http://www.sbnation.com/2013/4/8/4196866/new-york-knicks-breakdown-thunder-nba-playoffs-2012

Personally, I don't necessarily agree that the Knicks are better offensively without Stoudemire, which I think Prada implies here. Melo and STAT were gelling before he went down.

The spacing has become better because Prigioni starts now and sets the tone for the team ball movement and it has helped Felton/whole team tremendously on offense. Also, the defense has been pretty solid since he's been starting. KMart's arrival also has a ton to do with it. Without checking the stats, it seems like we no longer have to watch opposing PGs wreak havoc as much as they were earlier in the year. Kidd now plays his limited minutes with the 2nd unit and in the 4th and can be very effective. The rotation w/ the PGs has been key.

Nice to see Woodson finally recognize this and the fact that they are shooting the lights out doesn't hurt.

sealy wrote:Personally, I don't necessarily agree that the Knicks are better offensively without Stoudemire, which I think Prada implies here. Melo and STAT were gelling before he went down.

Other than that, it was a fun article.

Solace wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:

sealy wrote:Personally, I don't necessarily agree that the Knicks are better offensively without Stoudemire, which I think Prada implies here. Melo and STAT were gelling before he went down.

They were starting to figure it out but we cannot wait anymore. We have operate under the premise that Amare is going to continue getting injured. We need to replace him with another scoring big and build around Melo.

Other than that, it was a fun article.

I agree. I think it's hard to deny that our record shows a .500 team or less with Amar'e and Melo together. With only Amar'e, we're a good team. With only Melo, we're on the brink of being an elite team. I like Amar'e, but you can't argue these facts any more. Maybe if he could get healthy it would be a different situation.

My point on the spacing was really what I was trying start the discussion about, but I see what you guys are saying and should know better writing what i did.

All I can say in defense of those facts ypu mention is that I, and I'm sure even you two, wish that sample size of Melo/Stat was a little larger. I think the author saying that Stat didnt fit in the offense is wrong, but obviously the offense now looks alot better.

You're right though, he just can't stay healthy.

callmened wrote:Im not a stat fan but i credit him for learning a low post game. He will be missed esp in the 2nd unir

I've always been a stat fan...but its clear to me that melo is a better post player and passer on those double teams. melo can score from everywhere so that allows more player and ball movement. Stat only scores in the paint which is redundant to chandler and kenyon. So if all three are effective scorers in the paint then you go with the two best defenders which is chandler and kenyon.
The other problem with stat is that he holds the ball for a long time similar to melo and smith. Cant have three guys on the floor that needs to hold the ball and dribble just to be effective on offense. So you choose the best two and that would be smith and anthony.
As long as we have these players healthy, it makes amari expendable.