to climb out they'll need to be a very highly-ranked, exceptional offense, like top 3 in the league.

i just don't see it, even if phil meant it when he said he believed that melo had another level to get to as a player.

StarksEwing1 wrote:I think 40-45 wins is realistic. Im a positive Knick fan BUT i also cant be too much of a homer and not be objective. I think we will make the playoffs around the 5-6 seeds. I do think 2015-16 will be the year that we can do some real damage with all the cap space we will have

Nalod wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Nalod wrote:Too much Knick Homer Unobjective emotionality implimented.

If healthy? Bargnani and Amare but not BroPez and Deron? fans can have it both ways I suppose.

Who protects the Rim for Knicks? I like the deal we got exporting Felton and Tyson but we'll miss FluTy more than we imagine.
His extraction might make people happy but nobody is filling in the need.

Knicks? I dunno, I think they will compete for the 8th spot so a 10th prediction is not crazy.

Triangulization........Problem is a slow start might derail the playoff reality early. Stick to plan will require patience. Is the plan to get in teh lottery next season?

I expect Phil to be around training camp a lot and ease Fish into the role. Make no bones about it, it will be Fish's team. Its a transition year and an opportunity to lay the first base of the new culture.
On paper the team looks like a 37 win team. More important to Nalod is how we finish the season, not so much how we start.

Im excited to see how we use our players and settle into roles. Bargs in particular. Melo's numbers falling would be a good sign if he is more active in other areas

We will miss the Tyson from the 54 win team, not last year... I agree with that for sure. Just like we are hoping for the JR from that same team. Smith and Dalembert are here to protect the rim. What their impact will be we will see. Im sure Fisher has a plan and has bounced 40,000 ideas off Phil (a pretty solid sounding board).

We won somthing like 13 straight in april during those 54 wins with kmart/copeland/melo as our center, no amare, no tyson.

What centers in the east should we be afraid of..I'm sorry, what centers in the league should we be afraid of

Its about rim defenders and perhaps Sam can fill the void respectable.
The 54 game season was two years ago. You had the "brotherhood of man" with Woodson doing his inner Joe Clark and the likes of Kidd, RashWeed and Kurt on the bench. It was nice. That was then, this is now.

my take is the east is better. Cleveland is now a playoff team and I would imagine Miami still is as well. Thats one slot not there. Indy might have fallen out as well so perhaps its even. Charlotte and ATL are no jokes anymore. On paper Nets are a playoff team. How good I don't know but Like I said Hollins is a good coach and the clusterphuch of authority got a little easier for them with Pierce gone. Jack is a nice replacement for Livingston and a better shooter. No doubt, Deron and Brook are back in the spotlight after taking a year off. I think Blatche out might make things easier for them as well. Plumlee is no allstar but he is a very good sophmore player on the rise.

Knicks should finish ahead of Boston and Philly, but I think behind Toronto and Nyets.

I think a rough start will make it difficult for them. Its to be expected given the changes.

BUT............My expectations are not the word and the truth will be told not by Nalod, ESPN or the UK, but on the court. I'd be thrilled to bits if they prove my expectation wrong and jump out the gate fast!
Likewise the league will wise up and figure us out.

Nalod thinks .500 Plus or minus 4 games. Lets see how the rest of the roster shakes out.

I do disagree on Miami and Brooklyn and think both are out of the playoffs. Deng and Wade missed 50 plus games and that team just isnt good. BroPez and his bad feet are a timb bomb, he's got Yao Ming written all over him. If he's getting stress fractures in his feet at 25 years old he's going to have a very short career and Deron Williams simply isnt the same player he was, and hasnt been for a an extended period of time. Those guys are in the same boat as Amare. They contribute when on the floor, but are shadows of their former selves.

djsunyc wrote:question you have to ask yourselves is just how right were you in predicting records the past 5-10 years? i would probably wager most overshot the win totals. the only year that was a surprise was 2 years ago. but i think the average for this team will lie somewhere in the 37-43 win range.

I don't really see the point in predicting records- by the end of the season I've forgotten what I even predicted anyways! I'm happy to wait and see what happens.

gunsnewing wrote:I was way off last year predicting 46. This year I think Phil's presense alone is good for 40-45 but I'm not overly enthusiastic going in because of the roster

Yeah, people were over estimating wins last year, but it became pretty obvious at training camp that we were screwed. What killed me last year is we went from preseason all the way through to March without showing any signs of life or changes- it was just us watching EXACTLY the same crap game after game after game!

Looking back, and I think I kind of realised it just before the season, our roster was full of guys who had significant flaws AND weren't actually good at anything- we had a roster of players who couldn't hit 3pters, couldn't drive, couldn't pass, couldn't block, couldn't rebound, couldn't defend, weren't quick and didn't shoot from midrange well either. At least this season I can look at some of the players and say 'he's a great shooter' 'he's a good passer' 'he can bring a change of pace', 'he's a good midrange shooter'. I think the players who still fall into the 'not good at anything' category this year are Outlaw and Bargs.

Also last season I was worried about the fact that the whole roster was coming back from injuries and surgeries- JR, Amar'e, K-Mart, Shump, Melo, Bargs (and then Tyson went down).

smackeddog wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I was way off last year predicting 46. This year I think Phil's presense alone is good for 40-45 but I'm not overly enthusiastic going in because of the roster

Yeah, people were over estimating wins last year, but it became pretty obvious at training camp that we were screwed. What killed me last year is we went from preseason all the way through to March without showing any signs of life or changes- it was just us watching EXACTLY the same crap game after game after game!

Looking back, and I think I kind of realised it just before the season, our roster was full of guys who had significant flaws AND weren't actually good at anything- we had a roster of players who couldn't hit 3pters, couldn't drive, couldn't pass, couldn't block, couldn't rebound, couldn't defend, weren't quick and didn't shoot from midrange well either. At least this season I can look at some of the players and say 'he's a great shooter' 'he's a good passer' 'he can bring a change of pace', 'he's a good midrange shooter'. I think the players who still fall into the 'not good at anything' category this year are Outlaw and Bargs.

Also last season I was worried about the fact that the whole roster was coming back from injuries and surgeries- JR, Amar'e, K-Mart, Shump, Melo, Bargs (and then Tyson went down).

CrushAlot wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I was way off last year predicting 46. This year I think Phil's presense alone is good for 40-45 but I'm not overly enthusiastic going in because of the roster

Yeah, people were over estimating wins last year, but it became pretty obvious at training camp that we were screwed. What killed me last year is we went from preseason all the way through to March without showing any signs of life or changes- it was just us watching EXACTLY the same crap game after game after game!

Looking back, and I think I kind of realised it just before the season, our roster was full of guys who had significant flaws AND weren't actually good at anything- we had a roster of players who couldn't hit 3pters, couldn't drive, couldn't pass, couldn't block, couldn't rebound, couldn't defend, weren't quick and didn't shoot from midrange well either. At least this season I can look at some of the players and say 'he's a great shooter' 'he's a good passer' 'he can bring a change of pace', 'he's a good midrange shooter'. I think the players who still fall into the 'not good at anything' category this year are Outlaw and Bargs.

Also last season I was worried about the fact that the whole roster was coming back from injuries and surgeries- JR, Amar'e, K-Mart, Shump, Melo, Bargs (and then Tyson went down).

Yeah. It certainly was a strange year not to make a single move. It seemed like once Grunwald was reassigned there wasn't a gm except to tell Woodson to keep Chris SMith and to not play KMart and Amare. It seems odd that Mills is still employed with the Knicks.

There was particular low point last season where it looked like Dolan was essentially our GM, and Mills the numbers guy! Awful to think how close we came to being stuck with those two stooges!

Dolan seems enamoured with Mills, so likely he begged Phil to keep him. I think Phil was initially planning in getting rid of him, but they built up a relationship over the summer so he's happy to keep him on board. Also one thing to bear in mind (regarding the assumption that he was going to clean house in the front office), is that one of the things Phil criticised MJ's moves with the Hornets, was that he just surrounded himself with people who agreed with him/ were afraid to disagree with him- he said that leads to bad decisions and you need to have a mix of staff.

smackeddog wrote:

nixluva wrote:The Knicks really only have to worry about The Nets and Raptors IMO. Gotta try and win the Division. I expect the Knicks to be more focused and determined this year than they were last season. I think the change in offense will give them a bit of an edge against most teams that aren't used to defending this team without ISO Melo being the only offense. Being more consistent will help them to stave off late game runs like we saw last year. Knicks blew big leads last year that they had no business losing.

Knicks Blow Late Lead, Lose in OT. Paul George made three throws to tie it with 5.2 seconds left in regulation, then scored nine of his season-high 35 points in overtime as the Indiana Pacers pulled out a 103-96 victory Wednesday night over the New York Knicks, who dropped their sixth straight at home.

THAT WAS A BS CALL!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the one where Shumps finger tip grazed one of PG's elbows skin cells.

New York was in position to win the game following a solid first half, and they led by as many as six points in the fourth quarter. But like they have all year, the Knicks imploded,

Knicks blow 17-point lead as Jeff Teague, Mike Scott push Hawks to victory

That was ... a devastating blow to the Knicks' playoff hopes: When you're up 17 on the struggling Cavaliers, who are missing Irving, you have to seal the deal.

In a close game with the Wizards, the Knicks had three timeouts. Woodson didn’t use a single one and lost by a measly point.

This is just a sample of the absolutely unreal number of games they threw away. This is how you end up only winning 37 games. I don't thin this team is going to be as bad this year in holding leads and winning games. I think they will execute and play as a team much more than last year.

Horrible memories- 2013-2014 was one of the worst, most boring Knick seasons in Knick history (and thats saying something!)

So much went wrong that it's really impossible to compare that team to what we might see this year. I just think this team lost an inordinate number of games last year after having a lead that should've meant they should win the game. Different coaching, a new system, some smarter players and a fresh attitude with better chemistry should all make a difference in how this team handles things.

gunsnewing wrote:Agree on the nets Fish but don't sleep on Miami. You are forgetting about Bosh and the spark Shabazz Napier will at guard. And the system from Pat Riley to Spo. Wade is lighter. They have a ****load of talent on the floor. More than the Knicks!

miami's injury issues are going to be larger than the knicks this season.