nixluva wrote:Beno may be the final piece this team needed. I know that there will be a group who will castigate me for saying that, but i'm telling you that it makes a huge difference. The impact we had when Kidd was able to actually still move was huge, but once he faded it really took this team down. Then Prigs was allowed to start and we got some of that mojo back. The problem is that Kidd was still being put in the same situation but couldn't deliver. Now with Beno we have a younger player that still has enough left in the tank to give this team what it needs. He's a better player for this team than Kidd was at this stage of his career. So now we have 2 pure PG's in Prigs and Beno. We have more toughness on this roster. We have more versatility on this roster. We didn't have a player that could fit into the #2 scoring option of the starting lineup last year, but now we do. This is not a team built to be a #1 defensive team in the league. It's built to be a top scoring team. I believe this team's offense will be even better than last year. This team will have more options to attack with than last year, when the offense was a bit too simplistic and defenses were able to key on what the team was doing in the playoffs. This team is going to be tough to deal with and before the naysayers start popping off lets remember how this team handled some of the best teams in the league last year before the team broke down in the playoffs. Don't let the fact that the Knicks imploded physically in the playoffs cloud your judgment of what this team can do when it's not spent physically. You all saw that this teams key players wore down. Tyson, JR, Felton, Kidd, Melo even had his struggles. That's why it's important that the bench is there during the entire regular season. Last year it wasn't and we paid in the playoffs. This is not last years team. IT'S BETTER!
I definitely agree that we are better than last year, mainly because we have lost the 40somethings who -- despite their key contributions at times -- were simply unable to be there when we needed them the most. We've added some nice vets and youth, and hopefully will have enough depth to allow us to be ready come playoff time.
That said, I am most concerned about how we'll do against physical teams, namely the Pacers and Bulls, both of whom should be improved.
So to me, the No. 1 key for this season is Chandler. We absolutely need him to revert back to his 2011-12 form, and he MUST show up big time in the playoffs. Chandler has been a total nonfactor in the postseason in both of his seasons in NY, and if that continues in Season 3, we are toast.