TNT's Charles Barkley took issue with those going ga-ga over the Knicks.
"I get mad when people try to say they're back," Barkley said last night at the Garden, before the Knicks knocked off the Heat, 93-88. "They're not back. They're a lot more interesting. They're going to make the playoffs. But so is Philadelphia."
Amar'e Stoudemire's signature phrase when he signed was, "The Knicks are back" and it's caught on in all marketing slogans.
Barkley, the outspoken Hall of Famer turned broadcaster, also ripped Mike D'Antoni's speedball offense as he relaxed in the green room before the game with two writers.

Barkley was asked if D'Antoni's offense can win a title. The Phoenix resident who's seen a ton of Suns games across the decade laughed.
PHOTOS: KNICKS BEAT MIAMI HEAT
"I can already read the headline: Barkley bashes D'Antoni," Barkley said.
"I don't think they can win with this system," he said. "I saw it in Phoenix. They had a lot more talent in Phoenix. A lot more. The three most critical areas of the game are defense, rebounding and turnovers. That's the fundamental flaws of that system. It's not going to end pretty.
"I watched them every night during the last few years [under D'Antoni], and that system exaggerated how great a player you are. Go back to all the guys playing in Phoenix -- Barbosa, Diaw, Shawn Marion, Quentin Richardson. All those guys had inflated numbers. David Lee. They left that system and maybe those guys are not great players. As soon as you leave the system they kind of dropped off the face of the earth. One thing I'll say about Mike, he's made a lot of guys money."
Barkley said Stoudemire should not be the midpoint's MVP.
"He's in the conversation but [Chicago's] Derrick Rose is the MVP," Barkley said. "You can't have the MVP from the sixth seed."
Barkley sees Carmelo Anthony with the Knicks sooner or later.
"If he doesn't get dealt here by the trade deadline, he'll come play here next year," Barkley said. "I thought he should've taken the [Nets] deal. I like some of Jersey's pieces, Brook Lopez I like. They're going to Brooklyn in a couple of years. I thought he should've taken that deal."
Barkley said the Knicks aren't close to being a conference title contender.
"They're a long way away," Barkley said. "The four best teams in the East are head and shoulders above everybody else."

Jeez Charles, don't sugar coat things...

NYKBocker wrote:Chuck is a talking head and comic relief. He is turble.

Exactly. He has his moments here and there where he's on point but overall he's not there for his deep-rooted analysis.

And (though, to his credit, he has noticeably dropped a lot of weight) the only thing sugar-coated about him are those Krispy Kreme donuts he puts away.

What did Amare say in the post game last night when asked about how well the Knicks played defense? That its been the key focus for some time now.

And yet guys that comment on the Knicks say the same things over and over again... the Knicks and MDA dont care about defense. Hell, we have enough posters here who say it over and over again.

fishmike wrote:and not for nothing Pho was a lot like the Knicks of the 90s... they had several deep playoff runs and certainly contended for a title. If Horry doesnt take that cheap shot at Nash which results in a fight and player suspension the Suns are in the finals that year.

Those teams: Nash (2x MVP), Amare (7x all star BEAST), Marion (as long and athletic 3/4 player in the league. Elite Rodman like rebounder), Raja Bell (NBA all defensive team) and a bunch of other highly talented guys to come through there... Diaw, Richardson, Barbosa, etc.

Knicks are not that talented yet, plain and simple. Those were top 5 NBA teams and if you look at their playoff runs year by year the results show that. A couple bad breaks here and there.. thats life in the NBA. If you actually looked at what happened to those teams it was a pretty impressive run considering. They didnt beat the championship Laker or championship Spurs teams. I dont really see the epic failure.

was just make a very similar post to the part i bolded.. phoenix played in a tough conference and those lakers and spurs teams won championships.. i don't see how that means the system doesn't work.

tj23 wrote:

fishmike wrote:does anyone follow the Knicks at all? I mean what does MDA say every interview? What do the assistant coaches say every interview? What does Amare say after every interview? That the Knicks focus is on improving the defense. Over and over again.

What did Amare say in the post game last night when asked about how well the Knicks played defense? That its been the key focus for some time now.

And yet guys that comment on the Knicks say the same things over and over again... the Knicks and MDA dont care about defense. Hell, we have enough posters here who say it over and over again.

The system is still flawed. Mike's defense doesn't usually work because its full of gimmicks. Too much switching and bad pick and roll defense. Plus there is absolutely no focus on boxing out. They can have good nights, but they can't consistently be a good defensive team when they allow such bad mismatches to occur from some of the switches and they defend the pick and roll so badly.

Actually the Switching works when the players are fully committed to it! The thing is that players taking more pride in individual D is what makes the most difference. When the Knicks are out there talking and helping the D is pretty damn good as we saw last night. As for boxing out, this has more to do with the individual players lack of concentration on doing that. Most of our guys including Amar'e are notoriously bad rebounders and they simply forget to boxout all the time. This isn't a system thing, it's just what happens when you have a team full of non-rebounding players. Players have certain strengths and unfortunately too many of our guys are not natural rebounders with great instincts and desire to go after the ball.

EwingsGlass wrote:P.S. Got to sit a few seats away from Donnie Walsh last night at the game. Didn't get to make a plea to get Melo-- I figure he knows and he was clearly at work. But I told him that I was a huge fan and really excited at where this team is headed. Couldn't read much from him though, he was pretty stoic the entire time even throughout the game.

damn! When you say stoic, was it a "stoic" as in napping with his eyes open?

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:P.S. Got to sit a few seats away from Donnie Walsh last night at the game. Didn't get to make a plea to get Melo-- I figure he knows and he was clearly at work. But I told him that I was a huge fan and really excited at where this team is headed. Couldn't read much from him though, he was pretty stoic the entire time even throughout the game.

damn! When you say stoic, was it a "stoic" as in napping with his eyes open?

I didn't consider the sleeping with his eyes open possibility, but now that you mention it...

Phuck him.