Posted by fishmike:

no they havent... and here's the proof:
http://www.82games.com/0405NYK5.HTM

on a nightly basis we win at center and pg. We are only -1 at SG and we have murdered at SF/PF. SF is no mystery and there's been a change there. That leaves Mr. 36 minutes at night at PF Kurt Thomas. What more do you want to see?

Position FGA eFG% FTA iFG Reb Ast T/O Blk PF Pts PER*
PG 1.6 +.015 1.5 6% -0.9 1.2 -0.4 -0.1 0.9 3.2 +2.5
SG 2.7 -.045 -0.6 -15% -1.3 0.4 -0.3 0.0 0.5 0.9 -1.2
SF -0.4 -.042 -1.9 -3% -0.4 -0.9 0.1 -0.1 -1.3 -3.4 -5.3
PF -3.7 -.034 -2.5 -15% 0.5 -0.8 0.7 -0.4 -1.7 -6.6 -5.4
C 1.1 +.041 1.9 6% 1.1 -0.9 0.1 -0.3 -0.3 4.2 +5.3

These are interesting stats - but so are the on court off court stats which show while KT is a slight negative the large negatives are among starters are TT and CRAW. I also believe stats in a game like baseball can be more effectively broken down into to make sense on an individual level then stats in basketball where open flow makes it harder. On a team that plays terrible team defense a good team defensive player is going to look terrible on an individual level. If he helps and no one helps him - his man scores. Being that KT is one of the few knicks who was here when the Knicks still played good team defense I think he fits into this category.

I don't disagree that an upgrade at PF would be useful but to me KT is a lot like Oakley - not quite as good on defense, and definitely not the leader Oak was, but slightly better on offense. Neither is someone you build a team around but both can be very effective on a good team. There weaknesses are much more evident on a weak team.

TT and Craw both have potential and I like to see Craw play because I still think he can improve. But the way he currently plays the game I can not see him being a major contributer on a good team. Players like him hurt good teams more because bad shot selection is a much worse trait when you have a lot of better options then on a bad team where the other options aren't very good anyway.

In my view there is plenty of blame to go around and the only player that I think almost everyone will agree is the worst problem is TT. JYD I like but he's getting a pass because he hasn't played that much. I'll be amazed if in the long run he is nearly as good as KT.

Posted by JUNKMEIN:

Sorry Oldfan, but you can't put Tim and Crawford in the same sentence. Crawford's absence (and hopefully subsequent return today ) has adversely affected this team. Tim's absence has undoubtedly helped it (JYD). Kurt is okay, just okay. Sweetney should be starting now eventhough he's gonna make his mistakes. It's midseason time for his trial by fire to begin.