BRIGGS wrote:

EnySpree wrote:Question should be, what do we need?... we have a good team. We need to identify the weaknesses and try to improve. I don't want to get just any player just because we have money. We all should have learned that lesson this past off season.

We could obviously use a upgrade at point guard, but calderon and Grant are holding it down nicely. We don't want to disrupt chemistry and we want guys that work hard and are smart and skilled like the group we currently have

I would say #1 overall is that we ve improved our team defense. Defense and heart with some timely shooting has won us games early in the year. As much as I laid it on Jose C hes been somewhat unheralded part of the team. Hes been able to sustain on defense and hes become much more efficient on O.

What would make us better? We could use some post scoring some more consistent bench play from individuals--as a team weve done well of the bench. Id like to see Lopez avg 10-12 points at 55% and I was hoping for 10-12 points 45% from D Williams(and an ability to score 16-188 if Melo went out) Were 14 games in--not thinking of FA now --this is a time for organic growth. Lets get better with what we have--lets be opportunistic and smart with Westchester and then we can look at other NBA opportunities if needed around game 30-35

Jose's last 5 games 9.4ppg, 4.4assists, 27mpg, .607FG%, 1.4TOs

That is excellent guard play, and you know everyone on the team loves Jose. He has really stabalized the position and a guy like Grant is really going to benefit.

martin wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:What about B.Jennings? I know i wouldn't want the ball dominant player he's been for Detroit but if Fisher and Phil could get him to buy in to what they would want him to do he would be a good player to get. I think in Detroit they pretty much allowed him to do whatever he wanted which is why he was so ball dominant with them. I know he's also coming back from a ACL injury so we'd obviously need to make sure he's alright but the kid can definitely ball out.

Not a Phil or Triangle type of guard. Needs ball in hands, poor outside shooter, small, below average defender.

Well good cause we don't run the triangle offense.

fishmike wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

EnySpree wrote:Question should be, what do we need?... we have a good team. We need to identify the weaknesses and try to improve. I don't want to get just any player just because we have money. We all should have learned that lesson this past off season.

We could obviously use a upgrade at point guard, but calderon and Grant are holding it down nicely. We don't want to disrupt chemistry and we want guys that work hard and are smart and skilled like the group we currently have

I would say #1 overall is that we ve improved our team defense. Defense and heart with some timely shooting has won us games early in the year. As much as I laid it on Jose C hes been somewhat unheralded part of the team. Hes been able to sustain on defense and hes become much more efficient on O.

What would make us better? We could use some post scoring some more consistent bench play from individuals--as a team weve done well of the bench. Id like to see Lopez avg 10-12 points at 55% and I was hoping for 10-12 points 45% from D Williams(and an ability to score 16-188 if Melo went out) Were 14 games in--not thinking of FA now --this is a time for organic growth. Lets get better with what we have--lets be opportunistic and smart with Westchester and then we can look at other NBA opportunities if needed around game 30-35

I give you props for the backpedal on Jose. He's been great, a really good player. He's been good enough on defense but really shooting it well again. He takes fantastic care of the ball. He's a walking textbook on how to protect the ball with your body.

Jose's last 5 games 9.4ppg, 4.4assists, 27mpg, .607FG%, 1.4TOs

That is excellent guard play, and you know everyone on the team loves Jose. He has really stabalized the position and a guy like Grant is really going to benefit.

Jose has been playing great ... my problem with him is that he still cannot get any penetration. He needs to give up the ball really high because of the pressure that he can't beat.

clyderules wrote:I've seen him dribble right under the opponent's basket and never look to shoot even once. A few of the times he had easy baskets. Look up Jose!

Nash used to do this all the time. Not saying it's right or wrong, but I've seen other guys do it.

herkyJerky wrote:

Nalod wrote:Melo for Winslow and Dragic.

BTW, I don't see Melo as one wanting to leave nor do I want him exiled.

Yeah I don't see that happening either. I'm going to wait and see how this season shakes out before I start to really speculate on who to go after hardcore. If Grant develops enough, and he's ready to start as PG next season or even later this season, I might be willing to wait another year to go after Westbrook, when it comes to the big name marquee max-worthy dudes. But again, this all depends on how things shake out this season. If the guys we currently have on our bench develop into players we can rely on with great confidence night in and night out and continue to have an impact on the game, anything is possible. Also, you have to see who gets injured during the season and how bad it is. I think it's too early for any realistic decisions to be made now, but it is fun to talk about.

Grant is a key variable in our FA period(s). We all know he is not shooting great, but he still draws contact easily and gets to the line. The kid just needs to shoot at 40% on his jump shots like he did last year and we are SET at PG imo. He is a near special player, maybe even special because of what is upstairs and that Pedigree. We shouldn't be spoiled by Porzingis' minutes and overlook that Grant is a pretty important part on this team. He is like the 2nd pg really as Gallo seems to be more of a SG, though he brings the ball up. I think Grant is going to be getting 25 minutes a game solid, not sure if he starts as Jose is just playing out of this world right now.

Man, FA just has success written all over it. Let's all just stay healthy...

Its gonna be interesting to see if Phil goes that route. The cap space they have next year is 19 million which is enough for Whiteside. However that's assuming Afflalo doesn't opt out and they still need to pay Galloway.

clyderules wrote:You could do Batum, Bazemore and Lin and greatly improve our guards without breaking the bank. Willy should be coming to help the front court. Big improvement!

Of those 3 Batum would be the best because he could come in and just be a better version Lance Thomas. The role for a superior swing defender who takes open shots would fit his game perfectly so we could see where he would be useful. Al lot of Phil's championship teams have superior swingmen defenders Ariza, Pippen, Metta. Heck a lot of championship teams in general need a superior swingman defender.

I doubt Dolan will ever let the knicks have Lin on the roster ever again.

As for Bazemore if Phil thought he was a legit 3rd option it might be worth the price, the exact same could be said for Beal who the wizards legit might let leave due to his injury issues.