Vmart wrote:CNNSI has the Knicks ranked 9th.

Now that's a diss.

fishmike wrote:all those points are fine, but Philly is above us? Because the same things he said about our frontcourt doesnt hold true for Elton Brand? I guess he's OK to play 38 minutes a night for 66 games in less than 4 months? Hmm... doesnt Bosh usually wear down? Hasnt Wade missed chunks of seasons? Doesnt Granger have a balky knee? How old are KG and Ray Allen? Who is on the Magic after Dwight Howard again? Vince? Rashard? Arenas? Oh wait.. they have all been dumped.

Saying the Knicks could be affected by injuries is fair. Saying that puts them at a disadvantage over other teams is just dumb.

And did this guy suggest we might not make the playoffs? That there are actually 8 better teams out there in the East??? Thats hilarious.

Im excited about the things this team, these players and this coaching staff has to prove, and Im excited about the pieces that they have to use to prove their point. Im confident it will happen. Time will tell.

+1
I did agree with his assessment of TD being blind as bat

crzymdups wrote:

Vmart wrote:CNNSI has the Knicks ranked 9th.

9th overall, right? Not just 9th in the East?

Oh. Haha. Yea it's overall, so that's pretty good. Top 10 team in the league!

OasisBU wrote:

VCoug wrote:

crzymdups wrote:easiest way to get hits on your site is to talk smack about a NY team. thanks for copying and pasting it here so i don't have to reward ESPN with a site hit.

also, "might have to play Bibby in a real game" is ludicrous. he was the starting point guard on the NBA finalist Miami Heat last year. was he great? no. was he solid enough to get the job done? yes, most nights he was.

Bibby only played about 15 mpg for them in the Finals before he got benched. Here's his statline from last year's postseason: 3.7ppg, 28% fg 50% ft, 25% 3fg, 1.2 apg, 20 mpg. That's horrendous. And if you look at his stats from the last several seasons, http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/61/mike-bibby, he's been terrible for a while now. If he has to play more than 10-15 mpg, in spot duty, then we're in deep ****.

Nobody is denying he has not been that great, I think the issue is he was groomed for the NBA in a system much similar to MDA's so there is a good chance he will snap out of his slump. I think the biggest reason for his drop has been the systems he has played in - he is not THAT old, still has some left in the tank, and I think in the right situation (hopefully the Knicks), he will prove it. I think the coaching staff agrees if you watched the 30 minute practice special on MSG.

It could all be hype and he could still suck, but I am hoping to see a turn around for this guy and it would be huge for us.

BDiddy and MBibby at the point should be good - I actually think the team has bigger concerns at the SG position.

Agreed 100% with this assessment.

Biddy is more of a PnR, pick and pop, half court guy. Works well with big men who set screens for him so he can make decisions based on defensive reaction.

He couldn't do that with Miami's system. Wade and LeBron are ball handlers who like to create for themselves and slash and dish to others. Not Bibby's forte really.

Almost same with Atlanta, who give the ball to Joe Johnson and ask him to facilitate. Al Horford a postup guy and Marvin Williams, Josh Smith just likes to sit on the 3point line and go for oops.

crzymdups wrote:

Vmart wrote:CNNSI has the Knicks ranked 9th.

9th overall, right? Not just 9th in the East?

9th overall and 3rd in the East behind Miami and Chicago.

VCoug wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

Vmart wrote:CNNSI has the Knicks ranked 9th.

9th overall, right? Not just 9th in the East?

9th overall and 3rd in the East behind Miami and Chicago.

fishmike wrote:all those points are fine, but Philly is above us? Because the same things he said about our frontcourt doesnt hold true for Elton Brand? I guess he's OK to play 38 minutes a night for 66 games in less than 4 months? Hmm... doesnt Bosh usually wear down? Hasnt Wade missed chunks of seasons? Doesnt Granger have a balky knee? How old are KG and Ray Allen? Who is on the Magic after Dwight Howard again? Vince? Rashard? Arenas? Oh wait.. they have all been dumped.

Saying the Knicks could be affected by injuries is fair. Saying that puts them at a disadvantage over other teams is just dumb.

And did this guy suggest we might not make the playoffs? That there are actually 8 better teams out there in the East??? Thats hilarious.

Im excited about the things this team, these players and this coaching staff has to prove, and Im excited about the pieces that they have to use to prove their point. Im confident it will happen. Time will tell.

Beautifully reasoned post. Agree completely. Je just assumed only the NY stars could possibly get injured. WTF?

CB wasn't really suited to this offense. Sure he's better than TD, but let's not make him out to be the "push the ball" and PnR PG that we needed. CB was a steady hand and more of a better decision maker than TD. Thing is that we have more options this year. Bibby and later Davis really improve our PG options.

I think Hollinger undersold Fields and Iman. Both kids should play key roles in pitching in around the stars. Landry and Iman both have talent and are smart and skilled young players. Hollinger acts like Fields was some kind of scrub last year rather than a very solid player most of the year. We have more size off the bench as well. Yes some of the guys are untested but we'll soon see how they cope with their limited role off the bench this year.

Knixkik wrote:Has Knicks ranked 7th behind Sixers and Pacers. Talk about straight disrespect.

7. New York Knicks (35-31)

This might seem pessimistic in light of the hype coming from Gotham, but in the short term, I'm not sure the Knicks have dramatically improved. They've essentially traded Chauncey Billups for Tyson Chandler, which will help, but this is the wrong season to have a thin bench and brittle stars. Between Amare Stoudemire's knees and Chandler's toes, the Knicks are likely to feel the brunt of the schedule-makers' wrath.

Baron Davis, despite his weaknesses, will prove quite useful when he's able to play. Mike D'Antoni's system demands a point guard who can pass, and Davis can do that when he's not jacking up 3s with 20 on the shot clock. It's even more important given the Knicks' other high-profile moves -- they boast three of the best frontcourt finishers in the game, but nobody to get them the ball.

I factored half a season of Davis into my projection, figuring he will miss more than a quarter of the season with his current back injury and then some more with his next injury. When he's out, the Knicks have Toney Douglas running the point, which is less than ideal. While I like him as a player, he's a bad fit at the point in this system because he's blind as a bat.

Otherwise, the roster is a bit of a mess. Landry Fields and Iman Shumpert are nice prospects but aren't ready to be top-seven players on a contending team. Jared Jeffries and Renaldo Balkman are the top two frontcourt reserves. Really. And at some point the Knicks will have to play Mike Bibby in a real game.

About the best thing New York has going for it is, well, New York. Players are lured by the city, and, as with the Lakers, the Knicks have a great shot at signing any decent veteran who shakes free during the season via buyout, waivers or departure from China. Better yet, the Knicks still have their $2.5 million "under-cap" exception lying around to use on such a player.

Nonetheless, I have trouble envisioning a high seed for this team. The Knicks get more dangerous once the playoffs begin. If their three frontcourt stars and Davis make it to May upright, they'll be a very difficult first-round out. Getting to that point is the problem.

He is giving us the worse possible scenario without the possibility of Amare, Melo, and Chandler getting injured.
Not mentioning the added size in Jorts/Jordan.
Billups is a great shooter, we never doubted that, however, adding Chandler, Baron Davis *which he also gives the worse case scenario to*, solves some of our problems.
With the contracts of Billups, Amare, and Melo, there wasn't a realistic way we can build a championship contending team.
He also discounts the ability of Fields, TD, and Iman improving every day. We also had no training camp, new lineup, and time for players to gel, finding their roles.

I agree and disagree to some extent, Fields is a tweener and isn't an ideal SG in our lineup. He is better suited at SF/SG on the bench, with his skill set.
TD isn't a good point guard, not good facilitator, or decision maker.
However, we have other guards that can pull it off.
I agree, we are missing a couple of role players and the 2.5m exemption is big for us.
It's our last ability to land a player to fill one of our holes.
starting SG, backup Forward, 2nd athletic big, shooters, and PG *with Davis out* are big questions for us.
If everything goes the wrong way and we don't gel, 7th spot could be possible BUT he makes it sound likely.
Regardless, we have the players to be true final contenders and teams wouldn't want to face us.
This is our first year together and whether we click, play with chemistry, and as a unit could be the difference.
A 2nd/3rd unit, will have to be effective, with our starters, to be solid team.
We can still be missing a player or 2, with minor tweaks and additions.
But, there it is also possible, our own players can improve and beat their expectations, rising up their roles.