misterearl wrote:Bad karma sucks.

Dolan/Steve Mills/ Mike Woodson offended the basketball gods by keeping Chris Smith on the roster over Ike Diogu and Jeremy Tyler.

This can only be corrected by releasing Chris Smith immediately.

It's weird how 4 games have sapped my Knicks spirit so quickly, but I hope we can right the ship
.

-smackeddog

Righting the ship this season will require bailing a lot of water, and some courageous choices.

Don't hate the city dancers, hate the routine.

misterearl wrote:Charlie Zegers Nails It

1. End the Stoudemire/Martin platoon experiment - Simply put, this “job share” is one of the dumbest NBA strategies in recent memory, and the plans creates more problems than it purportedly solves. Instead of playing STAT and K-Mart on alternating nights, play both as much as they’re able, abiding by any minutes- restrictions set by the team’s medical staff. And when one of the pair needs a night off, inactive him and dress another big instead. Which brings us to…

2. Activate Cole Aldrich – It’s not clear why Woodson opted to dress Toure’ Murry for last night’s game. Maybe the coach wanted the option to use Murry, a better-than-average perimeter defender, to chase Kemba Walker. But if Martin wasn’t going to play anyway, wouldn’t it have made more sense to have Aldrich in uniform?

3. Dump Chris Smith, Bring Back Ike Diogu – I won’t waste time re-litigating all the arguments against keeping Chris Smith. To be honest, I could care less if he won a job with his play or if his brother J.R. has some incriminating photos of James Dolan. What I do care about is the fact that the Knicks have several guys that are perfectly capable of playing Smith’s position, yet they’re criminally thin on the front line. Whether New York prefers Josh Powell — or Jeremy Tyler, once he’s healthy — doesn’t much matter, just as long as the roster gets filled out with another big man. Let Smith go develop his game in Erie; maybe he’ll actually turn into the player he seems to think he is. (Incidentally, I can’t help but wonder if J.R.’s suspension is the sole reason why Chris is still on the active roster. It sort of, kind of, maybe makes sense to keep another guard around while the suspension is in effect. Yeah, no.)

4. Stop Pretending Andrea Bargnani is a Big - Andrea Bargnani is seven feet tall. We know this. We admit this. But this doesn’t make him a “big.” Bargs has spent the entirety of his NBA career proving that he’s an overgrown two guard and it is absolutely puzzling how Mike Woodson seems to be the only person in the league that recognize this. More importantly, Bargnani and ‘Melo are not playing well together at all. The Italian only seems remotely comfortable when setting up on the elbow or at the top of the key, and either shooting a jumper or driving. The problem, however, is that Bargs spends most of his time getting in Anthony’s way. (I seem to remember another Knicks’ forward experiencing a similar phenomenon. His name rhymes with Schamar’e.)

No one can deny that the Knicks are in serious trouble if Chandler’s injury keeps him out for the next 20-25 games, but maybe there can be a silver lining in all of this. At the very least, his absence should allow Woodson — in theory — to get back to the system and rotation that was so successful down the stretch last season.

Exactly. Thank God Chandler is only down until Mid Decemebr at the latest it seems like. There's no reason we can't hover around AT LEAST .500 until he gets back. Time for Melo to carry us for a bit. Pray that KMart can give us a healthy 25 minutes per game and not be ruined the rest of the season.

When The Answer Man surveys NBA rosters and sees names of rejects like David Lee, Zach Randolph, Jeremy Lin, Corey Brewer, Anthony Randolph, Timofey Mozgov (shooting 63 per cent) and, yes... even The Mayor, Wilson Chandler... one word comes to mind.

Continuity.

So long as Madison Square Garden is a revolving door of executives who are not trusted to make basketball decisions, the franchise will remain on a treadmill.

The loss of Tyson Chandler will reveal how critical, and valuable, EVERY spot on a 12/15 man roster is. One injury should never expose a single position to being so vulnerable where players are forced, like Bargnani, to be thrust into roles where they are set up to fail. Chris Smith should never have been selected for the final roster and everyone knows it except him.

Of course, Bargnani can suddenly find his groove in the paint, get into a fistfight and discover that physical contact is not fatal. Or he can be so overwhelmed that the MSG crowd groans every single time he sets foot on the court. (Footnote: They have already turned on Amare)

The decision to release Ike Diogu (who could help us tonight) and Jeremy Tyler (who could be kidnapped) is not on the coach or general manager. It is on the owner who has the final say in everything from the Carmelo Anthony Yard Sale to the Jeremy Lin contract diss... to the dancing girls.

Mike Woodson would NEVER agree to platooning any player every other night. As a former player he knows that rhythm and repetition is essential to performance. Not in practice. Not practice. The game.

Charlotte is only one game. Not really. Lose to the expansion Bobcats, for the second time in three nights, and the NYK franchise makes the noise of a lottery team.

Finestrg wrote:

Vmart wrote:Amare has to play big minutes to get in basketball shape. If Amare goes down so be it was meant to be.

Agreed. We're gonna have to go through some growing pains with STAT again. Hopefully in a month or 2 if all goes well, instead of 6'7" Jeff Adrien blocking Amar'e's shot twice in a game, Amar'e's putting a guy like him on a poster...Hey, probably not, those days are probably gone, but you know what I'm saying -- hopefully Amar'e's scoring on guys like him at will. Bottom line is he doesn't get there w/o a commitment by Woody to get him there. This once every other game, once every 3 games stuff will not get him there...This guy can help us if built back up properly. Not ready to throw the towel in on STAT yet..

I can't stand Stat anymore. That said, I think we need to give him a chance to earn back my respect. I think he should figure prominently in the rotation. Not started minutes, but not a few mins every other game either. If he can perform, he MUST get a chance to prove it. If not, he will get injured trying and that will be that. I am willing to roll the dice on him, because as it stands, he brings nothing to the table but an albatross contract.

LET STAT PLAY!

Moonangie wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

Vmart wrote:Amare has to play big minutes to get in basketball shape. If Amare goes down so be it was meant to be.

Agreed. We're gonna have to go through some growing pains with STAT again. Hopefully in a month or 2 if all goes well, instead of 6'7" Jeff Adrien blocking Amar'e's shot twice in a game, Amar'e's putting a guy like him on a poster...Hey, probably not, those days are probably gone, but you know what I'm saying -- hopefully Amar'e's scoring on guys like him at will. Bottom line is he doesn't get there w/o a commitment by Woody to get him there. This once every other game, once every 3 games stuff will not get him there...This guy can help us if built back up properly. Not ready to throw the towel in on STAT yet..

I can't stand Stat anymore. That said, I think we need to give him a chance to earn back my respect. I think he should figure prominently in the rotation. Not started minutes, but not a few mins every other game either. If he can perform, he MUST get a chance to prove it. If not, he will get injured trying and that will be that. I am willing to roll the dice on him, because as it stands, he brings nothing to the table but an albatross contract.

LET STAT PLAY!

Stat should be shooting foul line jumpshots bringing big men away from the basket, all that post stuff one on one isn't his game anymore. ATHLETIC 4's and Centers is sending his shot to the 5th row now. He needs a creative pg to do anything in a paint as a finisher.

holfresh wrote:I gotta say, Just seeing Chris Smith on the Knick bench just boils my blood..

What he said

Fix The Frontcourt

As a team, our beloved Knicks are fourth from last in the league in rebounds per game. We are 27th.

Let that sink in a moment while you consider the huge disadvantage of being out boarded by an average of 4 rebounds per game.

1. Give Amare his walking papers and blame it on the microfracture. Pass GO collect $200.

2. Move Kenyon Martin to Erie, and have him rehab until he is 100 per cent. The part time, every other day stuff ain't working. He will understand.

3. Don't wait. Sign 6'10 Terrence Jennings off the Bayhawks roster. We need all the ambulatory people we can get

4. Admit a mistake. Cut Chris Smith. Sign Ike Diogu. He may be short, but he battles inside.

5. Don't risk losing Jeremy Tyler. Sign him and release

6. Start Ron World Peace. He is the only heart and soul player who can be trusted to never, ever back down. Reward him for his effort.