- If Curry never gets healthy give this kid some burn when we need size/fouls
SF/PF- Fields- I think he could be a big time sleepr
SG/PG- Rautins- I don't think he can really play PG but he can provide some shooting when needed