fishmike wrote:

MSG3 wrote:

SlimChin wrote:

RoyBatty wrote:Lin's in an unenviable position right now. We know he's an intelligent guy and we know that he knows that he has to feed the stars that we have. But I also think he's trying to play the system that D'Antoni is trying to put in. And this is where the conflict develops. People will ask "why doesn't he just drop it to Melo in the post?"

That's not D'Antoni's system. (I'm not saying D'Antooni's system is right; just that it's the system Lin is trying to play). So he's now trying to work this thing out. Now if we disagree on not feeding Melo or Stat enough, that's on D'Antoni. Lin, after all, is a 23 year old pt guard, and he's just listening to his coach.

that's what's going on right now. MDA and Melo is not a good mix and Lin is stuck in the middle. something's gotta give. either melo buys in or we keep losing and MDA gets fired.

can there be a happy medium? maybe but that's going to take some self reflection on Melo and a change of coaching philosophy on MDA—and that's not happening anytime soon.

if anyone is to blame, it's our genius owner Dolan who didn't have the foresight to know that Melo and MDA would not gel.

I think our owner was told that Melo and D'Antoni had a high probability of failing. I guess in his mind it's harder to get great talent on your roster than find a great coach. After D'Antoni is finished we'll see if Melo/STAT/Lin can work with a guy like Jax. One hting is for sure, Tyson Chandler is our MVP and can play for anyone. Can't teach heart.

bigtime

just finished talking to a coworker about that... he's got his limitations but I have no problem having Chandler be a key contributor because of his heart, leadership, and work ethic. If the entire team played like him, the record could be the same but I'd feel a lot differently about the season

SupremeCommander wrote:

fishmike wrote:

MSG3 wrote:

SlimChin wrote:

RoyBatty wrote:Lin's in an unenviable position right now. We know he's an intelligent guy and we know that he knows that he has to feed the stars that we have. But I also think he's trying to play the system that D'Antoni is trying to put in. And this is where the conflict develops. People will ask "why doesn't he just drop it to Melo in the post?"

That's not D'Antoni's system. (I'm not saying D'Antooni's system is right; just that it's the system Lin is trying to play). So he's now trying to work this thing out. Now if we disagree on not feeding Melo or Stat enough, that's on D'Antoni. Lin, after all, is a 23 year old pt guard, and he's just listening to his coach.

that's what's going on right now. MDA and Melo is not a good mix and Lin is stuck in the middle. something's gotta give. either melo buys in or we keep losing and MDA gets fired.

can there be a happy medium? maybe but that's going to take some self reflection on Melo and a change of coaching philosophy on MDA—and that's not happening anytime soon.

if anyone is to blame, it's our genius owner Dolan who didn't have the foresight to know that Melo and MDA would not gel.

I think our owner was told that Melo and D'Antoni had a high probability of failing. I guess in his mind it's harder to get great talent on your roster than find a great coach. After D'Antoni is finished we'll see if Melo/STAT/Lin can work with a guy like Jax. One hting is for sure, Tyson Chandler is our MVP and can play for anyone. Can't teach heart.

bigtime

just finished talking to a coworker about that... he's got his limitations but I have no problem having Chandler be a key contributor because of his heart, leadership, and work ethic. If the entire team played like him, the record could be the same but I'd feel a lot differently about the season

Let's not forget he's the only one with a ring which i wish he would leverage more to get these guys motivated.

BRIGGS wrote:Lin's play has declined--not to a destructive point--but what looked special now looks good to mediocre. However I do think he can be an 16-8 47% % PG (somewhere between Linsanity and what we see now)on a very good team--certainly as good as any PG we have known in modern Knick times aka after Clyde and Michael Ray Richardson. He's not playing as freely--he looks stuck in the ground--which has affected his play---his J looks off his drives lack the vigor we saw and TO's that were tolerable when he was bringing 22-9 have become irritant. He needs to regain his confidence in his J and than make the open one's. Hitting the J opens up his game--that brings in the headfake and wider lanes. The minute both Amare and Carmelo came back--the lanes in the post closed off. Lin hasnt been the same guy-and to his credit he's been adjusting although we have seen the downside of adjustment.

What I would like to see from the Knicks is a 40 minute commitment to Lin--IF Lin can give back games where TO's are now tolerable/valuing the ball(meaning less than 4) he gets back his C in his jumpshot and subsequent drive--he looks pass first and doesnt look for a homerun pass unless its wide open. He has to play lin with controlled aggresion--hes not doing that right now--hes not bad--but hes not Linsane right now.

good post briggs, and one thing I will say, is that LIN competes, I love that, I would like to see his J get much better, but I think he will get there. I agree, with melo coming back, the driving lanes have closed off... and honestly his kickouts to guys like novak who shoot a high % seemed to have more impact than passing and waiting for iso guys to make up their minds...

but honestly, if LIN can be 16/8 and shoot 47%, don't you think that is pretty much elite, allstar PG type numbers? or close to? I will take that anyday...

GoNyGoNyGo wrote:This is a good subject.

StephenA, ranted yesterday that Lin is just an average player. I disagree. I think he is above average. He has exceptional intelligence. He has good athleticism. These 2 things alone will make him decent. What is missing with the team now and thus, Lin's game is the other players on the court. When he ran the show and the team looked for him to do it, he had the confidence and it was working. As the "stars" came back, they have, little by little, imposed their will on the team. Lin has tried to fit them in but its not working. That is not his fault but he is feeling the pressure and thus his confidence is shaken, so his shots are not falling now. It is making him average. A kid like Lin and his story, needs the confidence to push him to his best. Right now its missing a bit and we are seeing it.

If the superstars on this team were truly "super", Lin's confidence would have grown upon their return.

All that being said, his stats are settling into the range of 15 ppg, 8apg, 4rpg. If we knew at the beginning of the year that the Knicks would have a PG able to get those stats every night, we would have been elated. How could they lose, we'd all would have been asking! Well, they lose and they lose too much!

Lin can be the starting PG on a winning team, IMO. Does he need to work on a few things? Yes,of course. Steve Nash was not Steve Nash his first 5 years in the league. Derek Rose was not MVP his first year. It takes time but the skills are there and we all know the drive is there.

GOOD POST.. I think the whole "linsanity" thing has set the bar so high for lin and almost unfairly..

and good point about nash.. remember when the mavs brought in Nick van exel to platoon with nash during that playoff run they had years ago.. he was eating into nash's minutes.. nash and dirk played well together, but it was evident that nash was better when he played in a more free flowing system. and that was no knock on dirk, we all know dirk is a great player....