nixluva wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

djsunyc wrote:

nixluva wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

djsunyc wrote:nobody knows what the results will be but the knicks still have alot of work to do to "win now".

b/c of rose + noah's injury history (as well as noah's all out play which will get him hurt again), the knicks have to get 2 quality backup pg's and 2 quality backup bigs that can play center.

then they need another scorer off the bench and depth in general. as it stands right now, the knicks have about $4 mil and no MLE b/c of the cap space. they need to fill all those spots with that and minimum deals.

the starting 5 right now will be expected to play 35+ mins each. it's a really long season...and it will be a tough fight this year in the east for slots 2-8. i think the knicks just need to make the playoffs - regardless of how it is. even if they squeak in with 41 wins and the 8th seed. and just hope everyone is healthy once it starts. if they don't make the playoffs then you would have to say the phil jackson era has been on par with his predecessors.

Exactly. And this is completely his team. At this point, you can't keep blaming the situation he inherited. He'll be 40 months into a 5 year contract after this season.

This was Phil's team before these moves. Why are you talking as if you're a fan of some other team looking to assign blame??? You don't sound like someone who is interested in looking for how the team CAN be successful as much as how they can fail.

Yes there is a risk of injury. That isn't the same as a guarantee that things will go wrong. I'm not reading anything from you about how this could workout with the players in great shape going into next season. How do you think the players will function together and why?

djsunyc, the Knicks are NOT going to have to play their starters 35+ minutes a game! I mean come on man. At least try to be less biased. Phil has done this MANY times before and knows how to handle a team with older vets. Phil and JH will be very much aware of taking care of the players who need to watch their minutes.

while i am biased (and pretend not to be) the bottom line is results. fans constantly rationalize moves their teams make. but ultimately, if the team isnt winning or making the playoffs in a league where more teams make it than dont, then its a failure. so my point is that if the knicks dont make the playoffs, then its a failure like past regimes. doesnt matter how many picks you didnt trade or cap space or whatever. 3 years in and phil has made his huge free agent splash and acquisitions. missing the playoffs again would be indicative of his team building ability. nothing ive said here is biased or "haterade". i think thats a fair argument that many would agree with.

They may not now but they will in 6 months if the team is bad.

The odds of the team being "bad" are not that high IMO. They may not go gangbusters but they shouldn't be "bad". This is a quality starting unit. What about it should lead to a "bad" performance? Part of the key to success is what Phil is able to do with the bench. That is still up in the air. We have to hope he can manage to squeeze a decent PG into the little cap he has left.

I guess it depends on what you mean by bad. 40 months into Phil's time here, I would consider missing the playoffs (even with an above .500 record) bad. A 1st round exit would be at best neutral. Making it to the 2nd round would be good. If the players all repeated their production from last year, I highly doubt the team would make the playoffs. You're counting on most players doing better than their recent seasons, which statistically is a hard position to justify.