misterearl wrote:Every player on the roster has a good story.

and something to prove

holfresh wrote:Hey Earl, Now that's beautiful basketball baby!!!

Felton has a chip on his shoulder and is tired of being questioned about his conditioning.
Kidd sees one more championship run on Broadway
Prigioni, at 35, wants to measure himself against the best players in the world

Carmelo enjoyed the taste of Olympic gold and can taste how close he is to a ring in NYC. Ergo, He is focused.
Amare wants to prove that last year was an aberration.
Ronnie Brewer wants to prove he is more than a minimum contract.

Tyson Chandler wants to prove he is an all star center.
JR Smith want to repay Mike Woodson for staying on his ass and make his Jersey people proud.
Steve Novak wants to prove the Knicks right for the opportunity to play consistent minutes

Kurt Thomas wants to prove that 40 is just his uniform number
Shump wants to prove he is even better than he imagined.
Marcus Camby wants to swat another shot attempt into the sixteenth row, just to prove to Hartford he can still smile.

James White wants to prove that all those Passport stamps were worth it
Chris Copeland wants to prove that he belongs in the NBA, in a hallowed place he could only dream about having a parking space.
Rasheed wants to prove that after 15 years, and two years hiatus... "ball don't lie"

Each and every one of our grown ass men have a personal and valid reason to be a part of a special team.

3G4G wrote:

MSG3 wrote:For the last several seasons people have been harping on the need to build chemistry and needing time to gel. To an extent, it is true that every team needs some time to come together. But what we're seeing thorugh 2 games is that the "time to gel" argument a lot of people used (myself included early on) was largely bogus. We had a ton of turnover AGAIN this season and have been able to come out strong with cohesion we haven't seen in a long time. Yes, much of this can be attributed to experienced ball handlers like Kidd and Felton (and Prigioni, but even he is an NBA rookie). But a lot of it is because DEFENSE has been the number one priority.

My point is, this is why coaching is so important. Woody deserves the lions share of the credit for working with everyone and having everyone buy in.

This also gives me hope that when Amar'e does come back we will see a much better meshing of his and Melo's talents when they're on the floor together. I still think he should come off the bench when he returns, but if he doesn't I feel good that they'll find a way.

No **** Sherlock....anyway good post. Woody deserves some credit but it helps when players give EFFORT from THE DOOR or JUMP BALL...instead of pouting with an agenda and derailing any potential chemistry that can be built out the gate.

Are you talking about Melo or MDA?