Posted by TRU:

Who are all these capable players? If you're talking about "NO D-marr" Johnson, and Sweetney, be carefull. The coaching staff watches these guys all day EVERY DAY. When sweetney is ready to start, he will.

Understand that what we see of him is usually a few choice minutes off the bench against the opponent's second team. Do you really think he can defend All-Star Kenyon Martin?

Don't you realize that so much of Sweetney's value is the spark he gives by coming off the bench? You start him, and you sacrice that.

Posted by NYKDUNK:

Posted by Bobby:

Maybe Lenny will reveal the element of surprise for these meadowland mongrels once they hit MSG (I sure hope so)

I doubt that. But you have to give him all the credit in the world. When something isn't working, he sticks with it!

Posted by OldFan:

Posted by diderotn:

At least with Sweetney and Demarr we would at least be competitive. They could both keep the score clost. you never know what can happen if we are only behind by 5 points. Let's face it, take a good look at the stat sheets, concentrate on Anderson/Kurt combined Vs Demarr and Sweetney. If Anderson and Kurt have a better percentage than Sweet and Demarr, than I will shut my mouth; if not, you will shut your mouth.

No because defense matters too. Else Dallas would be winning every year. The fact is KT has proven he can play defense and so has Anderson. I don't think KT can stop Martin but everything is relative - I think he'll do a better job then Sweets - though I hope I'm wrong. Damar ain't stopping no one! This team is NOT going to out offense the NETS. They have to slow down the game and play smart and I don't think playing a rookie and a guy who has only been with the team a little while and has no record of ever playing good defense anywhere is going to help.

Sweeney should get some minutes and he is.

By the way even on offense you have to consider when these guys are playing and who they're playing against. Kt and Anderson are matched up with the first team of the nets.

Look I'd love to have Sweeney and Damar come in and dominate - but it's not like wilkins is playing KT and Anderson over superstars.

Posted by kam77:

you don't understand why Mars should play the SG? let me try and explain.

Marbury can't be our Alpha-Omega weapon if he is pressured and double teamed when he gets the ball past midcourt. Whereas Penny and Frank Williams are both more than capable of handling the ball. They should all take turns bringing the ball upcourt. But when FW is in the game, FW should dish to Penny on the wing, and dish to Stephon coming off of a pick on the curl play in order to make the offense flow better.

Therefore Marbs at the 2, Frank has to play the one, so Penny plays the three.

Knicks need to put their best ball-handlers out there and need to execute the offense without turning the ball over. So you have to get Shandon out of the lineup if you're going to do that. And you need scoring from the SG spot. Without AH and TT, the best starting lineup features Marbs and Penny at those spots respectively.

Why burden Marbury with ball handling duties when we have FWill to do that, and then look for his scorers (Marbs and Penny) on the wings.

Posted by diderotn:

I like the concept, but the question still remains the same, with Lenny still the coach, will have enough balls to keep Anderson off of our starting lineup? My concern is this, we just can't afford to have two unproductive players on the court at the same time. Kurt and Anderson have more than proven that they don't belong in our starting lineup. However, things have a strange way of playing themselves out. Don't be surprise if something drastic happens to one of them.

Posted by diderotn:

What defense are you referring too? The Knicks can't even stop the worst team in the league, If you think that I am lying, check the last 10 games that we have played. Even the games that we've won, the only reason we won them is because we have outscored the other team, not because of defense. If you want to see a defensive team, refer back to Detroit and Indy. Defense???? you must be smoking some good gunsha my friend. Last time I checked, Lenny was the coach of this team. He is not knowned for defense.

Posted by OldFan:

Posted by diderotn:

At least with Sweetney and Demarr we would at least be competitive. They could both keep the score clost. you never know what can happen if we are only behind by 5 points. Let's face it, take a good look at the stat sheets, concentrate on Anderson/Kurt combined Vs Demarr and Sweetney. If Anderson and Kurt have a better percentage than Sweet and Demarr, than I will shut my mouth; if not, you will shut your mouth.

No because defense matters too. Else Dallas would be winning every year. The fact is KT has proven he can play defense and so has Anderson. I don't think KT can stop Martin but everything is relative - I think he'll do a better job then Sweets - though I hope I'm wrong. Damar ain't stopping no one! This team is NOT going to out offense the NETS. They have to slow down the game and play smart and I don't think playing a rookie and a guy who has only been with the team a little while and has no record of ever playing good defense anywhere is going to help.

Sweeney should get some minutes and he is.

By the way even on offense you have to consider when these guys are playing and who they're playing against. Kt and Anderson are matched up with the first team of the nets.

Look I'd love to have Sweeney and Damar come in and dominate - but it's not like wilkins is playing KT and Anderson over superstars.

I'm not smokin nothin.

Sometimes there aren't any really good options. I don't think Anderson and Kt are great players. I'm just suggesting that the people you want to substitute for them are no better and perhaps a lot worse. Damar was picked up for nothing - there is a reason. He may some day be a good player but he ain't now.

As much as you dislike Anderson you can be sure if he was paid what Damar is being paid - he would be picked up in a heart-beat. He's not someone I want starting but he's a good role player for a good team. Damar is about potential and he is not going to make us better against the Nets. Like I said everything is relative - and our defense will be MUCH worse with Damar playing.

Sweeney I think is more ready - but I'm not convinced it's a slam dunk that at this point he is better then KT. He's played limited minutes mostly against second string players. He's a rookie who is totally unproven in the playoffs. Kt is a So-So starting power forward but he's been in playoff battles and knows what it's about.

Sweeney is getting time - if he plays good leave him in. But our best chance is to play smart team ball and like it our not KT and Anderson are probably better then Damar and Sweeney at this point.