fitzfarm wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:The dude simply doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to take a stand. He will never change the starting 5, unless there is an injury. A smart coach would look to add a little speed in the back court to force the other guys to move and hold their positions; this dude.....

This is why I'd like to see grant in the starting unit and Jose come off the bench for AA so he can shoot more

I know Jose has been a little more productive as of late, but he is still an enigma if you ask me. He is the sole reason why our tempo is as slow as it is. He is a half court type of guard, never was known as a speedster. Now that he is older, he gets worse. As I have always said, this dude is a back up SG; not PG material.

KP
MELO
D Williams or KOQ
Pick 2 of Gallo, Calderon and Afflalo

There is 7 there - then your extras for 8 & 9 are:
Lou & Seraphin

Not perfect, but it gets your most productive talent on the floor. Let them figure it out from there.

WaltLongmire wrote:Any lineup change will be made to accommodate Anthony's limitations at this point. If Fisher makes a change and puts KP or Lopez on the second unit and slides Anthony to the 4, it will be because of how Carmelo is playing...or not playing.

I'm wondering if his knee is worse than we're aware of. There were moments yesterday where he looked like he was off balance, and it might be the knee again.

1) On the offensive end he does not have the quickness or explosiveness to play effectively against many SFs at this time. Want to add that he does not get the calls when he drives...fine.

1a) As a 4 Anthony's relative quickness improves against bigger guys. Not always true these days, but in general he'll have an easier time maneuvering against PFs, although posting up might be a bit more difficult.

2) He is a defensive liability when playing against guys like Parsons and Haywood, or any SF who is moving, cutting, and using screens to get free.

2a) As a 4, he will generally guard bigger guys who hang around on the perimeter, and he is strong enough to battle in the post with some of the stronger PFs, despite his size.

2b) Penetrating guards and Anthony's lack of quickness mean added burdens for Lopez and KP, who spend more time worrying about penetrating opponents and in KPs case, I think he gets burned a lot because of this- he is looking inside to much on D, and he gets beat a lot closing out on his man who either has an open J, or takes KP off the dribble with a shot fake.

Having Anthony and Calderon as perimeter defenders makes it tough on our interior defenders, but I don't see any guard on the team playing lockdown D, and since Calderon is still our most dependable PG on offense, you have to keep him in.

Has nothing to do with Lopez in the paint. His role is to find cutters and set picks. The only guys I see cutting on the first team are Aflalo and KP. Anthony does not do it, and Calderon is inconsistent, and is more comfortable on the perimeter, although he's shown some ability to be clever around the basket recently.

You see LT getting a lot of decent looks because he's very active on the offensive end.

Not impossible that KP will be put on the second unit, and be the focal point of the offense on that group.
See how Williams does at the 3 and let KOQ or Seraphin (even Lou)- whoever is playing well, bang at the 5.

Early not being ready (Will he ever be?) is a big issue, because he adds some energy and quickness that could have been useful.

Not sure if Sasha might emerge as a viable option on the second unit...never know, though, especially if he can ever show some consistency on his J. He might have earned some time based on what he gave you yesterday.

Regardless, whether it is to appease Carmelo or not, a change is necessary. We look horrendous on offense and defense. We are even horrible rebounding the ball. We look slow, liturgic, and old. We need to infuse both rotations with youth and veterans to squeeze the best out of this roster. We are not as bad as we've looked. We just need a little ingenuity from COACH.

Knixkik wrote:

Nalod wrote:

Knixkik wrote:I hope he leaves the lineup alone. The starters have not been the problem. Lopez is struggling a little but he will be fine. This was the mistake he made early last year, messing around with the lineup too much. I felt good about him sticking to a lineup this year. There is no quick fix.

Its a good point and basically he can pull players off the court if they are not doing what coach wants.
Regarding Galloway and Grant I prefer they play thru it if Knicks think these guys can handle it and prospects are still in line.

I'd rather the team win every game but the reality is its a work in progress and contention is still a long way away.

Yeah, why bench a guy like Lopez? He's the starting center, signed on a 4-year deal. He has a career's worth of proof that he's a starting center in this league. The focus should be finding ways to make your best players more effective, not tinkering with the lineup until you win a couple games. Otherwise you would make a lineup change every time we go on a losing streak and really mess up any continuity.

Knicks1969 wrote:Have we heard this quote before on this board??? I have been calling for a change of pace since the beginning of the season. Add more speed in the back court by inserting Grant as PG, and RoLo as center; remove the two main culprits (Jose and RoLo), suddenly our tempo will be much improve. Carmelo needs to voice that publicly instead of in private.

After a recent home loss, Anthony told teammates that the Knicks needed to play faster in an effort to get easier baskets in transition, sources say.

“He felt like they were stuck in the half court too much,” one source said Thursday.

By Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer

Your PG and Center are the two most important positions in basketball.

If your PG is old and a half court type of player. And your center is slow and also a half court type.....Guess what? Our tempo will be slow and half court. It's not rocket science.

Want to change the tempo? Gotta change those two positions.....

KOQ is slow.....He's griddy and doesn't clog the middle
Seraphin is slow.....Clogs the middle but he can score in the post
Lopez is slower.....No post game and No lateral quickness and clogs the middle
DWill is faster.....Doesn't clog the middle and provide transision buckets.....Quick enough to guard 3 positions with lateral quickness

If you want to increase speed, you have to take out Lopez and replace him with KOQ or DWill
If you want to increase speed, you have to take out Jose and replace him with Grant or Galloway

Lance is our utility guys.....I think he's better off the bench, replacing anybody thats lacking energy and effort.

Grant and Lopez would be a nice combination.....Grant attacks and Lopez cleans up.

DWill would open the floor for Melo and KP, because he runs and gets easy buckets.

blkexec wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Have we heard this quote before on this board??? I have been calling for a change of pace since the beginning of the season. Add more speed in the back court by inserting Grant as PG, and RoLo as center; remove the two main culprits (Jose and RoLo), suddenly our tempo will be much improve. Carmelo needs to voice that publicly instead of in private.

After a recent home loss, Anthony told teammates that the Knicks needed to play faster in an effort to get easier baskets in transition, sources say.

“He felt like they were stuck in the half court too much,” one source said Thursday.

By Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer

Your PG and Center are the two most important positions in basketball.

If your PG is old and a half court type of player. And your center is slow and also a half court type.....Guess what? Our tempo will be slow and half court. It's not rocket science.

Want to change the tempo? Gotta change those two positions.....

KOQ is slow.....He's griddy and doesn't clog the middle
Seraphin is slow.....Clogs the middle but he can score in the post
Lopez is slower.....No post game and No lateral quickness and clogs the middle
DWill is faster.....Doesn't clog the middle and provide transision buckets.....Quick enough to guard 3 positions with lateral quickness

If you want to increase speed, you have to take out Lopez and replace him with KOQ or DWill
If you want to increase speed, you have to take out Jose and replace him with Grant or Galloway

Lance is our utility guys.....I think he's better off the bench, replacing anybody thats lacking energy and effort.

Grant and Lopez would be a nice combination.....Grant attacks and Lopez cleans up.

DWill would open the floor for Melo and KP, because he runs and gets easy buckets.

My choice would be Grant and KO, because those two infuse the lineup with instant energy and they defend. Speed and defense. Watch KO when he was inserted in the game last night. The dude was constantly barking on defense, running the floor, and protecting the paint. He struggles when he shares the floor with Calderon, because he is not a halfcourt player. He is a center who can pass the ball on an uptempo style, not a halfcourt back to the basket type of dude. I know some here think other wise, but KO is more of a faceup big then a post up big.

earthmansurfer wrote:

crzymdups wrote:Melo's shooting is killing the Knicks. They're a different team if he can produce at his traditional levels. Have to hope he can recover from the knee issues fully.

Anyone remember when he knocked knees and had to leave the game early in the first period recently? Was that against Milwaukee?

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It is too bad, we have a young hot player and now Melo and Afallo are not hitting their shots.

But at least we have our pick this year, oh wait...

i wouldn't lump AA with Melo, AA been playing well recently, just not getting ENOUGH shots.

blkexec wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

blkexec wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Have we heard this quote before on this board??? I have been calling for a change of pace since the beginning of the season. Add more speed in the back court by inserting Grant as PG, and RoLo as center; remove the two main culprits (Jose and RoLo), suddenly our tempo will be much improve. Carmelo needs to voice that publicly instead of in private.

After a recent home loss, Anthony told teammates that the Knicks needed to play faster in an effort to get easier baskets in transition, sources say.

“He felt like they were stuck in the half court too much,” one source said Thursday.

By Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer

Your PG and Center are the two most important positions in basketball.

If your PG is old and a half court type of player. And your center is slow and also a half court type.....Guess what? Our tempo will be slow and half court. It's not rocket science.

Want to change the tempo? Gotta change those two positions.....

KOQ is slow.....He's griddy and doesn't clog the middle
Seraphin is slow.....Clogs the middle but he can score in the post
Lopez is slower.....No post game and No lateral quickness and clogs the middle
DWill is faster.....Doesn't clog the middle and provide transision buckets.....Quick enough to guard 3 positions with lateral quickness

If you want to increase speed, you have to take out Lopez and replace him with KOQ or DWill
If you want to increase speed, you have to take out Jose and replace him with Grant or Galloway

Lance is our utility guys.....I think he's better off the bench, replacing anybody thats lacking energy and effort.

Grant and Lopez would be a nice combination.....Grant attacks and Lopez cleans up.

DWill would open the floor for Melo and KP, because he runs and gets easy buckets.

My choice would be Grant and KO, because those two infuse the lineup with instant energy and they defend. Speed and defense. Watch KO when he was inserted in the game last night. The dude was constantly barking on defense, running the floor, and protecting the paint. He struggles when he shares the floor with Calderon, because he is not a halfcourt player. He is a center who can pass the ball on an uptempo style, not a halfcourt back to the basket type of dude. I know some here think other wise, but KO is more of a faceup big then a post up big.

Thats why KO would work with Melo and KP.....he's not taking up the same space, and leaves the paint open for Melo, KP or AA to share the post......which is better than Rolo in the post. Rolo is a pick and role type of center.....he's not a back to the basket type. The only real post big we have is Seraphin! The problem with putting Rolo on the bench, that means Fisher has to play Rolo and Seraphin together, which is even slower!

You don't have to play Seraphin and RoLo together, one of the two can be used in any given night. I would prefer RoLo as the backup center over Seraphin, because RoLo does do a lot more then Seraphin. Guys like Seraphin, Sasha, and Lou should only be used on certain occasion. I don't view them as rotational players

martin wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:

crzymdups wrote:Melo's shooting is killing the Knicks. They're a different team if he can produce at his traditional levels. Have to hope he can recover from the knee issues fully.

Anyone remember when he knocked knees and had to leave the game early in the first period recently? Was that against Milwaukee?

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/TommyBeer/status/675016349761040384

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It is too bad, we have a young hot player and now Melo and Afallo are not hitting their shots.

But at least we have our pick this year, oh wait...

i wouldn't lump AA with Melo, AA been playing well recently, just not getting ENOUGH shots.

sound like Amare when he played with Melo. Why not run specific plays for players instead letting the triangle dictate who gets the shot. Seems like a more direct approach