knicks1248 wrote:This has got to be the #1 reason for considering KP to start

So, what's Melo like?

"He's a great passer," Porzingis said.

Come again?

"Yeah," he replied. "Just for me playing with him . . . We play 5-on-5 and he always finds me. He just finds me. You know, he draws so much attention and he always finds me when I'm open."

that's great news. i trust kp's take on things. maybe melo will be able to play in the post effectively after all. we shall see. link?

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

nixluva wrote:We're about to start a new season with a better squad and Melo has been GREAT with his teammates this summer! It just seems wrong to be going back years and beating a dead horse at this point. Yes Melo hasn't always done or said the right things but clearly has so far this off season and Training Camp. Team is in great spirits.

look not everything he does is stupid or wrong or bad. for instance, from the same page of videos:

http://www.nba.com/knicks/video/teams/knicks/2015/10/01/1443732874815-151001_Melo-HD-720p.mov-37647 here he seems to have matured a bit, which in fact i admire. and the puerto rico thing was great of him.

does that nullify his alleged comments about the 2-15 draft, for which he had to do some spin control? or saying he wanted to test free agency at around this time before the 37-win season? or that he insisted on playing in the all-star game after the season was lost and he could have had surgery and rehab much earlier?

He said he didn't say it and there is no proof that he did. Stephen A. even recanted on his position on this. He also spent the summer working out with Kristaps and was at the workouts before the draft when the Knicks worked him out. There isn't even a smoking gun here.
Also, regarding the Herring tweet, it seems like this guy gets things wrong sometimes. Remember when he said that Melo was taking 80%? of his contract up front and there was a huge media reaction only to find out that he was doing what Bron, Bosh, Wade etc. do with money that was being paid out for that season. Some good advice was given by others here that hopefully you won't ignore. Find out the context of statements before you start trashing guys.

seems like your issue is with melo's entourage of blabbermouths, herring and smith. they are the ones that cause the problems for melo, at least that is what you are implying. alternatively, these alleged comments may not being pulled out of their collective azzes but may have some source in reality.

at any rate, if you have issues with them then i suggest you and others quit citing them in your posts. as you know i never cite herring or smith directly because i do not respect them: they are hacks of the first order. i don't deal in rumors directly but only through what you and others foolishly bring to the forum. i try to stick to what melo actually says and does, like hosting puerto rico, saying he wants to test free agency before the 2013-14 season, referring to lin's contract as "ridiculous," etc. etc. etc.

I don't know anything about Melo's entourage but I am pretty sure Herring and Smith aren't in it. Also, you cited Herring in this thread and then trashed Melo without knowing the context. Also, someone, Ned?, is friends with Herring and I believe said Herring doesn't even like the Knicks.

In regards to context, if you watched the summer league game where they asked Melo about Lin's contract in the Team USA locker room you wouldn't bring it up because you would have seen/heard it in context. Connect the dots and it seems like context should come before assumptions and bashing of guys.

i didn't say that herring and smith were members of melo's entourage, i merely listed them as the second and third parties with whom you should have issues. you misread the sentence even though the syntax and punctuation were pretty clear. why?

i cited begley to open the thread, and then martin cited the video. herring tweeted to the world before the video was shared with the general public, i believe. not my problem that herring tweeted what he did-- seems like he wants to stir up controversy, which is the sign of a hack. hence, it seems that your issue is with herring, whose tweet was the first thing that was introduced to this forum days ago. since he is a hack, i suggest you not cite him.

This is about you taking things out of context to trash Melo. Nice try though

no.

it's about herring tweeting half-truths, and herring taking things out of context. not my fault that tweets come out before videos.

having seen the video and heard and seen melo directly, i stand by what he said: he said something stupid, and then tried to recover after realizing his gaffe. that's not "trashing" it's "observing."

nice try though.

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

nixluva wrote:We're about to start a new season with a better squad and Melo has been GREAT with his teammates this summer! It just seems wrong to be going back years and beating a dead horse at this point. Yes Melo hasn't always done or said the right things but clearly has so far this off season and Training Camp. Team is in great spirits.

look not everything he does is stupid or wrong or bad. for instance, from the same page of videos:

http://www.nba.com/knicks/video/teams/knicks/2015/10/01/1443732874815-151001_Melo-HD-720p.mov-37647 here he seems to have matured a bit, which in fact i admire. and the puerto rico thing was great of him.

does that nullify his alleged comments about the 2-15 draft, for which he had to do some spin control? or saying he wanted to test free agency at around this time before the 37-win season? or that he insisted on playing in the all-star game after the season was lost and he could have had surgery and rehab much earlier?

He said he didn't say it and there is no proof that he did. Stephen A. even recanted on his position on this. He also spent the summer working out with Kristaps and was at the workouts before the draft when the Knicks worked him out. There isn't even a smoking gun here.
Also, regarding the Herring tweet, it seems like this guy gets things wrong sometimes. Remember when he said that Melo was taking 80%? of his contract up front and there was a huge media reaction only to find out that he was doing what Bron, Bosh, Wade etc. do with money that was being paid out for that season. Some good advice was given by others here that hopefully you won't ignore. Find out the context of statements before you start trashing guys.

seems like your issue is with melo's entourage of blabbermouths, herring and smith. they are the ones that cause the problems for melo, at least that is what you are implying. alternatively, these alleged comments may not being pulled out of their collective azzes but may have some source in reality.

at any rate, if you have issues with them then i suggest you and others quit citing them in your posts. as you know i never cite herring or smith directly because i do not respect them: they are hacks of the first order. i don't deal in rumors directly but only through what you and others foolishly bring to the forum. i try to stick to what melo actually says and does, like hosting puerto rico, saying he wants to test free agency before the 2013-14 season, referring to lin's contract as "ridiculous," etc. etc. etc.

I don't know anything about Melo's entourage but I am pretty sure Herring and Smith aren't in it. Also, you cited Herring in this thread and then trashed Melo without knowing the context. Also, someone, Ned?, is friends with Herring and I believe said Herring doesn't even like the Knicks.

In regards to context, if you watched the summer league game where they asked Melo about Lin's contract in the Team USA locker room you wouldn't bring it up because you would have seen/heard it in context. Connect the dots and it seems like context should come before assumptions and bashing of guys.

i didn't say that herring and smith were members of melo's entourage, i merely listed them as the second and third parties with whom you should have issues. you misread the sentence even though the syntax and punctuation were pretty clear. why?

i cited begley to open the thread, and then martin cited the video. herring tweeted to the world before the video was shared with the general public, i believe. not my problem that herring tweeted what he did-- seems like he wants to stir up controversy, which is the sign of a hack. hence, it seems that your issue is with herring, whose tweet was the first thing that was introduced to this forum days ago. since he is a hack, i suggest you not cite him.

This is about you taking things out of context to trash Melo. Nice try though

no.

it's about herring tweeting half-truths, and herring taking things out of context. not my fault that tweets come out before videos.

having seen the video and heard and seen melo directly, i stand by what he said: he said something stupid, and then tried to recover after realizing his gaffe. that's not "trashing" it's "observing."

nice try though.

Interesting. So Melo didn't mean what he said? And even though you said that you had formed an opinion before you saw the press conference about his words taken out of context you were able to interpret not his words but something else during the press conference to mean that the assumption you made was correct? By golly I bet you think you are always right no matter what you see and hear.

not quite.

the question was idiotic, and having listened to it again, the question finished with "at the 4, as opposed to the 3?" he could have said "it doesn't matter to me" in the first place, but he didn't. he stated his personal preference.

so he made a mistake when he initially said what he did because that precludes allowing the coaching staff to make that call. having realized what he said was a mistake, he expanded his answer into something of a backtrack, even going so far to say that it doesn't matter whether it's the 3 or the 4, since he thinks that that's the way the game is going. it is actually a good sign that he is making some progress in expanding and backtrackimg so quickly in the spoken gaffe department. i also find it encouraging that kp says that melo is a great passer, which makes it easier for me to accept that melo may be playing the 4 a bunch even though we acquired a lot of other 4s this offseason.

you are a mind reader of epic proportions.

Reporter: "Melo, you've had some success playing the 4 in the past, any chance... do you look forward to playing the 4 this season as opposed to the 3?"

Melo: "Im sure I'll be at the 4, especially with the makeup of this team. Im pretty sure I'll be there. Some nights it'll be an advantage and we will go to that and some nights we won't. It'll depend on who we playing, how the game is going, and whether Fish wanna put me at the 4 position. For me it doesn't matter, it doesn't really matter, the 3 or 4, the way that the game is going now, those are the same 2 positions,
So it doesn't really matter for me at this point."

Fiorina: The Planned Parenthood video showed "a fully formed fetus on the table its heart beating its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain."

The rest of the world: "Lies, show us where"

Fiorina: "It's there!"

dk7th: "Melo is gaffing, backtracking, and insisting to coaching staff that he wants to play the 4."

The rest of the world: "Lies, show us where"

dk7th: "It's there!"

So its going to be very interesting how it plays out, how Fisher gets these guys involved, all of whom bring or represent something significant.

Good problem to have. Also with very reasonable deals if a couple of these guys are playing well they will be fantastic trading chips. Plenty of positive scenarios for once

fishmike wrote:back to the original topic there are some real challenges here for Fisher. He's a good manager of people, that's one thing he brought to the table with no coaching experience, but OQuinn and Seraphin are two guys hungry for minutes, a big role and a big contract. Then you have the Knicks commitment to KP, which they can afford to be patient on. Perhaps they hold him back a bit, let OQuinn and Seraphin fight for starting 4, backup 5 and/or backup 4. You figure Rolo starts but he's a 30 mpg guy, and ideally 28 mpg. Melo is getting 35-38 mpg at the 3/4. Who's next in the rotation? Honest question. It seems like KP, OQuinn, Seraphin, DWilliams are all fighting for the same minutes. That's not even mentioning dark horses Thanasis and Early. Who's to say Thanasis insane athleticism doesn't take off playing next to Rolo and Melo? Doesn't have to score, doesn't have to defend the rim, just fly around and do stuff.

So its going to be very interesting how it plays out, how Fisher gets these guys involved, all of whom bring or represent something significant.

Good problem to have. Also with very reasonable deals if a couple of these guys are playing well they will be fantastic trading chips. Plenty of positive scenarios for once

fishmike wrote:back to the original topic there are some real challenges here for Fisher. He's a good manager of people, that's one thing he brought to the table with no coaching experience, but OQuinn and Seraphin are two guys hungry for minutes, a big role and a big contract. Then you have the Knicks commitment to KP, which they can afford to be patient on. Perhaps they hold him back a bit, let OQuinn and Seraphin fight for starting 4, backup 5 and/or backup 4. You figure Rolo starts but he's a 30 mpg guy, and ideally 28 mpg. Melo is getting 35-38 mpg at the 3/4. Who's next in the rotation? Honest question. It seems like KP, OQuinn, Seraphin, DWilliams are all fighting for the same minutes. That's not even mentioning dark horses Thanasis and Early. Who's to say Thanasis insane athleticism doesn't take off playing next to Rolo and Melo? Doesn't have to score, doesn't have to defend the rim, just fly around and do stuff.

So its going to be very interesting how it plays out, how Fisher gets these guys involved, all of whom bring or represent something significant.

Good problem to have. Also with very reasonable deals if a couple of these guys are playing well they will be fantastic trading chips. Plenty of positive scenarios for once

Hopefully it doesn't take a rack of injuries or 3 months for them to figure it out

fishmike wrote:back to the original topic there are some real challenges here for Fisher. He's a good manager of people, that's one thing he brought to the table with no coaching experience, but OQuinn and Seraphin are two guys hungry for minutes, a big role and a big contract. Then you have the Knicks commitment to KP, which they can afford to be patient on. Perhaps they hold him back a bit, let OQuinn and Seraphin fight for starting 4, backup 5 and/or backup 4. You figure Rolo starts but he's a 30 mpg guy, and ideally 28 mpg. Melo is getting 35-38 mpg at the 3/4. Who's next in the rotation? Honest question. It seems like KP, OQuinn, Seraphin, DWilliams are all fighting for the same minutes. That's not even mentioning dark horses Thanasis and Early. Who's to say Thanasis insane athleticism doesn't take off playing next to Rolo and Melo? Doesn't have to score, doesn't have to defend the rim, just fly around and do stuff.

So its going to be very interesting how it plays out, how Fisher gets these guys involved, all of whom bring or represent something significant.

Good problem to have. Also with very reasonable deals if a couple of these guys are playing well they will be fantastic trading chips. Plenty of positive scenarios for once

if melo and the rest of the knicks are going to vie for the playoffs then nobody should be playing more than 32 minutes a game, especially melo and calderon. it has been proven that fewer minutes and utilizing a deeper bench is a recipe for success. no more chasing wins with a short rotation. the knicks really should follow the spurs model. even leonard played only 32 minutes on average. of all the 3s and 4s on the roster the ones who are the most effective passers should be given the most minutes at the 4. the first player that will not make the cut in this manner is williams-- no way. same with thanasis and thomas. same with seraphin. that leaves o'quinn, melo, kp.

my hunch is that o'quinn will see a good amount of time at the 4. kp is a relatively unknown quantity but from what little i have seen he has superior court vision and is a willing passer. melo has been endorsed by kp as a "great passer" which is encouraging.

conclusion: o'quinn, kp, and melo will take the lion's share of minutes at the 4.

knickscity wrote:

martin wrote:

fishmike wrote:back to the original topic there are some real challenges here for Fisher. He's a good manager of people, that's one thing he brought to the table with no coaching experience, but OQuinn and Seraphin are two guys hungry for minutes, a big role and a big contract. Then you have the Knicks commitment to KP, which they can afford to be patient on. Perhaps they hold him back a bit, let OQuinn and Seraphin fight for starting 4, backup 5 and/or backup 4. You figure Rolo starts but he's a 30 mpg guy, and ideally 28 mpg. Melo is getting 35-38 mpg at the 3/4. Who's next in the rotation? Honest question. It seems like KP, OQuinn, Seraphin, DWilliams are all fighting for the same minutes. That's not even mentioning dark horses Thanasis and Early. Who's to say Thanasis insane athleticism doesn't take off playing next to Rolo and Melo? Doesn't have to score, doesn't have to defend the rim, just fly around and do stuff.

So its going to be very interesting how it plays out, how Fisher gets these guys involved, all of whom bring or represent something significant.

Good problem to have. Also with very reasonable deals if a couple of these guys are playing well they will be fantastic trading chips. Plenty of positive scenarios for once

I want to see Melo under the 34 minute mark. And Thanasis is certainly a dark horse that I would love to see succeed, backup 2/3 who only has to defend in a lineup that makes up for his lack of offense.

I could see this is the team is blowing out opponents every night like Steph Curry enjoyed playing 32 per contest last year, but thats not likely to be the case here. The vast majority of players who play under 34 per game are role players and 2-3 option starters, or older players. it's not realistic to think Melo will be off the court over a quarter of basketball on average per game.

melo is 31 and has been playing in the nba since he was 19. that's a lot of miles. the last 3 seasons he has shown sgns of breaking down. there must be a conservative approach to his minutes.

nixluva wrote:I believe they'll go with a relatively deep rotation but also have games where they rest guys and that's how they'll be able to satisfy more of the players desire to play. Unfortunately someone is gonna be out of the rotation.

The depth chart can look kind of strange IMO. Based on the things I've seen and heard I think it'll be something like this:

RoLo     KP     Melo  Afflalo  Jose  
O'Quinn  DWill        Sasha    Jerian
Seraphin                       Gallo

how about

RoLo     KP     Melo  Afflalo  Jose  
O'Quinn  DWill  Sasha Gallo    Jerian
Seraphin                       

Or

RoLo     O'Quinn Melo  Afflalo  Jose  
Seraphin KP      DWill Sasha    Jerian
                       Gallo    

Or

RoLo    Seraphin Melo  Afflalo  Jerian
O'Quinn KP       DWill Sasha    Jose  
                       Gallo    

Melo's best bet is at the 3, any mistakes he makes defensively should be able to be covered by 14 feet of RoLo and KP.