If you look at how they performed in 2013-14 when they were all pretty much healthy it gives you an indication of what they could be this year for this team. Everything is built off their foundation for the present.

RK	PLAYER	                GP	MPG	TS%	AST	TO	USG	ORR	DRR	REBR	PER	VA	EWA
3	Carmelo Anthony, NY	77	38.7	.561	10.4	8.5	30.1	5.6	19.4	12.3	24.50	623.0	20.8
17	Robin Lopez, POR	82	31.8	.605	8.0	9.3	13.0	13.6	15.3	14.5	17.68	275.2	9.2
11	Arron Afflalo, ORL	73	35.0	.574	16.0	9.4	21.9	1.4	10.2	5.8	16.09	212.8	7.1

So we should really be looking forward to the possibilities for this team this year and next. We have KP and Jerian to watch. The other role players Phil has brought in like O'Quinn, Seraphin and even DWill have enough talent to be productive for this team in the roles we have intended for them. We'll need for Jose to bounce back and be healthy. It will make a huge difference if he's playing confident and strong. He doesn't have to carry the full load with Jerian and Gallo behind him.

We'll need for our young players to at least have decent contributions. They don't have to carry the action but we need them to show the talent we know they have and apply it to the roles they'll have for this team in a support position. Behind them we have vets who should be able to keep the level of play at acceptable levels and the effort in practice at a high level.

Another huge aspect to the roster is that it's full of tough minded and hard working players who play defense!!! It may get lost in all the complaining about a lack of stars but this is a rugged group of guys. They will put up stiff resistance most nights, which is a huge improvement over the last couple of years. That can make all the difference in W/L's over the course of a season.

CrushAlot wrote:Also, Jose is healthy. Phil is fond of Jose for a reason. Lets hope he is right. A healthy Jose could be another big addition.

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Also, Jose is healthy. Phil is fond of Jose for a reason. Lets hope he is right. A healthy Jose could be another big addition.

hopefully but i have never been a fan of him. Plus he is old and coming off tough injuries. Im more excited in jerian grant and feel he is the better option to start

Nice options. Both guys are world beaters compared to Shane at this point in my opinion.

CrushAlot wrote:Also, Jose is healthy. Phil is fond of Jose for a reason. Lets hope he is right. A healthy Jose could be another big addition.

He owns Jose's play. If Jose's stinks thats 100% on PJ.

BRIGGS wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Also, Jose is healthy. Phil is fond of Jose for a reason. Lets hope he is right. A healthy Jose could be another big addition.

He owns Jose's play. If Jose's stinks thats 100% on PJ.

It's a better group at Guard this year IMO. People seem to underestimate how bad our guards were last year. It was unbelievably bad guard production last year before we brought up Gallo and signed Shved. A lot of negative energy is spent on Jose who barely played to start the year. The guys who did play sunk us.

Player	        Age  G  MP   PER  TS%  3PAr  FTr  ORB%  DRB%  TRB%  AST%  STL%  BLK%  TOV%  USG%  OWS  DWS  WS  WS/48  OBPM  DBPM  BPM  VORP
Shane Larkin	22   76	1865 10.9 .504 .269  .181 1.7   9.4   5.4   19.4   2.6  0.4   15.1  13.6  0.8  0.9  1.7	.045   -1.6  -0.7  -2.4 -0.2
Tim Hardaway	22   70	1681 12.1 .512 .494  .218 0.8	10.2  5.4   13.5   0.6	0.7   9.5   23.8  0.8  0.0  0.8	.023	0.1  -4.2  -4.1	-0.9
Iman Shumpert	24   24	625  11.9 .484 .307  .172 4.0	11.2  7.5   21.3   2.5	0.4   15.4  20.1  -0.1 0.3  0.3	.020   -0.8  -1.1  -1.9  0.0
J.R. Smith	29   24	619  11.5 .487 .359  .155 0.7	10.4  5.4   23.3   1.5	0.5   14.4  23.3  -0.2 0.1 -0.1	-0.008 -1.2  -3.1  -4.3	-0.4

We should be joyful because we drafted Jerian Grant who is the most well rounded PG we've drafted in a long time. Afflalo is a guy who at least wants to be here and play for this team. He should be a leader and wants to be a leader for this team. I think he'll be good for the younger guards. We had no one like him last year who could lead the guards and set the tone for that group.

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Also, Jose is healthy. Phil is fond of Jose for a reason. Lets hope he is right. A healthy Jose could be another big addition.

He owns Jose's play. If Jose's stinks thats 100% on PJ.

That's fine. I'm sure that Phil has no problem owning up to taking on Jose. When he was healthy Jose was good. We need him to be a steady presence. His role isn't one where we need him to carry a significant load. IMO Jose can't really help us defensively so he MUST be at his offensive best in order to offset his subpar defensive production. He has to be the highly efficient shooter and effective passer that he's been or else he's a big problem. He wasn't able to produce offensively last year. The hope has to be that he can do that this year and that we can get good overall production from Afflalo, Jerian and Gallo.

It's a better group at Guard this year IMO. People seem to underestimate how bad our guards were last year. It was unbelievably bad guard production last year before we brought up Gallo and signed Shved. A lot of negative energy is spent on Jose who barely played to start the year. The guys who did play sunk us.

Player	        Age  G  MP   PER  TS%  3PAr  FTr  ORB%  DRB%  TRB%  AST%  STL%  BLK%  TOV%  USG%  OWS  DWS  WS  WS/48  OBPM  DBPM  BPM  VORP
Shane Larkin	22   76	1865 10.9 .504 .269  .181 1.7   9.4   5.4   19.4   2.6  0.4   15.1  13.6  0.8  0.9  1.7	.045   -1.6  -0.7  -2.4 -0.2
Tim Hardaway	22   70	1681 12.1 .512 .494  .218 0.8	10.2  5.4   13.5   0.6	0.7   9.5   23.8  0.8  0.0  0.8	.023	0.1  -4.2  -4.1	-0.9
Iman Shumpert	24   24	625  11.9 .484 .307  .172 4.0	11.2  7.5   21.3   2.5	0.4   15.4  20.1  -0.1 0.3  0.3	.020   -0.8  -1.1  -1.9  0.0
J.R. Smith	29   24	619  11.5 .487 .359  .155 0.7	10.4  5.4   23.3   1.5	0.5   14.4  23.3  -0.2 0.1 -0.1	-0.008 -1.2  -3.1  -4.3	-0.4

We should be joyful because we drafted Jerian Grant who is the most well rounded PG we've drafted in a long time. Afflalo is a guy who at least wants to be here and play for this team. He should be a leader and wants to be a leader for this team. I think he'll be good for the younger guards. We had no one like him last year who could lead the guards and set the tone for that group.

Knicks1969 wrote:I am not sure if Jose will be able to be productive, but the fact that he can't defend opposing PGs is and will always be an issue. My biggest worry going into the season is FISHER. Has he improved as a coach?

A lot of what you think is the coach is actually the players you have running the team on the floor!!! Guarantee you that any team that has Jason Kidd in his prime running it will operate well REGARDLESS of the coach. I understand not thinking Fisher was making the right in game decisions, but in terms of what most teams actually do it really is mostly about the players. Just looking at who was running the offense last year it's easy to imagine it having a negative impact on how the team ran.

Fisher is not just making this up as he goes along. He's got a proven system that puts most of the decision making in the hands of the players. That's how the Triangle works. You don't call plays. It's a free flowing system that is directed by the guards at the start and then everyone on the floor has specific rules for which action to take next depending on where the ball goes first and what the defense does in response. It's on the players on the floor to make it work. This is why most games you rarely saw Phil say or do anything unless there was something specific he saw that he wanted to get across. He was never standing up and barking directions all game.

StarksEwing1 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:I am not sure if Jose will be able to be productive, but the fact that he can't defend opposing PGs is and will always be an issue. My biggest worry going into the season is FISHER. Has he improved as a coach?

A lot of what you think is the coach is actually the players you have running the team on the floor!!! Guarantee you that any team that has Jason Kidd in his prime running it will operate well REGARDLESS of the coach. I understand not thinking Fisher was making the right in game decisions, but in terms of what most teams actually do it really is mostly about the players. Just looking at who was running the offense last year it's easy to imagine it having a negative impact on how the team ran.

Fisher is not just making this up as he goes along. He's got a proven system that puts most of the decision making in the hands of the players. That's how the Triangle works. You don't call plays. It's a free flowing system that is directed by the guards at the start and then everyone on the floor has specific rules for which action to take next depending on where the ball goes first and what the defense does in response. It's on the players on the floor to make it work. This is why most games you rarely saw Phil say or do anything unless there was something specific he saw that he wanted to get across. He was never standing up and barking directions all game.

fact is we still have no idea what kind of coach fisher is so we have to wait and see. I give him a pass last year since there was nó talent to work with

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:I am not sure if Jose will be able to be productive, but the fact that he can't defend opposing PGs is and will always be an issue. My biggest worry going into the season is FISHER. Has he improved as a coach?

A lot of what you think is the coach is actually the players you have running the team on the floor!!! Guarantee you that any team that has Jason Kidd in his prime running it will operate well REGARDLESS of the coach. I understand not thinking Fisher was making the right in game decisions, but in terms of what most teams actually do it really is mostly about the players. Just looking at who was running the offense last year it's easy to imagine it having a negative impact on how the team ran.

Fisher is not just making this up as he goes along. He's got a proven system that puts most of the decision making in the hands of the players. That's how the Triangle works. You don't call plays. It's a free flowing system that is directed by the guards at the start and then everyone on the floor has specific rules for which action to take next depending on where the ball goes first and what the defense does in response. It's on the players on the floor to make it work. This is why most games you rarely saw Phil say or do anything unless there was something specific he saw that he wanted to get across. He was never standing up and barking directions all game.

fact is we still have no idea what kind of coach fisher is so we have to wait and see. I give him a pass last year since there was nó talent to work with

One thing we know is that he has the support of the front office. Guys know they will be moved if they don't buy in. It makes a huge difference for a coach. Woodson with Grunwald's backing won 54 games. When he lost the backing of the front office, was told when Amare and Kenyon could and couldn't play, who he was allowed to keep on his roster and who was going to start at the 2 guard he was ineffective. When guys were messing up and should have been moved he received no support. Phil just did things a year after they should have been done.

Then you have Jerian Grant who as he develops should really help Fish a lot. He's the most complete guard we've had at the PG spot in a long time. Any coach would love that addition. We saw how he responded to Fish in SL. That was nothing compared to how much they'll get to work with each other from here on. Heck even a raw KP is better than the NO DEFENSE bigs like Bargs and Jason Smith. At least KP is willing to throw his skinny body in there and fight.

I do however feel tremendously optimistic about the players on the team this year.
I feel better about this core and group than the 54 win team.
That 54 win team was always an injury away from catastrophe with so many old cogs.
This new team is so youth infused we should really be able to battle deep into the season without the health concerns of years past.