helloharv wrote:

fishmike wrote:He's a stop gap. Knicks werent signing an all star back court last season. Considering the circumstances AA/Jose have been good. Everyone knows that is the focus of upgrading the roster.

stop gap? so how do we upgrade BOTH PG and SG this summer? when we only have enough money to bring in one very good player ?

Rome wasn't built in one offseason, right?

helloharv wrote:

fishmike wrote:He's a stop gap. Knicks werent signing an all star back court last season. Considering the circumstances AA/Jose have been good. Everyone knows that is the focus of upgrading the roster.

stop gap? so how do we upgrade BOTH PG and SG this summer? when we only have enough money to bring in one very good player ?

At 2, I'd love to get a Batum/DeRozan, but realistically will this happen? Don't know. I'm ok with signing another short term guy like Courtney Lee to pair with Afflalo, keep Galloway as well. If Afflalo's minutes can be reduced to 25 next year, it will go a long way for him and us. As I said in the previous post, his post game is very good. He's decent at spotting up. The main weakness is giving him the ball from mid-range and telling him to go to work as if he's some star. We have to cut that out next season.

Knicks1969 wrote:Aflalo is a good post up player, but he is forcing it too much. He needs to be told to post and repost. He always try to shoot over taller guards; at 6'4" he is always at a disadvantage at the SG position. Klay or Dray are taller and were able to make it super difficult for him to get off his shots. In my opinion, the coaching staff needs to design some curl plays to help this dude out; specifically, given that he is our second sorer.

I think Phil still has a tone of work to do as it relates to improving the roster. We need a PG and a SG, because what we have right now is not really as good as it needs to be. If your 6'4" SG is not a pure shooter or an athletic freak, you will have issues.

Is it easier to find a good SG or a PG? I still believe we can get by with Aflalo as the starting SG, but not while our PG spot is so terrible

Afflalo is not listed 6'4 anywhere to my knowledge. Why try to make a player shorter just to make a point? But he does try to be too much like Melo in the iso situations. He is a good scorer who can take over in stretches. Really fit for a 6th man role.

knicks1248 wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:I don't know what it is but Afflalo better wake up

I just think that too many thought he was a diff player than he actually is. He is pretty close to his career production..

He is not very effective because we are very poor at setting picks. He works so hard at his height to get his shot off it is sickening to watch

when was he ever that effective?

In every win we got this yr he is averaging 18 ppg shotting 51%, it's the complete opposite in our losses. In fact, when he stuggles, we lose point blank.

Which makes him a bench player. The sooner the better. Our best backcourt right now is Jose & Gallo. This needs to happen like tomorrow if Jose is healthy or I'm really going to start calling for Fisher's head. It's bad enough that he doesn't know his X&0's eventhough I'm giving him time the rest of the year to learn but to screw up the rotations too? Enough Afflalo already. He is what he is. He will be valuable as a gunner off the bench when he is on. When he isn't you limit his minutes. He can continue to be a black hole on the bench. We need ball movers in with Melo & KP. Unless we are getting Mike Conley to orchestrate the offense and know when to ride Afflalo and when to freeze him out we can't go on like this

gunsnewing wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:I don't know what it is but Afflalo better wake up

I just think that too many thought he was a diff player than he actually is. He is pretty close to his career production..

He is not very effective because we are very poor at setting picks. He works so hard at his height to get his shot off it is sickening to watch

when was he ever that effective?

In every win we got this yr he is averaging 18 ppg shotting 51%, it's the complete opposite in our losses. In fact, when he stuggles, we lose point blank.

Which makes him a bench player. The sooner the better. Our best backcourt right now is Jose & Gallo. This needs to happen like tomorrow if Jose is healthy or I'm really going to start calling for Fisher's head. It's bad enough that he doesn't know his X&0's eventhough I'm giving him time the rest of the year to learn but to screw up the rotations too? Enough Afflalo already. He is what he is. He will be valuable as a gunner off the bench when he is on. When he isn't you limit his minutes. He can continue to be a black hole on the bench. We need ball movers in with Melo & KP. Unless we are getting Mike Conley to orchestrate the offense and know when to ride Afflalo and when to freeze him out we can't go on like this

I don't exactly know which coach is responsible for the rotation, and knowing who to play, but it is as inconsistent as the players.

Knicks1969 wrote:We cant go too far with this back court

Well i think that's been quite obvious for a while now but we need a heck of a lot more than just a new back court. We need a big man that can do the things that KOQ and Seraphin can't do..............which is almost everything.

Knicks1969 wrote:

helloharv wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:Afflalo should be used as a post up guy, outside of that a spot up shooter (3 ball mainly). Too many times we give him the ball in the mid-range area - which leads him trying to create something which he simply is not good at. He is reliable to take a good look 2 ways. A spot up 3 from outside (whether he makes it or not, it is a good shot for us) or him posting up inside.

Afflalo leads the team in points per possession for post ups.

http://stats.nba.com/playtype/#!/post-up/?dir=1&PT=player&OD=offensive&sort=TeamNameAbbreviation

In contrast, we should avoid Porzingis in the post even when often the mismatch is glaring, and try to get him more looks from outside or on the move. We want to get Porzingis the ball when he's on the move or spotting up. He's our worst scorer in post ups. Porzingis still has major advantage in shooting over guys much smaller over him on the move. We don't have to post him up to take advantage of that. He isn't ready in that area of the game. His post game needs a year or two to hone. Porzingis shoots 1.1/3.2 on three pointers which the equivalent of scoring at over 50 percent in the post. His post FG percentage is actually very low - in the 30's. People complain about his 3 ball, but look at Curry/Thompson. You want natural gifted shooters like Porzingis to be that rare player who has the green light to "get them up" from outside. Any time Porzingis has a look as a jumpshot he should take it.

In a way we miss Calderon on offense. He was smart in directing and organizing the offense. I think the team's record with Lopez/Porzingis/Melo/Afflalo/Calderon all healthy and playing is quite good - of a playoff team. Ever since Melo rolled his ankle, it's just been one thing after another with this team and our playoff hopes have gone down the tubes with it.

I'm not upset with Afflalo, he's given his best and done what he can. The team doesn't have the depth to deal with injuries to their veteran/top 5 players. Since Melo has rolled his ankle, I believe we've had 3 games where the top 5 players on the team have been available. Have gone 2-1 in that stretch. If we don't have these guys the rest of the way, I can't see us even finishing at .500 (41 wins). We need Afflalo, Jose, Melo, KP and Lopez to be healthy the rest of the way.

Good post - I agree with you on most points. We should be running a 2 man game more often with KP and having him actually coming off screens looking for his jump shot.

Did you say "coming off screens?" Don't you know that we are amongst the worst screening teams in the league? Aflalo should be allowed to go through shooting slumps,but he is not rebounding nor passing the ball to open shooters. Why don't they (coaches, teammates, or even the media) ask him why he is not making a bigger effort to pass the ball and rebound?

Our back court is terrible at defending, scoring and rebounding.

newyorker4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

helloharv wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:Afflalo should be used as a post up guy, outside of that a spot up shooter (3 ball mainly). Too many times we give him the ball in the mid-range area - which leads him trying to create something which he simply is not good at. He is reliable to take a good look 2 ways. A spot up 3 from outside (whether he makes it or not, it is a good shot for us) or him posting up inside.

Afflalo leads the team in points per possession for post ups.

http://stats.nba.com/playtype/#!/post-up/?dir=1&PT=player&OD=offensive&sort=TeamNameAbbreviation

In contrast, we should avoid Porzingis in the post even when often the mismatch is glaring, and try to get him more looks from outside or on the move. We want to get Porzingis the ball when he's on the move or spotting up. He's our worst scorer in post ups. Porzingis still has major advantage in shooting over guys much smaller over him on the move. We don't have to post him up to take advantage of that. He isn't ready in that area of the game. His post game needs a year or two to hone. Porzingis shoots 1.1/3.2 on three pointers which the equivalent of scoring at over 50 percent in the post. His post FG percentage is actually very low - in the 30's. People complain about his 3 ball, but look at Curry/Thompson. You want natural gifted shooters like Porzingis to be that rare player who has the green light to "get them up" from outside. Any time Porzingis has a look as a jumpshot he should take it.

In a way we miss Calderon on offense. He was smart in directing and organizing the offense. I think the team's record with Lopez/Porzingis/Melo/Afflalo/Calderon all healthy and playing is quite good - of a playoff team. Ever since Melo rolled his ankle, it's just been one thing after another with this team and our playoff hopes have gone down the tubes with it.

I'm not upset with Afflalo, he's given his best and done what he can. The team doesn't have the depth to deal with injuries to their veteran/top 5 players. Since Melo has rolled his ankle, I believe we've had 3 games where the top 5 players on the team have been available. Have gone 2-1 in that stretch. If we don't have these guys the rest of the way, I can't see us even finishing at .500 (41 wins). We need Afflalo, Jose, Melo, KP and Lopez to be healthy the rest of the way.

Good post - I agree with you on most points. We should be running a 2 man game more often with KP and having him actually coming off screens looking for his jump shot.

Did you say "coming off screens?" Don't you know that we are amongst the worst screening teams in the league? Aflalo should be allowed to go through shooting slumps,but he is not rebounding nor passing the ball to open shooters. Why don't they (coaches, teammates, or even the media) ask him why he is not making a bigger effort to pass the ball and rebound?

Our back court is terrible at defending, scoring and rebounding.

How do you know what coaches and teammates are saying to him??

Because the dude has been playing like this all season. He is not rebounding nor dishing

nyknickzingis wrote:Our backcourt is not great, and it is unlikely to improve via free agency unless they are able to sign Conley or DeRozan or Batum. As is, the best thing the Knicks can do is hope Grant improves next season. Grant is already there in many areas, his main weakness is his 3 ball/outside shot. He delivers passes well, drives well, doesn't finish great but can finish. He's just a poor outside shooter and that is what he has to work on. Defensively Grant is very solid.

At 2, I'd love to get a Batum/DeRozan, but realistically will this happen? Don't know. I'm ok with signing another short term guy like Courtney Lee to pair with Afflalo, keep Galloway as well. If Afflalo's minutes can be reduced to 25 next year, it will go a long way for him and us. As I said in the previous post, his post game is very good. He's decent at spotting up. The main weakness is giving him the ball from mid-range and telling him to go to work as if he's some star. We have to cut that out next season.

Wow, i have to say that you're seeing a much different J.Grant than i've been seeing. He needs to get better at much more than just his shot. Very solid defense?? I don't see it but it's ok. His passing needs work and his finishing at the rim definitely needs work cause he misses easy layups, he missed one that he was all alone on the other night and he's missing free throws. I do see things in him that i think he'll get better at but he needs to work his butt off this off season and i think he will. Hopefully we'll see a whole new player in him next season.