"If the game is played in a brain dead manner (Isos) Landry Fields is lost. If the game is played the way it should be, Landry is deadly."

Nalod: "Lando's game is one in the flow of the game not as a creator. SSOL when played (ie:ball movement!) is his kind of game.
This is where he is the glue guy. try to win on Iso talent and he is not as effective. Its not the lack of effort he does or does not put in, its the way the ball moves."

Basketball is a thing of pride for New Yorkers who stand and watch playground games on short breaks from work, not for the score, but for the art. Basketball is our urban gallery. We enjoy assists as much as blocked shots.

Landry Fields "effort" does not change. He brings the same effort every night. What changes are the components around him that sometimes cause disorganization and confusion. Same with Tyson Chandler. His effort is always 100 per cent. Without a floor director, or facilitator, Tyson plays from muscle memory of the Dallas Mavericks.

The good news is (as someone mentioned) Carmelo seems to have taken a page from the book of Lebron James and decided to involve his team mates FIRST and then integrate his game after the flow had been established. In the first quarter against Sacramento, Carmelo was invisible on the shot chart, as he put his ego aside.

As DurzoBlint notes about Toney Douglas, "...I'm not blaming him for being putrid as a point guard,... What I do blame him for is running the full length of the court without passing to anyone only to chuck up a bad shot. Dude needs to recognize that he is the 3rd-5th option on the team and run the offense instead of chucking up shots."

Which brings us to Amar'e Stoudemire. Eight turnovers is too many in anyones book. Amar'e MUST recognize double teams, no matter the score, and put his ego aside. No more dribbling in traffic as he recoils the ball too high. It is an easy piece of fruit for a defender. If Stoudemire could relearn the fine art of the touch pass, and develop a sense of where Chandler likes the ball, it would be a beautiful thing. Leave the three point shooting to Josh Harrellson.

Hit The Open Man

Add to this that the first games looked pretty much like the first games of last season, well at least for STAT. Back then, he did try to isolate at the elbow and create for himself. Its not his game, its not working. I think after like 15ish games, Ray and STAT clicked, and (sometimes) it was the thing of beauty we havent seen in a long time.

I am not worried about the Knicks, they will get better. You can say Mikes system is difficult to learn and play, but with the right personl its just a matter of time. And thanks to Walsh we do have the right personal. Not necessarily the athleticism or raw talent, but the brains. Most of our guys are clever players with a resonable high BBall IQ. And the one I was not so sure about, Melo, is playing as good as everybody could have hoped for.

Hit The Open Man and Play The Right Way! Then we will be fine!

misterearl wrote:

Which brings us to Amar'e Stoudemire. Eight turnovers is too many in anyones book. Amar'e MUST recognize double teams, no matter the score, and put his ego aside. No more dribbling in traffic as he recoils the ball too high. It is an easy piece of fruit for a defender. If Stoudemire could relearn the fine art of the touch pass, and develop a sense of where Chandler likes the ball, it would be a beautiful thing. Leave the three point shooting to Josh Harrellson.

Hit The Open Man

Great post Earl, agree with everything, especially about Landry and Tyson.
The thing that worries me is the piece here. There is no one in the team that can call out Amare on his offensive mistakes. Melo has some ways to go before he establishes himself on the team oriented facilitator role. I think watching the offense click without him on the floor was the best thing that could have happened to STAT. Hopefully Baron Davis has been making the case for ball movement from the sidelines as well. If STAT and Tyson both play in the paint and STAT learns to trust Tyson they would be unbeatable. They should watch some Duncan-Robinson, Vlade-C Webb tapes for pointers.

I am changing my sig to HTOM.

mrKnickShot wrote:

loweyecue wrote:

misterearl wrote:

Which brings us to Amar'e Stoudemire. Eight turnovers is too many in anyones book. Amar'e MUST recognize double teams, no matter the score, and put his ego aside. No more dribbling in traffic as he recoils the ball too high. It is an easy piece of fruit for a defender. If Stoudemire could relearn the fine art of the touch pass, and develop a sense of where Chandler likes the ball, it would be a beautiful thing. Leave the three point shooting to Josh Harrellson.

Hit The Open Man

Great post Earl, agree with everything, especially about Landry and Tyson.
The thing that worries me is the piece here. There is no one in the team that can call out Amare on his offensive mistakes. Melo has some ways to go before he establishes himself on the team oriented facilitator role. I think watching the offense click without him on the floor was the best thing that could have happened to STAT. Hopefully Baron Davis has been making the case for ball movement from the sidelines as well. If STAT and Tyson both play in the paint and STAT learns to trust Tyson they would be unbeatable. They should watch some Duncan-Robinson, Vlade-C Webb tapes for pointers.

I am changing my sig to HTOM.

Can't wait to see Baron come back and take his usual really bad shots :-(

Hope not - maybe he grew up but I have seen way too much of selfish baron.

mrKnickShot - hold up... let me get this straight... a celebrated and intelligent student of the game - Baron Davis - after watching from the perspective of an assistant coach, armed with the knowledge his body has changed and his veteran leadership is desperately needed - is going to ignore ALL his Cliff notes and nuanced observations - and tune out the crowd at The Garden that cheers assists with full intensity - and resort to selfish basketball and make us wish for the days of Toney Douglas at lead guard?

Okey Doke.

mrKnickShot wrote:

misterearl wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

loweyecue wrote:

misterearl wrote:

Which brings us to Amar'e Stoudemire. Eight turnovers is too many in anyones book. Amar'e MUST recognize double teams, no matter the score, and put his ego aside. No more dribbling in traffic as he recoils the ball too high. It is an easy piece of fruit for a defender. If Stoudemire could relearn the fine art of the touch pass, and develop a sense of where Chandler likes the ball, it would be a beautiful thing. Leave the three point shooting to Josh Harrellson.

Hit The Open Man

Great post Earl, agree with everything, especially about Landry and Tyson.
The thing that worries me is the piece here. There is no one in the team that can call out Amare on his offensive mistakes. Melo has some ways to go before he establishes himself on the team oriented facilitator role. I think watching the offense click without him on the floor was the best thing that could have happened to STAT. Hopefully Baron Davis has been making the case for ball movement from the sidelines as well. If STAT and Tyson both play in the paint and STAT learns to trust Tyson they would be unbeatable. They should watch some Duncan-Robinson, Vlade-C Webb tapes for pointers.

I am changing my sig to HTOM.

Can't wait to see Baron come back and take his usual really bad shots :-(

Hope not - maybe he grew up but I have seen way too much of selfish baron.

mrKnickShot - hold up... let me get this straight... a celebrated and intelligent student of the game - Baron Davis - after watching from the perspective of an assistant coach, armed with the knowledge his body has changed and his veteran leadership is desperately needed - is going to ignore ALL his Cliff notes and nuanced observations - and tune out the crowd at The Garden that cheers assists with full intensity - and resort to selfish basketball and make us wish for the days of Toney Douglas at lead guard?

Okey Doke.

While I appreciate the tongue and cheek view of BD, he is/will be our savior. But, the last thing we need is another guard looking for his own shot (especially bad ones). I love the way he has been acting / coaching on the sideline and hopefully he is what they think he is (or will be). Unfortunately, we don't have better.

Maybe now that Rubio is taking over a bit in MInny, Luke R will become available. He IMHO is a really good fit.

Holfresh - where is it mentioned that the goal is to "get Landry Fields off", whatever that means(?)

The Nalod thesis outlines the unselfish way Landry Fields plays is an asset, not his stats.

"Nalod: "Lando's game is one in the flow of the game not as a creator. SSOL when played (ie:ball movement!) is his kind of game.
This is where he is the glue guy. try to win on Iso talent and he is not as effective. Its not the lack of effort he does or does not put in, its the way the ball moves."

With regard to "effort" I noted, "Landry Fields "effort" does not change. He brings the same effort every night. What changes are the components around him that sometimes cause disorganization and confusion."

Fields IS a difference maker in determining the style of play for the Knicks.

The Answer Man completely endorses your statement, "We should be looking at taking high percentage shots..SSOl relies on too many threes"

Let's investigate skill sets. I propose three categories:

1. The Gazelles - the most intuitive guys who can improvise, and be trusted to handle the ball in transition

Carmelo. Fields. Baron Davis at 100 per cent. Shumpert, perhaps. Balkman.

2. The Wanna Be's - guys who are better in a structured halfcourt set

Amar'e. Tyson Chandler. Jeffries. Harrellson. Bibby. Novak. Bill Walker. Jerome Jordan (who could be a gazelle in disguise) Jeremy Lin ("let him play")

3. The Dinosaurs - guys who need a minute to decide

Toney Douglas.

You do the math.

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:

misterearl wrote:holfresh - you make an excellent point about style of play not maximizing the type of players on this roster.

The Answer Man completely endorses your statement, "We should be looking at taking high percentage shots..SSOl relies on too many threes"

Let's investigate skill sets. I propose three categories:

1. The Gazelles - the most intuitive guys who can improvise, and be trusted to handle the ball in transition

Carmelo. Fields. Baron Davis at 100 per cent. Shumpert, perhaps. Balkman.

2. The Wanna Be's - guys who are better in a structured halfcourt set

Amar'e. Tyson Chandler. Jeffries. Harrellson. Bibby. Novak. Bill Walker. Jerome Jordan (who could be a gazelle in disguise) Jeremy Lin ("let him play")

3. The Dinosaurs - guys who need a minute to decide

Toney Douglas.

You do the math.

Amar'e made his name and his money in a gazelle system.

... when had a guard to drop dimes EXACTLY where he wanted the ball, and when his knees were five years younger

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:

misterearl wrote:

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:

misterearl wrote:holfresh - you make an excellent point about style of play not maximizing the type of players on this roster.

The Answer Man completely endorses your statement, "We should be looking at taking high percentage shots..SSOl relies on too many threes"

Let's investigate skill sets. I propose three categories:

1. The Gazelles - the most intuitive guys who can improvise, and be trusted to handle the ball in transition

Carmelo. Fields. Baron Davis at 100 per cent. Shumpert, perhaps. Balkman.

2. The Wanna Be's - guys who are better in a structured halfcourt set

Amar'e. Tyson Chandler. Jeffries. Harrellson. Bibby. Novak. Bill Walker. Jerome Jordan (who could be a gazelle in disguise) Jeremy Lin ("let him play")

3. The Dinosaurs - guys who need a minute to decide

Toney Douglas.

You do the math.

Amar'e made his name and his money in a gazelle system.

... when had a guard to drop dimes EXACTLY where he wanted the ball, and when his knees were five years younger

Then the 100m$ was not money well spent.

If $100M limits the ability to acquire someone to bring the ball past the three point arc, then it is not money well spent.

(34 points in one half, and 11 in a quarter, against the Raptors is not a good sign.)

FoeDiddy: "Any other coach in the league would have also taken tds green light to chuck away already"

misterearl wrote:Shooting 35 three point shots at 28 per cent is brain dead basketball.

Only 14 total assists (Landry Fields had 5) is brain dead basketball.

Shooting 35 per cent as a team will not beat anyone.

TD is brain dead.