TMS wrote:15 & 7 would be my guess... no way he gets anywhere near 17/10

I'm with you TMS. Avging an assist and a half more a game is a lot.

martin wrote:

ramtour420 wrote:

iSergio wrote:I predict a 13/7 type of season for Raymond Felton.

I think those numbers would be disappointing, i am looking for no less than 15/8.5 , and i don't think its a stretch for him to go 17/9.5

With career averages of 13/6.5 in a slow half court offense, I would love to know iSergio's reasoning behind his 13/7 prediction.

I'll give you a reason. Larry Brown hasn't coached Felton coach for all five years of his career. That said, Felton's numbers have still remained steady, even on a per minute basis. I don't think it's fair to expect Felton make a huge jump in stats unless he sees a huge jump in minutes. I'm talking 39-40 a game.

franco12 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:I think a more interesting comparison is D'Antoni's coaching record with Steve Nash versus his record without.

Or better yet, the Phoenix Suns record post D'Antoni.

You and I agree- this is the year we find out if D'Antoni can actually be an NBA Coach, and whether his system needs a HOF pg to successfully run it.

In any case I am going with 15/9 for Felton. Chris Duhon averaged 11/7.2 his first year. Felton is simply a better player, has more weapons and guys who can finish.

CrushAlot wrote:I think a more interesting comparison is D'Antoni's coaching record with Steve Nash versus his record without.

I can't go by this the way others can. What would Pat Riley be without all of his HOFers? Phil Jackson and MJ and Kobe? Greg Popovic without Tim Duncan?

To be a great coach for a great team, you need the great players. Before this season, we had NONE, and it's no secret that the type of great player MDA especially needed was a PG. Whether that PG has to be a HOFer or not, remains to be seen, but it's silly to compare his two eras when MDA hasn't even had a team the past two years.

It looks like he does now though, so we'll see how much they buy into playing defense and working together to make his offense work.

Allanfan20 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:I think a more interesting comparison is D'Antoni's coaching record with Steve Nash versus his record without.

I can't go by this the way others can. What would Pat Riley be without all of his HOFers? Phil Jackson and MJ and Kobe? Greg Popovic without Tim Duncan?

To be a great coach for a great team, you need the great players. Before this season, we had NONE, and it's no secret that the type of great player MDA especially needed was a PG. Whether that PG has to be a HOFer or not, remains to be seen, but it's silly to compare his two eras when MDA hasn't even had a team the past two years.

It looks like he does now though, so we'll see how much they buy into playing defense and working together to make his offense work.

Pat Riley changed up his style when he got to the Knicks and took a roster with a 2nd tier star (Ewing) and a bunch of role players and made it to the finals and repeatedly challenged the best player in a generation. All playing a different style of basketball from what he won with Showtime.

D'Antoni has yet to really make any changes to his style or system.

Will he go 9 deep, or lean on 7 guys?

Why did Duhon start over Douglas, when it was clear that Duhon was finished and some bum off the street could do a better job?

D'Antoni has shown he has his favorites, and if he doesn't like them, he doesn't bother trying to get them to buy in to what he is trying to do.

Just so you know where I am coming from on this- I loved D'Antoni in Phoenix, loved when we got him and I love his tell it like it is personality.

However, I don't like his inflexibility, and his failure to adapt to personnel.

I hope he changes up a bit, and gets this team to perform. I would like nothing more.

franco12 wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:I think a more interesting comparison is D'Antoni's coaching record with Steve Nash versus his record without.

I can't go by this the way others can. What would Pat Riley be without all of his HOFers? Phil Jackson and MJ and Kobe? Greg Popovic without Tim Duncan?

To be a great coach for a great team, you need the great players. Before this season, we had NONE, and it's no secret that the type of great player MDA especially needed was a PG. Whether that PG has to be a HOFer or not, remains to be seen, but it's silly to compare his two eras when MDA hasn't even had a team the past two years.

It looks like he does now though, so we'll see how much they buy into playing defense and working together to make his offense work.

Pat Riley changed up his style when he got to the Knicks and took a roster with a 2nd tier star (Ewing) and a bunch of role players and made it to the finals and repeatedly challenged the best player in a generation. All playing a different style of basketball from what he won with Showtime.

D'Antoni has yet to really make any changes to his style or system.

Will he go 9 deep, or lean on 7 guys?

Why did Duhon start over Douglas, when it was clear that Duhon was finished and some bum off the street could do a better job?

D'Antoni has shown he has his favorites, and if he doesn't like them, he doesn't bother trying to get them to buy in to what he is trying to do.

Just so you know where I am coming from on this- I loved D'Antoni in Phoenix, loved when we got him and I love his tell it like it is personality.

However, I don't like his inflexibility, and his failure to adapt to personnel.

I hope he changes up a bit, and gets this team to perform. I would like nothing more.

While we argue about the win totals I think all agree on a few things about this current Knick team:
1) there is a significant talent upgrade
2) there are complenting pieces
3) there is depth, size and athleticism
4) most everyone projected to be in the rotation have shown a commitment to defense
5) the rotation players are part of a long term plan

This is a coachable talented group. How good will they be? Time will tell but this is a team that should be winning games and I think this season will tell us what we need to know about MDA.