To me this is more a coach issue, those pieces aren't bad that they have assemble. I would fire their conditioning coach if JJ and Curry still appear to be out of shape and if that is the case, I would fine both players until they reach a reasonable shape. Isiah should go to the coach and tell him to pick a lineup and stick with it. Don't change it on a whim or some notion that this could work against this club. This isn't baseball, it is basketball. YOu can't have 16 different starting rotations. If he has a 2nd unit let that second unit stay together. If he feels more comfortable letting Frye come off the bench then stick with that and don't say anything to counter. I would move Q for a jumpshooting SF who must likely won't play any defense but who can knock down a shot. He is talking about the team has no energy yet is playing veterans who are in their 30s.

Posted by EnySpree:

Everyone should clearly understand how I feel about it. I think this team is good as it is. The Knicks are better than anyone in the East division and should at the very least be sitting on top of the East Division. The players are not all of a sudden retards cuz Larry is on the team. If you watch games and know the game of basketball you understand what is going on.

edit: yeah I think the Knicks need a small fwd but Larry seems to want a full blow up of the team. that's just not right. I think that if he coached to win the Knicks players by now would be showing that they can play and would just be looking for that finnishing piece.

[Edited by - enyspree on 12-16-2005 08:08 AM]

what are you saying? They have quit on him? He's not putting them in positions to succeed?

Posted by EnySpree:

Everyone should clearly understand how I feel about it. I think this team is good as it is. The Knicks are better than anyone in the East division and should at the very least be sitting on top of the East Division. The players are not all of a sudden retards cuz Larry is on the team. If you watch games and know the game of basketball you understand what is going on.

I don't know what is going on in practice but whoever is telling these guys that they should all be crashing the board for every rebound is crazy. Nate's rebounding numbers look great but compare that to the fastbreak points that the man he is guarding gets. I rather get beat in the rebounding department, if it allows players to get back on defense. Besides Nate is great at disrupting fastbreaks and sometimes picks up an offensive charge. Another piece of advice, I would think about using oxygen tanks on the sidelines. EVeryone of those players look like they are about to collapse heading back to the bench. Leave Curry and Frye in there for as long as possible. The problem you have is that neither is skill at the art of rebounding that is why I would start Lee at the 3 and let him do the dirty work, if he gets into foul trouble then I would move to Ariza. Also I would have Mo as Frye's back up no matter what. Mo has given you more than what you were expecting. He is scoring, he gets rebounds, and yes he is playing defense. He has taken some nice charges. JJ should be Curry backup plain and simple. He is a big body who you don't mind picking up "hard fouls" plus he looks to post up from time to time (looks good doing too). Your 2 guard is the problem, much as I got on Houston about not being a franchise guy he was able to knock down shots whenever, we don't have that and we need to get that. I would just play Craw there because he has shown to be more capable of scoring then Q. As far as Marbury is concern, if you want the guy to be fresh throughout the game, then he shouldn't be penetrating early into the game. He should just pass the ball in the first half of games, and pentrate only when the Knicks are behind, to slow down the game. He is effective that way.

Posted by misterearl:

Eny Spree - this is a team of kids. Your expecetations totally dismiss the progress made around the league in franchises that have ALSO improved.

This new journey is NOT for the impatient

Yeah but what have you been watching? Every team in the league no matter how bad they are have a set starting line-up and a working rotation. They have a plan of attack on offense and have a game plan on how to win.

That's all I ask. If we had this record and all these things were happening I would not be saying fire Larry. I would be participating in the "Fire Isiah" thread, lol(I have yet to comment in that thread ).

edit: (I think that will be my new sig)

[Edited by - enyspree on 12-16-2005 09:04 AM]

Posted by BRIGGS:

Posted by misterearl:

Eny Spree - this is a team of kids. Your expecetations totally dismiss the progress made around the league in franchises that have ALSO improved.

This new journey is NOT for the impatient

Bulls avg age starting line up last year 22--47 wins
Pheinix suns satrting lineup last year 24 avg age 24
NY Knicks starting line up
Curry-23
Frye-22
Q-rich 25
Crawfor 25
Starbury 28
and all of those vet will be a year older early into 2006
but for purpose avg age--- 24.7
and that does not include our very hIGH paid bench and the fact that most guys are 30+ on the bench with a few exceptions.

Its not the age--you see 19 YO college basketball players who play harder than these knicks. what i saw the last two games is a disagrce to NY--these guys look disinterested, they dont care and forget the malarchy about starting minutes etc--play hard and good things happen. Guys like Crawford--he is scared of contact--no one helps nate when he gets pummeled--its the mentality of the team lOW IQ and soft--not winners and they wont be unless radical change happens.

Nice post.

Regardless though Larry's job is to work with what he has. 21 games and it still feels like pre-season in NY.

Posted by BRIGGS:

the one way to start is within

guys have to play harder and smarter and value the ball--if you dont value the ball your sit


as for the team--im not going to get into a big hindig about trades because i doubt anything happens
as of now

curry hurt?

C James
F Frye
F Q-Rich
G Marbury
PG Crawford
F Taylor
F Ariza
PG Penny

If you were coaching I would be ok with what you were saying. This is all I ask. Just put the players out there and play to win. No way can you go on the way things are now and just think if you make countless trades AGAIN that it woill all of a sudden fix everything. Guys still have to go through the gelling process.

Posted by EnySpree:

If you were coaching I would be ok with what you were saying. This is all I ask. Just put the players out there and play to win. No way can you go on the way things are now and just think if you make countless trades AGAIN that it woill all of a sudden fix everything. Guys still have to go through the gelling process.

Well, here is the thing, you can either play to win - which MAY mean more of the vets and less of the rooks. Brown is clearly playing to teach. Heck, Nate would have probably gotten zero burn and I am sure MoT would have gotten more playing time. Curry has been on and off the entire year and if we were to only play to win, he may have not gotten as many minutes as he has. Marbury would have dominated the ball and JC would be chucking. I think you will see that you can't have both right away - play to win AND play the youth. And that's why it hurts.

the first questions we have to ask are these:

1. will marbury be able to change his ways and play in lb's system?
2. will lb change his ways to accomodate him?

ONLY AFTER those questions are answered, will we be able "salvage" any type of season.

it doesn't look like lb will bend his ways. so now it's up to isiah to either force him to, fire him, or let him operate as he is and get players in here that can fit into his system.

i have no idea what we're going to do...none whatsoever.

Find a way to deal Marbury so Frye can emerge as the new leader and face of this franchise.