Some random, pre-season musings from a bored fan impatient for the season.

Imo, we have one of the weaker starting 5's in the league, with big question marks throughout the starting front line and just one bonafide all star. Think about it: which starter other than Marbury can you say with confidence is better than an average NBA starter at his position? I also think we have perhaps the best 6-13 of any team in the league. (Ironic, because you'd think a big payroll would get you the stars, but we all know the reasons why we are where we are). Normally, I'd say what we've got is the recipe for a mediocre season at best. You need strong starters and a strong bench to be great, but most teams don't have both, and if I had to choose one, I'd take the starting squad.

It's particularly hard to see how the fact that our 10 - 13 players stack up well against other teams' will translate into a lot of W's, as they'll get DNP's for most of the season barring significant injuries. But think of some of the guys who might not crack the rotation -- they're not bad ... H20, Rose, Lee, MoT, Jackie B, Penny, Nate (god forbid). One of the biggest challenges for IT and and Larry is to take advantage of these guys through trade or creative substitutions.

I'm confident in Larry. In my view, he's the wildcard. If we win more than 45 and/or make it past the first round, and a guy can hope, I think he'll be a big reason why.

Thoughts?

i think we have a good 1-2-3 (at least average but i think slightly above it)
it's the 4 and 5 that's questionable in the starting lineup

but james DID start for a 52 win team last year

yep, we acquired two starters on 50 win teams from the west.

What's with the red ink, man?

TRU, i look at your message:

this is a .500 team, at best

Then I look at your signature:

Let it be known: I believe in the Knicks this year-- deep into the playoffs, I swear to you my brothers...

You see what i see - they don't match at all.

Then you know what I think? I'm in the exact same place. I can easly go from one minute thinking, "What a horses**t team this is, a bunch of overpriced crap put together with no "intelligent design" - and then 2 minutes later I can think, "Oh man, we got the youth, athleticism, upgrades, depth, finally have a 7'1" with a 6'11" next to him, wati till Nate gets out there, etc."

I'm all over the place with this team right now!!!

But i am definitely infused with the 5 additions. Right now it's all the dreaded "potential" - but you gotta start somewhere, right??

Below is FOXSports rankings of players, by position. We can quibble with a lot of this. Some of the choices and ommissions seem wrong to me. But on balance, it's pretty representative of the best players in the game. the point is, there's only one guy on the Knicks in all of these rankings. We're talking top 80 or so players in the league. We have just one!

Nets have a guy mentioned in 4 of 5 starting positions. Detroit, 5 of 5. Miami, 4 of 5.

For us to be any good, we need at least 3, probably 4 guys making these rankings next year. So, the rookies need to make a lot of noise, we need several guys to play above the level they played at last year, and/or Larry needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

Maybe this all shouldn't be too surprising. We had a lousy team last year, so, our players aren't going to get great rankings. But it's interesting to note that we traded away 2 guys who were on this list, KT and Nazr, and didn't get back guys considered in the top 15-20 at their position. Putting more faith in guys improving or rookies.

Point Guard
1. Allen Iverson, 76ers
2. Steve Nash, Suns
3. Jason Kidd, Nets
4. Chauncey Billups, Pistons
5. Baron Davis, Warriors
6. Mike Bibby, Kings
7. Stephon Marbury, Knicks
8. Gilbert Arenas, Wizards
9. Tony Parker, Spurs
10. Andre Miller, Nuggets
Also receiving consideration: Sam Cassell, Los Angeles Clippers; Kirk Hinrich, Chicago Bulls; Luke Ridnour, Seattle SuperSonics; Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks; Jamaal Tinsley, Indiana Pacers; Jason Williams, Miami Heat.

Shooting Guard
1. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
2. Ray Allen, Seattle SuperSonics
3. Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers
4. Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets
5. Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets
6. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs
7. Steve Francis, Orlando Magic
8. Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks
9. Richard Hamilton, Detroit Pistons
10. Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks
Also under consideration: Larry Hughes, Cleveland Cavaliers; Michael Finley, free agent; Jason Richardson, Golden State Warriors; Jalen Rose, Toronto Raptors; Cuttino Mobley, Los Angeles Clippers; Stephen Jackson, Indiana Pacers.

Small Forward
1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Shawn Marion, Phoenix Suns
3. Andrei Kirilenko, Utah Jazz
4. Richard Jefferson, New Jersey Nets
5. Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers
6. Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics
7. Peja Stojakovic, Sacramento Kings
8. Rashard Lewis, Seattle SuperSonics
9. Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets
10. Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers
Also receiving consideration: Grant Hill, Orlando Magic; Tayshaun Prince, Detroit Pistons; Shane Battier, Memphis Grizzlies; Bobby Simmons, Milwaukee Bucks; James Posey and Antoine Walker, Miami Heat; Corey Maggette, Los Angeles Clippers; and Wally Szczerbiak, Minnesota Timberwolves.

Power Forward
1. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
2. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves
3. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
4. Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana Pacers
5. Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers
6. Rasheed Wallace, Detroit Pistons
7. Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors
8. Chris Webber, Philadelphia 76ers
9. Antawn Jamison, Washington Wizards
10. Zach Randolph, Portland Trail Blazers
Also given consideration were: Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies; Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Sacramento Kings; Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz; Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats; Kenyon Martin, Denver Nuggets; Kurt Thomas, Phoenix Suns; Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic; Troy Murphy, Golden State Warriors; Udonis Haslem, Miami Heat.

Center
1. Shaquille O'Neal, Miami Heat
2. Yao Ming, Houston Rockets
3. Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns
4. Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons
5. Brad Miller, Sacramento Kings
6. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland Cavaliers
7. Marcus Camby, Denver Nuggets
8. Jamaal Magloire, New Orleans Hornets
9. Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia 76ers
10. Tyson Chandler, Chicago Bulls

Others receiver consideration: Eddy Curry, Chicago Bulls; Erick Dampier, Dallas Mavericks; Primoz Brezec, Charlotte Bobcats; Nenad Krstic, New Jersey Nets; Nazr Mohammed, San Antonio Spurs; Lorenzen Wright, Memphis Grizzlies; Chris Kamen, Los Angeles Clippers; Joel Przybilla, Portland Trail Blazers; Chris Mihm, Los Angeles Lakers.

I think if we do the right thing and start

Marbury/Nate
Q/Crawford
TT/Ariza
Sweetney/Rose
JJ/Frye

That isn't all that bad, I would then give Rose 15, Nate 15, Crawford 20 and French Frie 5-10, and Give Ariza 15-20 behind TT, we could be a good team as long as the defense is at high intensity from our second unit we can win 45 games

I'm not sure I would call Mo Taylor and Malik Rose depth. I would call those unmovable contracts.


TT = Depth? I don't think so.

This team is Frankenstein- there are over paid scrubs & unproven rookies. Lets just say Frye, Nate, Lee & Ariza start contributing to what would be a reasonable level of performance. None of them are superstars.

There is one all star on this team- Marbury. And he is going to be on the wrong side of 30 before any of our rookies can actually possibly develop.

Unless we get KG or some other unlikely scenario, we'll be fortunate to be 500 and that will be due to Larry Brown magic dust which doesn't last after he leaves mid season next year.