AnubisADL wrote:I want to know what others here think. I personally believe we can get to the Finals this year.

The one problem is D'Antoni's refusal to emphasize defense. We have some versatile defenders in Jefferies and Brewer which can help in the playoffs.

Paladin55 wrote:

martin wrote:

FoeDiddy wrote:

martin wrote:

FoeDiddy wrote:Dantoni cares about defense but sucks at teaching it..his defensive philosphy is terrible.

really, why?

Watching all season..the funneling Point Guards & Wing players to the rim has to come from coaching..I saw Toney Douglas & Fields funnel guards to the baseline repeatedly against the Bucks and it never worked. Billups had to pull Douglas aside and tell him stop with that nonsense and play your man straight up. Why could Billups point that out after one game and D'Antoni not make the adjustment all season. I bet everything that every teams scouting report is "Knicks Guards concede the drive to guards so drive hard and rotate ball and you will find an open shot"

It's okay to play strong on a guards hand if a pick is coming but our perimeter players do it even with no pick which concedes a lane to rim every time and has team scrambling.

The Knicks' strategy for the whole season has been for opposing players to be funneled to the baseline, so I don't know what you are watching.

A friend of mine whose knowledge of the game I respect told me that JVG used a similar strategy. Anyone know if this is true?

Just wondering.

teams generally funnel either to baseline or down the middle to teeth of D, depending on strength of team. For league, it's about 60/40 baseline/middle.

Defensively, we have Turiaf, Jeffries, Williams, and Tony Douglous leading us. These guys got heart but I don't think its enough talent.
Even if we add a player like Camby, its still weak compared to Boston and probably EVERY team above us.
I think Tyson Chandler/Perkins/Dalembert are players that can increase our team's defensive play but with no cap space, its going to be almost impossible to get a player
of that caliber. We have to draft or find another gem this summer...

loweyecue wrote:Setting unrealistic expectations doesn't really help anyone but nay sayers. This thread is bogus.

We can beat Chicago, Orlando, or Atlanta in a 7 game series.

Amare and Carmelo would need to have monster games coupled with guys stepping up for us to beat Miami and Boston. Point is anything can happen in the playoffs. All we need to do is steal a game or 2 and your are in the ECF.

Carmelo and Amare both have jumpers which will be valuable in the playoffs. Plus we got the battle tested Billups running the point.

I think we can sneak into the finals.

loweyecue wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

loweyecue wrote:Setting unrealistic expectations doesn't really help anyone but nay sayers. This thread is bogus.

We can beat Chicago, Orlando, or Atlanta in a 7 game series.

Amare and Carmelo would need to have monster games coupled with guys stepping up for us to beat Miami and Boston. Point is anything can happen in the playoffs. All we need to do is steal a game or 2 and your are in the ECF.

Carmelo and Amare both have jumpers which will be valuable in the playoffs. Plus we got the battle tested Billups running the point.

I think we can sneak into the finals.

Yes anything can happen. But if Carmelo and Amare don't have those monster games let's not come back here and spin that into MDA doesn't coach defense.

The basic problem regarding our D, is that except for Amare's shot blocking, he and Melo are poor defenders, and Billups has lost a step or two at his age.

I've said it before- being a good defender is more about heart and desire than it is about some magic instructions from some defensive guru coach.

Guys like Jordan, Clyde, Kobe, Wade, James, Pippin, Rodman, Ewing, etc., took it personally if you beat them on D, and this showed in their tenacity. I love the way Amare has come in and helped turn the team around, but his D is spotty at best, and like Melo, he is not the type that sweats getting beat on a play.

At best we may be the 4th best team in the East- most likely we are the 5th, unless Orlando's slide continues.

Paladin55 wrote:

loweyecue wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

loweyecue wrote:Setting unrealistic expectations doesn't really help anyone but nay sayers. This thread is bogus.

We can beat Chicago, Orlando, or Atlanta in a 7 game series.

Amare and Carmelo would need to have monster games coupled with guys stepping up for us to beat Miami and Boston. Point is anything can happen in the playoffs. All we need to do is steal a game or 2 and your are in the ECF.

Carmelo and Amare both have jumpers which will be valuable in the playoffs. Plus we got the battle tested Billups running the point.

I think we can sneak into the finals.

Yes anything can happen. But if Carmelo and Amare don't have those monster games let's not come back here and spin that into MDA doesn't coach defense.

The basic problem regarding our D, is that except for Amare's shot blocking, he and Melo are poor defenders, and Billups has lost a step or two at his age.

I've said it before- being a good defender is more about heart and desire than it is about some magic instructions from some defensive guru coach.

Guys like Jordan, Clyde, Kobe, Wade, James, Pippin, Rodman, Ewing, etc., took it personally if you beat them on D, and this showed in their tenacity. I love the way Amare has come in and helped turn the team around, but his D is spotty at best, and like Melo, he is not the type that sweats getting beat on a play.

At best we may be the 4th best team in the East- most likely we are the 5th, unless Orlando's slide continues.

I agree with this. Amare and Melo are not people who will give consistent effort on defense, otherwise George Karl would have had an effect on Melo by now and whoever replaced MDA in PHX would have gotten more out of Amare defesively. But the argument is that we don't need STAT/Melo to be stellar on defense, we need them to be adequate. And that is where I think we can and will get that from them because of their overarching desire to win (these guys are not David Lee on defense). If you put the right pieces around them our defense will be good enough to contend with.

Ultimately what I see is a philosophy switch in the make-up of our team. We went from a collection of fringe star like two-way players to a front loaded offense heavy star power based team. I have argued vociferously against JJ2 before, because he was a one way player on a two way team. But our total 180 degree switch in team make up means a defensive specialist can now be a real complimentary player. So it comes down to whether you are sold on JJ2 being a defensive specialist or not, I am not.