StarksEwing1 wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMO Jose is more of a Pure PG mentally and you know this because they have to BEG him to look for his shot and be aggressive! In this offense we don't need a pure PG that needs to pound the ball for long periods of time in order to be effective. This is why Shved was so successful. He's not a pure PG but rather a Scoring guard. Shved was VERY effective in attacking the defense and still passing effectively to his teammates! He plays more like a Tony Parker which is the kind of guard this system needs.

he may have that mentality but he sure as hell doesnt show it on the court. I have played pg all my life and you need to Have good vision, passing ability, and some defense in order to have success at that position. Jose is a terrific shooter but he doesnt have the other qualities of a point guard

I was hoping that Jerian's development would have him taking over the starting job sooner this season. I didn't expect him to struggle as he did. He's getting better but he's still got a long way to go. This is why I think Phil must try to upgrade the position. I'm sure he's pondering what to do. We have open spots and some real dead weight on this roster at other positions too. Seems to me that Phil will be looking to bring up some D League guys to fill out the bench. Guys that should be part of the future of the team unlike guys we have on the bench like Sasha, Amundson or Seraphin. We could use some better depth too.

CrushAlot wrote:OKC blog is suggesting a trade of Early for DJ Augustine. It doesn't work salary wise.
http://hoopshabit.com/2016/01/08/oklahoma-city-thunder-3-possible-d-j-augustin-trades/

I'd rather add an athletic, big 3 and D guard than a PG like DJ. We are lite in the SG department IMO. We have Sasha but he's been awful shooting the ball and I wouldn't want to depend on him and the same goes for PG. I'd like to at least have some serious depth and would rather take a chance on Jimmer who at least knows the offense and has shown he can thrive in it.

Knickoftime wrote:So let me get this straight.

Knicks need better players in order to get better?

Hmmm, why doesn't the rest of the NBA figure out that secret formula?

It is HARD to upgrade your talent in the NBA. That's why there is a draft lottery and the good free agents make a lot of money and why no team is trading their good player for your bad player.

How many "what we need" and "if only" threads do there need to be?

The reason EVERY team doesn't get better during the offseason or during the course of a season is because it VERY HARD to upgrade your talent.

Calderon is a mixed bag player. He is not the ideal defender or penetrator. No one disagrees.

But you just can't turn him over or conjure up another, better option because you want to.

Chandler wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:Not easy for a PG to be an effective 1/1 defender these days. Throw in a good pick and it is almost impossible to defend against a quick #1. D has never bee Jose's strong suit, but he's done a little better recently.

Had a poor game yesterday, although our bigs did not challenge Parker as much as they usually do on penetrators...even KP held back, once. Gallo got beat by Parker, too.

Calderon and Gallo also had moments when the got away from their defenders but did not take the short J Parker is so good at, and neither of them is considered to be a top flight penetrator.

TP is a 4 time champion...I could be wrong (I know I'm not), but I expect that Parker's ability to do what he did yesterday is one of the things that has made his career as great as it has been. He's done that kind of thing in the finals...its what he does for a living.

Clyde commented on Gallo not taking away Parker's ability to go right...that's something to think about, but the game's rules are designed to help guys like Parker and Ginobili who go to the basket like they do. For the most part, you are simply not going to stop a good PG who wants to go to the basket with some help from a pick.

Do I want a better defender at PG...sure, but I don't imagine he's going to stop a player like Parker on any kind of consistent basis.

Good post. I mentioned yesterday that was the difference in the game

TP penetrated for his floater or created opportunities and Jose hesitated

I'm not a Jose hater. I just think he needs to be limited. I also think fisher is (finally) using Grant in a reasonable way which could also develop his game

Does anyone know the scoop w Shaun Livingston and if he could be had

I agree w ur point about TP and picks. But sometimes the best way to handle that is to punish them on the other end for example posting up or whatever (tall PG mismatch)

Knickoftime wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Knickoftime wrote:So let me get this straight.

Knicks need better players in order to get better?

Hmmm, why doesn't the rest of the NBA figure out that secret formula?

It is HARD to upgrade your talent in the NBA. That's why there is a draft lottery and the good free agents make a lot of money and why no team is trading their good player for your bad player.

How many "what we need" and "if only" threads do there need to be?

The reason EVERY team doesn't get better during the offseason or during the course of a season is because it VERY HARD to upgrade your talent.

Calderon is a mixed bag player. He is not the ideal defender or penetrator. No one disagrees.

But you just can't turn him over or conjure up another, better option because you want to.

Nobody is suggesting that its that simple

The OP is.

Worse, the thread title doesn't even make sense.

I think the Point is that this is a better team than expected. The level that they're playing at right now is actually a highly competitive level and with just a minor improvement this team would be able to win games at a better clip the rest of the way.

Just to give you an idea of how well the Knicks are playing they almost beat the unbeatable at home Spurs even tho Melo, Afflalo and Jose were really bad shooting the ball. Afflalo was 3-8 Melo 5-15 and Jose 2-9 and still we almost won the game. Seems like it would be a safe bet that if Phil was able to upgrade the talent any significant way it would make a huge difference in taking the team from one level to the next. The Knicks seem to have elevated their play quite a bit but with perhaps a little notch better talent it could push this team to the playoff tier much more assuredly. We also aren't that secure in term of depth in case of health either. There's nothing wrong with quality depth.

knicks1248 wrote:If you bring in a PG that's an upgrade over Calderon, then you can forget about grants development. Its crazy but, It's going to take an injury to calderon for grant to really shine.

Agree.....I hope that does not happen. Injury would take away our ability to trade Calderon and he would be on the roster for two more years:::))))

Nalod wrote:There are risks of regression when you are "Trying" things.

This team is on a forward progression. The idea of Moving Grant for fredette is not awful but the idea of moving Jose Manuel Calderon who is the starter for a team that is competing from the line up is not even close in my opinion on the minds of the knicks.

Do we as fans really think the knicks don't know whats up longer term? beyond this season?

To me there is a plan and its developing. The team is making progress. The closer we get to a playoff seed the more tempting it is to "Make a trade". Question is does it fit the longer term goal? A goal fans can't see.
To me finishing 8th would be great but I'd rather the team build upon itself instead of leveraging for a quick buzz.

THer is room for internal development with Grant and Galloway. Until then Jose has been improving and healthy. Rejoice in the tangible, not the intangible!

Nalod wrote:Its great KP is better than we thought, but does that really change the plan? I doubt they would not listen to a compelling offer. Maybe even one that drops us back like Jose for a late no.1 pick. Obviously we are a better team with Jose than not, but to have a future asset would be a good thing. Im just using this as an example of a trade that is longer term oriented.