TripleThreat wrote:My observation is Field's game is still developing. If he was 6'10, he'd be a rock star for the Knicks, but right now I think D'Antoni is keeping him as a SINO ( Starter In Name Only) because he plays smart and plays team ball and doesn't offer the downside ( Shumpert's rookie wall/inexperience or JR Smith's risk of turning into a locker room cancer with entitlement) . I just don't think he translates well with both Stoudamire and Anthony, who still want to just stand around and go into iso. I think if Fields was on the Nuggets, a very pass first type team or with Nash in Phoenix, places were the offense requires people to move without the ball, people would see a different player. Fields knows where he should be, but sometimes Melo and STAT just clog everything up. Fields actually played a ton of power forward at Stanford, I'd like to see him post up more and battle other wings in the paint. IMHO, I think a lot of people see him more of a small forward instead of a shooting guard simply because of his size, but honestly I see him as an undersized power forward who would be athletic for a non stretch 4 power forward but not a guard.
Generally I think most folks will want Field's ceiling right now, if he can improve his shooting and wing defense, to be Shane Battier. I think his ceiling should be Chuck Hayes. Bulk up, forget trying to handle slashing wings that are going to get phantom ref calls anyway, take advantage of his smarts and court awareness and let him work the paint. His passing is not as a plus passer as a guard, but as an operator in the paint, his passing there would be excellent relative to his peers. Hayes is not a tall player, he's a tweener too, but he's smart and knows where to be and like Fields, his game came along slowly.
He's not a great three point shooter, then put him somewhere that he doesn't have to shoot
He's not a great wing defender, then put him somewhere that he doesn't have to stay with slashers
He's not a great ball handler, then put him somewhere that he doesn't have to handle the ball as much
One thing that works very well for Hayes is he's perpetually undersized, and thus the crowd loves him and his toughness and the refs are very sensitive to how the crowd reacts. The refs can no longer job Hayes with calls because the crowd will turn on them. Also Hayes is a great defender but also a smart defender. At home, Fields in the paint grinding it up is a very Knicks style type of fan favorite. Fans love the blue collar lunchpail type of throwback undersized underdog. As a wing, Fields offer none of the attributes that Stern will leverage with ref preference ( he's not a highlight reel dunker, he's not a wannabe rapper, kids aren't willing to kill each other for Landry Field's shoes, he doesn't promote the thug life glitz or talk about being a global icon and hang his jeans down to his knees) In the interior though, Fields can win the crowd. Win the crowd and you can win your freedom ( Freedom to try to get clean ref calls from Stern's BS marketing first oriented officiating)
Since Lin has taken over And Melo returned from his injury, Melo has limited his iso's and is moving the ball and moving himself. If you paid close attention to the last week or so you would have noticed that. The reason the lane is clogged, particularly when the starting unit is in is because we dont have a legit long range threat. The long range threat is supposed to come from your shooting guardand Fields confidence and perimeter shot is broken.
Lin, Melo, Stat, Chandler and Fields for that matter all work best in the paint, rolling to the basket. This is why most teams have been plaing match-up zones and packing in the paint against us. Fields best position is SF. He works the baseline very well and is good for the garbage points, on offensive tips, and baseline cuts to the basket, similar to Cedric Ceballos. Ideally, Fields should be our back-up SF. I think MDA is afraid of losing Fields (Mentally) and that is the reason why he is the starter in name only.
3/4/2012 9:44 AM