BRIGGS wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:Great!

We will league the league in wingspans

Nice joke but I really do think this team is longer and tougher around the basket on both ends. That's going to have an impact. You have to stop thinking as a 2014-15 Knicks fan and imagine combinations of RoLo and KP or O'Quinn inside deterring penetrators, protecting the rim and going for rebounds. It's just a better core to the teams D. On top of that we'll have some nice PnR/PnP with those bigs.

In the NBA right now many teams play 4-1 and in some cases that 1 can shoot it from the outside. Its nice to defend the basket but perimeter speed is more important. Unless Porzingis comes in 245 and has 3-4 post moves down--we can be guarded inside by 3-4s

I think the Knicks are more prepared to defend a small ball team than they were last year. Also I think it's really a red herring to be worried about KP being 245. KP has shown he can move and defend just about anywhere on the floor. KP won't have to carry the load but he can fill in nicely I think. Teams will have some issues dealing with KP too. It's not just a one way street. The roster in general is much more flexible than it was. We should be able to defend a big tough team or a small quick team.

dk7th wrote:

knickscity wrote:

dk7th wrote:

knickscity wrote:.500 is not happening with this roster as is. They'll be lucky to win 35, and thats with a late win streak, when everyone else is either out of the race or resting.

it's certainly a stretch but if everything goes perfectly, ie the defense is galvanized and melo not only buys in but executes within the system, then they will overachieve in the regular season.

Way too much has to go right. It wont.

how many wins will make you feel good? for me it's 38 wins or a win shy of making the playoffs, whichever is lower.

dk7th wrote:

nixluva wrote:

dk7th wrote:

knickscity wrote:

dk7th wrote:

knickscity wrote:.500 is not happening with this roster as is. They'll be lucky to win 35, and thats with a late win streak, when everyone else is either out of the race or resting.

it's certainly a stretch but if everything goes perfectly, ie the defense is galvanized and melo not only buys in but executes within the system, then they will overachieve in the regular season.

Way too much has to go right. It wont.

how many wins will make you feel good? for me it's 38 wins or a win shy of making the playoffs, whichever is lower.

Why would you be fine with the Knicks just missing the playoffs by a game? They did that 2 years ago. IMO this team has to fight to be around .500 this year and somehow get into the playoffs. That would be a successful season. They can do it if they grind hard enough on D and hit the boards.

odds are we are winning between 29-38 games. so with that in mind i have very little hope-- or interest-- of making the playoffs. i'd rather fisher learn how to coach, develop his younger players, focus on defense and conditioning, and limit older players' minutes.

it's a transition year, the first year in a long, 12-year process, with maybe a title or two in there somewhere. why the rush?

Lead Guard		Scoring Guard		Small Forward		Power Forward		Center
Jerian Grant		Arron Afflalo		Carmelo Anthony		Kristaps Porzingis      Robin Lopez
Jose Calderon		Ricky Ledo		Cleanthony Early	Derrick Williams	Kyle O’Quinn
Langston Galloway				Lance Thomas		Lou Amundson

At the start of the season KP will be 20 and the only really young player. Everyone else will be 23 or older. Many of our young players are at an age where they should be expected to make some real progress this year and contribute.

Jmpasq wrote:

mreinman wrote:Great!

We will league the league in wingspans

Wasn't Williams the worst defensive forward in the NBA last year? Why is his wingspan all of sudden going to help his defense.

good question

mreinman wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:

mreinman wrote:Great!

We will league the league in wingspans

Wasn't Williams the worst defensive forward in the NBA last year? Why is his wingspan all of sudden going to help his defense.

good question

Bonn1997 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:

mreinman wrote:Great!

We will league the league in wingspans

Wasn't Williams the worst defensive forward in the NBA last year? Why is his wingspan all of sudden going to help his defense.

good question

The idea is to have him be influenced by his teammates good work habits, effort and dedication to play D. He's athletic and long enough to be a better defender. The peer pressure to defend will be much better with this team. We want to get DWill to want to challenge shots as a help defender too. He's got to be challenged and held accountable for giving better effort on D.

We're not the Spurs. We bring out the worst not the best in players.

I actually don't believe that. Once we got rid of JR and company the guys we had come in did a better job. Gallo, LT, Lou and Shved performed better. I think that it's about the character of the players you have. This new group has much better spirit of dedication and sacrificing for the team. The guys we've added for the most part are guys that you don't have to whip in order to get them to give max effort. The one guys who does is DWill and the hope is that being in the mix with guys who have the right attitude will help him learn what it takes.

Bonn1997 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:

mreinman wrote:Great!

We will league the league in wingspans

Wasn't Williams the worst defensive forward in the NBA last year? Why is his wingspan all of sudden going to help his defense.

good question

The idea is to have him be influenced by his teammates good work habits, effort and dedication to play D. He's athletic and long enough to be a better defender. The peer pressure to defend will be much better with this team. We want to get DWill to want to challenge shots as a help defender too. He's got to be challenged and held accountable for giving better effort on D.

We're not the Spurs. We bring out the worst not the best in players.

I have 0 confidence in Calderon--until they get off of him--I dont hold much hope that we will win games. You cant have good D when the front of your defense has no ability to keep his man in front of him. He is a year older and these kids are younger faster or better. In some games we will just get blown away quickly but lack of footspeed.

If youre telling me our line up is

C Lopez
PF Oquinn
F Carmelo
G Affalo
PG Calderon

I will say freely we have the slowest team in the NBA. That alone will lead to blowouts. I give the Knicks a lot of credit for grabbing pick#35 and Willy G might be good some day but we missed players who can help us right now on both ends from the guard position. I look back and I just think Powell wouldve made a lot of sense. If Willy G was that good--hed be a Spur.

BRIGGS wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:

mreinman wrote:Great!

We will league the league in wingspans

Wasn't Williams the worst defensive forward in the NBA last year? Why is his wingspan all of sudden going to help his defense.

good question

The idea is to have him be influenced by his teammates good work habits, effort and dedication to play D. He's athletic and long enough to be a better defender. The peer pressure to defend will be much better with this team. We want to get DWill to want to challenge shots as a help defender too. He's got to be challenged and held accountable for giving better effort on D.

We're not the Spurs. We bring out the worst not the best in players.

I have 0 confidence in Calderon--until they get off of him--I dont hold much hope that we will win games. You cant have good D when the front of your defense has no ability to keep his man in front of him. He is a year older and these kids are younger faster or better. In some games we will just get blown away quickly but lack of footspeed.

If youre telling me our line up is

C Lopez
PF Oquinn
F Carmelo
G Affalo
PG Calderon

I will say freely we have the slowest team in the NBA. That alone will lead to blowouts. I give the Knicks a lot of credit for grabbing pick#35 and Willy G might be good some day but we missed players who can help us right now on both ends from the guard position. I look back and I just think Powell wouldve made a lot of sense. If Willy G was that good--hed be a Spur.

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:

mreinman wrote:Great!

We will league the league in wingspans

Wasn't Williams the worst defensive forward in the NBA last year? Why is his wingspan all of sudden going to help his defense.

good question

The idea is to have him be influenced by his teammates good work habits, effort and dedication to play D. He's athletic and long enough to be a better defender. The peer pressure to defend will be much better with this team. We want to get DWill to want to challenge shots as a help defender too. He's got to be challenged and held accountable for giving better effort on D.

We're not the Spurs. We bring out the worst not the best in players.

I have 0 confidence in Calderon--until they get off of him--I dont hold much hope that we will win games. You cant have good D when the front of your defense has no ability to keep his man in front of him. He is a year older and these kids are younger faster or better. In some games we will just get blown away quickly but lack of footspeed.

If youre telling me our line up is

C Lopez
PF Oquinn
F Carmelo
G Affalo
PG Calderon

I will say freely we have the slowest team in the NBA. That alone will lead to blowouts. I give the Knicks a lot of credit for grabbing pick#35 and Willy G might be good some day but we missed players who can help us right now on both ends from the guard position. I look back and I just think Powell wouldve made a lot of sense. If Willy G was that good--hed be a Spur.

We don't know yet what the Starting lineup will be nor the rotation. I believe they want O'Quinn to be a back up C. O'Quinn isn't a very mobile big so he seems destined to back up the C spot IMO. I wouldn't be so quick to assume that Jose is the starter either. I think there's a great chance that they'll start Jerian. He's gonna be 23 at the start of the season so he's not a baby. Even if he takes a few games to get the full swing of things, I think he's the best option to be the starting guard instead of Jose defensively.

I dont know who will start 4--I think thats putting a lot on Porzingis--my hope for him was maybe by game 60 that we could give him 25 minutes--maybe up from 18-22. But I also think Porzingis will eventually be our 5 in 2 years. I think hes to big for any other position. Hes going to gain weight and his natural position will be 5.