fishmike wrote:

gradyandrew wrote:Knicks will always have 4 guys on the court who can hit the open 3, drive past a too aggressive defender than pass out when the help defense comes. The missing ingredient is a center who can finish at the rim. If Mitchell comes back in pre injury form that's a check. While Noel was great defensively，his bobbled catches were an anomaly; prior to last season he was much better at the time. I don't think Burks or RJ should have a big drop off in 3 pt%，they most likely will continue to have a bunch of open looks. Don't underestimate the effects of switching Bullock and Payton for Kemba and Evan.

Its puzzling why anyone thinks we would take a step back from last year. Its literally the same time with nothing but improvements:
Fournier moves into RJ's role
RJ moves to Bullock's role
Kemba replaces ELF
Grimes/McBride replace Frank
Obi/IQ spent the summer playing in the SL and working out with the coaches and it shows

We are big, athletic, have a great balance of youth/vets, are well coached, will have a top 5 defense, have a ton of guys who can both shoot and drive and dish. Noel is a good rim protector and his bad offense is better hidden with the above upgrades. A healthy Mitch would really be a nice piece. Im hoping for 60 games and 28mpg averages from Rose/Kemba (Rose averaged 27mpg last year). I think when one misses time the other will hit 30 minutes and the rest of the time it will mostly be a 24/24 split which is great.

Kemba has defensive liabilities and his shot selection is often suspect but he really gives you another option late in games and single possession situations

As for Burks he was a straight up sniper last year. I dont know if those %s are sustainable but damn if he doesnt look like a high end rotation guy. He's not a great defender but he's surely willing and earns his time. He has good moments and is a high IQ player on both ends. He can play 1/2/3 off the bench and if anyone got hurt could be a nice spot starter at the 2/3 and give you a great game

Question is not did we step back, but did the other teams move forward and what about the dynmamics that perhaps we did well avoiding that in which other teams fell upon last season? About everything went well for us and simply can’t just build off that and assume better without consideration of the other teams. They did not simply stay the same. No sense arguing/debate it will all get sorted out. Im happy with our off season and fascinated with how it all plays out. Im not sleeping on other teams and what their POTENTIAL is. Not a diss on our guys.