The good:

Zwerling:

Shumpert running as a backup point guard in non-contact, full-court drills leading into pick-and-rolls

Berman:

Shumpert doing lots of offensive frills with team. At PG.

I'm so irrationally excited about this! Even though Rubio's recent return has been laden with rust and setbacks (now out with a bad back due to over compensating), in my mind, Shump is returning instantly fully healed and better than ever!

Iannazone:

Amar'e going thru practice. Good sign that he didn't need to rest his knee after debut.

Excellent, he's got a long way to go, but hopefully he'll get there quicker with no setbacks

Zwerling:

Prigioni appears to be working on a quicker release. He's shooting that way and hitting. Before, he took his time. He's a very precise guy.

We need a lot more from him, it's been a while since he had a good game.

The bad:

Iannazzone:

Anthony, Chandler and Kidd watched film with the team and shot. But they're not on the court as Knicks go thru some halfcourt sets.

This is frustrating as we haven't practiced with those guys in a while, and it's going to be hard to correct our defensive schemes until they do so.

Iannazzone:

Woodson acknowledges the Knicks miss Rasheed defensively. But he still doesn't know when he'll return.

I wish he'd sit on the bench while healing- I think he fired up the team with his shouts about defense back when he was playing.

The weird:

Zwerling:

Interesting note: Found out Copeland was a great rebounder overseas & played w/ Serge Ibaka in Spain but Ibaka got all hype at 18 yrs old.

Wonder what the heck happened?!

Overall, a mixture of news, but I'm still worried about our game vs the Spurs considering the key guys didn't practice.

Ironically, we go from a pg who some say shot too much, to a pg who rearly ever shoots, and jason kidd who has turn into novak the pg.

knicks1248 wrote:Yeah that No practice for Kidd, Ty, and melo is almost ridiculous. 3 starters who haven't practice in 6 wks, directly resulting in slow starts and falling behind early.

Ironically, we go from a pg who some say shot too much, to a pg who rearly ever shoots, and jason kidd who has turn into novak the pg.

They really deserve to rest Melo playing 40+ minutes a night off of injury is a killer and Kidd and Chandler play to many minutes too. Chandler need to be around 26-28 and Kidd needs to be around 20-25 but injuries to teammates will make them play 30+.

smackeddog wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:Yeah that No practice for Kidd, Ty, and melo is almost ridiculous. 3 starters who haven't practice in 6 wks, directly resulting in slow starts and falling behind early.

Ironically, we go from a pg who some say shot too much, to a pg who rearly ever shoots, and jason kidd who has turn into novak the pg.

It's a tough decision for Woody, having to decide between giving them much needed rest, but at the same time needing them to practice. The reason Kidd and Tyson played so badly last night was that they had just had 3 days of rest with no practice at all. But they needed it.

Im not buying it, they have to practice even if it's half of the session..

film sessions don't help much, you gotta watch the film, then go practice the sets..

I was listening to the fan the other day, when a packer player said to Mike & Mike, how they watch hours of film on how to stop AP from running down there throat, he said they saw so many opportunities to bring this guy down, but without having a practice RB with the same talents, it's tough to execute the game plan on game day, and you end up making the same mistakes..

yellowboy90 wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:Yeah that No practice for Kidd, Ty, and melo is almost ridiculous. 3 starters who haven't practice in 6 wks, directly resulting in slow starts and falling behind early.

Ironically, we go from a pg who some say shot too much, to a pg who rearly ever shoots, and jason kidd who has turn into novak the pg.

They really deserve to rest Melo playing 40+ minutes a night off of injury is a killer and Kidd and Chandler play to many minutes too. Chandler need to be around 26-28 and Kidd needs to be around 20-25 but injuries to teammates will make them play 30+.

CrushAlot wrote:Thanks for compiling that. I think the Knicks really miss the veteran presence in practice. Cope is always talking about what different vets are showing him.

Excellent point,players usually turn to a veteran player who's been there done that instead of the coaches for pointers.

knicks1248 wrote:Yeah that No practice for Kidd, Ty, and melo is almost ridiculous. 3 starters who haven't practice in 6 wks, directly resulting in slow starts and falling behind early.

Ironically, we go from a pg who some say shot too much, to a pg who rearly ever shoots, and jason kidd who has turn into novak the pg.

I think the slow starts and falling behind has more to do with getting absolutely nothing from 2 of their starters Brewer & Kurt Thomas

DurzoBlint wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:Yeah that No practice for Kidd, Ty, and melo is almost ridiculous. 3 starters who haven't practice in 6 wks, directly resulting in slow starts and falling behind early.

Ironically, we go from a pg who some say shot too much, to a pg who rearly ever shoots, and jason kidd who has turn into novak the pg.

actually it makes sense. Melo came up a bit gimpy again in the last game, Kidd has looked tired from playing too many minutes and Tyson has been taking a physical beating down low. Sometimes you have to know when to let your guys rest. Also, Melo is already in tune with his team mates except maybe Amare but, since he'll be running with the 2nd unit, its really a non-issue.

Not sure what this 3 can get from practice.
Kid knows what to do better that anybody (even Woody) and just need to conserve every peace of remaining energy.
Melo is in the top of his game and need to rest and heel every peace of his body. Chandler is the same.
They need help from other 2 starters (whoever they will be) and this is on Woody to provide.

gunsnewing wrote:I wish Shump could play tomorrow. Start and take some of the ball handling duties away from Kidd. But its not going to happen. Knicks will have to bring Shump back slowly. By then Felton will be back

Unless Woodson intends to keep Kidd at SG and make Shump the backup PG and nail Prigs to the bench

Might be back in the near future. he said in that interview yesterday that he's finished his rehab and now is just working on getting back into basketball shape etc- just needs to get a good test result showing the strength in both knee's matches.

http://knicksnow.com/videos/2353/shump-it-s-one-of-the-best-things-to-ever-happen-to-me