LMA is not a post player like Shaq or even Pau Gasol at his prime (however, he could bring similar results to Pau Gasol's game in terms of "stats and numbers"
His post game uses more of mid range and turn around jump shot, that is pretty unguardable, much very hard to defend because of his length/size
While it isn't exactly as efficient as Jordan's turn around jumper that was UNSTOPPABLE with a high FG %, it is still a go to move that is a good FG % shot that he has mastered

mreinman also used his final season in the play offs as a measure of his talent as they were unable to beat Memphis, however, he leaves out the fact that he was playing with a wrist injury and playing through it

He has the ability to spread the floor, play the PF/C, with a solid mid range game, decent POST game, can score in deep or mid range post, as well as running PnR's
On DEFENSE/REBOUNDing, because of his length/size he would be used as a Center and can be used on both positions in todays small ball game
Because of this Poppavich has the ability to match up with GS and was one of the 9 teams that beat GS this season with their 73-9 record, breaking team Jordan and Phil Jackson's best regular seasons record year

In that game,
It was their DEFENSE that was impressive, defending both Curry/Thompson from the half court line, and forcing them to their help DEFENSE
NOT GIVING THEM ANY wide open shots and not allowing them to catch any sort of rhythm, especially with Curry
It was surely a play off style game (in which the DEFENSE and style of play changes from a regular season game)
Curry and GS in general also played poorly, especially Curry taking poor shots as he was frustrated

They controlled the tempo very well and recognized that Curry/Thompson's range is well beyond the NBA 3point range
It is important to note that Iggy/Festiz Ezili and even Bogut did not play

Though they played 2 more times after this Win, The Spur's were not able to get the #1 seed and throughout the entire year, they had their BEST overall season as all the attention was on GS
After this game, The Spur's and Poppavich did not try to contend with GS to allow Steve Kerr/GS to allow adjustments/execution and try to avoid them to play better if they meet up in the WCF

Not using Tim Duncan, instead using Boris Diaw and LMA at the PF/C
(It is a big reason why I do not believe in Robin Lopez and traditional Centers (except for a few talents) getting major minutes/rotations/ and big contracts
While Robin Lopez's is NOT a horrible contract, it takes up a decent amount of cap space as well, while he is not a TOP TIER defender/shot blocker or DEFENSE and on OFFENSE he is incapable of scoring through the POST efficiently or consistently, and he needs to be able to catch and shoot more (gain confidence his mid range game)

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?id=400828923

And after this season's LMA with the Spur's, what does his "advanced stats" tell you about LMA?
Numbers never lie, however, stats and numbers can be used to misinterpret things
I believe you did not believe in LMA period and you would try to use numbers to justify your evaluations

Advanced Stats shows trends and like any STATS or numbers, it can be misleading
You believe what you want to believe, therefore you see what you want to see

mreinman,
I am not trying to troll you in anyway
Just trying to prove a point that any numbers/stats and advanced stats can be misleading

they can possibly also lure Westbrook the following year though they may need to trade some players such as Nick Young, Clarkson *depending if they keep him as a RFA this summer and at what price*, along with maybe Julies Randle, which is an undersized PF but has very quick first step, is extremely strong and athletic
Adding Walton improves their ability to attract/recruit especially if they can convince 1 TOP TIER player/ALL STAR, having a multiple effect
Because of this reason alone, i believe Phil Jackson should have AT LEAST OFFER a HUGE CONTRACT to him, like 8-12m per year + incentives, because the EVERY TEAM as CAP SPACE and their will be TOP TIER FA's available as UFA's
With the cap going up significantly, so does the $ that coaches would make, and because of the FA's available, along with the fascination of GS on both OFF and DEFENSE, it would be well worth it to attract/recruit and develop talents on our roster

Maybe Phil Jackson did what was BEST for his girlfriend/Fiance with Jeannie Buss....

It was already proven that Phil Jackson was unable to attract/lure FA's over last summer
if 2-3 times the amount that Luke Walton could make as HC of NY vs what he is making for The Lakers still isn't enough, then he should have at least interviewed Tom Thibs who ran the Triangle 20% of the time which is a proven Defensive Coach in the NBA

He should also hire better development coaches and even trainers
Former players that have the respect and have played vs some of todays talents, such as Lamar Odom (who fully believed in the Triangle)
Billups and Rasheed Wallace (2 HIGH IQ players with versatile skill sets that played in New York before and would have fitted in the Triangle and have similar skill sets to work with)
Jermaine Oneil's skill sets would translate well and could also work with KP, Bynum if we add a POST player
Shane Battier for his defense and roles in which he played differently for with his age, as he transitioned from a GOTO MAN at Duke playing PF/C, and playing SG, SF, PF, in the NBA as a defensive player...

Quite possibly the former OKC assistant coaches that came with Fisher that could join Brooks back with The Wizards

Kurt Rambis is not going to attract any FA's, who does not even have the support of the players on the Knicks to speak up for him
Whether it could be former Triangle disciples from Brian Shaw, Ron Harper, or whoever

Maybe give Pau Gasol a heads up for a future HC gig so he can start preparing now like Kerr did, especially if he signs with the Spurs with Robert Horry being another player that played for both HOF coaches (maybe Samaki Walker, not saying we should get him as a Head Coach)

For trainers, get former trainers that worked on KG, Anthony Davis, Dirk, maybe the trainer that worked with both Curry/CP3, along with other proven trianers

I simply do not believe that Phil Jackson has done ALL he can do to live up to his 12m per year contract
What has he done that anyone on this message board could have done (though Dolan would only trust Phil Jackson and not interfere)

While Phil Jackson has won 11 rings running the Triangle, he had TOP TIER talent to go with it, and the talent is more important then the system he used
When he felt he was unable to compete for a Championship Caliber team, HE QUIT, like he did multiple times despite still having talent on the rosters
He would have NEVER coaches this Knick's squad that he put together

I am not saying the Triangle does not work, I am saying do not exclude the importance the talent he had to work with that we do not have
Now Poppavich instead, WORKED THROUGH EVERYTHING, developing players, changing systems/adjusting to the changes in the NBA and his own roster strengths/weeakness's as well as the cap space he had to work with..

The combination of the trio in Robin Lopez/KP and CA will NEVER work together, as they are simply too slow, not skilled/versatile enough, not good enough on DEFENSE together, and most importantly TAKE UP ROOM for the guards the penetrate consistently

The whole purpose of SMALL BALL being used more by almost EVERY TEAM in the league (whether in the starting lineup or rotation/backups etc)
is because it allows better floor spacing with more shooters, which in turns allow multiple positions to be able to penetrate/finish (which leads to HIGH % shots) whether it is a dunk/layup/ or drawing defenders for wide open 3pt shots or a wide open shot period
Also more ball handlers, while CA can handle the ball (with his age/injuries, he is unable to penetrate/score with KP and Robin Lopez)
Robin Lopez and CA played some of their better games when KP played less minutes or was out of the game, which I always believed CA is best suited at PF (something I have said since Dantoni was HC of the Knick's)
Now he is only older with more injuries catching up

For Robin Lopez and KP, are incapable of handling the basketball, which allows the defense to anticipate who is capable of penetrating/creating etc...
Now for The Triangle OFFENSE to be able to work effectively with Phil Jackson's 11 rings, he had multiple versatile talents on both OFFENSE and DEFENSE, along with a consistent 50-60% goto man that can create his own shot, create for the team, that can score 20-40 points + whether it was Jordan, Pippen (in his prime, which he showed he was capable of when Jordan first retired), Shaq (in addition to Kobe and BIG SHOT ROBERT HORRY), finally Pau Gasol along with Bynum (though they rarely BOTH played together except for 1 maybe 2 seasons though part of the reason was because of Bynum's knee injuries/surgeries)
However, with Pau Gasol, they also had Lamar Odom and when they developed Trevor Ariza *IMO that was the best Lakers team Kobe had after Shaq left, while Ariza was YOUNG and had great versatility on both ends of the floor scoring as the 4th/5th option but could score 10-20points in limited minutes, with 3 very versatile defenders/rebounders and both HELP DEFENDERS and 1v1 DEFENDERS, instead they decided to use the MLE to sign MWP instead of keeping Trevor Ariza (who signed with Rockets which was MWP's former team)
Though MWP aka Ron Artest won 1 ring and made some huge plays for The Lakers, Ariza in his prime vs MWP at the time was a clear downgrade though it was important to note that Ariza improved while MWP was once a TOP NOTCH Defender (more in his younger days with Chicago then Indidana, while Ariza continued to improve)
IMO, had they kept Ariza they would have 1 won at least one more ring and contend for another 2 at least...

Gasol can defend multiple positions
Odom can defend 4-5 positions at his prime
Ariza could defend 3-4 positions in his prime

Kobe was a very good defender at his prime as well

I loved Ariza as a Knick, however, he was NEVER going to develop to the player he became, and probably would have been a D League or out of the NBA had he not joined and developed with The Lakers
He developed a 3pt shot and gained confidence in his abilities, while he got wide open shots with Gasol/Kobe/Bynum getting much of the attention, and Gasol/Odom and even Kobe are play makers that can create for the team, leading to anticipated wide open shots
This is where I feel Thanasis could eventually take a leap in, though he does not have the size that Ariza has

On small ball On DEFENSE, it allows quicker defenders, that could switch/play better help defense,

RonRon wrote:It was already proven that Phil Jackson was unable to attract/lure FA's over last summer

I don't get why posters keep making this statement. It's easy to verify and makes your look like you don't know what you are talking about.

If you mean to say that Phil didn't sign a max player, list them and say it. I want to say that 90% of the league didn't lure Max Free Agents.

martin wrote:

RonRon wrote:It was already proven that Phil Jackson was unable to attract/lure FA's over last summer

I don't get why posters keep making this statement. It's easy to verify and makes your look like you don't know what you are talking about.

If you mean to say that Phil didn't sign a max player, list them and say it. I want to say that 90% of the league didn't lure Max Free Agents.

I don't understand their argument- are they saying Phil should make players come here even if they don't want to, and that if he doesn't somehow its all his fault? That's what annoys me, this sense of entitlement of some Knicks fans- they seem to think we're the centre of the universe and everyone wants to come here- what other fanbase, apart from the Lakers, thinks that?