nixluva wrote:Not for nothing but both D12 and Pau refuse to actually blockout. It's been something i've noticed for a while, but they let a lot smaller guys slip in and get the ball simply because they don't blockout. They just use their height but they aren't really active at all.

One of D'Atoni's many mistakes this season was not being able to figure out how to get Pau and Dwight to play together yet Phil figured out hoe to get Bynum and Gasol to play together. He should have never started Pau when he came back from his second injury. He's only contributed to the chemistry issues the team has....

So who do people think is going to get the last playoff spot- Lakers, Jazz or Mavs? And who do you want to get it?

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

dk7th wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

dk7th wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

3G4G wrote:Nuggets 50-24....1 of only 4 teams in the league with 50

Looking forward to you being just as impressed when the Knicks hit 50 wins. Though I expect you'll come up with some sort of excuse as to why it doesn't actually count.

nix play in a weaker EC and had a very easy schedule relative to denver's this season. even if they finish with the same record the nuggets will be universally considered the better team and deservedly so.

this should not be too hard to accept.

the only thing certain stubborn nix fans will be able to hang their beanies on is if the nuggets don't go further than the knicks in the playoffs.

I think there's about a 3 to 1 exchange rate - 1 playoff series win in the west = about 3 in the east.

this is an excellent way to look at it.

So you're both already trying to cover yourselves if Denver don't do anything in the playoffs?

Denver has done great this season- I just don't get why everything they do and achieve is fantastic, but everything we do and achieve somehow doesn't count. We're looking at 50 wins plus despite significant injuries to Amar'e, Felton and Sheed, injuries to Melo and Tyson and Kurt and Camby. If someone had said before preseason we'd have all those injuries, no one would have predicted we'd win over 50 games.

it's rare in a season that is too long by at least 12 games that you'll find a team that is not going to suffer injuries. it just so happens that the knicks are more injury-prone because they were forced to acquire very old players and cheap contracts.

injuries can't be used as an excuse.

when one team acquires a marquee player by trade and not through free agency they are forced to go into win-now mode at the expense of trading away valuable assets that could be developed were the team forced into win-now mode.

the fact that the knicks are nowhere near winning now translates to disappointment. the fact that denver is a better team already furthers the disappointment.

now if you decide to poo-poo the nuggets' regular-season record then the same should be said of the knicks record too.

so far as covering myself i don't know what you mean. right now the nuggets have exceeded my expectations and the knicks have not.

if the nuggets fail to secure home court then that's on them. the only teams that they may have trouble against are the two teams ahead of them.

meanwhile the knicks are showing they have a pulse. i have to hand it to smith, he's turned it around and looks great out there. but this ain't the playoffs. he is guilty until proven innocent until he shows he can do stuff in the playoffs. meanwhile it's still supposedly melo's team and i still foresee a futile masturbatory exercise on his part. it's hard for a leopard to change his spots especially when teams invite him to indulge in his favorite activity. i wish woodson would get on his case and demand he chuck less and facilitate more.

I am going to go out on a limb make an assumption that the team that you are referring to is the Knicks and the star they acquired through trade was Melo. As has been discussed numerous times the Knicks goal was to acquire a second star. As soon as they struck out they began the pursuit of Melo as did other teams. There was no way Melo would have been a Knick if the Knicks did not trade for him and there was no way that he would have gone into free agency as both Melo and his team were very motivated to make a trade that benefitted both parties. Once the trade was made and the Knicks had two star players in their prime not trying to win now would be pointless. As far as health concerns, you are right that older players break down but the Knicks core, Shump, Felton, Tyson, Melo, JR, Stat and Novak are players that would either be considered young or in their prime. Signing older vets is something that teams that are going to the playoffs and intend to have a good run do.
In regards to Denver they have had a fantastic season and they were smart to build around Lawson. They have buitl a team that suits their running style. However, to imply that the trade is the reason that they are doing so well would sell that roster short. It is nice to see Gallinari looking like the player he was supposed to be when the Knicks drafted him and it is nice that he is healthy. However, being healthy has not been the norm for his career. Chandler when healthy is very good and as a fan he is the player I miss most because of the trade. Moz has done nothing in Denver.

at this point it seems like chandler has missed as many games as gallinari. i could be wrong. your "building around" statement is questionable. the team is an extension of the coach's approach and will. they found players they wanted that fit the style of the coach. that's smart. gallinari should be better than he is and it's that 3-point shot that is holding him back. to get to the next level he has to achieve 40% from three. then he an all-star. meanwhile his long-range shooting could prove fatal in the playoffs. but then he isn't alone. lawson and iguodala need to tighten up their games too. good news is they are all still young.

and the knicks? they didn't take the denver route of coaching style dictating roster. they acquired talent willy-nilly with no thought to the coach's style of play and no thought to find talent that fits or core players who are even capable of meshing. they behaved like monkeys flinging their poopy at a blank canvas. someone came along and called it "art" and many people take it as such.

They built around Lawson. Iggy and Melo are the same age. As far as how the Knicks acquired talent they had a flawed plan under Walsh. It didn't work and they scrambled to find a second star. However, having a talented veteran roster is something a good coach should be able to work with. Did the Knicks try to remake the Knicks into Showtime when Riley took over or did Riley look at his rosters strengths and build on that? It always starts with talent. You just need a coach that can work with the talent. The Nuggets built around Lawson and his speed. It was the smart thing to do and gives them a huge home court advantage.

in order for your "build around lawson" assertion to have any weight you'd have to state that he is an all-nba first teamer who makes everybody around him better. but he is not an all-nba first teamer and he is still learning how to make others around him better.

how does getting duped by that stern-era colluder lebron james translate to walsh having a flawed plan in your world? walsh didn't "scramble," he fell back on a plan B. if you want to say that the fallback player was deeply flawed i agree with you, but walsh nonetheless was going to build according to a plan. compared with the top 2 players in the league all other players are flawed if you are talking about "building around X" and the reason is because the league is a bloated, diluted mess. so nowadays and until the league contracts to about 24 teams, the best course of action is to build a balanced roster with a lot of depth and which is an extension of the coach's style of play. that's what denver is doing and the results speak for themselves... at least in the regular season. they have an identity and that is a huge advantage come playoff time. the knicks have no identity and that will spell doom come playoff time. a roster that "has talent" is specious. you should have said that a "roster with talent that fits" should be able to be coached. d'antoni got royally screwed by dolan on that point and woodson has proven absolutely nothing thus far. if he makes it to the ECF then i will be overjoyed-- and of course absolutely wrong about what i am saying right now. but i am almost never wrong about these matters.

riley's knicks: here you build around ewing, another deeply flawed player. riley, seeing ewing's profound limitations as a playmaker in terms of making others around him better, and taking note of his plodding style and his lack of a low post game, was forced to acquire rebounders and defenders for the bulk of his tenure with the knicks. he never really solved the puzzle that was ewing, and when fans lament that ewing never had that second star i shake my head in disgust. ewing was the hub of the wheel of underachievement. to think that he could have gone to the same big man's camp as walton, hakeem and shaq... but refused. i applaud ewing's heart but damn his outsized ego.

again, it's false to say the nuggets built around lawson's speed. a functional franchise builds from the top down. the front office sits down with the coach and asks the coach what sort of players does he need for him to execute his philosophy? the coach says "X" and the the front office goes out and acquires such players. that lawson was already there is happenstance.

just because the knicks' profound dysfunction since february 2010 prevails does not give you the freedom to project your opinion onto another team.

Ouch! People are laughing about it, and even the ref is on that video, but according to league rules isn't that an automatic suspension? (making contact with the ref)- the league has been ridiculously strict with that

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:at this point it seems like chandler has missed as many games as gallinari. i could be wrong. your "building around" statement is questionable. the team is an extension of the coach's approach and will. they found players they wanted that fit the style of the coach. that's smart. gallinari should be better than he is and it's that 3-point shot that is holding him back. to get to the next level he has to achieve 40% from three. then he an all-star. meanwhile his long-range shooting could prove fatal in the playoffs. but then he isn't alone. lawson and iguodala need to tighten up their games too. good news is they are all still young.

and the knicks? they didn't take the denver route of coaching style dictating roster. they acquired talent willy-nilly with no thought to the coach's style of play and no thought to find talent that fits or core players who are even capable of meshing. they behaved like monkeys flinging their poopy at a blank canvas. someone came along and called it "art" and many people take it as such.

Are you talking about with D'antoni or this roster now? Cause im pretty sure Woodson had a say in the roster moves this off season.

d'antoni never got the roster he wanted. the melo trade ruined any chance of building the right way.

woodson? he already had a johnson-type player in melo and he has been too afraid or lazy to call melo out on expanding his game. that's bad. rivers was able to get to pierce on that front and it has worked out great for the celtics. but then pierce is a better player than melo. meanwhile woodson is still struggling to find get this team to achieve an identity.

guess why?

As for what you say about Woodson, I dont wanna get into that here but just know that ive been one of his critics so we're probably not gonna disagree on much there.

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

dk7th wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

dk7th wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

3G4G wrote:Nuggets 50-24....1 of only 4 teams in the league with 50

Looking forward to you being just as impressed when the Knicks hit 50 wins. Though I expect you'll come up with some sort of excuse as to why it doesn't actually count.

nix play in a weaker EC and had a very easy schedule relative to denver's this season. even if they finish with the same record the nuggets will be universally considered the better team and deservedly so.

this should not be too hard to accept.

the only thing certain stubborn nix fans will be able to hang their beanies on is if the nuggets don't go further than the knicks in the playoffs.

I think there's about a 3 to 1 exchange rate - 1 playoff series win in the west = about 3 in the east.

this is an excellent way to look at it.

So you're both already trying to cover yourselves if Denver don't do anything in the playoffs?

Denver has done great this season- I just don't get why everything they do and achieve is fantastic, but everything we do and achieve somehow doesn't count. We're looking at 50 wins plus despite significant injuries to Amar'e, Felton and Sheed, injuries to Melo and Tyson and Kurt and Camby. If someone had said before preseason we'd have all those injuries, no one would have predicted we'd win over 50 games.

it's rare in a season that is too long by at least 12 games that you'll find a team that is not going to suffer injuries. it just so happens that the knicks are more injury-prone because they were forced to acquire very old players and cheap contracts.

injuries can't be used as an excuse.

when one team acquires a marquee player by trade and not through free agency they are forced to go into win-now mode at the expense of trading away valuable assets that could be developed were the team forced into win-now mode.

the fact that the knicks are nowhere near winning now translates to disappointment. the fact that denver is a better team already furthers the disappointment.

now if you decide to poo-poo the nuggets' regular-season record then the same should be said of the knicks record too.

so far as covering myself i don't know what you mean. right now the nuggets have exceeded my expectations and the knicks have not.

if the nuggets fail to secure home court then that's on them. the only teams that they may have trouble against are the two teams ahead of them.

meanwhile the knicks are showing they have a pulse. i have to hand it to smith, he's turned it around and looks great out there. but this ain't the playoffs. he is guilty until proven innocent until he shows he can do stuff in the playoffs. meanwhile it's still supposedly melo's team and i still foresee a futile masturbatory exercise on his part. it's hard for a leopard to change his spots especially when teams invite him to indulge in his favorite activity. i wish woodson would get on his case and demand he chuck less and facilitate more.

I am going to go out on a limb make an assumption that the team that you are referring to is the Knicks and the star they acquired through trade was Melo. As has been discussed numerous times the Knicks goal was to acquire a second star. As soon as they struck out they began the pursuit of Melo as did other teams. There was no way Melo would have been a Knick if the Knicks did not trade for him and there was no way that he would have gone into free agency as both Melo and his team were very motivated to make a trade that benefitted both parties. Once the trade was made and the Knicks had two star players in their prime not trying to win now would be pointless. As far as health concerns, you are right that older players break down but the Knicks core, Shump, Felton, Tyson, Melo, JR, Stat and Novak are players that would either be considered young or in their prime. Signing older vets is something that teams that are going to the playoffs and intend to have a good run do.
In regards to Denver they have had a fantastic season and they were smart to build around Lawson. They have buitl a team that suits their running style. However, to imply that the trade is the reason that they are doing so well would sell that roster short. It is nice to see Gallinari looking like the player he was supposed to be when the Knicks drafted him and it is nice that he is healthy. However, being healthy has not been the norm for his career. Chandler when healthy is very good and as a fan he is the player I miss most because of the trade. Moz has done nothing in Denver.

at this point it seems like chandler has missed as many games as gallinari. i could be wrong. your "building around" statement is questionable. the team is an extension of the coach's approach and will. they found players they wanted that fit the style of the coach. that's smart. gallinari should be better than he is and it's that 3-point shot that is holding him back. to get to the next level he has to achieve 40% from three. then he an all-star. meanwhile his long-range shooting could prove fatal in the playoffs. but then he isn't alone. lawson and iguodala need to tighten up their games too. good news is they are all still young.

and the knicks? they didn't take the denver route of coaching style dictating roster. they acquired talent willy-nilly with no thought to the coach's style of play and no thought to find talent that fits or core players who are even capable of meshing. they behaved like monkeys flinging their poopy at a blank canvas. someone came along and called it "art" and many people take it as such.

They built around Lawson. Iggy and Melo are the same age. As far as how the Knicks acquired talent they had a flawed plan under Walsh. It didn't work and they scrambled to find a second star. However, having a talented veteran roster is something a good coach should be able to work with. Did the Knicks try to remake the Knicks into Showtime when Riley took over or did Riley look at his rosters strengths and build on that? It always starts with talent. You just need a coach that can work with the talent. The Nuggets built around Lawson and his speed. It was the smart thing to do and gives them a huge home court advantage.

in order for your "build around lawson" assertion to have any weight you'd have to state that he is an all-nba first teamer who makes everybody around him better. but he is not an all-nba first teamer and he is still learning how to make others around him better.

how does getting duped by that stern-era colluder lebron james translate to walsh having a flawed plan in your world? walsh didn't "scramble," he fell back on a plan B. if you want to say that the fallback player was deeply flawed i agree with you, but walsh nonetheless was going to build according to a plan. compared with the top 2 players in the league all other players are flawed if you are talking about "building around X" and the reason is because the league is a bloated, diluted mess. so nowadays and until the league contracts to about 24 teams, the best course of action is to build a balanced roster with a lot of depth and which is an extension of the coach's style of play. that's what denver is doing and the results speak for themselves... at least in the regular season. they have an identity and that is a huge advantage come playoff time. the knicks have no identity and that will spell doom come playoff time. a roster that "has talent" is specious. you should have said that a "roster with talent that fits" should be able to be coached. d'antoni got royally screwed by dolan on that point and woodson has proven absolutely nothing thus far. if he makes it to the ECF then i will be overjoyed-- and of course absolutely wrong about what i am saying right now. but i am almost never wrong about these matters.

riley's knicks: here you build around ewing, another deeply flawed player. riley, seeing ewing's profound limitations as a playmaker in terms of making others around him better, and taking note of his plodding style and his lack of a low post game, was forced to acquire rebounders and defenders for the bulk of his tenure with the knicks. he never really solved the puzzle that was ewing, and when fans lament that ewing never had that second star i shake my head in disgust. ewing was the hub of the wheel of underachievement. to think that he could have gone to the same big man's camp as walton, hakeem and shaq... but refused. i applaud ewing's heart but damn his outsized ego.

again, it's false to say the nuggets built around lawson's speed. a functional franchise builds from the top down. the front office sits down with the coach and asks the coach what sort of players does he need for him to execute his philosophy? the coach says "X" and the the front office goes out and acquires such players. that lawson was already there is happenstance.

just because the knicks' profound dysfunction since february 2010 prevails does not give you the freedom to project your opinion onto another team.

AnubisADL wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:What's overrated about him? He doesn't get a lot of PPG but the team doesn't need that from him. He's very good at everything else.

He is a SG who cant shoot and chokes in the playoffs. Igoudala is 29 yrs old man. Igoudala minus athleticism wont be pretty.

Yet you were the same poster thinking Amar'e eventually would prove to be a difference maker in getting us closer to contention. The irony of your posting lately has been fatality......

3G4G wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:What's overrated about him? He doesn't get a lot of PPG but the team doesn't need that from him. He's very good at everything else.

He is a SG who cant shoot and chokes in the playoffs. Igoudala is 29 yrs old man. Igoudala minus athleticism wont be pretty.

Yet you were the same poster thinking Amar'e eventually would prove to be a difference maker in getting us closer to contention. The irony of your posting lately has been fatality......

Huh. Amare is making 20 millon on the Knicks books. We NEED him to contribute to go anywhere. Can Miami win with Bosh sitting on the bench in a suit in the playoffs? I doubt it.

AnubisADL wrote:

3G4G wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:What's overrated about him? He doesn't get a lot of PPG but the team doesn't need that from him. He's very good at everything else.

He is a SG who cant shoot and chokes in the playoffs. Igoudala is 29 yrs old man. Igoudala minus athleticism wont be pretty.

Yet you were the same poster thinking Amar'e eventually would prove to be a difference maker in getting us closer to contention. The irony of your posting lately has been fatality......

Huh. Amare is making 20 millon on the Knicks books. We NEED him to contribute to go anywhere. Can Miami win with Bosh sitting on the bench in a suit in the playoffs? I doubt it.

Iggy will be making almost $16mil next yr if he opts him AND?

The Heat beat the Pacers without Bosh(played only 16min that series) in the semis came back Game 5 against Boston I believe and the series was 2-2....

So your question here has already been answered. Can they do it again? Who knows, they probably need Shane Battier as much as they need Bosh so that's not saying much.