scoshin wrote:Pistons won with league-leading defense.

We're the exact opposite, so no, we're not winning a championship yet without further moves.

I do agree that we need to improve defensively, but mostly from a consistency standpoint. We actually play good D in spurts. This is why we get out to huge leads. You can't do that without playing D.

Solace wrote:I took it that the comparison was basically height based, correct?

Pistons had Billups, Rip, Prince, and the Wallace's in their primes. That's a lot of REALLY good talent.
We have a bunch of kids playing along with a Superstar. I think that kind of evens it out. We need to sure up some holes, but if we did, with not Superstar or All Star guys, then would that be enough depending on who we add? What would it take to make this team a title contender without being able to get that Superstar ie Melo.

i do think if we can get a marc gasol or someone of his ilk, it'll put us into chicago bulls territory area of contention in the east and sets us up to compete in the upper echelon in the east for a long time but we would still be solidly behind a bunch of teams.

FistOfOakley wrote:teams with better frontcourts and who pass better will give us huge problems. we basically have worse to slightly worse versions of mda's phoenix teams at the moment and they always ran into issues against the spurs. for us it's going to be boston and orlando and against those teams we will really need to be strong in the paint. if kevin love gets 30/30 against us i am scared to death of what dwight howard might do.

i do think if we can get a marc gasol or someone of his ilk, it'll put us into chicago bulls territory area of contention in the east and sets us up to compete in the upper echelon in the east for a long time but we would still be solidly behind a bunch of teams.

For better or worse this is what I call a power/finesse team and we can't change that. We don't have a lot of big bruising guys, but we can block shots and throw down some serious dunks on anyone. We just won't be able to bang with the tough guys so we'll have to beat them doing what we do best.

How far can the Knicks go with a 1973 Knicks type of team?

Criteria: Players are aligned to assemble the required team puzzle parts for a three forward starting combination, similar to what the Knicks won a championship with... not measuring skill sets against one another, so don't get crazy over any perceived blasphemy. The parallels are intriguing, especially after the first five.

73 Knicks

F/C Jerry Lucas - outside/ inside touch and rebounding, Stat
F Dave DeBusschere - rugged and powerful scoring threat, Chandler
F Bradley - creative ball movement and offensive chops, Gallo
G Pearl - intelligence and compatibility, Fields
G Clyde - set the tempo and manage the floor, Felton

G Dean Meminger - guard leadership off the bench, tbd
G Dick Barnett - scoring pop from outside, Azubuike
G Henry Bibby - defensive tenacity and occasional scoring, Douglas
F Phil Jackson - a frontcourt contributor off the bench, Shawne Williams
F John Gianelli - a 6'11 yoot finding his way, Anthony Randolph
C Willis Reed (injured) - a heart and soul player, Turiaf
C Tom Rikker - backup with potential, Mozgov

X Harthore Wingo - the last man off the pine signals the game is won, Rautins

orangeblobman wrote:The Knicks, the way they are now, can go to the NBA Finals this year. They have to ball hard in the playoffs, and it won't be easy, but they're there. If this were 2002, the Knicks would be representing the East in the finals, easy. Hands down. Put your hands down.

misterearl wrote:Pistons?

How far can the Knicks go with a 1973 Knicks type of team?

Criteria: Players are aligned to assemble the required team puzzle parts for a three forward starting combination, similar to what the Knicks won a championship with... not measuring skill sets against one another, so don't get crazy over any perceived blasphemy. The parallels are intriguing, especially after the first five.

73 Knicks

F/C Jerry Lucas - outside/ inside touch and rebounding, Stat
F Dave DeBusschere - rugged and powerful scoring threat, Chandler
F Bradley - creative ball movement and offensive chops, Gallo
G Pearl - intelligence and compatibility, Fields
G Clyde - set the tempo and manage the floor, Felton

G Dean Meminger - guard leadership off the bench, tbd
G Dick Barnett - scoring pop from outside, Azubuike
G Henry Bibby - defensive tenacity and occasional scoring, Douglas
F Phil Jackson - a frontcourt contributor off the bench, Shawne Williams
F John Gianelli - a 6'11 yoot finding his way, Anthony Randolph
C Willis Reed (injured) - a heart and soul player, Turiaf
C Tom Rikker - backup with potential, Mozgov

X Harthore Wingo - the last man off the pine signals the game is won, Rautins

Yes stylistically that is closer to what we have, I just didn't want to go there considering the greatness of that team. I was trying to stay in the modern era of BB.

Just to restate this, I wasn't talking about the style of play between the Pistons and the current Knicks. I was speaking of the way that the team was basically a team full good players that fit together to form a very good team. A team good enough to compete with the Superteams. Teams that had 2 or more superstar players, rather than one or none. In our case we have one superstar player, but the rest of the team is comprised of non All Stars.

Yes the Pistons were a slow it down, defensive force with a methodical offense. Our Knicks are an offensive team that is near the top of the league and getting better. With the right moves we'd only improve on the level of offensive efficiency we play with and the defense that we play. The question is just how good could this team get going this route?

Suppose we can't land Melo. That would mean that our best hope is to put enough complementary talent on this team as we could to get to the next level. In fact now that I think about it, we're much closer to what the Magic are as a franchise. They have the one Superstar bigman and a lot of good players surrounding him. Our team is pretty much the same, just not as far along in the process.

orangeblobman wrote:The Knicks, the way they are now, can go to the NBA Finals this year. They have to ball hard in the playoffs, and it won't be easy, but they're there.

I think they can go far, not that far, to the ECF. Either one says good things about the level of talent on this squad.

The Knicks are creating a lot of offense off defense, and their depth is too much for most teams night in an night out.