I agree with you Cosmic. The trouble is that Crawford is a dribbling-based 2 guard. They both need to dribble to play their games effectively. This is one of the reasons I espouse trading one or the other, but more likely Crawford.

The Knicks could use Artest, but I don't think just Crawford will get him. The Knicks can also use a true spot up and or catch and shoot player. Even Randolph dribbles before he shoots!

If the Knicks address these 2 needs: A wing defensive player and a real "outside shooter" they are a pretty good team.

Who's out there? Maybe Wally and Artest. Both are big risks.

oohah

Steph is still playing the Point, they just make the switch to help him conserve some energy. You try guarding Jameer Nelson with no help! basically the knicks just don't have a very mobile and quick defense when you have Zach, Curry in there and then you want Steph at this point in his career to be a shutdown PG? That's just not gonna happen. The way that msot teams are able to do it is by having a good level of defenders at every position and then they play with cohesion on D. It's absolutely necessary to have a good help defense, but not to overcommit.

NO ONE ever stepped over to help deny Jameer's initial move to penetrate and NO ONE reacted quickly enough to deter his layups. When this team can play with more awareness of what is happening with the ball then we'll see some improvement. As it is, guys tend to lock in on their man and totally ignore the man with the ball. You just can't play like that. Then to make it worse there was a total breakdown and they left Howard all alone or one of the shooters wide open. It's something they can fix, but will they is the question.

With regard to Jamal imparticular. If he's not scoring a lot, then we're in trouble, cuz he's not really going to stop anyone and he makes a poor partner defensively with Steph. This is where I think we could use Mardy. It has be him cuz we don't have another defensive guard who can run the offense as well as him. I'd like to see him get some minutes to see if he can help to give us the defensive presence we need. Having him or Jared eventually be the 9th man in games is an inevitable move.

And really the hyperbole is really being laid on thick Cosmic, eh???

It has destroyed our back court.
The Back Court is averaging 37 points and 13 assist per game this year
compared to 32 points and 9 assist(not even going to do Q's numbers)

The team is averaging 15 turnovers compared to 17 last season

The Team is averaging 20 assists compared to 18 last season

On the other hand you can see the profound mental effect it has had on Marbury. He is downright disinterested at times. He is much more inefficient. He's lost at times.
Marbury looked more disinterested at the point then he does now.

Marbury scored 20 plus points once in his first 20 games, he has already done it once

Marbury scored 15 plus plus 7 times in his first 20 games, he has done it twice in four games this season

Marbury Got 7 or more assist three times in his first 20 games, he already has 7 assists in three games


I a little heavy on the I hate JC sauce.......... we know, know need to spice it up with a Bam, Emeril

[Edited by - Anji on 11-10-2007 1:17 PM]

Posted by BlueSeats:

Having not seen the game, why didn't Nate get the assignment on Nelson?

To borrow the phrase from Nixluva, "at this point in his career" why are we still reliant on Marbury for ill-suited roles?

[Edited by - blueseats on 11-10-2007 1:03 PM]

Nate is hurt.
He was riding the bicycle more that playing the game
Isiah trying to pick his poison.
It's a joke - the team under the eye of one of the greatest guards of all time have such a garbage at this position.

Posted by Anji:

And really the hyperbole is really being laid on thick Cosmic, eh???

It has destroyed our back court.
The Back Court is averaging 37 points and 13 assist per game this year
compared to 32 points and 9 assist(not even going to do Q's numbers)

The team is averaging 15 turnovers compared to 17 last season

The Team is averaging 20 assists compared to 18 last season

Marbury scored 20 plus points once in his first 20 games, he has already done it once

Marbury scored 15 plus plus 7 times in his first 20 games, he has done it twice in four games this season

Marbury Got 7 or more assist three times in his first 20 games, he already has 7 assists in three games

I a little heavy on the I hate JC sauce.......... we know, know need to spice it up with a Bam, Emeril

It has destroyed it in this sense.

You have placed the reliability of the offense on a guard who is inconsistent and a poor decision maker.

You have relegated your once high scoring guard to a role he is not very good at. Marbury is not a role player and by doing so you've devalued the position he plays and the potential impact another player could have there.


My point is this: Crawford is a disaster to watch handling the point guard duties. With Marbury you can only go two ways: You either turn him loose and allow him to play his game or you move him off the team. It serves no purpose to have him moping around as a shell of his former self. It is detrimental to the team success.

Posted by BlueSeats:

Having not seen the game, why didn't Nate get the assignment on Nelson?

To borrow the phrase from Nixluva, "at this point in his career" why are we still reliant on Marbury for ill-suited roles?

[Edited by - blueseats on 11-10-2007 1:03 PM]

I think Nate's hamstring is still an issue. He just doesn't look right out there.



As to when this role switch took place it started last season. I agree with Anji that it appears Marbury is being phased out. Possibly to ensure that when he is finally moved or released that it does not have a huge impact on the team. However I'm not so sure this is the wisest course of action in handing Jamal the primary ball handling duties and decision making while devaluing the position Marbury plays.

I just don't like what I'm seeing from it.

Posted by nixluva:

Steph is still playing the Point, they just make the switch to help him conserve some energy. You try guarding Jameer Nelson with no help! basically the knicks just don't have a very mobile and quick defense when you have Zach, Curry in there and then you want Steph at this point in his career to be a shutdown PG? That's just not gonna happen. The way that msot teams are able to do it is by having a good level of defenders at every position and then they play with cohesion on D. It's absolutely necessary to have a good help defense, but not to overcommit.

NO ONE ever stepped over to help deny Jameer's initial move to penetrate and NO ONE reacted quickly enough to deter his layups. When this team can play with more awareness of what is happening with the ball then we'll see some improvement. As it is, guys tend to lock in on their man and totally ignore the man with the ball. You just can't play like that. Then to make it worse there was a total breakdown and they left Howard all alone or one of the shooters wide open. It's something they can fix, but will they is the question.

With regard to Jamal imparticular. If he's not scoring a lot, then we're in trouble, cuz he's not really going to stop anyone and he makes a poor partner defensively with Steph. This is where I think we could use Mardy. It has be him cuz we don't have another defensive guard who can run the offense as well as him. I'd like to see him get some minutes to see if he can help to give us the defensive presence we need. Having him or Jared eventually be the 9th man in games is an inevitable move.

I don't know about conserving him I don't think that's in anyones best interests. If we are conserving him then where are the stretches of time where he's the primary decision maker and giving us a glimpse of Starbury the unstoppable scoring guard? As to being a shut down PG no I don't expect that and it's partially my point: He's made the effort to change but in doing so has become a lifeless inefficient player. After two+ seasons of coaches trying to turn him into a role player you'd think someone would notice it's not working and it's been detrimental to the potential success of the team.

As to defense on Jameer initially I see blaming Marbury for outright giving up on each play - slowing down and not pursuing it - not yelling to teammates for help. I also don't understand why after a few times Isiah did not (or could not) hammer the idea of a big recognizing the play as it unfolds and stepping into Jameer's path. This seemed like a collapse of judgement of multiple people.

Who could have possibly guarded Jameer if they were to be left alone to do so time and again without help? Nate's too gimpy still, Mardy's knee is not all the way there I'd suspect, Crawford can't, Marbury couldn't so I think that leaves Fred Jones? Not that I'd want an 11 man rotation but there are times you need to try something different.

running Marbury at the point has netted this team just about zero success in past seasons... it's time to try a new formula cuz the old formula sure as heck ain't workin'.

This is why I would have drafted Marcus instead of Renaldo. Not because Marcus is a sure fire starting PG but because it is clear that we do not have one. With our two big guys why are we not gathering all of our resources to find a PG that can grow with the big guys. Instead we are making moves for more scorers that can't play D with the false notion that the pretty names can get us to a title. IT's mind boggling to me.