Amare
Gallo
Cahndler
Fields
felton

and i thought it was the best unit. Mosgov can play but hes not a starter yet. He needs to build up off the bench. fields looks like a player. He plays tight good D and mistake free. I think Gallo fields and Cahndler can all rebound. Its a faster unit that creates space for each other. the 2nd unit will work better with Mosgov 5-Randolph $ walker 2-3 Douglas. That would be my 9.

BRIGGS wrote:We went with this starting unit in the 2nd half

Amare
Gallo
Cahndler
Fields
felton

and i thought it was the best unit. Mosgov can play but hes not a starter yet. He needs to build up off the bench. fields looks like a player. He plays tight good D and mistake free. I think Gallo fields and Cahndler can all rebound. Its a faster unit that creates space for each other. the 2nd unit will work better with Mosgov 5-Randolph $ walker 2-3 Douglas. That would be my 9.

I still like Timo as a starter. He needs all the time he can get to get him up and running with Amare as his frontcourt.

BRIGGS wrote:

tj23 wrote:Mosgov was able to open up the floor. When he goes out I wouldnt be opposed to a smaller lineup.

Putting Mosgov on the starting 5 is going to cause him to regress. Other teams will go after him foul wise--hes not an NBA starter. Fields is a guy who can fit in with the first unit. We have three main scorers Gallo Amare and Chandler and fields is a nice complimentary piece who can do damage as a 4th wheel while playing nice D. I think both Randolph and Mosgov should play together off the bench--I thinh that is a fit--of course we can mix and match. turriaf scks hes out and I like walker over mason by a long shot--I could care less of Mason makes 200 open js in a row in practice hes not as good as bill walker in the games. walker has been consistent since becoming a knick

tj23 wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

tj23 wrote:Mosgov was able to open up the floor. When he goes out I wouldnt be opposed to a smaller lineup.

Putting Mosgov on the starting 5 is going to cause him to regress. Other teams will go after him foul wise--hes not an NBA starter. Fields is a guy who can fit in with the first unit. We have three main scorers Gallo Amare and Chandler and fields is a nice complimentary piece who can do damage as a 4th wheel while playing nice D. I think both Randolph and Mosgov should play together off the bench--I thinh that is a fit--of course we can mix and match. turriaf scks hes out and I like walker over mason by a long shot--I could care less of Mason makes 200 open js in a row in practice hes not as good as bill walker in the games. walker has been consistent since becoming a knick

I basically agree. I guess I'm just hoping we could have a real big man next to Amare. I could possibly see Walker cracking the starting 5 at some point with his range and athletic ability. I dont wanna see Mason at all.

Id like a true 5 next to Amare as well--but really we dont have a starting quality C. If Gallo can develop into a true 2nd option--then I would put very strong effort into obtaining Mark gasol with Mosgov as his back up. That would make us an enormous deep skilled team.

D'Antoni said he's leaning now more to a nine-man rotation, with an occasional 10th guy in the mix. It's still more than his past seasons when he went often with seven.

Asked why the change in philosophy, D'Antoni said, "If there's a big difference between my seventh guy and eighth guy, I'm very tempted to go with seven guys. But if you have a high quality of players you feel can contribute and there's not that big a dropoff, I'll go eight, nine. Nine is a nice rotation. We can go nine and maybe 10 once in a while. I don't think there's a big drop-off."

Easy to start with the obvious here:

Looks like Ewing Jr and Shawne Williams will be competing for the 15th spot....frankly i'd cut both to leave a roster spot open until the trade deadline passes but Ewing does have that good Karma thing going for him and has proven to be a solid defender. Probably good to have him on the practice squad. Haven't seen or heard anything of Williams.

I can also confidently say that Azubuike and Curry will not make the rotation by season's start due to injuries. On the bright side, we do have enough depth at the guard spot that we can wait until Az has fully recovered and is in game shape before tossing him in the mix...the downer is that we don't as yet have a true stand out 2 guard so if he can fully recover, learn the system and get himself into game shape he has a good shot at cracking the rotation...which isn't really a downer cuz I like the kid and would like to see him regain his form...quickly

The players who really haven't done anything to impress so far are Mason and Turiaf. There are more games left to be played, so Mason still has a shot to take the back-up spot from Walker...but i just don't see him getting there. Walker is an athletic freak and his shot has been falling. Also, the kid needs to play regularly so he can continue to develop. Turiaf...This guy hasn't given any reason he should be in the rotation at all. While Moz has shown flashes...he also has shown that he has work to do. Last night he started out great but after a few fouls he disapeared. He will figure out how to limit his fouls and still play his game and I am looking forward to watching this kid grow and dominate.

So as of now...Moz is in my starting 5 just because he belongs there and Turiaf hasn't earned the spot. I move Amare over to the 5 when Moz gets in foul trouble so basically Turiaf isn't in the rotation at all since it will mean taking minutes from other players who have genuinely shown promise and should crack the rotation for limited minutes. Those players I speak of are Fields and Rautins.

so...my starting 5 are: Moz, Amare, Gallo, Chandler and Felton. When Moz get's into foul trouble I move Amare over to center and have a number of different line-up options based upon the opponent. My bench is Douglas, Randolph, Walker, Fields and Rautins.

more later.....

I do think you have to consider whats best for Moz's development this year as its clear he's NBA material and athletic tough 7'1 guys with skills dont grow on trees. Whats best for him has to work with the longterm scheme and his development is huge.

I really dont care. Whatever gets us playing the best basketball the fastest.

So far the only thing thats clear is rebounding is the #1 issue and amazing defense is the least concern. I think we are getting better taking care of the ball although nobody playing PG has gotten in any kind of rhythm yet. Defensively we are fouling hard and being very aggressive and contesting shots. Some of the rotations have been bad as you see some wide open guys for 3 in the corner but thats not an effort issue so I'm confident it will work out.

We can score, we can defend. Can we rebound?