DurzoBlint wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

playa2 wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

colorfl1 wrote:It amazes me when people on the forum site last year's win total as the limited objective.
This team was ALWAYS injured and could not develop an experienced rotation.
They simply did not have enough practicing time with their starting 5 because there were always major injuries.

The team won a considerable amount of games last year without a consistent rotation of players due to injuries of Shumpart, Amare, Camby, Rasheed, Thomas, Felton, Tyson, broken down Kidd etc. Injuries decimated their bigs and wore out Chandler. Worn out/injured Chandler, JR, Kidd got this team a 2nd round exit.

How ridiculous is it that this team went for a stretch starting James White???

Seriously, this team would outperform last year's record if they just stayed the same and simply had a reasonably healthy core.

And now even if they do lose core people, they at least have versatile, experienced players coming off the bench.

With a full season of Beno, Meta, Shumpert, Martin this team would already outperform last year's squad by simply having a rotation with consistency and defence.

Add to that mix, upside "wild cards" like injury prone Bargnani and Amare

Some promising youngs like THJ, CJ, and Tyler

and you have the makings for a consistent core that would put last season's team to shame offensively and defensively.

Jason Kidd was a great on court coach, but he was shot by January and his inability to defend or put up points when left open really was a serious liability the whole 2nd half of the season.

I expect this years group to have more toughness and a lunch-pale dimension.
And because of its healthy depth, its' offence will be much more nuanced than isolate Carmelo, P/R Chandler and or chuck 3s.

I feel there is way too much apathy and attrition on this board; they will be far more consistent and less fragile.

Agree we are on par with any team capable of winning 60 games and a championship. We made smart moves this offseason we cant play 15 vets at once so we got some young legs which will improve and ste the tone for the future to come but certainly the vets we have are high quality and deep. we need less from tyson chnalder and that should save him for the playoffs. we only need to play amare 20 minutes...we have a lot of shooters passers scoreres size inside outside we picked up some fresh legs--what can you say here other than we are in this game in a big way just as good as Miami Indiana and Brooklyn IMHO.

Now our coach has to sac up and coach the rotations the right way...... period !

Totally agree. I love Melo, but Woody cannot cave into ISO Melo pressure. If Melo and JR are our primary options, we're screwed. We gotta diversify our offense.

Judging just by the roster moves it seems this was a point of emphasis. Bargnani stretches the floor, but can also post smaller forwards. World Peace is a pretty good finisher and can hit the open 3. THJR, Leslie, Tyler bring a much needed youth infusion. Beno will play the Kidd role, but can actually score.

Woodson has the tools, he just has to use them.

I think pretty much everyone on the board agrees with those sentiments. The offense ran better when the ball moved and it just made the game far more enjoyable to watch. Part of the problem (I think) was that Woody waited till too late in the season to start Prigs and by then the habit had taken root.

Kidd while giving us good minutes early in the season wasn't dropping 10dimes a game, he was providing a steady influence while play the off guard spot. In many ways Kidd influenced and kept the iso Melo going because he would of his own accord force feed the ball to Melo. When Prigs got the keys to the offense, he'd get it to the best man, whether it was Melo or anyone else on the team.

Hopefully Prigs has a little more left in the tank, and Beno can be the Kidd replacement in the 2nd unit.

Hopefully Felton can avoid any hand or wrist injuries this season, and plays consistently like he did in the Boston series.

ChuckBuck wrote:

DurzoBlint wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

playa2 wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

colorfl1 wrote:It amazes me when people on the forum site last year's win total as the limited objective.
This team was ALWAYS injured and could not develop an experienced rotation.
They simply did not have enough practicing time with their starting 5 because there were always major injuries.

The team won a considerable amount of games last year without a consistent rotation of players due to injuries of Shumpart, Amare, Camby, Rasheed, Thomas, Felton, Tyson, broken down Kidd etc. Injuries decimated their bigs and wore out Chandler. Worn out/injured Chandler, JR, Kidd got this team a 2nd round exit.

How ridiculous is it that this team went for a stretch starting James White???

Seriously, this team would outperform last year's record if they just stayed the same and simply had a reasonably healthy core.

And now even if they do lose core people, they at least have versatile, experienced players coming off the bench.

With a full season of Beno, Meta, Shumpert, Martin this team would already outperform last year's squad by simply having a rotation with consistency and defence.

Add to that mix, upside "wild cards" like injury prone Bargnani and Amare

Some promising youngs like THJ, CJ, and Tyler

and you have the makings for a consistent core that would put last season's team to shame offensively and defensively.

Jason Kidd was a great on court coach, but he was shot by January and his inability to defend or put up points when left open really was a serious liability the whole 2nd half of the season.

I expect this years group to have more toughness and a lunch-pale dimension.
And because of its healthy depth, its' offence will be much more nuanced than isolate Carmelo, P/R Chandler and or chuck 3s.

I feel there is way too much apathy and attrition on this board; they will be far more consistent and less fragile.

Agree we are on par with any team capable of winning 60 games and a championship. We made smart moves this offseason we cant play 15 vets at once so we got some young legs which will improve and ste the tone for the future to come but certainly the vets we have are high quality and deep. we need less from tyson chnalder and that should save him for the playoffs. we only need to play amare 20 minutes...we have a lot of shooters passers scoreres size inside outside we picked up some fresh legs--what can you say here other than we are in this game in a big way just as good as Miami Indiana and Brooklyn IMHO.

Now our coach has to sac up and coach the rotations the right way...... period !

Totally agree. I love Melo, but Woody cannot cave into ISO Melo pressure. If Melo and JR are our primary options, we're screwed. We gotta diversify our offense.

Judging just by the roster moves it seems this was a point of emphasis. Bargnani stretches the floor, but can also post smaller forwards. World Peace is a pretty good finisher and can hit the open 3. THJR, Leslie, Tyler bring a much needed youth infusion. Beno will play the Kidd role, but can actually score.

Woodson has the tools, he just has to use them.

I think pretty much everyone on the board agrees with those sentiments. The offense ran better when the ball moved and it just made the game far more enjoyable to watch. Part of the problem (I think) was that Woody waited till too late in the season to start Prigs and by then the habit had taken root.

Kidd while giving us good minutes early in the season wasn't dropping 10dimes a game, he was providing a steady influence while play the off guard spot. In many ways Kidd influenced and kept the iso Melo going because he would of his own accord force feed the ball to Melo. When Prigs got the keys to the offense, he'd get it to the best man, whether it was Melo or anyone else on the team.

Hopefully Prigs has a little more left in the tank, and Beno can be the Kidd replacement in the 2nd unit.

Hopefully Felton can avoid any hand or wrist injuries this season, and plays consistently like he did in the Boston series.

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Markji wrote:Our team is better than last year's team. Grunny did a great job with virtually no money. Signing as FA - Metta; then KMart; and now Beno; we add 3 really solid veterans all of whom should be making more than we are paying them. Trading for Bargnani. I'd give Grunny an A.

Artest Martin and Udrih were all solid moves. I agree we got them for cheap. Bargnnai is still and "wait and see"

StarksEwing - with all due respect, you keep saying the same thing about Bargnani, over and over, without any substance or nuance to back this opinion.

Wait and see can apply to anyone. Just depends on your patience and willingness to forgive.

Bargnani could be considered as a shy (somewhat fragile) personality who could come out of his shell in New York. Described as somewhat of a loner, think about the first time he talks with JR Smith or Ron Artest. think about things other than basketball X's and O's and consider the personalities in the locker room and traveling together.

Bargnani could embrace Manhattan and become a GQ cover subject in a heartbeat. if Knicks coach Don Nelson could get a cover, if he plays respectable basketball, Bargnani is a stone cold lock.

What happens when he drains that fist three in The Garden and the crowd goes nuts?

New York fans will embrace the idea of having a talented Euro player to identify with. They chant Moz-GOV and made him feel loved. they lost their minds over Jeremy Lin. We still miss David Lee.

Think about AB gaining confidence in the big city. Love is a beautiful thing.

I still think we'll start slow, and there are a few uncertainties: Amar'es health and rust from not playing bball all offseason (last time that happened he looked awful for a few weeks in the lockout shortened season), Can Bargs resurrect his career or at least be better than Novak, how long will JR take to get back to speed, will melo play anywhere near as well as last season, can Shump take the next step etc etc.

Can't wait!

smackeddog wrote:I was worried about this offseason, as it looked like we'd have to use all of our resources ($3mil!) on just trying to keep our current players, then somehow having to replace KT, Kidd and Sheed. Looked like at best we could just about stand pat, but would more likely regress. Instead we seem to have slightly improved, if everything works out! Some nice young players to develop, some seasoned vets who aren't a couple of years too old like last year. Still don't understand why we wanted rid of Cope, but I know he is no basketball god.

I still think we'll start slow, and there are a few uncertainties: Amar'es health and rust from not playing bball all offseason (last time that happened he looked awful for a few weeks in the lockout shortened season), Can Bargs resurrect his career or at least be better than Novak, how long will JR take to get back to speed, will melo play anywhere near as well as last season, can Shump take the next step etc etc.

Can't wait!

StarksEwing1 wrote:

misterearl wrote:StarksEwing - forget the past. Toronto is ancient history.

if Bargnani is mediocre in New York, he will be embraced by the Garden faithful.

Any basketball player needs to stay healthy. Forget the motivation. He is not a reluctant athlete. Nor is he lazy.

The most critical element to Bargnani's adjustment to Broadway is confidence. Should he become a target for derisive commentary in New York, that is the kiss of death. Fortunately, all he needs to do is find a space as a supporting cast member. A third offensive option would make him heavenly. Should he gain momentum as a second option he could run for Mayor.

To be fair the garden loves toughness and hustle. I got to a lot of Knick and Ranger games so you can tell what impresses the fans the most. Hopefully Bargnani brings it

that is definitely true - Ryan Callahan, anyone?

Finestrg wrote:Just looking at some more clips of Bargnani -- we got a quality player. Very Dirk Nowitzki-like and Dirk beat LeBron and Wade for a recent championship.. Everytime I think of AB I think Dirk Nowitzki...Look, he ain't Dirk but I wouldn't exactly call this guy a poor man's Dirk either -- he closer to Dirk than that. When AB's right, there really isn't a ton of separation between the 2 imho...Didn't know what to make of this trade originally but I think he's gonna fit in nicely. I think NY fans feel the excitement and see the roster improvements. I hope everyone really embraces Bargnani man -- with the fanbase firmly behind him, he'll produce & thrive here. Right off the bat, he doesn't have to come in and be the man -- Melo's the man here..Then he's got a ton of other support in all areas -- scoring, defense...Whatever he doesn't do well (interior defense/rebounding) will be covered by Chandler and Artest (Artest was such a big move for us it's not even funny. Wow. HUGE get). Then you throw in Melo, the best player on the team--a top 10-15 player, whatever we can get outta STAT (hopefully more than the last couple of years), K-Mart, hopefully one or two more bigs (DJ White? I'd prefer him over Jeremy Tyler, even K-mart at this stage. The boy can play. Earl Barron for more emergency size & rebounding?)...Then there's the revamped, much deeper backcourt (I've warmed up to the THJ pick--the Knicks knew JR would have to have surgery so the pick makes perfect sense. He can play too. And Beno was one hell of a cherry on top of the sundae here!). You get the feeling every part compliments each other extremely well & fits well together. Doesn't feel like some half-assed, cobbled together roster. You get the feeling it has a chance to all gel quickly into something special. I feel like there's enough quality depth in place to sustain injuries at any position basically and keep rolling at a high level. That's the mark of a championship level team..Really liking how things came together this off-season. Can't wait to get started!

StarksEwing1 wrote:We all know the Knicks didnt have alot of flexibility. Starting with the draft i liked the picks. Hardaway JR was a good pick, he might be too trigger happy at times but off the bench he hopefully will give us a spark. CJ leslie could end up being a steal. Kid is very athletic and like Hardaway guves us youth off the bench. Udrih was a great pickup for the veterans minimum. Im very happy prigs is back because he was very important down the stetch. To be honest im still up in the air with JR. I still havent really forgiven him for his playoff performance. I understand he was injured but i felt his suspension started our poor play to the end. I know a lot of fans love the Bargnani deal but i still have to wait and see. I hope Bargnani finally puts it altogteher but he has a lot of work to do. Hopefully he can stay healthy and stay motivated which have been two of his flaws the past few years. All in all the Knicks did a pretty good job. Last year we won 54 which was great but now is the year where we have to go deep the playoffs. As a big knick fan i also try to stay as objective as possible. We didnt have a terrific offseason but like i said considering our lack of flexibility Grunny did a decent job

I'm going with terrific off-season.....you left out the biggest pick-up. Ron Artest

- we basically lose Novak, Kidd
- we pick up Metta, Bargs (who I love), Beno, THJ, Tyler, CJ and still have room for 1 more

We are stronger, deeper, better - more exciting and yes (youthier)