Kemet wrote:When the NBA regular season start each team need 9 to 11 players going strong in their rotation each game to gain a gelling chemistry amongst several teammates throughout the first 25 games. The standard 7 man rotation are mostly used during the postseason games. The Knicks are starting the 2016-17 regular season having 8 to 10 new players on the roster again, the Knicks has decade cycle of adding 8 to 10 new players to the roster each season need to be change to 3 to 5 new players to become a successful winning team each season.
The Knicks having only 1 guard (Sasha) return from last season, plus equating a 6.7 natural big-guard Lance Thomas into a forward last season lead to early injuries to Lance Thomas missing half of the midseason games.
O'Quinn receiving spot minutes and DNP every other game because of foolish coaching last season never received much of a chance to be part of the rotation, plus all the hype on KP shooting 3 balls never let KP establish a inside scoring and rebounding game leaving him still a raw rookie for the 2nd season. And Carmelo Anthony showed his 32 age after playing the first 40 games last season.
Team Defense will be the number one weakness for the Knicks this following season again, the Knicks captain Carmelo Anthony has never showed much effort on defense for his teammates to follow in suit to become an average defensive team. The Knicks bench unit were their best defensive lineup last year.
The Knicks offensive scoring may be the bright side of the team in the 2016-17 season depending on how coach Hornacek system divide the three 20 point scorer players in the rotation (Melo, Rose, KP). Coach Hornacek likes a lot of ball movement and uptempo running fast break baskets. The Knicks having a great screening/passing center Noah at the top of the post will provide much scoring in a halfcourt set.
I still believe KP coming off the bench for 15 to 25 points, 7 to 10 rebounds, and 1 to 3 blocks could help the team rotation better alongside Jennings, Lance Thomas, and Quinn.
The Knicks have a very solid top 7 rotation players, which is very good to start with. Then you're only talking about 2-3 additions to fill in the full rotation. That should be very doable for Hornacek with this roster.
We do have a lot of new players but hopefully they can gain chemistry fairly quickly. Sometimes when you have quality players it can reduce the time needed to gel. Hornacek will probably look to simplify things so that the players have less to think about early on and can just play off instinct.
KP was not Physically strong enough nor quite sharp enough in the post to spend a lot of time there last year. How they used him was still not quite perfect but I doubt that it had any lasting impact on his development. MOST of a players improvement comes from summer work on their skills and physical training. KP should come back stronger and more skilled this season. Hornacek sounds like he has a pretty good plan to use KP everywhere.
I disagree with your take that the Knicks D will be a weakness. For one thing Lee, KP and Noah are strong defenders and Noah in particular can help everyone to be in the right spots and stay connected on D. Melo is a better defender than you are giving him credit for. Melo will likely not be the worst defender in the bunch. Rose is the guy that will need the most help. As a PG he's gonna face the most challenge from super quick guards working off Screens. So that is always a tough assignment.
I agree that the Knicks should be strong offensively. I disagree with KP coming off the bench!!! NO WAY will that happen. Besides Hornacek has already stated that he intends to stagger his top players rather than have a Platoon rotation. There will always be a couple of top players on the floor.
