One thing that struck me about the team this season, especially the last couple of games, is that for the most part the players dont seem to understand their role on the team, and that is something Isiah needs to get in their heads. I think curry has a good sense of what he has to do, but guys like jeffries, balkman, and rose need to realize they are in their for defensive purposes. I don't care if Jeffries is 3-4 inches taller than the opposing SF, he has to stop calling for the ball because he is horrible on offense - he is there for defense. Same with balkman chucking up 3 pointers when he can't hit them, and Rose calling for the ball in the blocks (when he's 6-4 going against PF's). Crawford seems to have stopped chucking the ball, but if Curry is being defended well and the offense is anemic, that is when he needs to try and create something - same goes for marbury. These guys seem tentative when they should be aggressive, and put up bad shots when they should be feeding the post - how many times have we seen Curry score 3 or 4 buckets in a row, and then the knicks completely ignore him for the next few possessions.

DLee has shown a pretty decent touch from 14 feet in, so instead of him standing around the top of the key, they should tell him to get to the baseline whenever crawford or marbury is penetrating, so he can become a dependable option. Frye needs to post up guys that are smaller than him or get in position to be open when curry kicks it out for the jumper.

Isiah needs to sit down and make sure people know what they are here for so we don't have jeffries demanding the ball early in the game, or balkman spotting up for 3 pointers, etc. it's a problem that was there last year but looks like it has gotten a lot worse this year.

Posted by nyballer:

One thing that struck me about the team this season, especially the last couple of games, is that for the most part the players dont seem to understand their role on the team, and that is something Isiah needs to get in their heads. I think curry has a good sense of what he has to do, but guys like jeffries, balkman, and rose need to realize they are in their for defensive purposes. I don't care if Jeffries is 3-4 inches taller than the opposing SF, he has to stop calling for the ball because he is horrible on offense - he is there for defense. Same with balkman chucking up 3 pointers when he can't hit them, and Rose calling for the ball in the blocks (when he's 6-4 going against PF's). Crawford seems to have stopped chucking the ball, but if Curry is being defended well and the offense is anemic, that is when he needs to try and create something - same goes for marbury. These guys seem tentative when they should be aggressive, and put up bad shots when they should be feeding the post - how many times have we seen Curry score 3 or 4 buckets in a row, and then the knicks completely ignore him for the next few possessions.

DLee has shown a pretty decent touch from 14 feet in, so instead of him standing around the top of the key, they should tell him to get to the baseline whenever crawford or marbury is penetrating, so he can become a dependable option. Frye needs to post up guys that are smaller than him or get in position to be open when curry kicks it out for the jumper.

Isiah needs to sit down and make sure people know what they are here for so we don't have jeffries demanding the ball early in the game, or balkman spotting up for 3 pointers, etc. it's a problem that was there last year but looks like it has gotten a lot worse this year.

You're a year too late. This was an indictment on Larry. There is no possible way that this can be happening under Zeke.

Posted by nyballer:

One thing that struck me about the team this season, especially the last couple of games, is that for the most part the players dont seem to understand their role on the team, and that is something Isiah needs to get in their heads. I think curry has a good sense of what he has to do, but guys like jeffries, balkman, and rose need to realize they are in their for defensive purposes. I don't care if Jeffries is 3-4 inches taller than the opposing SF, he has to stop calling for the ball because he is horrible on offense - he is there for defense. Same with balkman chucking up 3 pointers when he can't hit them, and Rose calling for the ball in the blocks (when he's 6-4 going against PF's). Crawford seems to have stopped chucking the ball, but if Curry is being defended well and the offense is anemic, that is when he needs to try and create something - same goes for marbury. These guys seem tentative when they should be aggressive, and put up bad shots when they should be feeding the post - how many times have we seen Curry score 3 or 4 buckets in a row, and then the knicks completely ignore him for the next few possessions.

DLee has shown a pretty decent touch from 14 feet in, so instead of him standing around the top of the key, they should tell him to get to the baseline whenever crawford or marbury is penetrating, so he can become a dependable option. Frye needs to post up guys that are smaller than him or get in position to be open when curry kicks it out for the jumper.

Isiah needs to sit down and make sure people know what they are here for so we don't have jeffries demanding the ball early in the game, or balkman spotting up for 3 pointers, etc. it's a problem that was there last year but looks like it has gotten a lot worse this year.

I agree to some extent. The team looked lost today. IT shuffled the rotation because he could not get any defense from his starters and there were a few bad plays on offense. The crazy thing is as bad as they played, they got it to within 10 with 4 minutes to go, but the lack of defense again killed us. I am not too upset about these last two losses because the team had a draining previous week, but I do expect the Knicks to play Seattle and Portland competitively and win at least one of those two games. IT needs to keep a short rotation and needs to play Lee more and Jeffries needs to find his role on offense.

The fundamental problem is that we have a drunk idiot owner who was given the team by his rich daddy and an arrogant a-hole Team President/GM who is completely inept.

I think Jared is really screwing up our offense. I also think that Eddy does not pass out of the double team efficiently, which leaves our guards in disarray as far as shot selection (many times there are few secs left on the clock).

Isiah tinkers too much. He had a rotation with the same guys minus Jeffries, plus Lee and they had something good going. Also, this team needs to practice and not to lollygag in LA before and on the night of New Yrs. There is also no need to play Stephon 44 mins when the "story" is about his aching knees and such.

Anyone know what is up with Cato? A couple games ago he was in a suit. Did he get injured? Did Isiah think he was making him look bad by outplaying JJ?