nyknickzingis wrote:The Knicks have one of the best front courts in the NBA. At least top 7 in the league.Lopez's PER is 17.4
Kritsap's PER is 18.4
Melo's PER is 20.4
DWill's PER is 17.2
We've got 4 players there that can make a heck of a NBA front court rotation. All we really need is to sign an athletic wing who can defend the 3 and 2 spots, which I'm sure Phil will look at. I'm not interested in paying big money to Lance Thomas. I'm hoping/expecting Kristaps to get better and so will his PER and level as a player over the next year or two.
Now if you look at our guards.
Afflalo's PER is 12.1
Calderon's PER is 12.3
Galloway's PER is 11.9
People make it all about Jose, but Jose's not even our worst guard on the roster. They are all pretty below average. We don't have a single starting caliber guard on the roster. Galloway's been given minutes and while he is better defensively, his PER and level of play indicates a player that isn't starting caliber either.
Now lets look at another "system" ball club. The one Phil really loves to compare to. Their guards.
Ginobli's PER is 19.2
Parker's PER is 17.8
Mill's PER is 15.8
And of course their front court is loaded with Leonard (25+ PER) Aldridge (21 PER) and Duncan (16.9 PER)
I can't believe people actually buy this entire Triangle is the problem, Phil Jackson doesn't know basketball theory. This is a talent issue. The team has made only 3 major moves. All were for the front court. Re-signing Melo in 2014. Drafting Kristaps with a high lottery pick in 2015. Signing Lopez to a major contract. Now it's time to make some big investments on guards, on backcourt players.
I'd like to see us with some balance of talent with regards to front court and backcourt talent and then see what the real problem is. You could have Greg Popovic as a head coach running his system, and good luck with him having success with Afflalo/Calderon as his top 2 guards. He just wouldn't.
If Phil can bring back Lopez/Porzingis/Melo/Williams and make 2 changes to our backcourt, with players that are actually proven NBA starters and capable to give you 30-35 minutes a night there, we'll be a completely different team next year. I'd bring back Grant/Galloway as backups. I'd replace Lance Thomas with someone better on defense at the perimeter (Lance is better as a stretch 4, when we need someone who can stop the ball and be a good perimeter defender). My coaching choices would be Luke or Thibs. I don't want Rambis back as head coach, I would like to see him back as an associate head coach.
Nice summary. It's clear Phil/Triangle/Melo are not the problems. Horrid backcourt was exposed early in the season and every team takes maximum advantage. Not much we can do with such suckiness except replace our backcourt. Hopefully that happens this summer.
Also agree that Walton or Thibs is a likely replacement for Rambo, who's a good guy but not HC material.
