nixluva wrote:To each his own, but since you often take it upon yourself to critique other people's posts. I will offer my opinion of this thorough tho unrealistic offering.1. That starting lineup is pretty damn ugly. What could possibly be the upside of such a lineup?
2. No way it makes sense that Melo would be pushed to 6th man. The lone All Star on the team is pushed to the bench?
3. Trading down and coming out of the draft with Devin Booker is a major fail. How the F is Booker the right pick?
4. Robin Lopez is OK if mediocre is what you want, Jae Crowder is OK, tough kid, but Aaron Brooks, Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola?
5. LARRY SANDERS??? WTF? Dude has major questions about his passion for the game. NY is the worst situation to put him in.
You get on other people for their suggestions all the time and to be honest this is pretty much the worst roster i've read anyone suggest. Perhaps because of your volatile personality others may be scared to say anything to you about this but this roster is a ClusterPhuck. You are creating more problems than you are solving.
1. That starting lineup is pretty damn ugly. What could possibly be the upside of such a lineup?
There's what some of you want. There's the nominal out of this world trade rapes that some of you push. There's the pipe dream free agent signings that some of you push for.
Then there is what the Knicks can practically get.
The Knicks are not going to get the cream of the crop of free agency for the next few years and anyone they could get, in most cases, would be a vast overpay for flawed players.
Every player I put forth in Free Agency on that list, the Knicks might actually have to chance to actually get. I've seen some of you push names like LaMarcus Aldridge or waiting for Kevin Durant or signing Kawhi Leonard on a poison pill deal. Or getting Marc Gasol or any number of players who have better options than the Knicks.
If you can't win with overwhelming talent, you can win or least attempt to be competitive with team chemistry, true team basketball, unselfish play, max effort every night and lock solid no compromise defense. The Knicks aren't going to assemble a bunch of guys who can run and gun and win that way, so the Knicks should IMHO, build around fundamental team basketball. Play the game the right way. Let the flow of the game dictate the shot. Grind it out on defense and let things like floor spacing, protecting the rim, and roster fit matter.
Defense matters. Good defense helps to create opportunities on offense. Defense is critical on those nights your shot is not falling. Defense is something you can build a team identity around.
2. No way it makes sense that Melo would be pushed to 6th man. The lone All Star on the team is pushed to the bench?
As I've said before, Melo is a lethal 1 vs 1 isolation gunner. So put him in a position to excel in that one area. Let the rest of the team function for dirty work, spacing, defense and grind it out banging it out each night, and let Melo go to work doing what he was born to do - Score the basketball. Melo is offensively complete, he has a full arsenal and he can create his own shot at will. So let him. Some of you whine about "needing to build a team around Melo to fit his skills" Well here you go, he's an elite 6th man, so let him be one. Manu Ginobili is a 6th man, and so was Lamar Odom, both still played heavy minutes and played major roles in helping their teams win. As a 6th man, Melo can still play heavy minutes and still take the lions share burden of scoring, just not run out with the starting lineup. If Ginobili can do it, Melo can do it.
3. Trading down and coming out of the draft with Devin Booker is a major fail. How the F is Booker the right pick?
People are going to differ on the value of prospects. I see Booker as a high floor guy who is an elite long range shooter, can play rock solid plus defense and play on the wing with room to get better. No he doesn't have the athletic ceiling of some of the other prospects, but I believe he can help a true team basketball unit win. Is he the best value at 4? No, but I've said that openly. My take is if the Knicks can trade down, get some future draft asset plus Booker, I see that as a win. They get a young wing with upside who can help now and in the future, and hopefully pick up some assets to help out a draftless 2016 and beyond.
Plenty of people here have talked about "splitting" the lottery pick into more assets. Most of them discuss getting all that value in one year, in one draft and in one trade, which is unlikely.
If the Knicks are dead set on foregoing a true rebuild and want to push now with Melo, they have to look at a players floor more than his ceiling.
4. Robin Lopez is OK if mediocre is what you want, Jae Crowder is OK, tough kid, but Aaron Brooks, Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola?
The Knicks have no veteran leadership. Melo is not a leader. That's been often discussed. The Knicks have a huge problem with the point guard position. That's also been discussed.
Hayes and Scola are at the end of their careers, but they've played together with Brooks ( team chemistry anyone?) and can offer experience and leadership. Scola is one of the best veteran low post players of his generation. Would not hurt for the Knicks front court to get a little knowledge and mentoring from him. Hayes is a true team player and a smart player and a leader, a good locker room guy. I'm not asking Hayes or Scola to start.
Brooks was good enough to start for the Bulls when Rose was out. He's not a sexy name. But he can offer short term help at a position where the Knicks have suffered for help. He's not a plus defender but he can defend enough of his own weight not to end up like a Hardaway/Calderon/Melo sieve.
All of those guys are guys I see as actually attainable. Again, not relying on some pipedream trade rape or off the rails hope in the dark that won't happen.
5. LARRY SANDERS??? WTF? Dude has major questions about his passion for the game. NY is the worst situation to put him in.
Sanders is likely not to come back to the NBA. That being said, if he did come back, got his head right, and was committed, he is still young enough and talented enough to be a DPOY contender. Also he is being paid by another team thus could be subsidized at cost. For the least talented roster in the NBA, no stone should be unturned.
I'm looking at team chemistry, leadership, team basketball, fundamental play, defense, floor spacing, rim protection, length and depth on the wing, putting players in roles where they can focus on their strengths and not put too many young players to be overexposed. I'm not asking ( except for Sanders on a lark) for anyone to suddenly do something outside their depth or likelihood of established trends. When someone like you talks about resigning Bargnani and then trying to get him and Melo to play better defense, to me, that's asking players to do more than what is likely to happen based on what they've shown to fans and the rest of the NBA.
If you think it's the worst roster, then you think so. Actually I'm happy you do because I think you are gigantic idiot when it comes to what it takes to win and team construction in the NBA. Then again, most of the criticism I see are from people who just don't like me. The trade rapists, the jack holes, the passive aggressive shills. I could come up with any roster construction and some of you pan it simply because I typed it.
I'd rather build a team that attempted to play true team basketball, defense and played the game the right way than to overstuff the roster with overpaid no defense power forwards like some of you hope to do.
Did I construct a championship roster? No.
But unlike some of you, I don't believe in a mass trade rape 18 month turnaround under the Tao of Phil.
What I did construct was the best compromise I can see for making a roster that's as competitive as possible given the situation, which is dire to start.
5/31/2015 11:25 AM
